This year is shaping up to be perhaps one of the most significant in our 158-year Mennonite Brethren history. I know this is a rather brash statement, but I’m serious. Let me explain.
Over the past several months, there has been a tremendous amount of collaboration among USMB agencies to respond to the vision that God is giving us to center ourselves on One Mission—local, national and global. This mission is to see more people become followers of Jesus while there is still time.
It’s a vision of coming together to do all we can to help our MB churches maximize their efforts of intentional disciple-making, evangelism and assisting in the multiplication of churches. That’s a mouthful, but it’s a growing passion among MB leaders to see this happen. It’s an extravagant vision that I pray will spread like wildfire among our MB family.
Collaborators include Randy Friesen, MB Mission general director; Gord Fleming, C2C North American director; Scott Thomas, C2C US national director; Jon Wiebe, MB Foundation president; our five district ministers, Rick Eshbaugh, Aaron Hernandez, Terry Hunt, Tim Sullivan and Gary Wall; numerous other leaders from these agencies, our USMB staff and the USMB Leadership Board. Working together, we are poised for an unprecedented season of collective mission and ministry impact. We anticipate inviting our educational leaders and other men and women of a variety of ages to help us shape the path forward.
Randy Friesen recently wrote that this is a time of “new beginnings for our conference of churches. We have the opportunity to explore and clarify together what living on mission means here in North America.” This is indeed a time of new beginnings as we move toward a greater level of living on mission in our communities.
I strongly believe that God intends to use our MB family for significant mission and ministry. So much so that I am praying that we might be one of the catalysts that God uses to bring multitudes to his family. People all across this land are broken and without a Shepherd. We must care about that. We must be the church as God intended—the church as God’s means, his ambassadors, of the gospel. The powerful words of Jesus speaking to his disciples come to mind: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This is our One Mission—local, national and global.
Pastor, will you join us? Church leader, will you join us? MB churches across America, will you join us in this mission of new beginnings? Is it possible for us as a conference of churches to catch spiritual fire and to allow our small concerns and differences to fade away so that together we can be sold out to see more come to know him? I fervently pray this is so.
You’ll be hearing about upcoming LEAD One events, regional events presented by the agency leaders I mentioned above, meeting with you for one day to work together on a strategic plan for this One Mission—local, national and global. Please come and bring many with you. I pray that you’ll want to be a part of what is God doing among Mennonite Brethren in our land!
Don Morris is the USMB national director. He and his wife, Janna, live in Edmond, Oklahoma, where they attend Cross Timbers Church.
