by Mesach Krisetya
     As the only international church organization of the global Anabaptist family in the real sense of the word, Mennonite World Conference should not just be an organization that provides a carefully planned general assembly every six years. If that were the case, we wouldn't need to have a full-time general secretary and offices with several staff members; we could just give that responsibility to the Anabaptist family in the North.
     The map of the Anabaptist Mennonite family has been turned upside-down. The Mennonite churches in the South now have more members than the churches in the North. The expectations of the church in the South are not the same as what they used to be for the churches in the North. The church in the South is no longer the object of mission, it is now a mature church which has the same call to mission which the church in the North has.
     I have a vision that Mennonites, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ and other Anabaptists around the world will one day form a community whose members will not be judged by their race, ethnic group, wealth or if they are the result of missionary work from the North. They will be accepted on the basis of their commitment to Christ and to the Anabaptist tradition and on the basis of the unique contributions they can make to the church.
     We need a new model, or paradigm, for the relationship within the global Anabaptist Mennonite family. If we recognize the church in the South as mature churches, the relationship should be based on the capacity of member churches to communicate within themselves and with others. Only through creative communication can there be communion through which each member church can affiliate with others in genuine community. Such a community is characterized by authentic involvement, and by the richness, warmth and openness of the people who compose it.
     Communication is what goes on in communion, and communion is what happens in a community. The idea of community then, in its biblical meaning, implies a space or a relationship where people have the freedom to share and to love. A community would then be a place where love removes barriers and thus creates both communication and communion.

Mesach Krisetya, Indonesia, is the President of Mennonite World Conference.

by Marcus Shantz
     Working with MWC taught me that I have family all over the world. People like Margaret, Mesach and Ses in Asia, joram, Elisabeth and Charles from Africa; Milka and Leonor in Latin America; Samuel, Ed and Louise in Europe. These people showed me hospitality, friendship and a quiet confidence in God. Thinking about them gives me perspective, and inspires me to stay involved in the church. I am grateful that they are my brothers and sisters.
     I hope that MWC will continue to find new and more lasting ways to bring our church family closer together. I hope that the communion and celebration that we experience during world assemblies will expand into the years between. We really need each other--and we should be together more than once every six years!

Marcus Shantz, Canada, served as a staff member in MWC's Strasbourg, France, office.

by Andrea Lange
     It 1912 Heinrich Pauls, pastor of the Elbing Mennonite Church in Germany--and one of my relatives--had a dream. "What if Mennonites from all over the world would come together to share and to pray? What would happen if there would be a Mennonite world conference?" he wondered. It was a good idea, but this vision didn't materialize, at least not immediately.
     This dream kept on being dreamed.
     In 1925 Christian Neff, pastor of the Weierhof Mennonite church--and one of my predecessors here in the ministry--was also inspired by a vision of a Mennonite community which stretched beyond national borders and across the limits of language and ethnicity. He worked with great determination to bring this dream to reality. What was not granted to Heinrich Pauls, Christian Neff would live to see: the first assembly of Mennonite World Conference. It was a dream come true.
     I share this because it makes clear to me that we have a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) before us and around us. Visions and dreams need time to develop. People such as Heinrich Pauls and Christian Neff had a vision. Today, when I participate in the activities of MWC or when I read the Courier, it is because many people now share the dream of a community which stretches beyond borders, and they are willing to work for it.
     My hope for Mennonite World Conference is that it will continue to help us to be the church where we are, by reading the Bible together and by challenging and encouraging one another through our global connections.
     My hope is that we will grow in solidarity by praying together and acting together. The global network of prayer and action initiated at the MWC assembly in Calcutta is a tool for mutual help and support.
     My hope is that we will continue to relish our diversity and at the same time celebrate our unity in Christ. I am thinking not only about brothers and sisters geographically far away, but also of the community of Umsiedler who live in a nearby town.
     If the Mennonite World Conference did not exist, I would find it urgent to call it into being. And I would not stop dreaming about it.

Andrea Lange is pastor of the Weierhof Mennonite Church, Germany. Christian Neff, who helped plan and coordinate the first MWC meeting in 1925, pastored the Weierhof church at that time.

by Ambrocio L. Porcincula
     My hope and vision for MWC is that--with the help of organizations such as the Mennonite Central Committee--it will continue to be one of the effective unifying vessels of God in bringing His people of different races and cultures together and uniting them in carrying out God's plan for humankind. I also foresee that MWC will become a global church organization in the real sense of the word by working in the areas of peace mediation, conflict resolution and global evangelization.

Ambrocio L. Porcincula, the Philippines, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing Asia.

by Joram Mbeba
     My hopes and visions for MWC are as follows:
     a) That MWC's name will be changed to Mennonite World Alliance (the word, "Alliance," means "Union in one Spirit").
     b) That there will be a strengthening of communications and networking among and within our conferences and member churches.
     c) That there will be a strengthening of exchange programs between member churches and conferences.
     d) That MWC's financial support will come strictly from its member conferences and churches.
     e) That the MWC Assembly will be divided into regional conference assemblies.

Joram Mbeba, Tanzania, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing Africa.

by Milka Rindzinski
     A descendant of Europeans, my vision of the world had been more or less shaped by Western perspectives. Born in Uruguay, South America, I was also part of and very much identified with the so-called Third World.
     However, Asia and Africa were only exotic, far-away continents for me. There were no connections, no points in common, with that part of the world for me. What a waste of riches! Until I became involved with Mennonite World Conference.
     MWC helped correct that vision. I soon discovered that I also had brothers and sisters in Asia and Africa. We share convictions and feelings, and together we form a family of faith and love.
     My hope for the future is that MWC will continue to be a space where the Three/Thirds world can meet and freely share their God-given wisdom and gifts.

Milka Rindzinski, Uruguay is editor of Courier and Correo.

by Miwako Katano
     I hope that MWC's member churches will relate to each other more actively by praying, communicating and visiting together. To achieve this goal I hope we will be able to find out more about one another through Courier. I am hoping that Courier can be translated into Japanese and other Asian languages so that more people can be informed about what is happening among Mennonite-related brothers and sisters around the world. I believe that knowing more about each other is the first step towards good relationships. If each member church or conference would have a brother/sister church or conference in another part of the world--like a prayer partner--that would be wonderful.

Miwako Katano, Japan, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing Asia.

by Ineke Reinhold
     My hope and vision for MWC is that it will be an instrument through which women and men in the world will be able see that they are brothers and sisters created and loved by the same God, called to manage and guard the earth and to love their fellow creatures.
     I hope that MWC will be an instrument through which we can learn how to make peace with one another and with our surroundings and to accept the way of Jesus in peacemaking.
     I hope that MWC will be an instrument through which we will be able to share with one another on the earth. I hope that what we share will be equally shared by women and men. I hope we will all learn to share our talents.
     I hope we are not hiding from each otner and that we will be able to look each other in the eye and share our mistakes, seeking God's face.
     I hope that MWC will be an instrument through which we can learn how to resist the temptation of power in the world (the power of money, self, male over female, west over east, and north over south).
     I hope MWC will be an instrument of service through which we can learn to know the pain of the other and to endure going the way that Christ has shown us, accepting brothers and sisters for better or worse so that we can increasingly know each other by face and by faith.
     I hope that with the help of God's Holy Spirit this instrument, MWC, will increasingly be part of that Body of which Christ is the head.

Ineke Reinhold, Holland, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing Europe.

by Stefan van Delden
     My hope and vision for MWC is that we may better understand our identity in order to improve the orientation for living together in today's world. May the Mennonite World Conference be able to help overcome religious and social conflicts among ourselves and with other ethnic groups around the globe. May we come to a true and real reconciliation with God, and may we become an understanding people on a biblical basis. Hopefully, this can be developed in ecumenical dialogue and mutual engagement with people of different backgrounds. People's faith in all parts of the world can be decisive so that globalization will not be threatening for humanity but a chance for living together in peace and harmony.

Stefan van Delden, Germany, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing Europe.

by Fimbo Ganvunze
     My hopes and vision for MWC are:
     1. That its supporting churches will provide ample means, both financial and human, to MWC so that it can fully respond efficiently and appropriately to the burning questions of our time, and take on its true role as a peace-bearing community in the world.
     2. That MWC and its Executive Committee will create and put into action a forum, both inter-religious and inter-Christian, to work towards reconciliation, the healing of memories, and unity in Christ.
     3. That pastoral visits and exchanges of experience and gifts among the member churches will be encouraged in an effort to consolidate unity and communion. Furthermore, that MWC will be able to help churches to encounter people everywhere by sharing, loving, and proclaiming the Good News of redemption by God, and that it will assist the churches to be a sign of the kingdom and to be of service to humanity.
     4. That the MWC Executive Committee will become a true instrument of service among the churches in their journey together and in pursuing and achieving MWC's goals.

Fimbo Ganvunze, Congo, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing Africa.

by Alberto Quintela Jr.
     MWC must be a worldwide prophetic voice for justice in the new millennium. The mission of the church is global. The challenges to a global church with such an agenda are immense.
     MWC is the only worldwide grassroots Mennonite institution that is poised to build bridges across language, cultural, and geographical divides. The General Assembly, the Executive Council, and other MWC gatherings are safe forums where Mennonites from throughout the world can come together, set aside their differences for a time, and join in one voice of harmony, to sing joyful songs of celebration and renewal and to worship in one mind and to be of one accord.
     MWC is the one place where Mennonites of all cultures, languages, nations and creeds can connect and be empowered to return to their communities to eliminate fear, starvation, senseless death, homelessness, injury and other injustices.
     MWC understands that cross-cultural relationships are critical in implementing Jesus' global Anabaptist model of discipleship. Anabaptist discipleship will require the knowledge and understanding of languages and cultures that MWC participants bring to the Mennonite community.
     MWC will move into the new millennium in partnership with other international Mennonite organizations. Through the MWC grassroots network Mennonite Disaster Service will be able to respond with integrity and much faster and more efficiently to natural disasters. Missionaries and Mennonite Central Committee workers will find local connections that will facilitate their work and projects.
     International Mennonite cooperation and goodwill generated by MWC and local disciples will enable Mennonites to fulfill the Great Commission and to "bring good news to the poor, heal the broken-hearted and announce release to the captive." (Isaiah 6:1)

Alberto Quintela Jr. USA, is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing North America.

by Justina Heese
     Envisioning Mennonite World Conference as a "Communion" of churches shifts the focus to relationships within the Anabaptist family. In addition to planning a gathering, an assembly, we are looking to MWC to provide the space where partners can enter into dialogue and discernment. The "Communion" concept means contributing and receiving, sharing and distributing, and favoring others as we would look out for ourselves. "Communion" means being deliberate and intentional as we relate to each other. Being a "Communion" is a desirable goal. Are we ready to commit ourselves to the relationships which this implies?

Justina Heese, Canada is a member of the MWC Executive Committee representing North America.

by Juan Martinez
     Through the years Mennonite World Conference has amplified its reason for being. Particularly in Latin America, MWC has served to connect and unite churches that were started by persons and agencies coming from diverse traditions. As the church in the "two-thirds" world expands, particularly in Africa and Asia, the importance of this function will become more and more important. These connections will help the churches to develop a global vision and to relate to sister churches around the world and not only to their "mother" churches.
     In the years ahead this function will become much more than a simple comradeship. Consultations on themes of common interest (theological education, mission, peace and justice, etc.) sponsored by MWC will open doors for national churches to establish links with sister churches so as to amplify the ministry of the church in ways that go beyond national, denominational and geographic boundaries. Thus the relationships between MWC's member churches will continue to grow stronger.

Juan Martinez, Guatemala is dean of the Latin American Mennonite seminary SEMILLA.

by Bedru Hussein
     Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches around the world--both the historic genetic ones and the non-genetic ones (from Asia, Africa, and Latin America)--belong to the one, same, global family bound together by a shared faith in Jesus Christ. We have a growing realization that we need to be more meaningfully connected.
     MWC, being the only connector, communicator, and convener, has enabled us to meet every six years, so far, to taste and recognize the reality of the global family and the need for a higher level of relationship. Member churches in the South are saying, "Meeting every six years at a conference is not enough. For a meaningful and higher level of relationship we have to enter into stronger solidarity and accountability and a live Mennonite World Communion."
     Each member church has unique gifts, strength, and experiences that can be brought to the common table as an equal member in the Communion. In this new vision of Communion, members will enter into partnership in all directions (the North with the South, South with the South) in Mission, training of leaders, business development, and church-to-church relationships.
     It is high time that movement of resources of any form should 'not be in one direction. Instead, we need reciprocity--for the nourishment and building up of the body and to bring the Reign of God to the broken world.

Bedru Hussein from Ethiopia is Vice President of Mennonite World Conference.