EKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) — Ann Jacobs expected to be deeply moved during her first visit to West Africa with Mennonite Mission Network.
What Jacobs did not expect was how a conversation in Accra, Ghana, would affirm the importance of her role with the agency back in the United States.
As a church relations representative for Mennonite Mission Network, Jacobs connects congregations to the agency, particularly African-American congregations. This is, in part, why Jacobs was in Africa with a small group on a two-week learning tour this past July.
Jacobs, who is African American, said that the Rev. Thomas Oduro, president of Good News Theological College and Seminary in Accra, Ghana, shared his delight in seeing an "African-American sister" among the predominantly white delegation.
"Pastor Oduro told me that brothers and sisters from Africa want to see more of us coming as mission workers, and often wonder why not," Jacobs said. "He comes to the States often to preach, and enjoys speaking at White churches, but said he would like to speak at his fellow Black churches, and visit and stay in homes with his brothers and sisters, too."
Mennonite Mission Network is reaching out to recruit more people of color to engage in mission work abroad and domestically. Church relations staff members have been visiting congregations, hosting gatherings, and attending learning tours. The Missional Discipleship Initiative and the DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) program are actively engaged in discipleship training, service, learning, and leadership development among Racial/Ethnic and immigrant congregations. As the global Anabaptist family becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, the agency believes that it is vital that people of color be empowered to serve across the world as well as locally.
"We want to resource one another, bless one another, and reach one another in our own ministries and contexts, said Sandy Miller, director of the Church Relations team. "The world is a big place, and people are being called to serve in their immediate communities and globally."
However, diversifying the pool of mission recruits is challenging for an agency that has inherited traditions and methods of predecessor organizations dating back to the 1800s. The agency, historically a service of predominantly White congregations, needs to adjust in order to serve Racial/Ethnic congregations that may define and or emphasize mission work differently, Miller said.
"There has been the historical perception that mission is something that White Westerners do, and that our cultures were the ones to be missionized," said Stanley W. Green, executive director of the agency.
Green, a South Africa native, noted that historically people of color have always engaged in mission work. He cited the African Methodist Episcopal Church in North America as having a long legacy of missions to Africa. Currently, Mennonite churches Iglesia Evangelica Menonita Arca de Salvacion in Fort Myers, Florida, and Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Virginia, are two significant examples of congregations of color that have strong mission activities. They support servants abroad and have planted several churches, Green said.
Celebrating the work of the earlier White North American mission workers, Green said that from Africa to Asia, many of the congregations that were planted generations ago have blossomed and are sending their own mission workers abroad. Green mentioned Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) based in Nigeria, which sends hundreds of mission workers throughout Africa and to Europe and the Americas.
"There are many signs that we are breaking out of the mold and seeing communities of color being more fully engaged," Green said.
The need to diversify has been discussed for years, said Mauricio Chenlo, denominational minister for church planting, who works with Haitian, Garifuna Hispanic, and Anglo leaders across the United States. The agency needs to continue to do more to bring people of color into mission work and overall leadership roles, he said.
"We recruit better when we immerse ourselves in the realities of the people we want to empower and reach," Chenlo said.
Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia is another example of an African American Mennonite Association congregation that has both a domestic and international mission focus. A diverse congregation that serves a multicultural local community, Oxford Circle supports two workers from its congregation who serve among their fellow Dalits in their native India. Dalits are members of the lowest caste. Pastor Leonard M. Dow, who is African American, has visited India often to preach.
Dow said that when he travels abroad, he is always struck by how people of color are always excited to see people of color from the United States. He, too, was deeply moved by the unexpected enthusiastic welcome – like the experience that Ann Jacobs had with Pastor Oduro in Ghana.
"You being there (abroad) changes their world view, too, because, for example, African Americans are often portrayed stereotypically," Dow said.
Congregations also express pride in knowing that they are playing a part in God’s global mission plan.
"As blessed as we are at Oxford Circle, we’re not so unique that it can’t be replicated in other churches of color," Dow said.
"It’s a challenge when you’ve seen people as the objects of mission, to do the mental shift that is required to see them as the agents of mission," Green said. "There are various things that need to happen to facilitate going into mission. Our hope is that someday we could actually generate among our supporters, sufficient funding that we can make a financial contribution. In fact, that was how mission was supported in the past."
