Quarterly series of booklets to invite reflection and dialogue with God's mission in today's world. For quantity prices of 15 or more, call 800-999-3534 or e-mail
loish@MennoMedia.org
Volume 1: Understanding Islam. By Calvin Shenk. A Christian reflection on the faith of our Muslim neighbors. 20 pages.
Volume 2: Does You Church "Smell" Like Mission? By James R. Krabill. Reflections on becoming a missional church. 20 pages.
Volume 3: From Kansas to Kenedougou... And Back Again. By Donna Kampen Enta. The story of how one North American family lived and worked among the people of Burkina Faso, West Africa. 16 pages.
Volume 4: Peace Church, Mission Church: Friends or Foes? By Alan Kredier; preface by Leo Hartshorn. What do mission-minded churches and peace-passionate churches have in common? 20 pages.
Volume 5: Money and Mission. By Peter Graber. The landscape of money and mission is changing rapidly as mission organizations proliferate and the global church becomes a reality. 36 pages.
Volume 6: Purpose Driven Mennonites. By Craig Pelkey-Landes. Explore what God is doing in the Mennonite church through Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" approach. 24 pages.
Volume 7: Students talk about service. By James R. Krabill and Stuart Showalter. Editor James Krabill and Goshen College Service Inquiry Program administrator Stuart Showalter present the personal experiences of 15 students. 36 pages.
Volume 8: Conversations with Irene Weaver: Wisdom from a Teacher-Learner. By James R. Krabill and Lynda Hollinger-Janzen. Mennonite Mission workers Ed and Irene Weaver were outspoken against some of the conventional mission practices of the mid-twentieth century. Their ministry with African-Initiated Churches in West Africa has profoundly shapped the course of Mennonite mission. 23 pages.
Volume 9: The Patagonia Story. Congregations in Argentina and Illinois Link "Arm-in-Arm" for Mission. By Delbert Erb and Linda Shelly. Delbert Erb, former mission worker and current resident in Argentina, tells the story of the Patagonia Mission Project. 25 pages.
Volume 10: Together in Mission. By James R. Krabill. In the face of significant global shifts in perspective, Mennonite Mission Network has a renewed commitment to core biblical convictions while working to be effective in a changing context. 18 pages.
Volume 11: What I Learned From the African Church. By James Krabill. Students from Eastern Mennonite University embarked on a semester adventure to become acquainted with the lives, histories and cultures primarily in France and Benin with side trips to Switzerland, Togo and Ghana. Students share what they learned as guests within homes in each country. 28 pages.
Volume 12: Together sharing all of Christ with all of creation. Edited by: Ann Graham Price and Ryan Miller. Eight-part series of mission stories on workers for Mission Network and the people they work with around the world. The title and the series are based on the agency's tagline which reflects a holistic view of mission that resonates with Anabaptist beliefs. 38 pages.
Volume 13: On Becoming A Missional Church in Japan. By Michael J. Sherrill. At a time when much of Japan has adopted modern western culture, the Japanese church struggles to seek a Christian identity that is unique and meaningful. In this book, Mission Network educator Michael J Sherrill shares stories of how the church in Japan is working to develop a model for witness that draws on the depth of western Christian traditions, while developing its own distinctive leadership style for the two-thirds world church. 27 pages.
Volume 14: BikeMovement: A Missionite young adult perspective on church. Editor James R. Krabill. BikeMovement is a compilation of writings by young adults who cycled across the United States during the summer of 2006. Their writings reflect a deep desire to engage in conversation about the church and extend an invitation to congregations and other individuals to join in a dialogue of young adults, church, and the challenge of connecting followers of Christ across generations. Also available as a separate order is a DVD that includes a guide for conversation and group study. 36 pages.
Volume 15: Digging for Treasure in your own Backyard. Reflections on missional experiments in the Netherlands. By Jackie Wyse. "Many Europeans", writes Jackie Wyse, "view the church as a largely historical institution that is no longer relevant to daily life." Nearly all of the traditional churches in the Netherlands, where Wyse has lived and worked for the past five years, have seen an erosion of church attendance, corresponding to society's increased secularization. In cities like Almere and Amsterdam, reports Wyse, only 2-4 percent of the residents are active in churches. 23 pages.
Volume 16: Tongue screws and testimony by Alan Kreider. In the 1570's European authorities were so intent on silencing Anabaptist believers in their witness that they devised a metal screw to clamp down their tongues, thus inhibiting speech or rendering it unintelligible or foolish-sounding to anyone who might still choose to listen. Few Anglo Mennonites living in today's Western world experience this kind of repressive response to their witness. Yet all too often, according to Kreider, Mennonites struggle to share their faith and choose silence over verbal witness, as if the tongue screws were still in place doing their job. 29 pages.
Volume 17: No purse, no bag, no sandals by Conrad L. Kanagy. A profile of Mennonite church planters, 1990-2005. "In the end," writes Kanagy, "the mission of God depends on individuals who have heard God's call, responded in obedience, and laid down their lives for the sake of the world that 'God so loved.'" It is with these words that Kanagy concludes his study of 120 Mennonite church planters who, over a period of 15 years, worked tirelessly to bring into existence several hundred new communities of faith. Who are these people? What was the nature of their calling? How did they go about their work? And what religious beliefs and practices informed the ministries that emerged from their efforts? These are the key questions that the author attempted to uncover in this research project that will certainly challenge the church to greater faithfulness in witness for years to come. 31 pages.
Volume 18: What is an Anabaptist Christian? by Palmer Becker. People in many parts of the world have become disillusioned with institutional, politically-comprised forms of Christianity. And as this occurs, there is increased interest in learning more about Anabaptism and other Free Church traditions that have called for a radical return to New Testament faith. Palmer Becker, a lifelong Mennonite pastor and education, attempts to summarize Anabaptist understands in three key statements, namely that: (1) Jesus is center of our faith; (2) Community is the center of our lives; and (3) Reconciliation is the center of our work. 24 pages.
