I wonder how often God sees us laughing about disobeying the foolish thoughts of white theologians that find nothing more than faults with the faith of invisible people in barrios they never visit.  I would like to know whether Jesus took the time to pray for the Boricua boy shot in the back last week on the corner, for Joey who ended his life on a rooftop with a needle still in his seventeen-year-old arm and all the Brown skinned people who like the so-called son of God cannot speak a lick of English. help me to understand the prayers of the women taking care of other peoples’ children ..read more

How do people in Germany act in the face of apartheid and massive violence in Israel-Palestine, recognizing the weight of German history? As a US-American international worker with a peace organization in Germany, it has surprisingly felt more comfortable to engage in advocacy and work on Israel-Palestine here than in the US. This is perhaps surprising because the history here is of course so much more difficult. But because German and European Christian responsibility for the Holocaust is so profound and sensitive, and also because German political power on the world stage so modest, one has ..read more

Most people who attend church on Sunday mornings are employed in so-called “secular” professions and public institutions like hospitals and schools during the week. Younger people are under pressure from school or academic life. They all come to worship on Sunday mornings with lived realities of work, home, neighborhood and personal journey on their minds. But in my lifetime in the church, I have experienced little in worship and preaching that connects with week-long lived realities of working people. My own twenty years of preaching, long past, did not engage the working realities of the peo ..read more

Front: Rev. Shiela Hlobelo, Mama Eulanda Mabusela, Mama Phinah Phokanoka, Rev.Nicky Motsepe, Steve Wiebe-Johnson. Back: Toto Nzamo, Moora Letsoalo, Amukelani Mkwanazi, Pastor Lwazi Macingwane, Oscar Siwali, Mulalo Mahori, Pastor Gosiame, and Bishop Mtshali. Mennonite Mission Network — The four-hour power outage that occurred just seconds before the conflict mediator training session began added irony that illuminated the group’s purpose and resolve.   The rain and darkened clouds would not dim the light they all knew they must bring to solve dire social problems in their c ..read more

We share this prayer with permission from the Association of Mennonite Congregations in Germany. Information about ongoing prayer opportunities is found at the bottom of the page. —ed.   Prayeron the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the Russian government’s war of aggression against the people of Ukraine. 24 February 2023 War causes endless suffering. Locally, where people experience gun violence, rape, death and displacement; regionally, where the use of mines, heavy equipment and attacks on heavy industry contaminates the habitats of future generations; and globally, where inflation ..read more

Read here the AW Book Forum Presentation on The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery by Sarah Augustine Response to Sarah Augustine by T.J. Smith As a Lakota, Winnebago, Cherokee man, being one who the shame of culture, being Indian, was prevalent in our family, this book struck home. I was brought to tears a number of times as with a sigh of relief, “I am not alone in my feelings”. The shame and guilt in my journey of healing as Sarah talked about. How she shared through her gifted writing that is still being imposed on our sisters and brother ..read more

1. Everydayness – a concept conquers the academic world In recent years, academic discussion in the social sciences has focused strongly on the concept of the ordinariness of human existence. In this context, everydayness is understood to be a “common, everyday occurrence characterized by nothing extraordinary” or even an “everyday process.”[2]  Even more, it is a state in which what is experienced every day as something special no longer represents anything special.[3]  Everydayness is, therefore, that which naturally belongs to everyday life, to life per se. It does not have to be ..read more

The Flag Says Everything At the beginning of July, I visited Poland with a WEA staff member with the aim of getting to know a bit better the refugee work of the Slavic Protestant congregations in the country. Among others, we met the newly married couple Natasha and Ivan.  Both fled from Belarus to Poland to escape the dictates of President Lukashenko. During their honeymoon, Natasha’s brother had received his call-up papers to the Belarusian military and therefore all their family and friends advised them not to come back. They both discussed how to deal with this as Christians, and ..read more

How to Relate to Enemies the Jesus Way? Evangelical Christians are quick to pull out the golden rule of proper behavior. “What would Jesus say?” is that rule. In times of war, however, the rule seems not to apply for the vast majority of Christians. Christians turn instead to just war theory, enroll in the military, and resist the enemy by force. The questions might still be allowed, What did Jesus say about our relationship to enemies and what is a just war? Jesus answers the question in his Sermon on the Mount. He says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your ene ..read more

Estamos en el mes del Orgullo LGBTIQA+ y como anabautistas es importante que podamos celebrar y acompañar bien a las personas que pertenecen a esta comunidad en nuestras iglesias desde nuestra particularidad religiosa. Este ha sido un año histórico para las luchas de las personas LGBTIQA+ dentro de la tradición Anabautista. Se aprobó la resolución de  Arrepentimiento y Transformación de personas de la comunidad LGBTIQA+ por la Iglesia Menonita de USA. “En una asamblea especial del 27 al 30 de mayo en Kansas City, Missouri, los delegados de la Iglesia Menonita de EE. UU. cambiaron la ..read more