February 6, 2023

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Recently I volunteered to help collect data for an annual initiative that counts the number of unhoused people in order to better serve their needs with government resources. I was semi-randomly assigned to a Christian ministry "soup kitchen" located in the most challenging neighborhood in town.  

After their staff opened the gate and let into the building the long line of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the community, everyone was instructed to sit while a ministry leader gave a loud and long testimony. Meanwhile, trays of food were piled up in everyone's line of sight, and the smell of hot meals filled the space.

Every time this ministry serves dinner (most days of the week), this protocol is repeated. Imagine your only guaranteed meal each day requires that you sit through a devotional that implies that the crushing poverty you suffer from is because of some spiritual inadequacy, and it is assumed that you do not have a spiritual connection with God. 

How on Earth are people supposed to be able to listen to any words other than what's on the menu and how to form an orderly line? The misguided message of Jesus is drowned out by grumbling stomachs. Maybe the so-called "good news" being peddled is not compelling enough on its own, so a room of starving hostages is the only way to guarantee an audience.

Never in the Gospels does Jesus hold food in one hand and a sermon manuscript in the other, forcing hungry people to sit and listen first. No, Jesus tends to the physical, social, spiritual, and other needs of people without holding power over them. The Gospels often describe Jesus teaching, then being interrupted by a need. He responds by tending to the need, especially healings, in that moment rather than vainly finishing his teaching first. 

It is un-Christlike to assume that the poorest of society are where they are because of their sin. On the contrary, the poorest of society are where they are because of collective, systemic sin—corporate greed, mental healthcare access used as a political pawn, addiction treated as a moral failure rather than a biochemical illness, the long legacy of white supremacy, the prison industrial complex, and more. 

What assumptions do we make about people's needs and spirituality? What narratives do we tell ourselves about our own needs and spirituality? 

May we repent from the assumptions and judgments that uncritically elevate ourselves over the vulnerable. May we repent from the lie that whatever we hold in our hands is ours to grip tightly. May we be willing to temporarily suspend our religious agenda of converting those people so that the Holy Spirit can convert our hearts toward humility first. 

Erica Lea-Simka

MW USA Southwest Regional Representative

May our sheroes teach us on Thursday, February 29 from 6:00 - 7:30 pm Eastern. A panel of educational professionals will lead our next Coffee & Conversation: Three Black Anabaptist women working in both higher and primary education will each take turns talking about the women from whom they learn. Then they will each talk about how those lessons apply to their work in educational settings. 

We'll hear about the successes and challenges of the mission to create thoughtful community members who are lifelong learners capable of pursuing their particular calling. And we'll listen for the ways supporting education can sharpen our collective knowledge to empower a more just future. Please plan to join in!

At our January Coffee and Conversation—prayerfully considering the end of Christmas and the beginning of a New Year—one woman shared that she’d challenged herself not to can for a whole season, and this year she chose not to make all the Christmas cookies too. “It was good to let go,” she said. And she was embraced with as many nods and responses of understanding as another woman who wanted to, keep feeding life into herself by baking all the Christmas cookies this year as a way to find joy in the chaos!"

We talked about self-care in the midst of caring for others. Some of us expressed a need to pull back, some want to keep going, and others are ready to start fresh. There was general disagreement with the disproportionate domestic work women carry and fatigue from the monthlong merry making push: “It’s lovely but exhausting.”

We shared blessings we’d given and received. We shared hard decisions we had to make last year. And we set intentions for recovery in the New Year to both heal from and live into that hard. How wonderful it was for women to step into a whole year in community! Not with a single-minded mission, but as a sisterhood wide enough to hold everyone and each of us in all our various circumstances, seasons, and stages. 

Also at last month's Coffee and Conversation another woman shared that she loves being a woman, but it should not be a prison. She spoke of how she always loved (and was good at) fixing things and putting things together. As a child, she longed for toys like erector sets but only got dolls. Then this Christmas, a month before her 80th birthday, her daughter-in-law gave her an old-time erector set as a gift. She said it still brings tears to her eyes. 

This month, let’s look to the makers and shakers of innovation. We are inspired by black women inventors like Dr. Patricia Bath who patented a cataract treatment devise that restored sight to people after decades of blindness! Sister Patricia is quoted saying, 

“Do not allow your mind to be imprisoned by majority thinking. Remember that the limits of science are not the limits of imagination.” 

And that is the prayer for our Black History Month social media series: to expand our collective imagination by restoring our vision of God’s endless creative diversity. We’ll look to the under-recognized women whose work literally built original ideas that change the way we all live. May doing so give us a peek into the possibilities for our prayers!

#BlackHistoryMonth: Look for MW USA's social media posts about black women inventors.

“May the Lord bless the effort that you as an organization make in favor of women. // El Señor bendiga el esfuerzo que ustedes como organización realizan en favor de mujeres.” -Cindy Alpízar Alpízar

Hermana Cindy is our sister: A current MW USA International Women’s Fund (IWF) scholarship recipient studying at SEMILLA seminary in Guatemala and living in San Rafael de Heredia, Costa Rica. She recently completed a Peace and Justice Certificate and is in the final semester of earning her Bachelor’s Degree on the way to studying for an M.Div.

Sister Cindy is also a force! She currently serves as secretary on the seminary’s board of directors and treasurer and administrator of the Mennonite Convention National Council. She facilitates courses at the seminary and promotes the ministry of women on the council. She also coordinates a National Ministry of Christian Education project called School for Pastors that supports both new and existing pastors, and she has served nationally as a chaplain. She serves regionally, as the Central America and Caribbean coordinator for an organization called MTAL, and internationally she has contributed to Mennonite World Conference and is currently part of the Congressional Missions Network. Additionally, she’s active in a local congregation and is a published writer. Summarizing this extensive dedication to ministry she says, “I love to serve others. // Amo servir a los demás.”

In response to receiving the IWF scholarship Cindy further says, “Your efforts allow me to continue working in this way. // El esfuerzo de ustedes hace que yo pueda seguir trabajando de la siguiente manera.” She also credits her family, sharing that she is a wife, a mom of four, and a grandmom of one. She says, “My family fully supports me in ministry and they are a blessing to me. // Mi familia me apoya completamente en el ministerio y son una bendición para mí.”

“Gracias por bendecirme.” Cindy thanks us for blessing her saying it is a great gift from God to have your contribution through this scholarship. And she thanks us for continuing to be part of the effort so she can prepare herself to be able to serve as a more qualified one. She thanks us for believing in her and believing that God multiplies every contribution you give to women like her.

Cindy goes on to point out the difficulty for women in ministry. Apart from doing missionary work we sometimes have the extra task of convincing others that we can do it. She follows this saying the Lord is no respecter of persons. For her, being able to train herself has been so valuable to be able to serve in a better way and thus also to be listened to with more attention and respect. There was resistance at first, but little by little and with a lot of patience, respect, and love they have given me a voice and space to serve.  

“Thank God I can say that I have seen the hand of God, God’s grace in my life and God’s presence that never leaves me. // Gracias a Dios puedo decir que he visto la mano de Dios, su gracia en mi vida y su presencia que no me deja nunca.”

Mennonite Women USA was honored to participate in the peace events of MLK weekend led by Mennonite Action. For our part, we were there to recognize stories of suffering and practice justice through supportive partnership. We did so by sponsoring a meal, sending participants to help serve it, and standing in solidarity with and recording witness of the peace action.  

Our sponsored meal was shared the evening of Peace School: A day of training to prepare participants for taking civil disobedience on Capitol Hill. For the meal, Mennonite Action leaders selected Falafel Inc., which is run by a Palestinian owner and serves recipes inspired by his mother's cooking. Find more pictures and read about the peace action on our Women's Voices blog.

Being an MWUSA donor makes a way for women to find their prophetic voice and find each other for embracing the whole world in God's mothering love. That is the love of one from whom we are born and the One in whose image we are created. It's the nurturing, embracing, exuberant love of aunties, mentors, daughters and dear friends. And where the world knows this love, people find unconditional belonging, satisfying joy and lasting peace.

The ways of MW USA involve learning, supporting, listening, sharing, and caring. We learn with each other by gathering around women-authored Bible Study Guides. We support women across the world studying for spiritual leadership with annual IWF Scholarships. We Choose Sisterhood by listening to those who are different. We share our own story by engaging in Coffee and Conversation and writing for the Women's Voices blog. And we care for ourselves and each other through international Sister Care gatherings.

We love in these ways to make as many ways as possible for all to know God's love. Donating makes a way.

Mennonite Women USA

www.mennonitewomenusa.org

office@mwusa.org

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