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Encouraging outreach
Kauffmans (in the previous article), like many mission workers, also relate to some Mennonite Church USA congregations not directly involved in their MST. In their role in La Mesa, they support congregation-tocongregation connections between MC USA and local Colombian Mennonite congregations. The following story illustrates how supportive, personal relationships between U.S. and international churches encourage outreach for all the churches involved. For several years, La Mesa (Colombia) Mennonite Church and Wood River (Neb.) Mennonite Church had supported each other, intentionally praying for the other’s ministries, passing on news, and making occasional visits. The congregations were sisters and equals; while occasionally there were financial gifts involved, neither was charged with supporting the other. “We have woven a beautiful relationship…with our greatest interest to further cultivate relations between the congregations,” wrote Martín González, former pastor of La Mesa, “independent of the help or financial donations that can arise from this relationship.” The La Mesa congregation “didn’t want it to be financial support,” said Doug Roth, the Wood River partnership contact person. “They just wanted to have contact with another church.” In 2006, González and his wife and co-pastor, Elsy, heard God calling them to put all of their energy into an ongoing outreach in the nearby community of Anapoima. With encouragement from their church, they stepped down as pastors and stepped in as mission workers. This decision by the Gonzálezes and members of the La Mesa church has allowed not only Wood River, but Peace Mennonite Church in Aurora, Colo., and the Purpose Driven Kids ministry of José Bonilla, a native of La Mesa now ministering in Kentucky, to be actively involved in Latin American outreach. The churches in Colombia and the United States worked with Linda Shelly, Mennonite Mission Network’s director for Latin America, and mission workers Aaron and Laura Kauffman, before adding a financial component to the relationship. Connecting ministries is part of the agency’s role, Shelly said. “There are sometimes situations where we’re being called by an international partner to do something new, and we try to find a partner in the United States,” said Shelly. “Or sometimes U.S. churches feel a call to do something in Latin America, and we talk to international partners to see where their call might fit. This was a Colombian call, and it was processed in Colombia. Because of how relationships had already developed with Wood River and Peace Mennonite, the U.S. congregations were right there and ready to participate in this new ministry.” Shelly said one of Mission Network’s roles is to make sure that individual sister congregations communicate with wider groups before diving into financial support relationships. Otherwise, support for some congregational programs outside of wider ministry contexts can unintentionally contribute to feelings of inequality within regions or conferences. The Gonzálezes, together with a group from the Mennonite church in La Mesa, including the Kauffmans, planned a budget, secured local commitments, and took a plan to the leaders of their region of the Colombian Mennonite Church. The plan included asking the sister churches to help complete the budget by contributing several hundred dollars more per month than the church could provide locally for at least the first year of ministry. The plan was accepted. The La Mesa church, Shelly said, was stretching itself to expand its ministry. It was reasonable to ask supporting churches to stretch themselves to support the Colombians. Wood River and Peace contributed support, a total of about $300 a month for the first year. The Colombians already are planning for needs and resources for the second year, including both local and international contributions. Self-sufficiency in the new group hasn’t come as quickly as in some locations since many in the Anapoima outreach are living on the margins, some displaced by the war. Aaron Kauffman said the support team in La Mesa is connected by more than prayer and fund raising; it also is involved in ministry. In Anapoima, the La Mesa program includes spiritual, emotional and nutritional support for 60 families and health education, distributing healthy meals and preventative medicine for the 130 community children. The outreach also includes spiritual educational programs and alliances with other churches, individuals and government institutions. Kauffman said their experience with an MST has influenced the organization of the Gonzálezes’ support. “I feel good about that kind of model — raising a team and then generating a support system. It’s a practical way to make homegrown mission work in Latin America function,” Kauffman said. The Peace Mennonite connection began when member Rich Mitchell stopped in La Mesa to meet the Kauffmans and stayed in the González home as part of what he intended as a trip across Colombia. “Instead, I stayed the entire [three-week] term and am now part of their family,” Mitchell said. When Mitchell returned to Colorado, he helped the pastor, Phil Ebersole, connect to La Mesa, with help from Shelly. The Anapoima outreach paralleled Peace’s efforts to connect to a growing group of Spanish-speaking youths in its own neighborhood. Ebersole said that several years ago, Peace could not afford to give to outside ministries. The church’s connection to their own outreach and that in La Mesa has created such energy that members now both support the thriving local youth ministry and donate to international efforts. Even as finances become part of the partnerships, the relationships remain central. Each Sunday, a candle on the piano at Wood River (Neb.) Mennonite Church is lit beside a photo taken at the La Mesa church. The flame reminds the congregation that God has connected the two communities. Read more about international ministries taking place in Colombia. In this issue: Features Additional Articles Viewpoints |
