Jay Wittmeyer speaking at Annual Conference 2015.
Photo by Glenn Riegel

A reflection by Jay Wittmeyer, Executive Director of Global Mission and Service

On a trip to the Dominican Republic (DR) in March, members of the Mission Advisory Committee and I were greatly inspired by the work that the DR Brethren are doing to reach out into their communities.

On the first day we joined Gustavo Lendi, a pastor and current treasurer of the denomination, to visit poor families living in cardboard huts in a shanty settlement of Haiti called “Parc Cadeau.” Many children in the refugee camp were actually born in the DR but refused re-entry when they traveled to Haiti to visit relatives. Brother Gustavo, who has helped many stateless Haitians procure legal Dominican residency, is advocating on their behalf.

We were very impressed with the intentional focus of training leaders in the church. The Dominican Brethren have partnered with an Anabaptist seminary to hold classes in Brethren communities so church members can attend. Four pastors are attending university to earn theology degrees, and the denomination also hosts an annual pastors’ conference. Most importantly, elders of the church regularly travel to remote areas and provide one-day Bible studies to share Brethren beliefs and practices with low-income, poorly educated church members.

During our visit, we traveled to several city churches. There we heard stories of members working in slum areas to support youth and prevent them from getting caught in the drug culture of the Caribbean. We met a young adult who was saved from the drug lifestyle. We even met four teenagers who regularly preach in church, which helps them stay out of trouble.

We also visited a small church of both Haitians and Dominicans in a remote, mountain village. This little Brethren church has local leadership, but pastors from the city go out a few times a month to preach and teach. The community is very pleased to have a church. In total, we visited at least 16 churches and met many church members.

The last thing we did on our trip was attend the Dominican Brethren’s annual conference. Celebrating their 25th annual conference, the Dominican Brethren are forming a strong Brethren identity, and many members have grown up with it being the only church that they know.

As I reflected on our visit, I recognize the importance of effective leadership at the denominational level. Just as a local church needs individuals to serve as pastors, elders, or board chairs to lead the congregation, so also do denominations need leaders to care for the flock. Moderators motivate pastors, create unity among members, and encourage sacrifice and mutuality. They focus not only on individual members or single congregations, but on relationships between congregations and their members.

Much of the work of Global Mission and Service is focused on leadership development and supporting international leaders. We partner with them as they listen to the wisdom of their unique community, make decisions, and find a healthy balance between the social ministry of outreach and the theological ministries of teaching and spiritual growth. Whether in the Dominican Republic, Spain, Haiti, or elsewhere, the Church of the Brethren is developing leaders, planting churches, and reaching out into communities for Christ. By giving to the Church of the Brethren, you make all of this possible. Thank you for helping us make a difference around the world.

Learn more about Global Mission and Service at www.brethren.org/partners or support it today at www.brethren.org/give .

(Read this issue of eBrethren)

Markus Gamache serving in Nigeria and
Linda Shank serving in North Korea
Photos by Carl Hill and Robert Shank

A reflection by Kendra Harbeck, manager of Global Mission and Service office

Do you remember when you first heard the birds sing this spring? I, unfortunately, do not. I’ve been so caught up in other things these past two months that I’ve missed the birdsongs of promise.

This is ironic because I have longed deeply for spring this year. I probably have every year, but it seems especially acute after the harsh winter our community has experienced with stings of financial concerns, significant leadership changes, and deaths.

I was more in tune last year with the singing of the birds. On a Sunday morning in February, I stepped outside in the still cold air, and I heard it. The sound was so normal and mundane, but had been absent for several months. The birds were singing the arrival of spring, and yet, it was still quite obviously winter by the calendar, the cold temperature, and the desolate landscape.

Curious, I investigated who those songbirds were and why they were singing in February. According to National Geographic, the chickadee and woodpecker are the first birds to announce spring. These birds survive harsh winters by finding whatever food and comfort is available. Woodpeckers, for example, drill into trees to find insects. As John Hanson Mitchell shares, “They must look at a little pinhole and say, there must be something in there.” These resilient winter birds, prompted by change in daylight, begin their singing.

As humans, we are fooled and encouraged by signs that are obvious but deceiving. We moan and groan until it’s noticeably warmer or trees are in bloom, and yet these signs may be gone soon after they appear. Thanks to instincts and hormones, however, birds are much wiser than us. They welcome spring inspired by a more reliable and trusted source: the light. It is also worth noting that it isn’t the newly returned, light-hearted birds that herald the promise of spring. It’s the same birds that remained all along, battered by winter storms but transformed by the changing light within.

In Global Mission and Service, we encounter many “winter birds” in our work— people who persist through cold, dark times, and are sustained by the light and a song within. I think about Markus Gamache, our liaison with EYN, who persists in showing love despite much violence through sharing his home with up to 50 displaced persons and through bringing Muslims and Christians together in shared community. I think about Linda Shank, who each year, despite significant health challenges, returns to North Korea with her husband, Robert, to teach English and agricultural science at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. We all have winter birds like these in our lives if we stop to think and notice.

We, too, are called to be winter birds. Like the chickadee, we can adapt to the winter by finding strength through community. Like the woodpecker, we can look at something tiny or insignificant, and say “There must be something in there.” Though we are winter birds in a winter world, we have a spring song of promise, energized by the never failing light of Christ that grows in our hearts.

Global Mission and Service is a Core Ministry of the Church of the Brethren. Learn more about our international partnerships at www.brethren.org/partners or support the work of Global Mission and Service today at www.brethren.org/give .

(Read this issue of eBrethren)