It was a very blessed Sunday afternoon. The weather forecast had predicted rain. But it didn’t rain at the venue. There were concerns about how to accommodate all the guests without them having to sit in the sunshine, but we were able to hire a huge marquee and the congregation from Hohenau provided their own as well. At first, it wasn’t clear how we could provide a chair for everyone, but in the end 1,000 chairs were hired and almost all of them were occupied. How could we provide fresh water for nearly 1,000 people on a hot afternoon? How do you organise refreshments? The Manitoba congregation had come up with a good solution: biscuits and fresh water. When lots of people pitch in and get stuck in, you can achieve amazing things. And so everything went smoothly without any significant difficulties. Electricity was generated by a running car engine connected to a converter. Second-hand tyres with a plank on top served as a pulpit. And all of this made the day even more special. The aim of the day was to consecrate the approximately 27-hectare plot of land and hand it over for charitable purposes. The event was based on the passage from Matthew 9:35–38: ‘And Jesus went about all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest.’ A wonderful synthesis of the three mission projects, which mirror the approach of our Lord Jesus. Jesus healed Bartimaeus, the blind man. He restored Naaman, the leper, to health. And he preached the liberating Gospel to the people.
To begin with, alongside the singing, the scope of the ‘Concordia’ project was outlined. The ‘Concordia’ project is a mission project that has emerged through a collaboration between the Mennonite congregations in Bolivia (AGUM – Working Group among Mennonite Congregations) and three different Mennonite mission organisations. These include the GAMYS group (Grupo de Apoyo a la Misión y la Salud), Bolivienhilfe, which has its roots in Germany, and the Fundación (Foundation) Vision from Paraguay. The aim of the mission is to help people both physically and spiritually. Specifically, GAMYS aims to build a dermatology clinic for people suffering from leprosy and other skin diseases, as well as to treat Chagas disease and tuberculosis. The Vision Foundation aims to build an eye clinic to carry out eye surgery, but with a particular focus on training Bolivian ophthalmologists. Bolivienhilfe, meanwhile, aims to establish a spiritual training centre called ‘Arche’, featuring a Bible exhibition on the reliability of the Bible, Mennonite history, training rooms, a bookshop and facilities for retreats for families and youth groups.
The three representatives of the individual projects then each presented their respective projects. David Töws explained that the Gamys group will build a dermatology clinic and reported that, whilst doctors are working to identify and treat people with leprosy in the interior of the country, part of the group will be distributing tracts in schools. Dr Rainald Dürksen and several representatives of the foundation from Paraguay introduced the foundation and explained its objectives. Peter Giesbrecht reported on the ‘Arche’ spiritual training centre on behalf of Bolivienhilfe. We were led into prayer with a brief, encouraging message on the topic ‘The Importance of Prayer for Mission’ by Arthur Giebert, a representative of mission work from Germany. Afterwards, the elders present and the representatives of the missions laid the foundation stone for the project through prayer. We then heard a challenging short message from Elder Aaron Giesbrecht on the topic ‘What can I and you do for the mission?’. This was followed by singing, and the service concluded with prayer. Afterwards, during refreshments, there was further blessed fellowship. Glory to God for this blessed day!
