Witness Summer 2020 Contents Editorial: Our Disciple-Making Mission....... 2 Small Church in a Hard Place...........................4 Samurai Discipleship.............................................6 Zaza..................................................................................8
Our DiscipleMaking Mission Editorial by Randy Friesen
Special Permission................................................10 Locked Doors, Open Hearts.............................11 Listening Together................................................ 12 Church at Home.....................................................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.........Kyle Hendy
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The Church is at a crossroads. Due to the changes and restrictions of the current pandemic, we are being invited to consider new ways of fulfilling our mission together. As Mennonite Brethren, we recall our beginnings in Russia during the 1860s when our movement began as a result of revival. We met in homes to read Scripture, worship, and break bread together. We lived on mission regardless of the cost, sharing our renewed faith in Jesus freely with family members and neighbors. By 2020, we have become a global network of churches, united by a common mission of making disciples in the way of Jesus. We have a strong heritage of Biblical teaching in the context of gathered worship services. Small groups and Sunday School classes have provided additional teaching, fellowship, and prayer. We’ve done well, but the world is changing. During this crisis, we are being given an opportunity to re-evaluate our methods and to refresh our disciple-making mission according to our new reality. I’ve learned some valuable lessons from my friend Claude Tamba-Tamba. A few years ago, when violence overtook his homeland in South Kivu, Congo, he and his family began a hectic journey. From Congo, they fled to Uganda where they ended up in a refugee camp. From there, they were given an opportunity to go to the US, where they finally landed as refugees in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Along the way, Claude planted churches wherever he went, regardless of the context. But when he arrived in Sioux Falls, he felt immobilized by culture shock. Suddenly, he didn’t know who he was. He only knew that he had nothing.
As Claude cried out in prayer, he heard God say, “You have me, and I am all you need.” As Claude cried out in prayer, he heard God say, “You have me, and I am all you need.” That day, Claude and his wife decided to turn their bedroom into a sanctuary. Every day from then on, they prayed and fasted together and cried out to God. After several weeks, God brought another family to them, and together they began praying in their living room. Soon, other families joined them as well and the group moved to larger spaces as it became necessary. Before long, the gathering had grown into the hundreds as they continued to meet for prayer and worship, both in larger gatherings and in homes. Their faith in God’s all-sufficiency reminds us that we too can ask God for a new beginning, whatever our context!
