| April 29, 2019 Dear Phil & Kelly, People today yearn to see communities where love is the mark of relationships, where forgiveness is a regular practice, and where reconciliation is a lived reality. These kinds of communities carry authenticity in living out the gospel that the good news of Jesus Christ breaks down dividing walls of hostility. We are delighted to see our church communities preach this good news that the gospel of Christ is a ministry of reconciliation. It is through Mennonite World Conference that we inspire each other and learn from each other on how to be the Body of Christ across our differences. We have our own stories in Canada and the USA, and we have stories from Anabaptist churches around the world. | Last year, MWC held a series of meetings in Kenya. We learned that the Kenya Mennonite Church was begun in 1942 by some Tanzanian Mennonite teenagers, who shared their faith across the border and began planting churches in Kenya. The Kenya Mennonite Church celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2017, the same year that the Uganda Mennonite Church, which started as an outreach from Kenya, officially joined MWC. Those stories of crossing borders are inspirational on their own. | 
| | But there is more. The first Kenyan Mennonite congregations emerged primarily among the Suba people, then among the Luo. In the decades that followed, the church expanded to include Kikuyu, Luhya, Mijikenda, Nandi, Maasai and other tribes, each bringing its own language, traditions and memories of intertribal grievances. Conflicts arose. Throughout all this, deeper themes of public repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation kept the church alive. In times of violence around elections, church members provided aid across tribal lines. Pastor Caleb Owuonda of the Mathare Mennonite Church in Nairobi proclaims, "In this church we don't preach tribes. We preach Jesus Christ!"  | | It is in our being together as a reconciling and reconciled people within our local and global church community that we preach the message that in the body of Christ we serve, love, encourage and walk with one another. We are inspired by the image in Revelation 7, of a great multitude, of every tribe and nation, worshiping the Lord together. Don Morris, leader of the Mennonite Brethren in the U.S., says that at their last national conference focusing on unity and diversity "we affirmed that we want more of Revelation 7 to be expressed today". |  | | Yes, we know that this is not an easy message to live out, at any level of the church. We each know all too well the stories of where we have failed. We need the stories of public repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation to inspire us all. We value leaders who learn from each other on how to live out this ministry of reconciliation in the church, so that our witness has integrity. Your contributions to Mennonite World Conference enable more of these stories to be shared, and leaders to be inspired. Your contributions to Mennonite World Conference support the spaces and places where relationships can grow and thrive across the walls that keep us apart. Please share generously as one way you can contribute to living out this vision of every tribe and every nation worshipping our Lord together, in a community filled with love, forgiveness and reconciliation. You can make a contribution on our website (www.mwc-cmm.org/donate), at the addresses below, or you can make a donation through your local church designated for MWC. Please give today, so that you can continue to be inspired by our Anabaptist brothers and sisters in other places around the world. |  | In Christ, 
César García, MWC general secretary | |
