Sharing Easter joy

This Holy Week as I consider the joy of Christ’s resurrection, I am wondering why it is sometimes difficult to share that joy with others.

This question has been at the forefront of my mind ever since reading The Outward Focused Life by Dave Workman. The book is a series of one-page clips on evangelism that Workman wrote for the radio and then compiled into a book. Throughout the pages, Workman shares testimonies of how he touched people’s lives by filling physical needs alongside spiritual ones. The actions are simple: sharing groceries, passing out Popsicles or water, hospital visits. For Workman, evangelism combines the physical and spiritual touch.

Another angle on evangelism comes from a gathering of 50 pastors who discussed why evangelism isn’t happening and what can be done to make evangelism easier. Their discussion suggested that Mennonite culture limits our ability to evangelize and new venues of worship may help draw others to our churches. For these pastors, evangelism involves revamping the old way of doing church and speaking about church.

Josef Berthold, pastor of West End Mennonite Fellowship in Lancaster, Pa., shared yet another perspective on evangelism during a recent sermon. He said that if we live like we believe Someone loves us, that will overflow to others. For Josef, evangelism begins in his own relationship with Jesus.

His idea of evangelism reflects that of the late Peter J. Dyck, who wrote about Easter:

“Something inside of me tells me that a wise and loving God wouldn’t make a fabulous world, a marvelous universe and absolutely fantastic creatures, like people, for no purpose. I am not quite sure why I believe that when I die I will be raised again to continue life in another sphere. Nevertheless, I do believe that with all my being.”

Now that’s something worth sharing. — Heidi Martin

What’s that mean?

Everence, the new name of Mennonite Mutual Aid, will take some getting used to. Especially since it’s a made-up word.

It comes without the burden — or benefit — of a definition.

MMA is the second Mennonite organization to drop “Mennonite” from its name in less than a year. Last July, Mennonite Media, the Harrisonburg, Va.-based division of Mennonite Mission Network, changed its name to Third Way Media.

Their rationale was similar to MMA’s. “As we seek to expand our support base, we must look beyond the Mennonite church,” said Burton Buller, director of Third Way Media.

For media products and financial services that cross denominational lines, that might make sense.

But when denominations distance themselves from their historic identities, that’s different.

If a denomination is Mennonite, it should say so in the name. If it drops “Mennonite,” it has probably lost an Anabaptist identity.

At least that’s how it looks to me in the cases of the former Evangelical Mennonite Brethren, which became the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches in 1987; and the former Evangelical Mennonite Church, which became the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches in 2003.

I hope we won’t have to say that about Everence someday. Everence will remain an agency of Mennonite Church USA, which is a positive sign.
— Paul Schrag

What is the role of anger in social change?

Last night several friends and I joined a group of new acquaintances to watch Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A love story. The film told heartbreaking stories of families trampled by the free enterprise system. It told hopeful stories of people joining together to fight back. It told of the schemes of large corporations, many times using parts of the government, to make more profits whatever the cost.

The film was moving, eye-opening and extreme, as Moore’s films tend to be. I am cautiously skeptical when it comes to Moore’s films, but here he presents a compelling argument that capitalism is a broken system stacked in favor of a small percentage of the population that already has more than enough wealth.

The film offered many topics of discussion, but the topic that dominated our bus ride home was anger. Following the film, our movie-viewing companions focused primarily on the anger they felt towards the people in control of the systems that create the disparities, and victims, shown in the film.

What role does anger play in propelling change? Can it work as an instigator or a motivator for positive action? Or does it prevent us from seeing opportunities to work with those we see as our opponents to make change?

Anger is usually more productive than despair or hopelessness. If you do not believe in change you are not compelled to work for it. However, anger can make people irrational. Villanizing or dehumanizing people hinders dialogue.

The phrase “disagreeing in love” (an idea that is still relatively new to me, as one who is new to the Mennonite world) comes to mind as a factor in this discussion. Some of the unjust situations that Moore depicts call for loud disagreement. I wonder, can we be angry and still follow Christ’s call to love? — Mallory Dignin

New home for MDS, too

Plans for a new Mennonite Church USA office building in Elkhart, Ind., have gotten a lot of attention, but MC USA isn’t the only Mennonite agency looking forward to a new home.

Mennonite Disaster Service is planning a $3.3 million warehouse and office in Lititz, Pa. A report on the recent annual All-Unit Meeting calls attention to this needed upgrade in facilities.

At last year’s All-Unit Meeting, which I attended in Mobile, Ala., executive director Kevin King reported that MDS had purchased property for the building, and the MDS board reaffirmed its support for the project.

MDS has grown — to the point that “we are not the same organization,” says Lois Nickel, a Canadian official — as a result of its response to hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast in the last several years.

Lately I’ve seen MDS’s ability to generate excitement. My congregation, First Mennonite Church of Newton, Kan., is planning to take part in MDS’s Partnership Home Program this summer. We’ll frame a house in our parking lot and then compete it in Franklin, La., for a woman who lost her house to a hurricane and then a fire.

This will be our youth group’s summer service trip and also a project for all ages. We’re excited about this creative witness that MDS makes possible. — Paul Schrag

A new end to the immigration story

It is easy to become lost in the complicated legal details of immigration. And once I’m lost, it is easy to pass off any action on immigration to those who understand it.

It is hard, however, to ignore a personal story. Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear the stories of six men from Guatemala who were arrested in the May 2008 Postville, Iowa, immigration raid. The men presented their stories in a play, La Historia de Nuestras Vidas (The Story of Our Lives), that they had written.

Their stories began like those of many undocumented immigrants from Latin America, with dreams of earning money in the U.S. to fund a brighter future for their families in Guatemala, followed by a long, treacherous journey and working a job with long hours and unjust pay.

For these men, however, the stories of their lives were broadcasted around the country after their arrests as part of the largest single-site immigration raid ever in the United States. The AgriProcessor plant, where the men worked, was raided by 900 armed agents, who arrested 389 undocumented workers.

After being held in the National Cattle Congress at the Waterloo fairgrounds and treated like livestock, they were charged with the felony of identity theft, rushed through the legal process with very little advice from their lawyers, and sentenced to five months in prison. Those months were spent in a series of prisons around the country, with little or no contact with their families.

When these six men finally thought they were on their way back to Guatemala, the U.S. government required them to stay and testify in the trial against the plant owners. During that time, they were not given money to cover living expenses, and it was illegal for them to work. They relied on the charity of local churches for their basic needs.

The six men who shared their story left early this morning to return to Guatemala. They would have returned in chains if a local organization had not paid for their transportation in place of the government.

Immigration will likely continue to be politicized and reduced to legal terms and monetary figures. I pray that the courage these six men, Victor, Oscar, Juventino, Onofre, Aaron and Javier, displayed in sharing their story will serve as motivation for me, and others, to act for other immigrants with stories like theirs. I pray that we can write a new ending.

Final words for peace

Gene Stoltzfus, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, who died March 10, wrote prolifically during his life. His wife, Dorothy Friesen, and nephew Phil Stoltzfus, found a way to publish his last post on Peace Probe, written the day he died. (In the comments section Friesen and others share memories of Stoltzfus.)

He told the stories of survivors of military interrogation, which can make people in the U.S. and Canada uncomfortable, seeming "so unbelievable and out of place in a world of sanitized shopping malls and super highways."

Stoltzfus examined his response to stories of those who have been interrogated alongside what he had learned from accounts of early Anabaptists and early Christians — each of them " 'witnesses to the truth,' with a deep commitment of conscience that sustains them through moments of cruelty and abuse," he wrote. "The test of martyrdom is whether that particular witness to the truth helps to support and sustain the community’s commitment to a full-bodied vision of peace and justice." — Celeste Kennel-Shank

Where are today's missionaries?

I recently shared a meal with residents of various retirement communities. I’m always impressed with their ability to work with string: quilting, sewing, patching, knitting, crocheting. Many of them are also gifted yarn-spinners, sharing stories from yesteryear.

On this particular evening, they shared missionary stories.

One woman spent 18 years in Kenya where she helped to open a Bible school. Others shared of their work in hospitals. They faced unfathomable dangers and perils, but this is nothing compared to their joy in serving overseas.

Stories like these are rather uncommon among the younger generations and, I wonder, where are the missionaries today? Sure, we are all modern-day missionaries serving the world in our home communities. And yes, many young people have traveled overseas for short periods of time. But where are those who desire to dedicate a significant amount of time overseas? Where are those who are willing to sacrifice and go without so that others may know Jesus?

Are we not hearing the call to go? Are we not answering the call? Or perhaps missions is not as important to the church as it was at one time.

Surely not all of our missionaries are residents of retirement communities, are they? — Heidi Martin

Assessing community passions

In college, I learned much of what I know about grassroots organizing from the Social Action Leadership Team, a chapel-based student group at Valparaiso University. Each year SALT would kick-off the year with a passions night, when we made an extensive list of topics, issues and organizations that made us want to get to work. We would then narrow the list to create four or five focus groups. The process engaged everyone in the group, and directed our energy to work that we found meaningful.

Last Sunday our church’s annual vision gathering reminded me of those exciting SALT meetings. Our congregation uses a process called Open Space to facilitate our gathering. Those who attend the gathering set the agenda. Open Space encourages people to engage in the discussions they are passionate about and allows the group to let go, without guilt, of topics that don’t grab anyone. As a result, the community knows where its energy is concentrated.

It is valuable for a community to engage in an assessment of its passions. Too often churches continue a program just because it’s what “we’ve always done.” The ministries and practices of a church should stem from the passion of the people who are going to be responsible for them. It is worth taking the time to determine what those passions are. — Mallory Dignin

90 years of inter-Mennonite relief

This year is the ninetieth anniversary of the beginning of Mennonite Central Committee. MCC was born in 1920. But there is not total agreement about when and where it happened.

Some folks in Kansas believe that MCC started in Hillsboro. There is some truth to the claim. In January 1920 the Mennonite Brethren, Krimmer Mennonite Brethren and General Conference Mennonites, meeting in Hillsboro, formed a unified Emergency Relief Committee of the Mennonites of North America. That was one founding moment.

The Hillsboro folks were of Dutch-Russian background, descendants of immigrants who had come from Russia in the 1870s and 1880s. They knew that a relief effort that would embrace all the Mennonites of North America would have to include those of Swiss and South-German background, most of whom lived east of the Mississippi River. So they invited those then called Old Mennonites to join the ERCMNA.

In July 1920 in Elkhart, Ind., the Old Mennonites did agree, with some hesitation and reluctance, to join in a unified emergency relief effort to suffering Mennonites in Russia. At the Elkhart meeting they decided to call it the Mennonite Central Committee.

The standard historical accounts say that MCC was born at that meeting in Elkhart. Surely the name MCC began there.

But Kansans still make the case for Hillsboro. Melvin D. Epp, who lives near Whitewater, has recently completed an autobiographical-historical manuscript and is now seeking a publisher. Epp notes that his grandfather, John Epp Sr., who spent his adolescence in southern Russia, "contributed the initial $500 through the local Kansas church (Emmaus Mennonite Church) to finance a tractor-plow unit to assist relatives suffering through a devastating drought in southern Russia." Epp says that MCC started in Hillsboro.

Whenever it happened, the creation of MCC was a momentous event. Before long we need to begin planning for the centennial in 2020. — James Juhnke

Loss for peacemaking

The sad, shocking news came from Christian Peacemaker Teams this morning: Gene Stoltzfus, founding director of CPT, died yesterday after a heart attack at age 70.

Stoltzfus widely shared his sharp analysis on international conflict, but also his sense of humor and hope for the future.

“It will take an expanding worldwide but grassroots culture reaching beyond national borders to fashion a body of Christian peacemakers to be an effective power to block the guns and be part of transforming each impending tragedy of war,” he wrote March 3. “Little by little there will be change.”

It is a true loss for peacemaking that Stoltzfus' ministry of writing and speaking has been cut short. — Celeste Kennel-Shank

Day of disaster

March 13 marks the 20th anniversary of a day central Kansas Mennonites will never forget: A tornado ripped through a large part of Hesston, Kan., but, amazingly, killed no one in town. The massive storm (graded F5, the highest power, with winds over 300 mph) damaged or destroyed 225 homes and 21 businesses in Hesston.

My memory of the disaster is dominated by the fact that the next day brought the most challenging Mennonite Weekly Review deadline I’ve ever had. The tornado hit Hesston about 5:35 p.m. on a Tuesday, and by the time we learned the enormity of what had happened, darkness had fallen.

First thing the next morning I headed for Hesston, about eight miles from Newton, to collect photos and quotes for a couple of hours. In those days we had to develop the film and print the photos in our darkroom — plus write the story and paste up the paper that day, so time was short.

My other strong memory is that a second tornado formed north of Hesston and passed by Goessel, where it destroyed the barn at my parents-in-law’s place, but missed the house, where they were riding out the storm in the basement. At another rural Marion County house, the tornado killed 68-year-old Ruth Voth, so we knew what could have happened.

A Wichita Eagle story on the 20th anniversary had an amazing fact I didn’t know: The Hesston tornado was the first to hit a town of any size since since Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1979.

In the issue of MWR a week after the tornado, our lead story began: “The disaster happened with shocking suddenness. Just as quickly, it seemed, the people of Hesston pulled together, picked up the pieces and made a new beginning.”

Hearing women's stories

Happy International Women’s Day!

March 8 is International Women’s Day and if it weren’t for one of my roommates who is very aware of women’s issues, I, like many people, would have missed it. Our house had the chance to celebrate last weekend with a mini road trip to Elkhart to see a performance of the Michiana Monologues.

Based on the idea of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues, the Michiana Monologues compiles anonymously submitted stories from women in the South Bend area. The stories cover a range of topics related to being a women — body image, purity, motherhood, relationships, sexual assault and the women’s rights movement. Local actresses then present the stories as monologues. Donations collected at the door are donated to local agencies working to help women in crisis. Previous performances also inspired a nearby community to perform their own monologues as well.

While other productions of the Vagina Monologues I have seen were moving, the Michiana Monologues were particularly powerful because the stories came from the community. It is hard to dismiss issues such as domestic abuse when someone from your community had the courage to write about her struggle.

The Vagina Monologues have been the root of controversy, especially on some college campuses where performances have been called into question or banned. However, the monologues serve as a channel to breaking the silence that often surrounds issues of violence against women.

Movies with character

Yes, I saw Avatar, and yes, it was in IMAX 3-D, but as a moviegoer who prefers solid writing and character development over special effects — or at least alongside effects — I wasn’t impressed by Avatar as a whole. Star Trek and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were entertaining, but not absorbing like a good character film. I also prefer movies with minimal or no realistic violence, even when it's arguably necessary to the plot, so I probably won’t see The Hurt Locker, though I hear it’s excellent.

For moviegoers more like me, here are my picks for the top movies released in the United States during 2009. I have avoided too many story details because I don’t like to spoil a good plot. All are or will be available through Netflix, and I list the ones I saw most recently first, so you may have a chance to catch some of the top ones in theaters:

Le chant des mariées (The Wedding Song) — This tender but intense film looks into the lives of teenage friends, one Muslim, one Jewish, in Tunisia in 1942. For a film that deals with the themes of adulthood, marriage, religion, gender roles, poverty and war, it remarkably lacks any heavy-handedness. The film graphically depicts one girl’s preparation for marriage, but does not have gory war scenes.

The Last Station — In this historical drama about the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy, his family and his disciples, the acting drew me into the story right away and kept me there until the final moments.

Up in the Air — After Good Night, and Good Luck., George Clooney became one of the few actors whose movies I would see just because he was in it. Even so, Clooney’s acting in Up in the Air impressed me even more than I thought it would. The rest of the cast, and the plot, did not disappoint either.

Fantastic Mr. Fox — The stop-motion animation is augmented by clever writing and performances to create a great film for all ages. Clooney and Meryl Streep make an engaging team.

Unmistaken Child — This documentary would easily make a list of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen. Filmmakers follow Tenzin Zopa, a Buddhist monk searching for the reincarnation of his spiritual teacher, in such a way that I could recognize how his worldview differs from mine as well as seeing our shared humanity.

Ponyo — This movie may not be one of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s best, but even so, Miyazaki is in a class above the rest. Miyazaki's imaginative stories reproduce the world as children see it as closely as any adult could.

Coraline — I enjoyed this film as much as my pre-teen friend I took to the theater to see it. Its alternate world is as wonderful as it is creepy.

Love and service in a gray world

Outside my window, the snow is falling in a mess of flurries, reminding me that it is only March and the vibrancy of spring will continue to hibernate. It is winter and the world is gray.

In fact, much of life feels gray much of the time. Topics such as gender roles, sexuality, health care, servanthood, family life, vocation (and the list goes on) are not so black and white — even within the Mennonite Church. Like the never-ending winter, it makes one weary.

How refreshing to read about a young couple who live simply. This is not to say that their lives aren’t busy. No, in fact, the opposite must be true. Not only are Jared and Angela Stauffer Widmer newlyweds who moved to a new state and started new jobs, but they are serving as housemates to developmentally disabled women. They are simply choosing to dwell in the Word, pray and follow God’s leading.

How refreshing to gather with a group of pastors who believe the truth of the Bible. “Affirming the Faith: What the Mennonite Church Believes about Homosexuality” was a one-day conference where pastors from the Eastern District and Franconia Conferences reminded attendees of the power of Scripture to convict the church and transform lives.

How refreshing to watch people give generously. Though time is precious and money is tight, people responded to Haiti immediately. When people are in need, differences are temporarily set aside so that the best assistance is offered. All aid is welcome and significant. Each act becomes a story of hope and inspiration.

How refreshing to get back to the basics of living and loving.

Perhaps spring is in the air with all its glorious vibrancy. — Heidi Martin

Remembering forgiveness

A made-for-TV film about the 2006 schoolhouse killings of five girls in the Nickel Mines Amish community is set to air at the end of the month. While the Anabaptist perspective can offer many criticisms of the film, one that stands out is that it reportedly depicts the media as skeptical of the forgiveness offered by the Amish community.

Last weekend I had the chance to reflect on forgiveness as I scrubbed egg off of our front door on a wintery Chicago morning. As my hands got colder, it became easier to imagine all the ways my housemates and I could carry out our revenge on the perpetrator, should we ever encounter him or her. Perhaps our own stockpile of eggs could come in handy.

Then I recalled some of the articles I have come across recently in my archiving work for Mennonite Weekly Review. Articles about the Amish community that forgave the murderer of their daughters, sisters, nieces and granddaughters. Articles about the Schrock family, conservative Mennonites who lost their five children in a car crash and who had the grace to forgive the driver of the other vehicle.

None of us hope to face a grave tragedy that would present the opportunity to offer such weighty and difficult forgiveness to an offender. These great examples of forgiveness can serve to remind us that we are called to forgive the smaller offenses, like eggs thrown at our door, as well. That forgiveness, though it can be difficult to offer, is transformative and healing for offender and victim alike. We have seen that in the Nickel Mines community and the Schrock family.

After I had finished cleaning the door, and my fingers had thawed, my housemates and I were discussing our plan of action should the eggs on our door become a common occurrence. Trying to emulate that transformative forgiveness, we came up with a plan. We’ll post a sign inviting the owner of the eggs bring them inside, and we will add some of our own and prepare a meal to share.

Cost of killing

Many a soldier’s story makes a profound antiwar statement. A powerful example appeared last week in a New York Times article, “Distant Wars, Constant Ghosts.” Shannon P. Meehan, a tank platoon leader in Iraq, writes of the psychic toll killing takes on soldiers.

In Iraq, Meehan called an artillery strike on a house, killing a father, a mother and their children huddled inside. The mistake left him filled with self-loathing. Eventually, Meehan says, “the deaths that I caused also killed any regard I had for my own life.”

Meehan was responsible for killing civilians, but killing combatants changes a person too, he says. It destroys one’s regard for human life, so that “once you’ve crossed the line, there is little difference in killing 10 or 20 or 30 more after that.”

Meehan notes that few people wish to talk about the fact that soldiers are trained and expected to kill. One who is willing to do it is former Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who gave a memorable Peace Lecture at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., in 1998. Grossman directs the Killology Research Group.

Every species has a hard-wired resistance against killing its own kind, Grossman said, and humans are no different. He shared research that showed in World War II only 15 to 20 percent of combat infantry soldiers were willing to fire their rifles.

In On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, Grossman wrote: “The vast majority of combatants throughout history, at the moment of truth when they could and should kill the enemy, have found themselves to be conscientious objectors.”

The bad news, Grossman said, is that with the right conditioning almost anyone and learn to kill. By breaking down the moral aversion to killing — rather than just teaching soldiers to use their weapons and assuming that they would — U.S. soldiers’ firing rates increased to about 50 percent in Korea and more than 90 percent in Vietnam.

Grossman’s On Killing, published in 1995, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. I’ve heard that another powerful portrayal of war’s toll on the human psyche is the 2009 movie The Hurt Locker, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Several Mennonite reviewers agree that it is one of the year’s best. — Paul Schrag