“Found in Translationâ€_x009d_- Series connects cultures

ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) — Raquel stumbled out of bed at 6 a.m. to thank God for keeping her safe another night. Valerie participated in a two-and-a-half-hour Bible study with Beninese church leaders. Deric sang and danced his praise, ending the Sunday worship service covered with sweat.

Experiences of West African Christianity gave these Eastern Mennonite University students new eyes and fresh perspectives for examining their own faith. They recorded these stories, and 19 others, in “What I Learned from the African Church,” a Missio Dei describing a cross-cultural semester in Benin.

Augustin Ahoga, president of the administrative council of the Benin Bible Institute, pointed to the volume as an example of the kind of sharing that will strengthen the global church, not only sharing of Africa with North Americans, but also helping Beninese churches see their own religious practices with new eyes.

The Missio Dei series, published by Mennonite Mission Network, invites reflection and dialogue about God’s mission in today’s world. Although the series is written from a North American perspective with a North American audience in mind, people in other parts of the world also find it helpful in furthering God’s mission. French, Spanish, German and Japanese translations of Missio Dei – a Latin phrase meaning “God’s mission” – extend global sharing in mission around the world.

However, the North American church is not an exporter of faith to be translated. The writings illustrate how one people live faithfully, said James Krabill, series editor and Mission Network’s senior executive for global ministries.

“They provide a model for what we want to promote, which is people in their own cultures doing their own thinking,” Krabill said. “We want to be promoting the posture of ‘What do our partners around the world want to teach us?’”

According to Krabill, the issues with the most global appeal are those that describe what North Americans have learned from other cultures. Ahoga agrees. He saw the EMU students’ stories as a valuable learning opportunity for the Beninese.

“In reading the stories of these students, the Beninese will discover how others interpret their spirituality. These stories become a kind of mirror in which the Beninese can discover themselves,” Ahoga said. 

Ahoga also pointed out that the exchange dispelled some stereotypes the Beninese held about themselves. Seeing their Western guests living within the same material constraints as their hosts reduces the Beninese inferiority complex. On the other hand, this also reduces the spiritual superiority complex of the Beninese, who think that Westerners can’t live in the rigorous rhythm of their ritual and spirituality.

Most translations of Missio Dei have happened because of specific requests from Mission Network partners around the world.

After the publication of “The Patagonia Story: Congregations in Argentina and Illinois Link “Arm-in-Arm” for Mission,” the Iglesia Menonita Hispana (Hispanic Mennonite Church) asked that all new issues of Missio Dei be translated into Spanish, so that they could gain a broader picture of mission in the world.

"[Missio Dei] is an excellent Spanish resource for creating a mission mind and vision for our churches," said Samuel Lopez, Iglesia Menonita Hispana moderator.

The latest Missio Dei, Michael Sherrill’s “On Becoming a Missional Church in Japan,” will be translated into Japanese at the request of Japan Mennonite Brethren pastor Takao Sugi.

Sugi, a recent graduate from Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif., has spent 10 years as a pastor at Neyagawa Church in Osaka, Japan. He will pastor in another Mennonite Brethren congregation as he continues his studies by correspondence through Fuller Theological Seminary.

In Sugi’s opinion, evangelicals in Japan ignore context, focusing on effective evangelism and church growth. During his years of ministry, Sugi has chosen to ask instead, “What is the church?” Through Missio Dei, he discovered that Sherrill shares his vision.

“Dr. Sherrill tries to understand … Japanese culture and mentality, and contextualize the Gospel to Japanese soil,” said Sugi. “This is essentially what we Japanese Christians should do.”

Pastor Sugi intends to use the translation, which he did himself, in a workshop for Japanese Mennonite Brethren pastors. He hopes that the booklet will help to build good relationships between Japanese Mennonite Brethren leaders and the Mennonite leaders, who have not had good fellowship in the past due to different theological views.

Linda Shelly, co-author of “The Patagonia Story” and Mission Network’s director for Latin America, said Missio Dei, “helps Latin American partners understand Mennonite Mission Network better and it also helps stimulate their own theological reflection and missional development.”

Willis Horst’s “Toba Spirituality: The Remarkable Faith Journey of an Indigenous People in the Argentine Chaco,” first published as a Mission Insight – the precursor to Missio Dei – has gone through three translations. The French version has been used for teaching in African Initiated Churches. The Spanish translation will be published in Argentina this year as part of a larger volume about missions among indigenous people. Frank and Ute Paul, part of the seven-couple Mennonite team in the Chaco that includes the Horsts, use a German translation of the essay during church visits in their native Germany.

Mary Beyler, a Mennonite Mission Network worker in Japan, wrote a reflection on her experience with the tea ceremony entitled “Tea Ceremony as My Training for Ministry in Japan,” also originally a Mission Insight.  Pastor Hiroshi Mori translated the piece into Japanese for a 2006 Izumi, a publication of the Education and Research Center of the Japan Mennonite Christian Church Conference.

Beyler said the translation, which occurred 13 years after she initially wrote the piece, happened at the right time, opening doors and strengthening relationships.

“The further decade of experience in Hokkaido has given people a chance to learn to know me so that my words are not mere words but have been observed in how I relate within the church and within the conference,” she said.

According to Mori, the essay helped the Japanese Mennonite Church implement a vision of mission.

“Her essay shows how church members can follow Jesus where we meet people in their context,” says Mori, citing this flexible attitude as the essence of church growth. The essay drew much praise and affirmation from tea ceremony and church leaders, and the Japanese printing sold out.

Beyler attributes the positive response she received to her willingness to engage in Japanese culture through investing time and effort into learning the tea ceremony. 

“I am willing to be a learner in a position of humility, not just a teacher," she said.

This attitude is at the heart of church growth, as Mori pointed out, and the foundation for carrying out “God’s mission,” or, missio dei.

To find out more about the Missio Dei series, visit http://new.mennonitemission.net/resources/Publications/MissioDei/default.asp