1/7/26: This article has been updated to reflect the nature of MB Foundation’s involvement in CORD funding.
U.S. Mennonite Brethren’s partnership with immigrant congregations will soon be district-led, as CORD—USMB’s national efforts to assist vetted congregations—has run its course after fully funding two Congolese congregations.
“We had said we wanted three CORD recipient churches, but now that the districts have stepped up and (taken) ownership of bringing on any new immigrant churches, we feel that two is going to be the max for us,” says Terry Hunt, CORD Committee chair.
USMB National Director Aaron Box says CORD’s work will be incorporated into USMB’s broader efforts as opposed to a separate initiative.
“This is part of our core commitments,” he says. “This isn’t an elective side thing we’re doing.”
Two congregations funded
CORD became the umbrella term for USMB’s partnership with immigrant churches during a rebrand in 2023 to eliminate confusion from multiple names and acronyms.
The CORD Committee led the effort, described by an acronym:
- Connecting immigrant churches to resources and other congregations within the MB family.
- Organizing and assisting with establishing a stable place of worship.
- Retooling through biblical training and educational resources centered around the USMB Confession of Faith.
- Developing pastors and key leaders capable of shepherding a healthy church.
Through CORD, USMB offered $55,500 over three years to vetted congregations, including $36,000 for a facility, $18,000 for pastoral compensation and $1,500 for education. The CORD initiative was funded primarily by MB Foundation, who offered a 50% match for the first congregation and fully funded the second, as well as by USMB congregations and individual partners.
To date, two Congolese congregations have received CORD funding. USMB made its final payment to Christian Center the Hand of God in Hamilton, Ohio, on Oct. 1, 2025, where Pastor Hermann Mputu and his growing congregation are securing the needed permits for a building expansion.
Mputu has completed training from World Impact’s The Urban Ministry Institute at Lenoir, North Carolina, while teaching a course in French. Mputu has also completed immigration law training and is pursuing accreditation with the Department of Justice to help immigrants with legal issues.
“Part of the goal of CORD was to train people to become trainers,” Hunt says. “Hermann and the Hand of God have been a great example for the other churches.”
The second recipient church, Restoration Church in West Chester, Ohio, is also fully funded, thanks to a gift from MB Foundation. Needs include a van to transport people to church and funds to purchase a building. USMB’s financial commitment to this church runs through July 2027.
A unified vision for church multiplication
Moving forward, work among immigrant churches will be district-driven—as with any church wanting to join the conference—which will help foster regional relationship-building, Box says.
The national office will still lend support by casting vision, finding partners, making connections and possibly identifying areas of opportunity where English-speaking churches can rent their buildings to immigrant groups, Box says.
Ultimately, the goal is for all USMB churches to work together in unity toward a shared mission of church multiplication.
“CORD was never meant to be a long-term, ongoing committee,” Hunt says, adding later: “We don’t want to have two different church multiplication organizations within the U.S. conference.”
Read more about USMB’s work with immigrant congregations.
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor and joined the CL staff in 2017. Shafer is an award-winning writer, receiving multiple awards from the Kansas Press Association and Evangelical Press Association. A Tabor graduate with a degree in communications and religious studies, she and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
