​On December 17, 2017, Mennonite Men, presented the Mara Christian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina a $40,000 JoinHands church grant.

A member of Virginia Mennonite Conference, the church is a young vibrant church made up of refugees from Myanmar who fled their country to escape persecution by the Buddhist military who control the country. Many Mara Chin people have fled to the United States and Canada and have been granted asylum here.

The congregation of over 100 members currently meets in a rented church on Sunday afternoons. Their services typically are 3 hours long and involve a great deal of prayer and singing. Many of the congregants received no formal education in Burma so have worked hard to learn English and adapt to North American culture. There are many children in the church. They also have a women’s group, a youth group, and a mission team.

The church has a building committee and is currently looking for either a place to build a church or a current building that would fit their needs. They have struggled to find an affordable option in a growing Charlotte real estate market. Meanwhile, the church continues to grow with more Mara people coming from Myanmar.

Church leaders are Tei Do (left rear), ZaZah (right front) and Bei Lua (left front). Among them for the presentation are Lonnie Bartel (front center) of Mennonite Men and Dan Yoder (right of Lonnie), who along with Lois, his spouse, Lois, marvel at the generosity and kindness of the Mara church.

With this grant, Mennonite Men has given nearly 2 million dollars to help new congregations acquire their first building. We are grateful for the opportunity to assist this congregation in purchasing a meeting place.

Camp Deerpark, New York (November 3-5, 2017)

Men gathered for a weekend Mennonite Men retreat at Camp Deerpark in New York on Healthy Masculinity: Becoming Strong, Loving and Wise.

We asked, What does it mean to be a man? How are we pressed into a ‘man box’ in our culture? And how does this impact women, children and us as men?

We examined toxic masculinity of men being invulnerable, acting tough and dominating others and how this affects us all in our communities. Then we considered healthy masculinity that God intends for us.

We engaged this critical issue in challenging conversations, interactive exercises and table fellowship.

Coming together across cultures, we embraced who we are as beloved sons of God called to follow Jesus and become strong, loving and wise with God’s Spirit.

Leaving the retreat, we returned to our communities in New York seeking to be the mature men God’s calls us to be as we extend God’s love and peace in the world.

Mennonite Men had a retreat for men and boys at Drift Creek Camp in Oregon (September 29-October 1, 2017). We especially enjoyed being in this wonderful facility set in an old growth forest of the Pacific Northwest.

We focused on Making Peace With Conflict. Recognizing that conflict is a normal part of all our relationships, we gathered to learn how to deal with this in our lives.

While we had circle time to talk about our experiences of conflict, we also had fun with problem solving exercises.

While conflict can seem like a tug of war, we discovered ways of cooperating to reach win/win solutions to our problems.

The challenge is to overcome our instinctive reactions in conflict so we may communicate our needs, work together and respect one another. And when we do, we can ‘make peace with conflict.’

Some of our most wonderful experiences were being in this beautiful part of God’s creation. Adam’s return to Eden.

Camp Friedenswald, Michigan (October 13-15, 2017)

Over 40 men and boys met at Camp Friedenswald in Michigan for a Mennonite Men’s retreat focused on Making Peace With Conflict.

We considered how conflict is everywhere. Whether at school, work or home, with people we don’t like and among our closest friends, we all deal with conflict as a part of life. We learned that as difficult as it may be, conflict creates opportunities for us to grow and form healthy relationships.

We engaged in active exercises and had fun while learning how to make peace with interpersonal conflicts.

Between sessions men enjoyed outdoor walks at Friedenswald—the “Peaceful Woods.”

One group of guys makes it an annual practice to gather at the Friedenswald Mennonite Men retreat to maintain their relationships—a practice other men may want to consider.

It’s good to have a gathering of males young and old share together.

Twenty-five men gathered at beautiful Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp in New Hamburg Ontario June 9-10 for an enjoyable twenty-six hours of fellowship, worship, reflection, and leisure. Friday evening and Saturday all day featured sessions led by pastor Scott Brubaker-Zehr with music and bible story telling by Bryan Moyer-Suderman.

Drawing on Richard Rohr’s materials, Scott led us in reflections on the ups and downs of men’s spiritual journeys, highlighting the relationship between life experiences and our relationship with God. Bryan shared some of his own music, leading us in rhythmic and reflective worship experiences, and bringing to life stories of men in the bible. Times of sharing in response to the thoughts presented by Scott and Bryan were rich and meaningful, with the men from their early 20’s into the 80’s sharing with honesty and vulnerability.

Dates have been booked for next year. Stay tuned!

In December 2016, the Mennonite Men program, JoinHands, extended a $40,000 grant to West Hills Mennonite Fellowship (the Baden Church plant) and this is their story:

‘Your generous grant has allowed us to advance the building project. While we have experienced challenges, we are excited about our mission and want to share how God is working in Baden.

One of our core missions is to reach out to families in Baden, Ontario. Dozens of children are participating in a bi-weekly FROG program meeting at a local school gymnasium. As they enjoy physical activity, we have the opportunity to share in their lives as we share stories about God’s love.

A strong relationship has been established with the Baden Community Association (BCA), a local volunteer organization working to build community and culture in town. This relationship has allowed us an active part in the annual Baden Corn Fest event by funding and serving in their Kids Zone. By participating, we are able to converse with parents and share our story.

Since we are applying to shift the occupancy to assembly – there are some things we needed to do to bring the building up to code. In addition to updating the electrical by separating the spaces, we have completed all demolition and upgraded the existing apartment. Finally, we have invested time and resources in understanding the structural impact of the changes. This has led to some construction delays as we are required to implement a helical pier approach to the foundation.

One of the other challenges we have experienced concerns the environmental remediation. When we purchased the building – we were aware it was under a Phase 2 Environmental Assessment. The soil was contamination because the property was formerly a gas station/auto shop. Your support has enabled us to make a strong effort towards resolving this issue.

Our next steps in construction include roof repairs and to finalize the occupancy plans. We are now revising our plans to focus on occupying the east side of the building and are making minor revisions to the plan and are actively sourcing the funds required to complete the building project.

Blessings,

West Hills Fellowship’

So while they are not regularly worshipping in the building now, they occasionally meet there to advance prayer, to plan and to worship. They are already impacting the community, they are hopeful for the future and they are looking forward to worshiping our Lord in their new space. West Hills Mennonite Fellowship extends their heartfelt thank you to all those who have helped move their building project forward!

Hans Peters
Canadian Coordinator

The Mennonite Men Board of Directors is pleased to announce Steve Thomas of Goshen, Indiana as their new Coordinator. Steve brings extensive experience in ministering to men and has served at numerous Mennonite congregations as a pastor. Thomas is a graduate of Hesston College, Goshen College and the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. “We are excited about having Steve Thomas join us as Coordinator and look forward to serving the men of our denomination with him”, says Lonnie Bartel, Mennonite Men’s board president. “Steve brings excellent qualifications and experience to our organization, especially in the area of men’s retreats.”

Thomas began his work with Mennonite Men November 1, 2016. Mennonite Men is a constituency group dedicated to both men’s ministries and service through the JoinHands program which raises funds for Mennonite churches building their first meeting places.