Partnerships across continents unite the body of Christ
by Bethany Keener

Pastor Yoon Shik Lee preaches at Hively Village Church in Elkhart, Ind.

During Israel’s exile in Babylon, the Lord sent a message of hope through the prophecy of the valley of the dry bones: if the Lord could bring bones together with tendons and skin, surely he could work miracles for his people (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

Today, Woudineh Endayelalu, academic dean at Meserete Kristos College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, uses the image of the dry bones to describe what happens in a global mission partnership and the hope God gives through such relationships.

“To have a living ministry in the kingdom, we should come together from the four corners of the world. People who work at both places bring themselves — one piece of bone — and joins us here — another piece of bone — so we both have a living ministry,” Endayelalu said.

As the Lord’s Spirit continues to breathe through the worldwide body of Christ, all parts come together as one living testament to his love. The Creator’s original design is renewed in the life of his people, bringing each individual to a fuller knowledge of him. Partners have begun to experience this new life as they work together in Ethiopia and Seattle; in Elkhart, Ind., and South Korea; and in Las Vegas and Macau.

Ethiopia
For the Mission Network partnership between the Ethiopia Mennonite Church and the Seattle Mennonite Church, the person who serves in both places is Sisay Desalegn. He works with East African immigrants in Seattle, teaches at Meserete Kristos College and gives counsel to church planters in both countries.

Regarding Desalegn, Endayelalu said: “Our students have benefited a lot from being exposed to the perspectives of a person who has experienced both the West and the East. We are able to understand what God has given [our] brothers and sisters in the West instead of comparing ‘strengths’ and ‘weaknesses’ and failing to help each other.”

Weldon Nisly, pastor at Seattle Mennonite, says the congregation never set out to create a mission partnership with the Ethiopia Mennonite Church, but when Desalegn joined them in the mid-1990s, it was clear God had called them to work together. “God has brought someone to us, and we are just being attentive to what God has set before us,” Nisly said.

Korea
In Elkhart, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary student Yoon Shik Lee saw the large number of Koreans in the Michiana area as potential for a Korean Mennonite church plant. Hively Avenue Mennonite Church, the congregation the Lee family attends, offered their facilities to host a Sunday afternoon service.

Hively pastor Mick Sommers notes that this was a “natural extension of our own desire to be missional and to encourage a vision of one of our members for ministry.”

Since early spring 2004, about two dozen Koreans have been meeting together for worship. Lee continues a relationship with the first Mennonite congregation in South Korea, Jesus Village Church, a connection reflected in the Elkhart church plant’s name, Hively Jesus Village Church.

The Mission Network, Central District Conference, Korea Anabaptist Center and Mennonite Church Canada Witness currently are exploring a further partnership that would support Lee as a North American worker among Koreans. This work could lead to increased collaboration and a formal Korean fellowship.

“Such an immediate and present challenge calls our congregation to think more concretely not only about our ongoing vision but our own sense of passion for our faith as well,” Sommers said. He also believes that having cross-cultural relationships within congregations reminds members that “God’s love and grace for this world cannot be contained by any particular culture or country.”

Such relationships lend to supporting one another through sharing information and resources and, most important, building spiritual bonds.

Macau
At Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference’s 2004 assembly, a spiritual bond began to germinate between a new church plant among West Africans and Americans in Las Vegas and Macau Mennonite Church in China. When Mission Network associate Andy Wade heard church planter Chijioke Chukwukelu share about his work in the Nevada congregation (the first Mennonite church in the state), the commonalities of their challenges became sources for hope rather than despair. (Mennonite Church Canada Witness also supports the Wade’s ministry.)

According to Wade, Mennonites in both Las Vegas and Macau confront similar issues: the top two industries are gambling and prostitution. “There’s such an emotional and spiritual connection between the churches. It’s one challenge after another in a city with that kind of spiritual oppression,” Wade said.

Steve Wiebe-Johnson, Mission Network’s Africa director and liaison to the Pacific Southwest Conference, also attended the assembly. He is excited about the many ministry possibilities God is opening through connections such as these.

“This is how God is moving, and we can get on board, but there’s no way we can pretend we’re in control,” Wiebe-Johnson said. “This is beyond ourselves.”

To Endayelalu, working together across oceans and cultures is absolutely essential for the future of the church. By joining hands together, he said, we will be “strong enough to resist the winds blowing against the kingdom work.”