I arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, yesterday after some delays due to a cancelled flight. But I was not under time pressure so I just waited it out and it worked out - only about 5 hours later than the original schedule. I was able to let the people in Dar know so the bishop was at the airport to meet me and take me to my hotel. Today, Tuesday, I plan to meet with the bishop and pastors of the Dar es Salaam area, the Eastern District of Tanzania Mennonite Church. My brief conversation with the bishop on the way from the airport is encouraging. They have planted several new churches in the past year and more are planned.

Here I am meeting with the leaders of Nairobi Mennonite churches to discuss their vision for leadership training .

Mathare North Mennonite Church, Nairobi, where I worshipped on Sunday. Mathare is a slum area on the edge of the city and this church has been growing. The church is cooperating with Mennonite Central Committee to operate a primary school, up to grade 8.

Children attending the worship service at Mathare North Mennonite Church.

I had good conversations with church leaders in the Nairobi area. One of the issues that keeps coming up is dealing with the economic problems of the people. Mennonite churches tend to be in poorer areas and members have limited incomes and often the bishops and pastors are unpaid, totally volunteer. This limits the time they have available for church leadership and pastoral care because they must earn a living in other jobs. So that raises the question of how church development is linked to economic development in developing countries. 

I went to downtown Nairobi on Saturday, the day after I arrived. I am impressed with the movement and vitality of the city and the people. Heavy traffic, cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, people weaving in and out, people on the move, along the sidewalks, crossing the street whenever they want to. It is interesting to “feel” the culture at a deeper level, not just what appears on the surface, but the underlying dynamics of personal interactions, mainly. One sees it in how drivers interact on the road, each acting like he does not see anyone else, yet always being able to stop in time or swerve in time to avoid a crash. It is in how people interact on the street, as though they don’t see anyone else, unless it is a friend. But people are always friendly and helpful when you need them. Africa is a relational society – relationships trump all other factors.
Joe

In Nairobi

This is just letting you all know that I arrived in Nairobi this evening, pretty much on time and I will be staying at the Mennonite Guest House. It feels good to get back to familiar places and people. I was also able to sit down with Aram DiGennaro, EMM's East Africa field director, to begin planning the schedule for my time here.

Tomorrow (Satruday) I want to see several people in the Nairobi area and generally get ready for the rest of the visit. Monday morning I fly to Dar es Salaam to meet with the bishop there and some of his pastors and return to Nairobi on Friday.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for safety in traveling, because I certainly experienced that. I plan to share regular updates.

Sincerely,

Joe Bontrager

Zurich

I am sitting in the Zurich airport on my way to Kenya and Tanzania for 3 weeks. While there, I will be talking with the bishops and other leaders about their vision for leadership training.
I am thinking about the importance of Zurich in our own church history. It was here in Zurich that a group of young academics began to question the teachings of the other main denominations and turned to the New Testament and the teachings and example of Jesus for their final authority. They eventually became known as "ana-baptists" - the "re-baptizers" - a somewhat derogatory name at first. They believed and taught that love defines our ethics, that the church is fundamentally a community of faith, and that salvation is by personal choice - all revolutionary ideas at that time that led to severe persecution. It was in Zurich that one of the young academics, Felix Manz, was tied up and thrown into the river, one of the early martyrs. And that same faith continues today, nearly 500 years later, around the world. It has taken root in Africa and it continues to grow.

Joe Bontrager

In January, the history of Kenya Mennonite Church was completed. Kenya Mennonite Church dates its beginnings to the 1940's, when evangelists from Tanzania Mennonite Church were touched by the East African Revival movement and visited Kenya to bring the gospel to their fellow Luo tribesmen. Kenya Mennonite Church was formally organized in 1977 as a separate entity from Tanzania Mennonite Church. In 2006, Kenya Mennonite Church sent missionaries to Uganda to evangelize and plant churches. For a news release from Mennonite World Conference on writing the history of Kenya Mennonite Church, use the link http://www.mwc-cmm.org/index.php/news-releases/151-kenyan-mennonites-make-history-by-writing-it.

Last Wednesday, January 25, I met with a "partnership team" for the Mennonite Theological College of East Africa (MTCEA). This is a group of persons who are acquainted with the College and are willing to invest time and energy to provide support. It became clear the the MTCEA has been in the past, and will continue to be a key part of leadership training efforts for the Mennonite churches in Kenya and Tanzania. The level of support in the partnership team for the College and for our assignment is encouraging. In the meeting, it was estimated that there are around 5,000 baptisms each year in the Kenya and Tanzania Mennonite Churches. Assuming 100 persons in a church, that means 50 new churches each year, or about one new congregation each week. The question is, where will they find leaders for these new churches? Up to now, MTCEA has not been able to supply enough leaders to keep up with the growth, so that many churches are led by lay pastors with little training in Bible and leadership skills. There is also concern about the quality of education provided by MTCEA. That is the need that led to our invitation to return to Africa. MTCEA is only one part of a leadership development plan, because many of the leaders cannot leave home and do not have the funds to attend a residential program. So extension training programs are also needed that reach the leaders in their home areas. Some of the bishops have been working to provide local training to their leaders, but others have not started.

We expect our work to focus on a couple main areas. One is to strengthen, and perhaps expand, the program of the Mennonite Theological College for those who can attend a residential training program. The second area is to develop models and curriculum for bishops to use in their areas to train the lay pastors. A third area will be to provide occasional refresher courses and workshops for pastors to strengthen and encourage their leadership ministries.

Call to Mission.wmv