December 3rd

Chinese Pastors Visit Manitoba

Mennonite Church Manitoba hosted three pastors from China in a special November visit coordinated through Mennonite Church Canada’s International Witness program and facilitated by MC Canada’s Jeanette Hanson and MCM’s Melanie Neufeld.

Pastor Y and his two compatriots had a full itinerary during their time in Manitoba. They visited four MCM congregations—Vietnamese Mennonite (photo left), Covenant, Douglas, and Whitewater—along with faculty from Canadian Mennonite University and other informal evening visits.

“Our church was delighted to host a breakfast to meet the three pastors from China,” says Kim Knott of Covenant Mennonite Church (Winkler, photo right). “It was very interesting to hear about their ministry, how to pray for them and the obstacles the face.”

The relationship between MC Canada—including people in MCM—and Witness work in China is longstanding.

“Back in the mid ‘90s I used to attend church in the Beihang market in Shenyang,” says Lois Bukar, pastor at Emmanuel Mennonite Church (Winkler). “Fast forward twenty years, and I returned to China, but this time as a pastor instead of as an English teacher. Everywhere churches were being built, and in the city and in the countryside pastors were preaching multiple times on Sundays and throughout the week. That’s also when I first met Hongtao. Fast forward another ten years and voila—Hongtao and his pastor friends are here in Winkler in a church basement! But the story is very different.”

Tobia Veith, pastor at Douglas Mennonite (Winnipeg), and her household hosted the three pastors during their time in Manitoba. “These Chinese pastors see the Anabaptist emphasis on practicing shalom as followers of Jesus pointing to a ‘third way,’” she says. “We enjoyed sharing a week of life as hosts with them in our ‘Mennonite Household,’ as they put it!”

Praise God for this opportunity to connect with these friends from China and to learn from them! Please pray for our Chinese siblings in Christ, that they would continue to faithfully bear witness to Jesus and his way of peace. If you would like to give financially to support ministry in China, or anywhere else International Witness connects, see www.mennonitechurch.ca/giving.