December 6, 2023

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Sisterhood is like a bamboo grove.

My grandmother was 13 years old when the Great Earthquake of 1923 violently shook Japan. Fires raged and houses crumbled as she was tossed about, trying to make her way from the church—where she was practicing the organ—back to her family home.

Strong aftershocks and extensive damage made it unsafe for her missionary family to reenter their home for weeks on end. As the story goes, my great grandfather built a small shelter in a bamboo grove where they, their helpers, a nephew, and neighbors packed in like sardines. 

Bamboo groves, Grandma said, were the only safe place to shelter. Those in Japan are instructed to run into them in tumultuous times. It turns out that bamboo roots are so strong and intertwined that they hold the ground tightly together, preventing the earth from opening up and swallowing you whole. 

Sisterhood is like a bamboo grove. When we stand together and reach for each other we create a tight knit web that holds us even when “the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:2). 

A family in our church is currently experiencing unimaginable grief. Their world has been rocked time and time again. It is my prayer that we, as a congregation, can be a bamboo grove to them. A safe place of shelter when they feel and fear they may be swallowed up whole. May we reach for each other, friends, and hold on tight. These are tumultuous times, indeed. 

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

    God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done,

    the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease

    to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

    he burns the shields with fire.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46

Written by Jenny Gehman

MW USA East Coast Regional Representative

Jenny speaking at the Women's Holiday Tea at Grace Church at Willow Valley in Lancaster, PA.

Join in for a Women's Christmas Examen on Saturday, January 6 at 3 pm Eastern, noon Pacific.

Women’s Christmas has Irish origins, called Nollaig na mBan. Think celebrating friendship among women—like Galentine's Day—and appreciation for the women in one’s life—like Mother’s Day—rolled together on Epiphany. It's a time for restfulness and recognition of the disproportionate domestic work of women, especially around the holidays. Epiphany marks the formal and liturgical end of Christmastide (December 25 - January 5), and of course we start the new calendar year on January 1. So a Women’s Christmas Examen on Epiphany is a time for reflecting on the past and dreaming about the future while deeply sighing. 

Don't miss this special Coffee and Conversation! We will form a community grove via Zoom for this time of inspired rest together. We'll start by identifying the recent times we have felt God's presence and the times we could not. And we'll conclude by reflecting on what we want to take (and leave behind) into the New Year.

Mark your calendar to prioritize a time of sisterhood for you!

MW USA's Leadership Circle having coffee and conversation in New Mexico.

Coffee and Conversations are held over Zoom and in person. We select a topic of interest and invite women to gather and chat. Last month we had over a dozen Coffee and Conversation participants via Zoom sharing stories of ancestors who made a difference in our lives. Furthermore, we talked about how we can carry on their powerful legacies.

We started with introductions by naming a woman, living or passed, who inspired each of us. We called it “bringing them into the space.”  

Then Nancy introduced us to her mother Charlotte: A woman who said yes to life. Charlotte was willing to take on challenges and say yes to ministry and service opportunities both large and small. Serving others and going that second mile was a hallmark of her life. She especially welcomed relationships. Nancy explained that few people make the commitment to nurture relationships the way she did.  

“When Charlotte asked how you are, she really wanted to know.” 

She lived a life of gratitude. And at the end of her life when she told Nancy her favorite hymn was “My Life Flows on in Endless Song,” nothing could have been more fitting. 

Next Jenny introduced us to a woman she never met but who lives on in her. Fanny Alexander was born in 1868 and died 7 years before Jenny was born. Fanny is Jenny’s great grandmother on her mother's side. Jenny’s mom often told her that she reminded her of Fanny. Jenny’s grandmother once told her that Fanny’s hospitality was such that noone was ever turned away from the Alexander home. One day when Jenny herself was hosting a foreign student in her home, she mentioned her connections to Japan and learned for the first time that her great grandmother Fanny was responsible for bringing Mother's Day to Japan!  

Fanny contributed greatly to women's education and their rise in social status in Japan. She traveled the world, raised 5 children, suffered gout, provided refuge for Koreans fleeing persecution, and was investigated by the FBI for being a friend of the Japenese in WW2. She had an indomitable spirit. When Jenny considered being part of the MW USA Leadership Circle, she thought with great encouragement that Fanny would certainly approve of championing women! 

Inspired by these stories, the gathered group went on to name women, both living and passed, that we would carve on a Mount Rushmore of those we look up to. We shared about the great impacts of Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Marlene Krupp, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Obama, Shirley Chisolm, Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman, Dulcie Cover, Pauline Murray, Ann Lammot, Mary Oliver, Jane Austen and Sue Monk Kidd, among others. Deeply inspired, we just kept flowing, talking, responding to, and building off one another. In the end, we decided we need better than a monument. We need a garden! 

If this kind of joining in conversation with women sounds like something you would like to do, please reach out. We’ll hold a Zoom Coffee and Conversation around a topic you suggest or we’ll come to your region to gather together in person. It is truly a blessing every time. 

MW USA is delighted to request guests and topics for our upcoming podcast featuring real conversations about various women's realities!

Once in production, we'll get to listen in as Cyneatha Millsaps, MW USA's Executive Director, sits down with one woman per episode to learn from them what it's like to live a particular way. In the spirit of Choosing Sisterhood, these conversations will be offered to help us get to know one another better and to understand what life is like for each other. If you've ever gotten to chat with Cyneatha, you know what a treat this will be! We hope that discussing topics often dividing us as "like-minded" and "others" will bring us together in understanding.

Who do you want to get to know? What kinds of experiences are you unfamiliar with? Are you interested in talking about a challenge you carry? Please email with your ideas and interest.

Let us gather in our local circles around MW USA's latest woman-authored Bible Study Guide, Abundant Liberation: Scripture Reflections and Blessings. Author Samantha E. Lioi is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and writer ordained in Mennonite Church USA and has served as a pastor and conference peace and justice minister. May Sister Samantha's Bible Study teach us to see the persistence of life and beauty. May it encourage us to relearn and restore mutual regard, reciprocity, and wholeness.

MWUSA donors enable women to come together in hope, healing and solidarity. We circle around the Bible guided by women-authored Study Guides. We are part of an international gathering of women who reflect on self care and each other care through Sister Care. Pooling our support for IWF Scholarships makes new spiritual leadership possible every semester. God moves in our Conversations and Moves Us to places of growth. Every time we come together in person and online we make ever more links so our gifts and networks can bind the world in God's love.

We make a difference so our sisters can make a difference. Donating makes a difference.

Mennonite Women USA

www.mennonitewomenusa.org

office@mwusa.org

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