Witness Fall 2019

Fall 2019 multiply.net

together that the world may know

Witness

The Heart of a Multiplier:

Learning to Walk Humbly

Witness Fall 2019 Contents Learning to Walk Humbly................................... 2 The Housekeeper....................................................4

Learning to Walk Humbly

Onesphore....................................................................6 An Open Heart..........................................................8

Editorial by Randy Friesen

Looking for Love....................................................10 Due Diligence........................................................... 12 Sis Timet..................................................................... 13 Partners.......................................................................14

Staff Editor-in-Chief..............................Randy Friesen Managing Editor..................Mark J.H. Klassen Layout & Design..........................Darcy Scholes Illustration & Design..................... Colton Floris Writing & Prayer Mobilization.......Nikki White Media Director................................ Daniel Lichty Circulation & Administration.......... Ann Wiebe

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The Bible encourages us over and over again to walk humbly before God and before each other. Although humbling ourselves is not easy, God is faithful to bring opportunities into our lives—it feels like I’ve had more of those opportunities than ever of late!

Earlier this year, when the Board of Multiply made the decision to release our multidenominational network services and staff, it was difficult to embrace the change and make the necessary shifts. For those of us who were involved in discerning the merger between MB Mission and C2C and then, a year and a half later, undoing its multidenominational aspect, it was particularly painful. The pain came from both releasing the staff who were serving in this area and from the sense that our former strategy was not serving the MB denomination well.

The decision was the outcome of many hours of careful listening to our partners, leaders and supporters. In those meetings, we realized that we had not listened well enough in some of our earlier decisions. Despite a two-year discernment process with our constituency, culminating in a strong vote affirming the merger, there was a growing sense that our church-planting strategy was moving too far away from provinces/districts and the local church. We had provided church-planting services through our C2C team, but what the denomination wanted was a contextual strategy that reflected our family. It was clear that we needed to humble ourselves, own our failures, and repent, before we could move forward together in mission.

“He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” ~ Philippians 2:7-8 In the New Testament, Paul looked to the example of Jesus who “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…. he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:7-8). This humility was the only way Christ’s mission could be accomplished, and it’s essential for our mission as well.

Some have asked, “With the recent strategy shifts, what remains of Multiply’s North American mission vision?” With an increasingly secular, post-Christian culture, and with many new immigrants arriving from least-reached people groups, North America is a mission field that needs to receive mission workers as much as it sends them. For example, at the recent Congolese church planter summit in Cincinnati, Ohio, hosted by the

MB Central District and attended by over 50 Congolese pastors/church planters, we affirmed that these leaders were mission workers sent to North America, rather than just refugees fleeing conflict. In addition, these diasporic mission leaders have so much to teach the North American church about humility, suffering and sacrifice as keys to Christ-centered mission.

Christ. He was committed to not allowing his heart to grow cold to the presence of Jesus, for whose sake he had lost all things. In the pain and relational challenges of ministry, we can become distracted from our focus of living on mission with Jesus. Paul wrote, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Multiply is willing to serve these diasporic leaders in mission, assisting with coaching, networking and resourcing. Other cross-cultural mission opportunities in North America include reaching out to the many international university students through our short-term mission alumni network, and serving First Nations (Native Americans) where invited. However, we recognize that these local and national mission involvements need to be discerned together with our North American churches, conferences and leaders.

If we don’t appropriately process the past, we can’t move on toward what is ahead. However, without a forwardmoving vision, we remain stuck in the past. Knowing the appropriate balance of thoughtful reflection and strategic planning is essential for all of us in mission. I believe Jesus is helping us do that.

Beyond North America, we have inspiring stories like that of Naat in Thailand, who has recently stepped into a leadership role with the Thai MB conference of churches.

Almost twenty years ago, she was a housekeeper for some of our workers when they first moved to Thailand. At that time, Naat was a new believer, so she was eager to learn from these foreigners who were more mature in their faith.

However, very quickly, our workers realized that they had a lot to learn from Naat in terms of language, culture, and local mission strategies. Eventually, as Naat grew in her faith and gifting, the team determined that it was their role to support her leadership rather than have her support them. She was the local mission leader that they needed to get behind. (Read Naat’s story on page 4.)

It’s not always easy for foreign workers to release authority to local leaders, but there is always a rich reward in the end—both personally and missionally—when we choose humility, trust and sacrifice. Over our 120-year history as a mission, we have not always done this well. Sometimes trust has been lacking and the handoffs of authority have been abrupt and painful. Other times, we have realized that finances were nurturing an unhealthy or unequal relationship with our mission partners.

How do we avoid making those same mistakes in North America as we grow partnerships with church planting leaders and churches across the continent? My prayer is that, when we don’t get it right, we will have the grace and humility to own and learn from our mistakes, forgive one another, and walk forward in peace and unity.

Later in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he focuses on his singular goal of knowing Christ. In the midst of planting churches, discipling leaders, and leading outreach strategies, Paul was focused on growing in his love relationship with

As we consider the Lord’s mission invitations to us in the coming days, we are committed to doing this together.

Our opportunities to learn from, and apply, global mission learning here in North America is significant. Our opportunity to learn from each other, from pain, and from course corrections is constant.

There is always a rich reward in the end when we choose humility, trust and sacrifice.

My neighbor is a Sioux nation elder. When she first moved in next door with her family, they hosted a number of friends and neighbours to their new place.

I went over with some dessert, introduced myself and welcomed Veronica to the neighborhood. At the occasion, one of her family members said, “Veronica carries a lot of teachings.” I didn’t know what that expression meant, and I wondered what those “teachings” were as I left her house that evening.

Over the next few months, I had several significant conversations with Veronica. She shared the pain of losing her husband and her son in tragic deaths. She shared about living on the street as a teen, struggling with addictions and without any sense of a belonging.

She also shared about how her faith in Jesus and her prayer life were critical as she processed her pain. It was then that I realized that her “teachings” came from what she had learned through suffering, not unlike Christ’s journey to the cross.

As a mission, we have a few more “teachings” in this season. My prayer is that Jesus would redeem them for his glory as we learn to walk humbly. In this issue of Witness, we want to share stories of both the cost and joy of a seed, planted in the ground, which dies and, in doing so, produces many seeds (John 12:24). multiply.net | 3

The Housekeeper THAILAND

By Mark J.H. Klassen

“I didn’t feel loved,” Naat said of her family upbringing in a small village in north-eastern Thailand. “Since my parents were poor,” she explained, “they sent me to live with my relatives. But as soon as I finished school, I ran away to Bangkok to work in a factory.”

After being transferred by her employer to another factory, Naat became friends with a fellow employee who was very kind to her and invited her to a party at her house. “I decided to go,” Naat said, “but, when I arrived, I found out that it was a Christmas party, and I was so angry that my friend had tricked me.”

She was about to leave, but the people were so friendly and made her feel so welcome. Naat’s heart was changed and she decided to stay. That night, they invited her to a church gathering, which she couldn’t refuse.

It was weeks later when she was at a church service with her friend that the pastor approached her. “He asked me if I knew I was a sinner, and I said, ‘Yes’,” Naat recalled. “Then he asked me if I would like to be free from the weight and curse of that sin. That was the day that I made the decision to receive Christ.”

As Naat was growing in her faith and serving in the church, she eventually got married and had two children. But while the children were still very young, her husband walked out on her. “I didn’t have anywhere to go,” she said, “so the church offered me a small room and a job cleaning the building.”

A while later, Naat’s husband re-connected with her and they decided that they would try to be a family again. So Naat and the children moved to Chonburi where he was living. Unfortunately, it was not long before he left her again.

Naat found a church in Chonburi where she was welcomed and once again given an opportunity to clean and serve in a variety of ways.

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It was at that church in Chonburi where Naat met members of a new team from North America that had bold visions of being involved in a church-planting movement in Thailand (Multiply’s Team 2000). Naat was impressed by the zeal and commitment of these six foreigners as they were learning the language and building relationships.

One of the team members, Karen Huebert-Sanchez, asked Naat if she would be her Thai language tutor. Karen recalled the situation, “I was desperate for a tutor and Naat was desperate for work, just to feed her children, so I was happy to hire her to help me with my Thai.”

“The only problem was that Louise’s house never got clean because we were always going out to share the Gospel.”

Naat’s friendship with the foreigners grew strong. Before long, she was offered a job as a housekeeper in the home of Karen’s teammates, Dave and Louise Sinclair-Peters.

“The only problem,” Naat remembered, “was that Louise’s house never got clean because we were always going out to share the Gospel with people instead of getting things done around the house!”

Louise loved the opportunity to learn from Naat. She quickly realized that Naat was not only a willing co-worker but a valuable mentor and a gifted evangelist.

“It was a busy time in both of our lives,” Louise said. “We were both mothering young children, but throughout the day Naat was teaching me on so many different levels, like language, culture, and ministry. She was so much more than a housekeeper.”

Often, in the evenings during that time, the two of them would go out into the streets to share the Gospel with whoever would listen. “I followed Naat everywhere,” said Louise, “and I would just mimic what she was saying and doing. I would listen to her share her faith with Buddhists, and I would share my faith using the same approach. I would listen to her pray, and I would pray like her.”

It was by Naat’s side that Louise learned something about herself that would change the course of her life: “As I worked with Naat, I discovered that I was also an evangelist.

I was thirty-five years old and, for the first time in my life, I had clarity in regard to how God had gifted me.”

“Naat trained me,” Louise concluded. “I got the blessing. I got the joy. This poor and humble housekeeper became one of our most cherished ministry partners in Thailand.”

Eventually, as the ministries of the team expanded, Naat was relied upon more and more to offer critical help and advice. “She was the local who understood the context,” said Louise. “If we had problems – and we had lots – we’d call Naat and she would come and help us. I think she was the only one brave enough to work with these six crazy foreigners!”

Finally, one of the church plants connected to the team was in a leadership crisis. The local Thai pastor was pulling out and Louise didn’t feel she should step in, so Naat was encouraged to take charge.

“I said No,” Naat recalled. “I told them, ‘I’m a woman. I’m not trained. I can’t do this. I can’t be a pastor.’”

“I said No,” Naat recalled. “I told them, ‘I’m a woman. I’m not trained.

I can’t do this. I can’t be a pastor.’”

Everyone else disagreed.

Everyone else disagreed with Naat. They saw her heart for Jesus, her passion for prayer and fasting, and her love for others, especially new believers. Finally, Louise told her, “God is going to equip you to be the pastor of this church.”

Eventually, Naat agreed. She became known as Ajaan Naat, or Pastor Naat. Under her leadership, the Bethel Church grew quickly. People were regularly coming to faith in Jesus and Naat was discipling them. Before long, she had also identified and discipled a new pastor and, although it was difficult for her to let go of that congregation, she moved on to plant another church at the Hope Center in Chachoengsao.

While serving as a pastor, Naat was also studying and growing in her faith. She completed Bible school by correspondence and continued to be strengthened as a leader as she related to the broader network of churches.

Today, Ajaan Naat is highly respected by her fellow Thai pastors and her many co-workers. She is a strong advocate for unity and cooperation among churches, and regularly organizes and leads training events for evangelists and church leaders. Naat remains a key leader in Multiply’s Thailand ministry and serves both as the Vice President of the Thailand Mennonite Brethren Foundation and as the leader of the Thailand MB Conference.

To watch a recent video interview with Naat and to catch a glimpse of her passions, go to multiply.net/naat. To support Naat and other Thai pastors and evangelists like her, go to multiply.net/houseofhope.

Onesphore Learner, Leader, Visionary BURUNDI

By Mark J.H. Klassen

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

It’s an old African proverb that Doug Hiebert says accurately describes the vision and strategy of his African friend and co-worker, Onesphore Manirakiza.

The two leaders met in 2004 when Doug was serving with the Mennonite Central Committee in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. They quickly became friends and, when Doug and his wife Deanna returned to Africa in 2014 to serve in Burundi with Multiply, Onesphore and his ministry, Harvest for Christ, became one of their key partners. Although the two men had many differences, representing two continents and two organizations, they shared a passion for Jesus and a belief that the Gospel could bring positive change to Africa.

They both wanted to go far, so they decided to go together.

“If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together.” ~ African Proverb Early on in their partnership, Doug saw something unique in Onesphore’s leadership. He was committed to investing in younger leaders, a strategy that was rare among many African church leaders. “He wasn’t afraid of others taking his place or usurping his leadership,” Doug said. “Because of his long-term vision, which was so much bigger than himself, Onesphore was intentionally investing in a younger generation that would help him accomplish his dream to see God transform Burundi.”

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Onesphore’s ministry was grounded in taking risks of faith and taking every opportunity to learn. Doug was reminded of the turning point in Onesphore’s ministry, when the governor of a certain province imprisoned some of Harvest’s young evangelists. “When Onesphore rushed to their aid,” Doug said, “the governor explained to him that the evangelists were disturbing his people by taking them away from the work they needed to do. The governor said that if the Harvest workers were doing something practical to visibly make a difference in the people’s lives, then he would be happy to have them in his province.”

“Onesphore didn’t get angry and lash out,” Doug recalled, “nor did he cower and run away. He took the governor’s words to heart and developed a whole new model for Harvest’s ministry, which featured meeting the basic needs of the people, like healthcare, education and housing.”

At that time, when Onesphore came to Doug and asked him what he thought of the idea, Doug was thrilled. “My spirit jumped. I loved the idea of a holistic ministry that would contend for the manifestation of the kingdom in the lives of the poor. I was just excited to be there to support Onesphore’s vision and to forge a partnership.”

“The next thing we knew,” Doug said, “the governor was offering Onesphore and Harvest a sizable piece of land on which to develop their initiatives among the Batwa, the poorest and most marginalized people group in Burundi.”

Today, the ministry is thriving and God is changing lives among the Batwa. In addition to a medical clinic on the property, there is a school, which is considered to be the best in the province. The community is being transformed: people are studying the Bible, students are learning to dream, and health care and living conditions have improved dramatically.

For Doug and Onesphore, it was a glimpse of the fruit of healthy partnership. “It became clear to me,” Doug said, “that my role as a foreigner was to encourage and affirm Onesphore’s vision, to help give some shape to it, then to show our commitment through supporting the ministry financially and sending teams to help when possible.”

Doug said, “My role as a foreigner was to encourage and affirm Onesphore’s vision.”

In order to broaden the base for partnership, Doug also introduced Onesphore to his home church in Ontario, Canada—Cornerstone Community (MB). The local church was eager to get behind Onesphore’s vision to see Burundi transformed by the Gospel, so they began partnering with Harvest and their ministry among the Batwa.

Doug has been amazed over and over again by the richness of this partnership with Harvest for Christ. It’s a partnership model that emphasizes giving and receiving for both parties. Onesphore has shared freely about how

his new global church community has brought enrichment to him personally and to his ministry. “Onesphore has been blessed,” Doug emphasized, “not only by his partner’s commitment to mission, but by their zeal for unity within the body of Christ and by their openness to the Holy Spirit.”

For Onesphore, the partnership also gave him more opportunity to speak outside of the African context.

“Whether he’s preaching at Cornerstone or sharing at Multiply’s Global Council meetings, people really appreciate Onesphore’s fresh perspective,” Doug said.

“The experiences are always impacting and mutually encouraging.”

Please pray for the nation of Burundi and for the health and fruitfulness of Multiply’s ongoing partnership with Onesphore and Harvest for Christ.

To give to the Transform Burundi Network, go to multiply.net/project/tbnet To view the video story about Onesphore, go to multiply.net/manirakiza multiply.net | 7

“I was consumed with shame all my life,” Hannah said of the woundedness of her past. “And I was convinced that it was my fault, that there was something wrong with me.”

The shame was due to abusive incidents in her childhood when older boys had used Hannah for their own amusement. She could never have imagined the long-term repercussions these events would have in her life: a distorted self-image, eating disorder, depression, and an inability to enjoy healthy relationships.

“I did not know why I always felt anxious, unhappy, and insecure,” she said of her adulthood. “I just knew I needed help.”

Hannah became friends with Richard and Hazel Funk, long-term workers for Multiply in Austria. With them, Hannah began to process her pain and find wholeness through Christ. In their role as member care facilitators

for workers in Europe and Central Asia, the Funks also work closely with churches in Austria. Their heart for the wounded led them to partner with an organization called Open Hearts Ministry, which aims at cultivating communities of care where stories of pain and abuse can be spoken, heard and redeemed. Together with Hannah, they participated in an Open Heart course that changed her life.

“On the first evening of the course,” Hannah recalled, “I heard a detailed definition and description of sexual abuse. I suddenly recognized for the first time that this is what had happened to me, and I actually became sick to my stomach. I realized that others had stolen something from me that was not theirs to take.”

God showed Hannah how patterns she had created were destroying

her relationships, causing pain to herself and others. She wanted to change. With the support of a loving, supportive community, she began to open her heart to Jesus and experience healing and restoration.

“I came to realize that the way God created me was actually good,” Hannah said. “The people in my small group confirmed my self-worth and dignity, and also shared my sorrow concerning the abuse.”

When her small group shed tears upon hearing her story, Hannah began to realize that what had happened to her was cruel and wicked. “I had a right to feel angry and sad, but I did not have to stay the way I was. I was able to discard my shame-based identity and see myself as God’s beloved daughter.

For that, I will forever be thankful.”

An Open Heart AUSTRIA

By Nikki White

Looking for Love UKRAINE

By Andrew Ardell, TREK

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” said Lena, who grew up in a poor family in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. So she worked hard as a student and eventually secured a teaching position at a local school. But the pay was low, so she gave up on her dreams and took a better-paying job in the textile industry.

She was beautiful, strong and smart, so she attracted the attention of the men in her life. Lena went from boyfriend to boyfriend looking for love. Increasingly, her friends turned to alcohol and partying to find meaning in their lives, and Lena was caught up in the same lifestyle.

One day, she became friends with a tall and handsome policeman.

After several months of dating, the two young lovers decided to get married. Shortly before the wedding, Lena became pregnant. She said, “For the first two weeks of my marriage, I was the happiest woman alive.”

However, her happiness did not last. After two weeks, she found out that her husband was being tracked by the Ukrainian secret police who had video evidence of him accepting a huge bribe from a prominent criminal group. He was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison.

She asked herself, “If these demons are real, could God be real too?”

Lena was crushed. But she said, “I still loved him and I was determined to wait.”

After three years of raising her daughter alone, her husband was pardoned and released from prison. They lived happily together again.

At first he struggled to find steady work, but he eventually got a job at a large mechanic shop. He worked hard and was quickly promoted to a management role. He often worked late into the evening, saying that his new role had many responsibilities. But eventually Lena learned that he was cheating on her.

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“Even then,” she said, “I still loved him.”

Unfortunately, things became worse for Lena. She began to feel mentally unstable and spiritually oppressed. She would hear voices and footsteps in her home. She would often not be able to sleep because of her fear. Yet in the midst of her oppression, she asked herself, “If these demons are real, could God be real too?”

She began to search for God by visiting fortune tellers. But she quickly learned that they were unable to give her what she needed to be free. So she went to an Orthodox priest and explained her situation, but he refused to help.

Lena did not know where to turn. Her friends at the factory discouraged her from going to church and invited her to drink her fears and problems away. Eventually, she decided to move back to her mother’s apartment with her daughter.

“Eventually, I lost hope,” said Lena, “so I decided to kill myself. I just couldn’t handle the oppression anymore, and I thought it was better to die than to live without love.”

Lena wrote a letter to her mom and her daughter and went to jump off a bridge. On the way, she heard voices in her head. One voice said, “Do it! Kill yourself!” Another said, “You don’t have to. You have a family.” Somehow, she knew the second voice was God, and she couldn’t disobey him, even if she barely knew him.

Lena returned home and told her mother all that had happened. Not knowing what to do, her mother brought her to the hospital and admitted her to the psychiatric ward.

After a month in the hospital, Lena was stable enough to go back to work. At the factory, a man gave her a Bible and he and his wife invited Lena to church. She was excited to go with them, even though her friends continued to discourage her. As she read the Bible and began to understand God’s character, her outlook on life began to change.

During this time, her husband came to visit her at her mother’s apartment. He was very angry and asked her, “Why did you not kill yourself for me?” When he saw the Bible on the table, he was outraged. He picked up the table and threw it across the room, shouting at her, “Do you still love me?”

Lena said, “I thank God every day for my work and for my new community.” returned. That night, while she was praying, Lena felt God’s presence and received his comfort.

Lena’s church family has been providing a caring environment for her and her daughter to grow in their faith.

Through the church, Lena heard about a job opportunity as an accountant at the New Hope Center, a thriving ministry among orphans and youth at risk. “I thank God every day for my work and for my new community,” Lena said.

In addition to serving at the New Hope Center, Lena has also begun to gather believers together in her neighborhood in an effort to start a new church. Despite setbacks in her life, she is giving herself wholeheartedly to God and living on mission. As a single mother, she has also begun to care for three other single mothers in her community. She serves them with kindness and generosity, and she challenges them to cling to their faith in God and to make him their first love.

Andrew Ardell was a part of a TREK team that served local churches in Ukraine for six months and partnered with the New Hope Center, where they worked with people like Lena. If you would like to make a financial contribution to this vital ministry that serves needy families in Ukraine, please go to multiply.net/newhopecenter

“I do love you,” she spoke with clarity and honesty, “but I love God more.” He stormed out of the room and never

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Due Diligence NORTH AFRICA

By Nikki White

Many people wanted him dead. For Ibrahim, this was no surprise. He was only surprised by the fact that it all started with him just wanting to be diligent in doing his research.

Ibrahim grew up as a devout Muslim in North Africa. He was very serious about the apologetics of his faith.

His reputation as a scholar led him to be invited to teach on a weekly basis at the mosque, and he spent considerable time in research, study and preparation for each opportunity to speak.

One week, it fell on him to teach about the Prophet Issa. Ibrahim knew that Issa was a controversial figure, so he was keen to research his subject thoroughly.

As he searched for resources, Ibrahim was dismayed by how little was written about this prophet by other Muslims. He decided to look beyond the books that were available to him, and began to read books written by the followers of Issa: the Christians.

Ibrahim was amazed as he read about this prophet, a man that Christians not only followed as Messiah, but worshiped as God. Issa, whom they called Jesus, was even more controversial than Ibrahim had first realized.

He read many, many books, and had more and more questions. When 12 | witness

Ibrahim decided to watch a Christian satellite TV broadcast available in his region, he knew he was crossing a line, but he quickly justified it as doing due diligence as an academic. So, when he saw that the program had an option to call in, he dialed the number prepared for a debate. Instead, he found himself drawn into conversations not only about faith, but about his own life.

The people he spoke with invited him to continue these conversations, and Ibrahim called back repeatedly. It was all in the name of research. At least, at first.

In time, Ibrahim felt the shift in his heart. He was moving from researching Jesus to following him. It became clear that this prophet was so much more than a prophet, and so Ibrahim decided to declare that Issa had become his Lord and Savior.

The response from his Muslim community was hostile. Yet even in the face of death threats, Ibrahim stood his ground. Others noticed his unusual courage, including his own son, who also decided to become a follower of Jesus and was promptly sent to prison, to suffer for his faith.

Despite the opposition, Ibrahim has no regrets, but holds fast to his integrity and to his decision. When challenged, he simply invites others to do their research and to see for themselves.

Sis Timet PHILIPPINES

By Sam & Evelyn Arcano

One day, when we were looking for children to attend the Vacation Bible School, we spotted a residence with a basketball court, surrounded with metal bars and a closed gate. A prayer was uttered that the people behind those bars would be reached for Christ.

God heard our prayer.

Sometime later, the owner of the property—a woman named Timet Lagdao—felt sick and decided to see a doctor. The route for her was uphill and grueling. While painfully climbing over two hundred stairs, Timet suddenly felt like fainting. She sat down on one of the steps and prayed, “God, if you will hear me and give me more years, I will spend those years serving you.”

God heard her prayer.

Standing up, she felt so relieved that she decided not to proceed to the doctor, but to go back home instead!

The following day, Timet heard about a Bible study that was happening close to her home. She said in her heart, “This is it!” and immediately joined the group. It was the beginning of her new journey with Jesus. Timet faithfully attended the meetings, opened her home to us and eventually agreed that her basketball court be used for Sunday services! She became our sister in the Lord, and we called her, “Sis Timet.”

We saw Sis Timet cross from slavery to freedom, from legalism to grace, from uncertainty to assurance. Then, in March 2019, we saw Sis Timet cross the bridge from life into life everlasting. She knew that she was dying. During one of the Saturday prayer fellowships a few weeks before her death, she had said, “If it’s my time, I am ready. My sins are forgiven.”

Her final prayer requests were for the salvation of her whole family and for unity among her relatives. And God heard those prayers too.

During the many memorial services we conducted for Sis Timet, family and friends came in great numbers and heard the Gospel. There were days when we had four services from 10:00 AM onward! What great opportunities to declare God’s solution to sin, death and judgment! Since then, Sis Timet’s husband, brother and one of her daughters have all been coming to church, along with five of her grandchildren. The additional years that God gave to our sister were well spent.

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Partners CANADA - MEXICO

By Nikki White

It was a Saturday morning and a group of men were reading the Bible together. North Langley Community Church (BC, Canada) was hosting a team from Colima, Mexico, which included Carlos Ortega, President of the MB Conference of Mexico. Rob Thiessen, BCMB Conference Minister, was leading the session. “We all read silently,” said Carlos, “long chapters from the Old and New Testament, and a Psalm. When we gathered to share, Rob and I discovered we had both been moved by Psalm 34:9, ‘Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.’”

Carlos paused, remembering the moment. “Out of all that we read, God spoke that one verse to both of us. We were two brothers, being comforted and challenged by our Father.”

Carlos had not always felt this kinship. When, seven years ago, North Langley began a church-to-church partnership with his church, Pan de Vida, Carlos struggled with viewing North American churches as somehow superior.

“When the first team came to Mexico from Canada, I thought, ‘Ai ai ai! What do I do with these people?’” Carlos grimaced at the memory. “Yes, we did outreach together, but it was exhausting!”

The well-meaning Canadians had a surplus of vision, energy and resources, but little understanding of the cultural and social context in which they were serving.

They were eager to get things done, and impatient with a culture that preferred to linger over coffee and spend time getting to know their new friends. In the midst of the exchange, Carlos realized that the North Americans needed the Mexican church to teach them how best to serve when in Mexico.

Teams sent from North Langley came back to Canada humbled from having spent ten days with a people 14 | witness

that they had assumed to be needy, only to have been profoundly impacted by their wealth of wisdom, generosity, patience and good humor.

Rob recalled how the vision for mutuality in mission slowly gained traction at his home church of North Langley. “We started sending pastoral staff down to Colima, and bringing leaders from Pan de Vida up to Canada. When Carlos became president of the Mexican MB Conference in 2017, we were excited to invite him and his wife, Karla, to come and stay at our home.” Admittedly, there was some awkwardness between the two leaders at the beginning.

“At first, I just asked questions,” said Carlos. “There was so much I didn’t understand. I didn’t speak English. My church was so small.

It was hard for me to feel that we were actually peers.”

“At first, I just asked questions,” said Carlos. “There was so much I didn’t understand. I didn’t speak English. My church was so small. It was hard for me to feel that we were actually peers.”

But both men came to realize that each church had much to offer the other, and much to learn together. “North Langley showed us at Pan de Vida how to be more of a presence in our community,” said Carlos. “We are learning from their many years of experience. But we, in turn, offer them something: new experience, different cultural perspectives, and insights into challenges faced by churches outside North America.”

In 2019, the two men attended the International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, which gave Rob another window into who Carlos was as a leader. Afterward, Rob and his wife Janet visited the church in Colima. For Carlos especially, it was a significant step forward in his relationship with his visitors.

“At ICOMB, there were pastors from all over the world,” said Carlos, “many like me, untrained, struggling to build a leadership team. It mattered to me that Rob saw this. Then, when Rob and his wife came to my town—to my house, to eat at my table and worship in my church—for me, that changed our relationship. Rob and I conversed as president to president, pastor to pastor. More, we conversed as fathers, as husbands, as friends.”

Over the last eight years, these two partner churches have cross-pollinated frequently. Each church does proportionate fundraising for short-term mission exchanges, and team members are hosted by families in both countries, giving rise to myriad opportunities for grace, confusion, and hilarity. Pan de Vida has sent interns to work at North Langley and provided volunteers for their summer camps. This past summer, Pastor Carlos brought his men’s team to serve at the camp.

“Those men blew me away with their willingness to take time off from their jobs—without pay—and serve in this way,” Rob confessed. “We learned a lot from their humility and sacrifice. Our Colima partners are willing to come and wash our feet. We want to do the same in return.”

For Carlos, the friendship with Rob has become deeply impactful. “As a pastor and as president of the Mexican Conference, I often feel stuck. I get busy doing many things. My wheels spin, but I do not advance. Rob challenges me to devote more time to my marriage, to my personal devotions, to building a leadership team, to sermon preparation. I do not always like being challenged!”

Carlos laughed. “I tell Rob, ‘I am husband, president, preacher, administrator. At times, I am the church custodian!’ But I feel his empathy, and his friendship.”

Carlos Ortega (far left) and Rob Thiessen (far right) have both benefitted from the ongoing partnership between their respective churches: “For us, it is not about trips and projects. It is about trust and friendship.”

For Rob, the learning has also been significant. “This year has been a bit of a crossroads for us both. I realized that to see myself only as a mentor is fraught with problems.

Friends press in and challenge without bulldozing.

Friends are sensitive, but not tentative. There are big issues to face as our church-to-church partnership is now also a conference-to-conference partnership, so we both need to challenge each other, to lean into the hard conversations together. Otherwise, how are we being good friends?”

When asked what advice or encouragement they would have for churches that might be considering entering into a similar partnership, Rob responded, “Pray! Look for what the Holy Spirit is already doing. Does someone in your church already have a connection somewhere? It may be overseas, or it might be in your own backyard.”

“Be willing to invest time,” Carlos added. “Don’t rush.

Respect the pace and values of other cultures. For us, it is not about trips and projects. It is about trust and friendship.”

Multiply serves national leaders and local churches all around the world in order to help them make disciples, plant churches and grow partnerships. Can we help you explore a church-to-church partnership?

For more information, contact your Regional Mobilizer at 1.888.866.6267.

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