eBrethren, August 15, 2013

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August 15, 2013   North Korean Corn? Click here. CONTENTS Coloring the canvas Preach: sharing in the gospel Gimbiya Kettering, Intercultural Ministries Coordinator. Photo by Cheryl Brumaugh-Cayford Roger and Carolyn Schrock in the mission field. Photo courtesy of the Church of the Brethren A canvas at the Intercultural Consultation in 2011. Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford  Together as one body of Christ. Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford  www.brethren.org/greatmultitude Coloring the canvas Gimbiya Kettering’s whole life has been intercultural. From her birth in Jamaica, to her parent’s mission work in Kenya, to a home in Maryland, and now Washington, D.C., this new coordinator of Intercultural Ministries for the Church for the Brethren is prepared and eager to engage ministry in exciting new ways.--Mandy Garcia, associate director of Donor Communications How did you come to your new role in Intercultural Ministries? Growing up in Kenya, my Brethren training happened in a home church with close mentorship in the mission field, particularly with Phil and Louise Rieman and Roger and Carolyn Schrock. As I got older, I wasn’t conscientious about pursuing a Brethren path, until the Riemans encouraged me to apply for a job at On Earth Peace. Working there re-grounded me in Brethren values as an adult, so transitioning into Church of the Brethren denominational staff for intercultural ministries was a great fit for me. It’s one of those beautiful surprises in life—some days I wake up and think “I work for the church,” and it seems unreal. How has your background shaped you for this ministry? My whole life story is intercultural. My parents are in an intercultural/interracial marriage. I was raised as a “third culture” kid, which means my parents were from one culture and we lived in a different one where I didn’t have a blood connection. I’m now in an intercultural/interracial marriage myself, so my whole foundation and life experience is about cultures interacting with each other. I feel blessed to do work that is personally meaningful, as well as professionally meaningful. What did you find when you stepped into your position? Relationships, networking, and excitement for the intercultural conversation and community; a fantastic intercultural advisory committee; the “Separate No More” paper, passed by the 2007 Annual Conference, which provided a solid foundation that communicates at the national level, district level, and congregational level that the church is committed to this work. Other than that? A blank canvas. What’s your vision for that canvas? I’d like to develop new leadership and new voices in the Intercultural Ministries network. It would be great to have people in each district who are aware, knowledgeable, and passionate about intercultural ministries, to provide an ongoing local connection. How are intercultural ministries relevant to areas that are less diverse? There’s a tendency to think that intercultural ministries are for people who are not white or not English-speaking. In fact, they are relevant to all of us. America is an intercultural country, and most of us live in towns where demographics are changing—and sometimes that means between white cultural backgrounds. When we are interculturally competent, we’re better citizens of our community. If you look around your church and think, "Everyone looks like me, grew up in a family like mine, may even be related to me" it can be tempting to think, "What does this have to do with church?" But church, when it is working at its best, helps us be better at ourMonday through Saturday lives. And when you consider how intercultural those days are, it’s only natural that the church would help equip us in this way as well. Why are intercultural ministries important to the Church of the Brethren? There is a biblical mandate that calls us into awareness of the intercultural body of Christ—to love our neighbor. When the Gentiles began to join the movement of the early church, Christians kept asking, "Are these Gentiles really part of us? They’re not circumcised, their culture is different from ours, and they eat strange things." And over and over they are told that, yes, we all are together in the body of Christ. Tell us about the intercultural event you’re working on. The intercultural symposium is about The Great Multitude, which is a term that comes from Revelation 7:9 where it says, "I beheld the great multitude of people, people from every tribe, every language, every kinship." Sometimes "intercultural" feels like a very contemporary, hip, politically correct thing that we should do, but that’s not actually the case. It’s a calling and a biblically based way of living together, being conscientious of people who are different than us, and being a part of the larger community of Christ. Who should attend the symposium? Anybody who is serious about continuing the work of Jesus, particularly those interested in what it means to do so together. It’s a dialogue, and my hope is that people who come will leave equipped and articulate about what is happening, what has happened in the past, and what could happen next. To register for the intercultural symposium, visitwww.brethren.org/greatmultitude . To learn more about Intercultural Ministries of the Church of the Brethren, visit www.brethren.org/intercultural , or e-mailgkettering@brethren.org . To support the work of this important ministry, give to Congregational Life Ministries at www.brethren.org/give . Forward to a friend Back to top Jay Wittmeyer representing Global Mission and Service in South Sudan. Photo by Roy Winter  Worshiping in Brazil with Suely Inhauser Photo courtesy of Global Mission and Service    Preach: Sharing in the gospelBy Matt McKimmy “I thank God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy, in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5). There's a common quip that says that most preachers really only have one good sermon in them. Not that they can't engage with a multitude of scripture verses, or preach on a variety of topics, but that deep down, there is one text, one topic, one message that undergirds all the rest. Regardless of whether we've ever led a sermon on aSunday morning, all of us are preachers of sorts. We preach not only with carefully prepared or spontaneous speeches, but through the actions of our everyday lives. As preachers in this manner, each of us has unique experiences and contexts that impact how we understand Christ's good news and how we share it with others. Our contexts and the gifts and graces of the Spirit shape each of our lives into unique sermons—sermons that we preach over and over throughout our lives, to friends and strangers alike. Sometimes we use words to share what we believe. Other times it is our actions that reveal the gospel. Yet it takes more than just one sermon to understand the fullness of the mission of God. It takes a multitude of voices and a diversity of viewpoints. Just look to the Bible. Even there we find four different versions of the story of Jesus! If each of us does really only have one sermon embedded deep within, we must join our preaching with that of other sisters and brothers. Each of us may only have one sermon to preach, but the Holy Spirit continues to work among us, weaving our stories and our service together into a beautiful tapestry for all the world to see. When we step back and take a look, we witness the beautiful, diverse ways the gospel is being embodied and shared. As we soak in this tremendous sight, it is only appropriate for us to give thanks to God and to pray for and support the many, varied individuals, communities, and missions that we are connected to as we continue the work of Jesus and share in the good news. Matt McKimmy is pastor at the Richmond Church of the Brethren in Richmond, Ind. He has composed this and several other worship resources for the annual Church of the Brethren Mission Offering (suggested date,September 22), available at www.brethren.org/missionoffering . To participate in the offering now, visitwww.brethren.org/give . Forward to a friend Back to top  www.brethren.org/basinandtowel “Our desire as a church is about being relevant; because our cities are plagued by violence of different sorts, we are called to engage with issues of peace in creative, transformative ways.” --Samuel Sarpiya in "Transformative Peacemaking" featured in the most recent edition of Basin and Towel . Do you have a story about how you or your congregation practice stewardship? E-mail it to mgarcia@brethren.org ! eBrethren: stories of Brethren stewards, is produced every other week by the Church of the Brethren's donor communications team. Send feedback to mgarcia@brethren.org or call 847-742-5100 ext. 361. Thanks for reading!  Watch for our next issue on August 28, 2013.