Last month, people from around the world gathered in Indonesia for the Mennonite World Conference’s 17th assembly.
In an outdoor venue at a Mennonite seminary on a mountaintop in the city of Salatiga, on the island of Java, Anabaptists from 44 countries gathered for the global church reunion that’s held every six years—or seven, in this case, after a postponement due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Get a taste of what the assembly was like by watching a recap video produced by Mennonite World Conference:
For further insight into the assembly, you can watch a video created by Kevin Barkowsky, pastor at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver and church engagement minister for Mennonite Church B.C.
In the 15-minute video, which he created for Sherbrooke Mennonite’s July 10 worship service, Barkowsky shares what he learned at his first-ever assembly.
You can watch Barkowsky below. His video starts at the 15:00 mark.
The video includes footage and insights from worship services at assembly, a trip to the world’s largest Buddhist temple, and brief conversations with church leaders from Malawi and Ethiopia.
Barkowsky attended the assembly with Garry Janzen, outgoing executive minister for MC B.C., so that he could make connections with Anabaptists from around the world.
“Having all these different countries come together, you never really understand it until you see it,” Barkowsky told Canadian Mennonite after the closing worship service on July 10. “I really loved the worship and just having all those people from different countries singing together. It was really meaningful.”
Barkowsky noted the effort it takes to attend a MWC assembly, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
“Considering how many risks people had to [take] and the expense, I’m actually surprised at how many people are here,” he said. “There are way more people than I thought. It’s encouraging to see.”
Barkowsky expressed his gratitude to the assembly’s local organizers and hosts.
“The people, the food, the culture… Indonesia is amazing,” he said.
Visit canadianmennonite.org/stories/indonesia-2022-roundup to read more of Canadian Mennonite’s assembly coverage.
Do you have a video we should see? Email it to submit@canadianmennonite.org.
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At the assembly’s opening ceremony on July 5, Paulus Widjaja (right), chair of Mennonite World Conference’s national advisory committee in Indonesia, presented a gift to J. Nelson Kraybill (left), who was president of MWC at the time. (Meetinghouse photo by Kresna Kurniawan)
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