Why are we working through an agency of Mennonite Church USA, headed towards a country that has an active national conference of Mennonite churches – but primarily to be support to AIC’s? This is actually a common model within the Mennonite World Conference.
At the beginning of the 20th century North American Mennonites began following the Protestant overseas mission models. Adaptations occurred because of doctrinal focus on following the Christ of the poor and historical suspicion of alliances with secular government. With efforts to avoid division of “evangelism” and “relief work”, Mennonites were in position to respond to calls for support from AICs during the tumultuous 1960’s and ’70’s.
The Ghana Mennonite Church (GMC) was started by a Ghanaian who met Mennonites at a European YMCA conference and returned to develop Bible study groups in 1956. Post-colonial movements were affecting all aspects of international relationships. Without a history of North American sponsorship, GMC and interested people from Mennonite Board of Missions (MBM, one our agency’s predecessors) struggled to meet hopes for trained leaders who didn’t rely on employment outside the church.
At the same time, there were relationships between MBM and AIC leaders throughout West Africa. When Ed and Irene Weaver were evacuated from Nigeria during the ’67-70 civil war, those relationships led them to Accra. The discussions they hosted using the Good News translation eventually coalesced into the classes of Good News Theological Seminary (GNTCS).
Although there have not been full-time mission placements with Ghana Mennonite Church, workers in the area (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire) and those who go to work at GNTCS maintain contact. We follow in the footsteps of Steve Wiebe-Johnson, appreciating his familiarity with the institutions and their interactions. We look forward to learning more about these different approaches and sharing what we can.
– Deb
BergenBeats 