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)
Last month, people from around the world gathered in Indonesia for the Mennonite World Conference’s 17th assembly.
A music ensemble with members from nine countries led conference goers in songs from the MWC International Songbook, praising God in a variety of languages. (Meetinghouse photo by Kresna Kurniawan)
Mennonite World Conference held its 17th global assembly on July 5 to 10, in various locations in Indonesia. Before this conference, Mennonite-Anabaptist youth and young adults gathered for Global Youth Assembly. Following are reports and reflections about these two events.
The presidency of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) transferred from J. Nelson Kraybill (2015 to 2022) to president-elect Henk Stenvers (2022 to 2028) at GITJ Margokerto, Indonesia, as part of Assembly 17. Margokerto was one of the first colonies founded by Mennonite missionary P.A. Jansz for the evangelization of the region. The church hosted a dozen MWC guests for four days during Assembly 17 and broadcast the plenary speaker from this satellite location to the main stage at STT Sangkakala in Salatiga on July 8.
Barriers of internet access and recording quality, of jetlag and illness, of language and culture stand in the way of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) assemblies, but in Indonesia on July 5, they did not prevent God’s people from worshipping together. “This marks a new way of doing assembly, where we can learn and fellowship in satellite locations and gather online in groups and families around the world,” said Paulus Widjaja, right, an MWC national advisory council member. He cautioned against fear, calling it “a great enemy” that causes people to exclude others.
