ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) – Chinese Mennonite churches in Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have had little contact with each other in the past.
To encourage interaction and the sharing of resources, the Chinese Anabaptist Network (CAN) was created informally during a Nov. 23, 2010, meeting. Sixteen representatives attended from Mennonite churches and organizations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and China, and representatives of North American Mennonite organizations, and affirmed George and Tobia Veith to facilitate the new network. CAN has begun making informal contact with churches and church leaders in China.
The Christian community is relatively small in China. Varying estimates count 27 million Christians, or 2 percent of China’s 1.4 billion population. Many of those churches are in remote and difficult to reach areas. Since all of the churches in China are nondenominational, regular scheduled organizational gatherings, like those of denominational or conference meetings among U.S. churches, aren’t common.
So when the Veiths, who are mission workers with Mennonite Church Canada that have partial support from Mennonite Mission Network, helped to convene a young leaders’ exchange from Nov. 15-19 in Hong Kong, pastors from places such as Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong and China said they felt as though they were attending a retreat. Particularly the leaders from China felt that way.
“For some of them it was just the first opportunity to spend time together,” George Veith said.
The leaders’ gathering was followed by the fourth annual Chinese Anabaptist Network gathering held Nov. 19-21 in Macau. The pastors had such a good time bonding that one of them even expressed a desire to have a “retreat” with other pastors in their own home area in the spring, something they had not done before the Veiths said.
Young leaders of churches in China were open to learn more about Anabaptism and how to apply it to a Chinese context. An interest in an Anabaptist perspective was initially planted by earlier Mennonite teachers who came to China to teach English, said Tobia Veith. The Chinese church leaders observed the foreigners’ relaxed demeanors and desire to develop relationships with local community people, and wondered what nurtured the workers’ willingness to share life with them as opposed to coming to “implement programs,” she said.
Mennonites have been present in China since the 1980s, building relationships with existing churches and believers through Mennonite Partners in China (MPC, formerly China Educational Exchange). Mennonites have stronger roots in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, but connections between the churches have been limited. The Fellowship of Mennonite Churches in Taiwan is the largest Mennonite body in the region.
The Veiths are part of a team of mission and local workers at the Macau Mennonite Church. The church ministers to middle-class and blue-collar working families through ministries that include counseling, prayer, practical assistance dealing with family issues, youth ministries, small groups, and worship services. At the November gathering, the Veiths took turns reading the word and preaching, as did the local ministers.
“When I think about the time that we had with the pastors, it was a real highlight for us,” said Tobia Veith. “It really was sharing life together. The purpose was an exchange for them to get to know each other, but it became much more than that for them.”
At the young leaders’ exchange, George Veith gave a brief presentation on Anabaptist core values and some historical context. Earlier in November at a separate gathering among members of the Macau Ministerial Association only, he presented his doctoral research on “Building a Culture of Peace in the Chinese congregation.” In response to his presentation, they discussed various issues, including obtaining formal conflict resolution training in order to learn how to resolve church conflicts. The presentation also inspired a pastor to suggest that there be a team of leaders to deal with church conflicts.
“For the Chinese, harmony is very important,” said George Veith. “However, in the church, if you have conflict, it’s something that people really don’t want to deal with. The Asian way is to – out of respect for others – communicate indirectly, not directly.”
They also discussed the importance of viewing church in the context of family.
“Family is very important here, so to think about the church as a family is something that people can relate to,” said George Veith. “So the process and decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior is not just to enter into a relationship with God, but with other members of God’s family.”
The Veiths will leave Macau at the end of June and return to Canada for a year of home assignment before returning to Asia for a new assignment.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
