Vision for Mission

Vision for Mission is a newsletter from Randy Friesen, General Director of MB Mission. Randy highlights recent worldwide stories and events that will help you build a vision for mission.

January 2008

I had an interesting conversation with a young man coming out of a worship service recently. He asked me what I thought about witnessing with our bodies. When I looked a little puzzled he explained that he was thinking about getting a tattoo with a picture of the cross and a heart combined with a verse of scripture. He wondered what I thought of that idea. I asked him if he had checked out the Bible on this topic. He assured me he had read the relevant scripture on tattoos and cutting from Leviticus 19:28.

December 2007

I attended a baptism last month in Thailand. The sun was setting over a reservoir outside Chon Buri as 21 new followers of Jesus gave public testimony to the transformation taking place in their lives. The little park was crowded with families enjoying a Sunday afternoon at the beach. Their curiosity grew as they listened to the worship and then watched the procession heading into the water.

November 2007

We recently invited a consultant, Dr Linda Williams, to interview a number of mission organizations who are engaged in church planting and community transformation in "creative access countries." Her recent report to the MB Mission board was a fascinating look at current realities and best practices amongst agencies currently focused on the "least reached." Here are some highlights:

October 2007

On a recent visit to Ukraine for a church planters' summit that we hosted, a team of young pastors gathered for several days of teaching, prayer and relationship building. They represented 5 young churches that have been planted in the new Union of Mennonite Churches in Ukraine. These pastors have a vision for a New Testament church marked by dependency on Jesus, the work of the Spirit and community outreach that represents a real alternative to the prevailing Baptist and Charismatic churches which dominate the landscape of Ukraine. The challenges faced by these churches are many.

September 2007

This summer, one of missions teams serving with MB Mission was engaged in a month-long trek through a secluded alpine valley. One day, as the team entered a part of the valley that was several days' walk from the nearest town, they encountered a nomadic family's tent. The team arrived just as the family was slaughtering a goat as a sacrifice for better rains, grass for their herds and health. The holy man who was sacrificing the goat invited the team to participate in the meal and later invited them to his family's tent higher in the mountains. Neither of these families had ever met Christians before.

August 2007

There is nothing that can prepare you for the sensory overload of Kinshasa, DR Congo. The civil war and crises of the past decade have swollen the city with refugees while Kinshasa's infrastructure has degenerated. Despite the incredible poverty, Kinshasa is a city with new hope after the recent elections.

July 2007

I've been impacted this week by a visit from a new mission candidate from Colombia. He has served for the past three years in Central Asia as a school teacher in a totally Muslim context. As a single man, he has been able to live with local Muslim families accepting their hospitality and sharing his life in Christ with them. The humility and simplicity of his life and witness reminded me of John's account in John 20:21 of Jesus' commission to us, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

June 2007

I had an opportunity to visit Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome a number of years ago. I noticed four huge pillars surrounding the main alter at the front of the sanctuary. Carved into the marble base of each of these pillars were two massive keys, symbolizing the "keys of the Kingdom" given to Peter.

May 2007

I had the incredible privilege this past week to teach and learn from 15 pastors and leaders from across North Africa. We had invited these young leaders to meet together to work through the 37 discipleship lessons we have developed for Muslim background believers. As we shared our lives and stories with each other I was repeatedly reminded of Peter's words "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you." (1 Peter 4:14) I saw the glory of God.

April 2007

was recently visiting with a regional medical coordinator named Adelphia in his small two room clinic in the Wounaan village of Maje, deep in the Panamanian rainforest. Adelphia pointed to the grass roofed houses of his children on the hill side below the clinic as he shared his family's story. The gospel transformed his life thirty years ago and now his many children and grandchildren are following Christ.

March 2007

I've been reading the story of Bill Wallace, the missionary surgeon who was martyred by communists in China in 1951. He was renowned as the finest surgeon in South China. When all other missionaries had fled the country and a bandit army was approaching he was given one last opportunity for escape. An American captain whose ship was anchored in a nearby river informed Wallace he could no longer be responsible for Wallace's safety if he stayed.