The Pentecostal/Charismatic churches that we work with in South Africa show us what it means to let go and let the spirit of God really move. They teach us that God wants to have intimacy with us, not just in the quiet of our devotional time, but in the faith community and beyond. Mennonites need to learn how to get out and really evangelize--to verbally share about the love of God. Singing “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love” is often a cop-out. Sometimes, we must just get the words out and explain what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and actually ask people if they want to become one, too!

We can learn how to birth sons and daughters out of our church communities, to grow them and mentor them into becoming leaders in our churches. In this way, becoming a pastor is a community process, not individuals choosing a profession on their own.

Mennonites in South Africa have carved out a niche in working for peace, reconciliation and social justice to make the world a better place for people of all races. The peace we talk about begins here and now. It is not something we passively wait for in eternal life. We offer the perspective that Jesus, who preached and lived the Sermon on the Mount, came to serve, and modeled a different form of leadership.

Our greatest gift to our partners in South Africa is that we bring another perspective. We bring the idea of the church as counter-cultural rather than working toward a “Christian nation” model of the church, and we promote a leadership that is more accountable to church members in the pews. We also work toward peace, not as an addendum to the gospel, but rather an integral part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The black churches in South Africa can teach us what it means to have an evangelistic passion, even in a pluralistic society. With their emphasis on experiencing Jesus, they offer a counter-balance to what often seems to be a dour-faced and calculated discipleship in North American Mennonite churches. They challenge us to give more than one to two hours weekly to the Lord’s work. In these three ways, black South African Christians actually move us back to the two-kingdom theology of our Anabaptist forebears.

We can learn from Christians in South Africa about what our Anabaptist forebears called gelassenheit, or yielding oneself to the will of God. In daily life, this takes the form of waiting expectantly for God to give them their good things in the face of overwhelming insecurity, violence and disease. In worship, placing oneself into the hands of God means a willingness to go where the preached word might lead.

Concerning that life and worship according to the spirit, Mennonites are positioned to aid South Africans in their work of “testing the spirits” (1 John 4:1). Our historic commitment of “following after Christ” means that, for us, the spirit of God is never without content, form or order; the Holy Spirit comes in the name of a particular life, Jesus, whose love and justice are the way for all Christians.

Black South African Christians--having recently experienced outright persecution and being close to poverty, abuse, and traditional witchcraft--approach justice issues with an intensity that challenges our Mennonite peace theology. Their need to rebuke evil can lead to real peace and reconciliation, but can be uncomfortable for those of us who want to get there quickly and nicely.

We, as Mennonites, have a long history as a persecuted people that is valuable in South Africa. Our theology, which precipitated some of this persecution and was also formed by it, makes sense here. Our collective memory includes centuries of observations on church/state relationships, so we know something of potential pitfalls.