A joint release of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Mission Network.
PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa — Hungry children are being fed, students of peace are learning nonviolent responses to conflict, and ordinary people are making extraordinary sacrifices to bring hope and justice to those on the margins.
These are the good news stories that do not enjoy the same attention in the mainstream media as other, more violent and sensational stories, claims Andrew Suderman, director of the Anabaptist Network in South Africa.
January 2011 marks one year of the Anabaptist Network’s work in bringing alternative, good news stories to South Africans through the Network’s website, http://anisa.org.za/.
The Anabaptist Network in South Africa is supported in part by Mennonite Mission Network. Other supporting agencies are Mennonite Church Canada, Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, and Mennonite Central Committee.
While peace and justice projects bring one kind of hope to the vulnerable, in sharing the news of these projects, Suderman, an international ministry worker with Mennonite Church Canada, shares a kind of prophetic hope and encouragement with an audience that is in a position to help empower change.
“There are amazing stories about amazing people all over South Africa that can inspire others toward peace and justice,” Suderman says. “There’s a small group of women in Ladysmith with very limited resources that feeds hundreds of children every day. Others tirelessly walk with people who are marginalized. Yet others are educating children and adults in the ways of peace and conflict transformation. These are people who make sacrifices so that others can also work for peace and justice, so that all may have a hopeful future.”
Joe Sawatzky, a Mission Network worker and regular Anabaptist Network columnist, said he hopes that these stories and columns will challenge people to think in new ways.
“I hope that it can be a voice that offers a different perspective exposed through stories that might not be known or focused on,” Sawatzky said. “And I hope that readers will widely share these stories with others.”
Allen Goddard, director for Theology and Citizenship for A Rocha South Africa and an Anabaptist Network columnist, says, “South Africa suffers from the psychological and spiritual drag of generational bad news. For decades the media has not highlighted good news nearly enough. Reading contributions by South Africans of all walks of life, including rural pastors or community leaders, or reflections of the more prominent personalities and international theologians from South Africa, has encouraged me to catch a glimpse of God’s reign of peace coming into the world where I live.”
Suderman says the Anabaptist Network relies on news sources from all over South Africa to gather stories of peace, hope and reconciliation.
“The unfortunate part is that news of this kind does not enjoy the same attention as other stories—stories that tend to be more violent and sensational,” he said. “The news we read shapes our thoughts about the context in which we live, and the imagination we have in exploring possible solutions in dealing with the violence, injustice, poverty and social ills that we face.”
The Anabaptist Network, a network of people, churches and organizations, aims to walk with, support, and grow reconciling communities of peace and justice that are grounded in the life and witness of Jesus Christ. It encourages and supports South Africans to walk the way of peace on a daily basis. The Anabaptist Network also brings together those who draw inspiration from the history, teachings and experiences of the Anabaptist Christian faith movement.
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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 Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
