Mennonite Weekly Review

Strasbourg, France — Ndandula Vincent will go to Mennonite World Conference’s Assembly 15 in Paraguay in July with the help of five churches in Indiana and Michigan.

The churches raised $2,500 toward the trip for Ndandula, coordinator of education and schools for the Mennonite Churches of Congo.

Eldon Stoltzfus, pastor of Forks Mennonite Church in Middlebury, Ind., said he was delighted that the money will help a Congolese Mennonite.

Stoltzfus served in the Congo from 1969 to 1971 with Pax, a Mennonite Central Committee program that provided alternative service opportunities for conscientious objectors during the Korean and Vietnam wars and in the years between.

Stoltzfus worked at the Universite Libre du Congo (Congo Free University) in Kisangani.

The other four churches who joined Forks in the sponsorship are Emma Mennonite Church in Topeka, Ind.; Locust Grove Mennonite Church in Sturgis, Mich.; Pleasant View Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind.; and Shore Mennonite Church in Shipshewana, Ind.

Several men from these churches also served with Pax in areas where there are now Congolese Mennonite churches.

The sponsorship plan began with the Forks Missions Committee when information from MWC presented the challenge to assist someone unable to attend Assembly 15 without help. After prayer and reflection, the church asked the four congregations to join them in raising $500 each by September. All agreed to do so.

Forks met its $500 challenge by designating the amount from the proceeds of its missions fundraising dinner. They invited neighbors, family and friends to the meal and evening of music, where they also set up displays of missions projects and organizations the church supports.

Forks also hoped to help one of its members to attend Assembly 15 in Paraguay, but the U.S. economic downturn has put that plan in jeopardy.

Plans for Ndandula’s trip may include a visit to Indiana and Michigan after the Paraguay assembly. Additional congregations in the area with ties to Congo hope to assist the five congregations in planning and funding this part of the visit.

The collaboration of these five churches is a model that other congregations may still adopt to send someone from their area to Paraguay, since tough economic times may make it difficult for one church to fund a delegate.