Rock, Paper, Awesome event!

On Saturday, Feb. 5, I was treated to one of those wonderful experiences that anyone who has ever planned an event prays for: exceeded expectations.  The event in question was a gathering of young people from four Kitchener-Waterloo area churches: First Hmong Mennonite Church, Chin Christian Church, First Mennonite Church, and Grace Lao Mennonite Church.

Q: What do these churches have in common?

A: They all have teens and young adults that inspire me and make my job so enjoyable.
Also: They are all part of congregations whose members came as new Canadians, either as immigrants or refugees within the last 30 years or so.
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So, back to the exceeded expectations.  First of all, we had close to 60 participants - our initial optimistic estimates were 50? MAX?  And the energy they brought with them!  Well.

Exhibit A) A group of youth walk in the doors of Grebel, all rockin' the youthful daring fashion that I am too old for.  I welcome them:

"Hi guys, welcome!  Where are you from?" I meant what church are you coming from.

Lead guy with spiky hair: [with broad smile] "We're from Burma!  Where's the bathroom?"

And it only got better from there. 

Enter Felipe Gonzalia, former-fellow-intern at MCCO this summer and youth leader at First Mennonite.  Check out this video for a glimpse of the joyful madness that ensued when Felipe started working the crowd with an epic game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  See if you can spot our Executive Director Rick Cober-Bauman in the mix.  Not since attending the Summit in which MCC's governance structure was discussed did Rick find such energy.



The rest of the afternoon and evening featured can best be captured in photos:

Packing Health Kits and knotting quilts for MCC's relief aid shipments.  Big thank-you to Material Resources coordinator Wendy Cotter for taking the time to show us how it's done.

 Fellas with cool hats learning how addictive knotting can be.

 Thla and crew from Chin Christian Church pack health kits.

Rick Cober Bauman getting in on the knotting.

 Went outside to load our boxes and lo! It had snowed a foot since we started.

 "You may think this string is ugly but to me, it was the string that held my life."

Lee Vang from First Hmong Mennonite Church holding the bag that contained a school kit ... that she received in a refugee camp 31 years ago in Thailand. More on this moving and remarkable story here.

The wonderful energy carried through with a tour of Grebel and ended with a delicious dinner prepared by the famous Grebel kitchen staff.  There are no photos of this because I was busy eating, thank you.  

I will end this post with the words of a participant who posted on the wall of the facebook event afterwards and really sums up well the energy and general feelings of the day:

Soooo amazing!!!!! Looooved it!!!!!
Can't wait for next time! Hope to see everyone there!
Really fun! People who didn't come you missed out yo!!!! Come out next time!!!!

[Ken Ogasawara works with MCC Ontario as the social media guy and the connecting with immigrant/first-generation churches guy.]

News from Mennonite World Conference

Misrak Meserete Kristos Church in Addis Ababa.

Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is "a community of Anabaptist-related churches rooted in the 16th-century Radical Reformation in Europe.... Today, more than 1,600,000 believers belong to this faith family; more than 60 percent are African, Asian, or Latin American."

MWC links together this Anabaptist community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness.  One way MWC connects the church is organizing an assembly that brings this global fellowship together for about 1 week every 6 years.

I can remember travelling to Manitoba with my family when I was 8 years old to gather with other Anabaptists when Canada last hosted the event, Winnipeg 1990.  I have fond memories of that week.  Though I couldn’t speak a word of Spanish nor he more than 3 words in English, I spent the week with a Puerto Rican kid named Luis.  Our friendship brought our parents together, which led to my family living in Aibonito, Puerto Rico less than two years later (my mom taught English at a school called Betania Mennonita for a semester).

That experience – or perhaps that friendship – planted in me a seed of curiosity in connecting with people that are “different” than me; a seed which can only be fed by learning with people who can show me different ways of living, and different ways of living out the gospel.  This journey (which I recognize I have just begun) has really enriched my understanding of what it means to part of the body of Christ, with all our diversity in worldview, ideas, challenges, gifts, and abilities.

"My Life is my Message"

Camp Micah (http://www.campmicah.ca/), an inter-denominational peace and justice leadership camp run the last week of August for high school students, was a new experience for us.

As Mennonites we kind of thought we had the market cornered on peace and justice work, and it was exciting and refreshing to work alongside Catholics and United Church friends to instill alternative leadership skills in youth with a focus on peace and justice. Camp Micah uses all the normal camp activities (canoeing, low-ropes, games, and campfires) to create awareness about the importance of peace and justice in our everyday lives, and to challenge us to think about how we live our lives and, ultimately, what type of message we share with others by how we live.

My life is my message...  It was a catchy phrase to put on the t-shirts for Camp Micah.

A Peace Sunday Sermon: Part 4 of 4. Conclusion

Some final things to remember

Peace happens in relationship

Jesus, sometimes called Truth said:

Folks are lucky, blessed, fortunate, on the right track

by living out compassion

“dethrone [yourselves] from the centre of our world and put another there”[1]

This is the kindom of God

A Peace Sunday Sermon: Part 3 of 4. Remembering we live by a different story

We’re not alone, you know

Everyone wishes for Peace

Even beauty queens, with their tiara’s and sparkling dresses wish for …

[sigh] world peace

– someday

Everyone wishes for Peace

Even the Lennon’s who imagine no countries

[sung] and no religions too (Oh, oh – o-o-oh)

Everyone wishes for Peace

Even the folks who earnestly engage in war,

They believe that their show of mighty force will bring conflict to a speedy end:

“We’ll just go in,

strike with precision

and then we’re out.

Balance will be restored.

We’re helping people — oh, and democracy.”

But, as the general said on the radio: conflict is never that predictable

For those of you in Kitchener-Waterloo...

What are you doing this Thursday?  And the next?  If you have some flexibility with your schedule I would encourage you to read on.  Below are two interesting events that you should to check out:

The first is an invitation from my friend Steve who works with Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support to a Rally for Refugees on Nov. 4th.  The second, an invitation from my colleague Matthew to an Interfaith Peace Vigil on Nov. 11th.

Youth Development Committee

Usually when we promote an opportunity to get involved though this blog, we offer info on opportunities with MCC and the broader church.  But as Christians we are often (or perhaps always?) called beyond the confines of our churches (here I mean buildings, though typically when I use the word church I mean people) and church programs to engage people in the communities where we live.  I think that is where the church (people) is at its best...listening to and engaging the community beyond the church (building this time) walls.

All that to introduce an opportunity.  The provincial government is seeking youth and young adults 18-25 years old to participate in a Youth Development Committe.  It looks interesting.  I encourage you to check it out.  It would be good to have some of you who are rooted in the church bring your perspectives to this process.

The "C" Word

Last week Canadians celebrated National Co-op Week and International Credit Union Day (Oct 21). MSCU is also hosting our Fall Member Events over the next few weeks (come on out!) and all of these community activities have led me to think more about my struggle with “ME” versus “WE.”

The Anabaptist community has generally been pretty good at talking about the “WE.”  In our churches and organizations, there’s lots of talk about the “C” word – community. I’ve always felt blessed to be part of a strongly identified Mennonite community. It seems like I can show up to any Mennonite church or event and have some connection with at least half a dozen people.

With Mennonites I don’t know, I have often played the Mennonite Game, which includes listing each other’s parents, relatives, church, friends etc. until a common link is found. I’ve played the Mennonite Game in some pretty remote places: a village in Swaziland; at a concert hall in Germany; and on the Bruce Trail. This has instilled in me the feeling that I’m part of a broad community that is committed to building a world full of God’s love and peace.

It has also reinforced that by doing things together, pooling our resources, and building a common vision, we can achieve more than trying to do things as individuals.

Even with this knowledge, I sometimes find it difficult to engage with community in my daily life. It can be easier to spend time and money on “ME”. As long as I check my Facebook and show up to church, I’m still connected to the community. And in most cases, this seems to be a socially acceptable practice.

I’m happy that I’m invested (both figuratively and literally) in a faith community, yet I have this feeling that I could invest even more in community; that there could be less “ME” and more “WE”.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!