CCC @ MCUSA CONBENTION 2011 PITTSBURGH, PA

CONVENTION DAY ONE

Monday 4 July

After a long days of driving on either Sunday or Monday, all the CCC crew arrived. Tim Lind remained at home due an illness in the family, so Nina's first task was scrambling for translators for Marie-Jeanne and Gaston. Just before the evening worship they met Steve Wiebe-Johnson who served as their worship host. When they finally found their way back to the CCC booth after worship, Nina had encountered Jeanette Krabill, the angel of francais, who has been a beautiful and helpful presence in our booth ever since.

The Sunday travel group had been working all day, without air conditioning, setting up the Congo Cloth Connection booth and folding fabric for display. It is gorgeous!





When Nina and Nancy and Marie-Jeanne arrived they added a sewing table and sewing machine and poster of dress design from Congo so that the “dress shop corner” was ready to go!





When the Exhibit Hall opened at 8:45 pm, the booth was flooded with people, full of delight, interest.



Ervin Stutsman, executive director of MCUSA, was one of the first to come and stitch on the “Every Stitch a Prayer” quilt.

Youth really enjoyed dropping in to make bookmarks out of Congo cloth.

Over $800 of donations were given in exchange for many yards of cloth. And Marie-Jeanne began to take orders for custom made items.


CONVENTION DAY TWO

Tuesday 5 July

The booth was open from 11 am to 11 pm with volunteers taking shifts. Steady interest generated over $2000 in donations!

Louise Matthew of the Lion and Lamb Peace Arts Center of Bluffton College ordered five skirts and head scarves from Marie-Jeanne. They use these cross cultural clothes to teach about diversity and peacemaking. What fun it was to see the variety of fabrics and skirt designs Marie-Jeanne created! Several girls came through and were willing to model them for us. And some lovely ladies, as well…

Sylvia Shirk was Marie-Jeanne’s interpreter for the Mennonite Women Dinner. This gave her a chance to hear some excellent preaching by Meghan Good and Eli Soto Albrecht, in translation. They she was ready to keep sewing until 11 pm. She is a wonder!



I had some time to work on the prayer cards that are part of “Every Stitch a Prayer.” I had made some cards by sewing and praying on Congo cloth. Suzanne Lind took them to Congo. Cisca Ibanda shared them with a group of women from all three Mennonite groups in Kinshasa, and they sent their prayer requests back.





On Tuesday evening I was able to sew and pray again, this time with particular women in mind. I prayed for a son who had rebelled against his family, for a daughter who had been ill for 37 years, for a son that could not find work and a son who cut off all communication with family. I will send back my own requests: for my son who is looking for work, for my daughter who is looking for the right relationships, for health and blessing from my only granddaughter who just learned to walk. Ah! We are the same. We are sisters, even from afar. This kind of connection, and all the connections in our booth, were the dreams of this church to church relationships project. Thanks be to God!

We have had lots of help quilting the "Every Stitch a Prayer" quilt for the auction on Thursday.

CCC at Central District Conference

Marie-Jeanne and Gaston were guests of the Central District Conference meetings at Silverwood Mennonite Church (June 23-25).

Mary Ellen Meyer of Faith Mennonite, Goshen,
interprets the plenary session on Biblical interpretation,
led by Loren Johns, professor of New Testament
at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Conversation with Heidi Siemens-Rhodes,
one of the pastors of The Assembly, Goshen, IN.

Auctions quilts displayed at Central District Conference.

How lovely! See what Marie-Jeanne has in her bag!

What will you find at the CCC Booth in Pittsburgh? (July 4-8)

MEET MAMA MARIE-JEANNE MUJINGA



A slide show that introduces us to Marie-Jeanne and the BOMEN Sewing Group will be playing and you can practice your French in welcoming Marie-Jeanne to MCUSA! Come experience a glimpse of Mennonites in the Democratic Republic of Congo through slides, music and information about our connections.


LEARN ABOUT CONGOLESE MENNONITES!


Did you know?

According to Mennonite World Conference membership:

• There are about 524,000 Mennonites in North America.
• There are about 592,000 Mennonite in Africa.

The two countries in the world with the largest numbers of Mennonites are the USA and DR Congo:

• There are about 387,000 Mennonites in the USA.
• There are about 220,000 Mennonites in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

YARDS AND YARDS OF CONGO CLOTH!

Well over 1,000 yards of cloth will be displayed for your suggested donation of $10 per yard. Each day new pieces will be displayed, so come often to find the pieces you love the most!




CLOTH CREATIONS!

Rebeccca Sommers of College Mennonite Church gives us lots of ideas for how to use Congo cloth in her own creations. These bags, aprons, wall hangings, scarves, pillow slips, and skirts are available for a suggested donations.








QUILTING!

All are invited to add their stitches to the "EVERY STITCH A PRAYER" quilt top. Created by Joy Hess of College Mennonite Church (Goshen, IN), the completed quilt will be auctioned on Thursday evening at 9 pm.


BEAUTY FOR BENEFIT AUCTION!



The largest auction items is the "EVERY STITCH A PRAYER" queen size quilt.





Matching cloth was used to created a wall hanging called "CONGO CONNECTIONS." This unfinished piece will be auctioned as is, and would make a wonderful congregational project of quilting, stitching, learning and praying about Congo.





In addition, "STARS OVER CONGO" is a wall hanging created by Virginia Hartsough of Silverwood Mennonite Church and quiltiing by the Silverwood quilting group. This lovely hanging will be auctioned with a matching bag.



"CONGOLESE SISTERS" is a wall hanging by Joy Hess and the College Mennonite Church quilting group featuring Congo cloth in its typical use -- as gorgeous clothing! What a fabulous way to remember the women we are befriending, fellow seamstresses, artists, mothers, sisters, daughters!



FRIENDLY FACES!

In addition to Marie-Jeanne, folks from Florence Church of the Brethren Mennonite, Kern Road Mennonite, Prairie Street Mennonite and Silverwood will be glad to talk to you about Congo Connections and the blessings of the "fellowship of the cloth."

"Mennomenical Connections" at Bondeko Worship

BONDEKO Mennonite Church – Kinshasa -- Sunday 12 June, 2011

A day of connections

Suzanne Lind sends this lovely report of the send off for Marie-Jeanne and Gaston last Sunday!

It was a hot, dusty Sunday morning. Mama Cisca and Suzanne made their way through many, many crowded streets and alleys full of children, little tables covered with food and other items to buy, trash and brightly dressed church-goers, to Bondeko church. After all the planning and preparations, it was time to say goodbye to Marie-Jeanne and Gaston!

About 50 people met in what will eventually be the church building. For now, lengths of cloth define the small worship space under the high roof. Neighbors' voices mingle with the sounds of worship and their laundry becomes part of the décor.

John and Danile Martens of Silverwood Mennonite Church were also there, with John's brother Phil and his family -- all visiting sites where John and Phil spent their childhood years. They were warmly welcomed by church members who knew their missionary parents years ago. How surprising to have two CCC Michiana Friends of Congo members at this important service in Kinshasa!

It was a truly "Mennomenical" (Mennonite + ecumenical) group: The church belongs to the Mennonite Church of Congo (CMCO), John and Phil grew up as missionary children of AIMM missionaries who worked with CMCO churches, the guest pastor (Pastor Mattieu Shimatu) is from the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Congo (CEM), Cisca represented the Mennonite Brethren Church of Congo (CEFMC) and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and I was there from MCC and MFC and CCC! What would we do without acronyms!!!

I told the story of how Michiana Friends of Congo, and then the Congo Cloth Connection, got started, with a wonderful translator imitating my intonations and gestures in rapid sequence. I went into some detail about how determined we are to find ways to know more about and have more
relationships with Congolese Mennonites.

Then I told about Chris Nofsinger's visit to Kinshasa and her passion for Congo cloth, and showed the photo of her with her cloth. I talked about what a wonderful surprise it has been for all involved to see how the beauty of cloth, color, design, sewing creativity provides such a fun and exciting way to learn and pray. Heads were nodding, everyone smiling, so pleased to hear what a "ministry" their cloth and their creativity can have.

I told about Pittsburgh and the display there then stopped and said,

“But how could we have a whole big display of cloth and information about Congo without someone from Congo there? Oh! We had to invite a Congolese seamstress!"

And I pointed to Marie-Jeanne, who beamed her brightest smile, and everyone broke into whoops and hollers, laughter and clapping.

I talked a bit about the itinerary for Marie-Jeanne and Gaston, where they would be staying and some of the activities planned, and a bit about CCC committee members. Showed a picture of Nina in the river baptizing (Tim in background). Also a photo of Nina in Pasadena with Reverends Komuesa and Shimatu (who was sitting right behind me -- I hadn't known he would be there, but of course he was really pleased). Also a picture of Nina with Sylvia Shirk, who will be a translator. The congregation got a big kick when I said,

“Although Marie-Jeanne and Gaston will have translators with them for presentations, when they stay in homes they will have to use their English.”

The translator quipped, "Speek Eengleesh onlee!"

LEYA’S COMFORTER

The grand finale was to show the quilt Chris made and Florence folks knotted for Leya. This was the perfect way to underline once again the "each stitch a prayer" theme. People were very moved. I concluded,

“Imagine that Marie-Jeanne is pulling a beautiful thread with her as she goes, taking stitches of love and beauty along the way and returning to continue the design here.”

It was all great fun and I think gave an idea of what Marie-Jeanne and Gaston may experience.

THE DRESS -- Part 4!

There was yet another surprise in the dress story...on Sunday, June 12 when Suzanne attended worship at the Bondeko congregation in Kinshasa.

After church yesterday, Mama Manjina, assistant director of BOMEN workshop and the one who was so upset when I first mentioned buying the dress that Monique was making, told me she had brought me a gift.

After the worship service she brought me a package: a beautiful dress similar to the one that Monique was making and similar to the one Marie-Jeanne gave me, made of fresh, new cloth in strips of different colorful, beautiful designs which she had made for me! Some strips even had the descriptive stickers still in place, perhaps to underscore the fact that BOMEN does NOT sell/give away dresses made from used cloth! Beautiful lace around the sleeves.

We laughed together and I marveled at its loveliness, its perfect fit, her understanding of just what I had wanted.

I hugged her and kissed her, put the dress on over the dress I was wearing, and pranced around the little church, showing it to everyone. She insisted we have our picture taken and I will make sure she gets a copy.

I shall be wearing beautiful, loose, cool, colorful dresses for a long time. I wonder if they will provide the much-needed reminder to think before I talk or whether they will allow me to continue to stumble into

question-filled situations.

I did promise the BOMEN women who were together after church that I will come to the workshop and ORDER some new clothes for which I will PAY them well!