 A Postcard and a Prayer |
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| Mennonite Women USA |
September 2008 |
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Rebecca Osiro (left) at her ordination service in Nairobi on August 31. Also ordained (left to right) Abraham Ndung'u, Patrick Obonde, Malachi Oyoo. Photo by Cindy Brislen, Eastern Mennonite Missions
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First Woman Ordained in Kenya
Rebecca Osiro became the first woman to be ordained for pastoral ministry in the Kenya Mennonite Church. She serves as the secretary for the African Anabaptist Women Theologians (AAWT). Rebecca finished her master's and bachelor level training with financial assistance from Mennonite Women USA through the International Women's Fund and the Les Amies giving circle, a group of North American women church leaders formed to support AAWT scholarships. She is pictured (center) with other AAWT graduates, Tatiana Nkjoko (left) and Leya Muloba, both of Congo. Photo by Rhoda Keener
Earlier in August, Rebecca wrote about her upcoming ordination: "My name is listed among those who are to be ordained pastors on August 31st this year. Please pray for the occasion for it marks the beginning of a history in Kenya and most parts of the Mennonite world in Africa where ordination of women is still an issue."
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From Mennonite World Conference in Zimbabawe, 2003
"What I want to share with my sisters around the world is that God is faithful, and let us be faithful in Him. Let us stick together as sisters in Christ, in our joy and in our suffering, but let us be bold and courageous in the Lord." - Rebecca Osiro, in a video produced by Ed Cundiff, narrated by Pat McFarlane
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Negotiating life's transitions 
In the September-October issue of timbrel, writers discuss personal as well as social transitions. Dorothy Nickel Friesen discusses the transition in society that she, along with the rest of the over-forty crowd, has been experiencing for the past few decades as women have increasingly been called to freely exercise their gifts within the church.
Rebekah Wingert, on the other hand, writes about a personal transition she experienced because of her work with Mennonite Central Committee Bangladesh. Rebekah is pictured (right) in the midst of Bangladeshi women with whom she was a co-worker during her MCC assignment for the past three years. In another article, Evie Hertzler, now deceased, previously wrote about her diagnosis of ALS disease and what that transtion called forth from her.
As we negotiate life's transitions, we are sometimes tested beyond what we may think are the reasonable bounds of our ability to manage; yet, it is in these times of struggling with transitions, that our faith is strengthened.
The sister question for Nov. - Dec. issue of timbrel is:
What tradition keeps your family focused on God during the holidays?
Send your responses by September 30 to Patricia Burdette, Mennonite Women USA editor.To subscribe to timbrel, send $14 for one year or $12 per person for a group of 10 or more to Mennonite Women USA, P.O. Box 347, Newton, KS 67114. You can also e-mail or call 800-794-5101, ext. 227. We'll start your subscription and send you a bill.
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Giving to Mennonite Women USA
Your gifts make Mennonite Women USA's ministry possible. Contribute on-line. Please consider this ministry in your giving. Gifts are tax deductible.
Or send by regular mail to: Mennonite Women USA, 722 Main St., P.O. Box 347, Newton, KS 67114. |
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DIGITAL DISCIPLESHIP: Forming Faith in an Electronic Culture
The church is undergoing radical changes as a result of our electronic  culture. Strange cultural paradoxes are emerging. We live as a "tribe of individuals" and experience life as electronic nomads--physically in one place, but electronically elsewhere. How do we form community in such a context? How do we nurture spiritual growth? How do we decide which technologies to use and which ones simply use us?
Shane Hipps will be speaking November 7-9, 2008 at Hesston College as part of the Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series. For more information, contact Hesston College. |
Additional Fall 2008 regional women's events
The following area retreats were received after our August Postcard was sent. To receive the full list, or for more information, contact Berni.
Atlantic Coast and Lancaster: One day Saturday Sabbath retreats:"Voices of the Heart: Discovering our Passion" is the theme for the 2008-2009 three-retreat series which meets Saturdays 10-4 at the Forest Hills Mennonite Church, Leola, Pa. Historically, women have wrestled with many expectations when imagining "a room of one's own," a place of listening and responding to one's creative call. Retreats offered: November 22, 2008 with educator/author Polly Ann Brown; January 31, 2009 with organic farmer/poet Beth Weaver-Kreider; March 14, 2009 with peace/conflict studies professor, Carolyn Schrock-Shenk.For more information contact Sharon Kraybill or Mary Lou Weaver Houser.
North Central (Oct. 3-5) week-end retreat at Cooperstown Bible Camp in North Dakota, with speaker Dianna Gagner. |
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The Woven Threads of Sisterhood
Speakers Debbie Schmidt and Raylene Heinz-Penner (pictured left to right), spoke at the South Central/Western District women and girls' retreat at Camp Mennoscah, September 7-8 on the theme "The Woven Threads of Sisterhood" sharing how their friendship with each other is integral in their faith journeys.
Raylene said, "Talking about friendship feels a little like praying and clearing the way to praying to God." They cited the story of Shiprah and Puah, Israelite midwives who resisted Pharoah's orders to kill male babies, in Exodus 1:13-20. Debbie said, "As Shiprah and Puah speak to each other, they find clarity, and they have a creative moment that  often happens when friends put their heads together. When we talk of women and friends and the spiritual journey, we must talk about Shiprah and Puah."
Pictured left, Kris Balzer and others enjoy singing.
Photos by Rhoda Keener.
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A Prayer for the Journey
By Linda Tyson, Brownstown, Pa.
Dear Lord God,
I've something special for which to thank you
I'm in awe today
As I observe life and growth in Creation
Watching bean vines send up flower laden stems
They cling to the fence
What beauty to behold, it feeds my soul
Your showers provide refreshment
Your sun also for growth
Makes me think of those children who come from your hand
The ones who you've given who call me "Grandma"
They also feed my soul
One by one they come and sometimes by four
Oh how you've blessed me
It's hard to contain
Small hands to hold and to sit on my lap
A story to tell them
A prayer to pray
They walk with me
They help me to see the little things I miss along the way
I wait, I listen
First tooth, first step, first word
You allow me to see them as a beautiful vine
They flower and grow and cling to their parent
Someday they'll mature and go out on their own
I pray they too will know you
And cling to you God
Just as the bean stalk clings to the fence
May they flower and bear fruit on their vine
Bearing bushels for Thee
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A Postcard & a Prayer is compiled by Mennonite Women USA staff Rhoda Keener, Patricia Burdette, Berni Kaufman, and Lois Loflin. |
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Know of others who would like to receive "A Postcard & a Prayer" e-mails from Mennonite Women USA? Have them send name, address, and e-mail Berni. | |
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