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Partnership fruit: Mission and renewal “It was the dark shadows of an autumn graveyard. He bluntly told us that there lay some of God’s best potential—the books not written, the prayers not given, the cities not built, the businesses not developed, the songs not sung,” reported Marty Wenger, chairperson of North Central Mennonite Conference’s Mission and Service Commission, in the NCC Bulletin. The missions rally was the grand finale of a two week visit by five Argentine Mennonites tending the sprouts of a partnership with the conference. The seeds were sown two years before during the 2005 missions rally by Mennonite Mission Network’s partnership coach, Dean Heisey, and Juan Sieber, an Argentine missionary working with Illinois congregations. These seeds fell into the fertile soil of a conference-wide renewal process. Heisey and Sieber brought the story of PROMINOA (the mission program of a group of Mennonite churches in Buenos Aires, Argentina) to the attention of the North Central Conference. Encouraged by other partnerships between Argentine mission efforts and groups of churches in the United States that were bearing fruit on both continents, PROMINOA had been searching for an American mission partner for years. NCC selected the leader of their renewal team, Jesse Swiers, and his wife, Rhonda, to further explore the viability of a partnership by visiting the PROMINOA churches and their mission outreach locations in February 2007. The Swiers were joined by Delmar and Tammy Yoder, the pastoral couple of the Strawberry Lake congregation. Of that visit, Rhonda Swiers said, “It was exciting to see how passionate the Argentine church leaders are about worship and mission, and how much energy they put into outreach. Our congregations have so much to learn from them and, I hope, vice versa.” Following their visit to Argentina, the Swiers traveled to all 11 NCC congregations telling about what they had seen and heard. Then, in October, the Argentine delegation of which Sergio Flores was a member visited most of the NCC congregations, bringing with them a spiritual infusion. “I just loved the freedom of the Spirit in which the vibrancy of Christ’s love was so readily shared and received,” Wenger said. The partnership became official in June 2008. “This experience has been a beautiful example of how relating church-to-church across cultures with a focus on mission and renewal can have mutual benefi ts,” said Linda Shelly, Mennonite Mission Network’s director for Latin America. “We see how the Argentine focus on mission has already impacted NCC in its search for renewal and a more missional vision. We look forward to next steps in this growing relationship.” Heisey emphasizes that in today’s era of mission networking, the impetus for a partnership can come from anywhere. In this case, the vision originated with one of Mennonite Mission Network’s global partners. “While many small, rural congregations are dealing with the pain of closing their doors, NCC wants to reverse this process and is looking for renewal and is brimming with energy for mission,” Heisey said. “God is doing powerful things in this, the smallest, conference of Mennonite Church USA.”During a missions rally sermon in October 2007, Sergio Flores had the entire congregation stand up and walk over to the south windows of the Strawberry Lake Mennonite Church near Ogema, Minn. He asked what they saw. “It was the dark shadows of an autumn graveyard. He bluntly told us that there lay some of God’s best potential—the books not written, the prayers not given, the cities not built, the businesses not developed, the songs not sung,” reported Marty Wenger, chairperson of North Central Mennonite Conference’s Mission and Service Commission, in the NCC Bulletin. The missions rally was the grand finale of a two week visit by five Argentine Mennonites tending the sprouts of a partnership with the conference. The seeds were sown two years before during the 2005 missions rally by Mennonite Mission Network’s partnership coach, Dean Heisey, and Juan Sieber, an Argentine missionary working with Illinois congregations. These seeds fell into the fertile soil of a conference-wide renewal process. Heisey and Sieber brought the story of PROMINOA (the mission program of a group of Mennonite churches in Buenos Aires, Argentina) to the attention of the North Central Conference. Encouraged by other partnerships between Argentine mission efforts and groups of churches in the United States that were bearing fruit on both continents, PROMINOA had been searching for an American mission partner for years. NCC selected the leader of their renewal team, Jesse Swiers, and his wife, Rhonda, to further explore the viability of a partnership by visiting the PROMINOA churches and their mission outreach locations in February 2007. The Swiers were joined by Delmar and Tammy Yoder, the pastoral couple of the Strawberry Lake congregation. Of that visit, Rhonda Swiers said, “It was exciting to see how passionate the Argentine church leaders are about worship and mission, and how much energy they put into outreach. Our congregations have so much to learn from them and, I hope, vice versa.” Following their visit to Argentina, the Swiers traveled to all 11 NCC congregations telling about what they had seen and heard. Then, in October, the Argentine delegation of which Sergio Flores was a member visited most of the NCC congregations, bringing with them a spiritual infusion. “I just loved the freedom of the Spirit in which the vibrancy of Christ’s love was so readily shared and received,” Wenger said. The partnership became official in June 2008. “This experience has been a beautiful example of how relating church-to-church across cultures with a focus on mission and renewal can have mutual benefi ts,” said Linda Shelly, Mennonite Mission Network’s director for Latin America. “We see how the Argentine focus on mission has already impacted NCC in its search for renewal and a more missional vision. We look forward to next steps in this growing relationship.” Heisey emphasizes that in today’s era of mission networking, the impetus for a partnership can come from anywhere. In this case, the vision originated with one of Mennonite Mission Network’s global partners. “While many small, rural congregations are dealing with the pain of closing their doors, NCC wants to reverse this process and is looking for renewal and is brimming with energy for mission,” Heisey said. “God is doing powerful things in this, the smallest, conference of Mennonite Church USA.” In this issue: Features Additional Articles Viewpoints |
