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Hello Lisa,
“Overflowing in many expressions of thanks”
“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:12)
I write this just having returned home this weekend from the Annual Celebration in Wichita, KS. It was a celebratory and inspiring time together as 600+ attendees gathered. We had a chance to commemorate the past and tell stories of service that overflowed with thanks to God. (Click here to view the program)
At the event I shared that, in the Gospel of Luke, we read of the parable of the wineskins. I believe that MDS is in a change. Let’s call it the wineskin change. Let’s celebrate that instead of wringing our hands wondering how to we face the future. Let’s thank God for the old wineskin and the grace it carried us these past 75 years. And let’s celebrate the new wineskin with its expansive fermentation. Let’s do both. We don’t have to choose.
MDS is a part of the Anabaptist/Mennonite network which is a small part of the global church. I also acknowledge that the Mennonite church may be losing its privileged place in society. We never did our best work there anyway. We’re always our best on the bottom or the edge. This is a great time to remember the saints and martyrs who founded our traditions 500 years ago, the ones who did their work from the margins.
And so, I say this with love—MDS is a people’s movement and a gift to the church. Given all the disasters of late, God needs all hands on deck. Our neighbors need us. God needs us. We need us too. Our volunteers are salt and light. Lives are being changed. So lets keep overflowing in many expressions of thanks with our hands and our hearts.
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