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2009-04-07 issue:

MWC representatives report increased interest of youth

by Gordon Houser

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NEWTON, Kan.—Three representatives of Mennonite World Conference reported a growth in involvement of young adults in MWC on March 11 at the Mennonite Church USA offices, Newton .

Bert Lobe from St. Jacobs, Ont., Cynthia Peacock from Calcutta, India, and Tigist Gelagle from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, had been on the road four weeks, speaking to Mennonites about the MWC Assembly this July in Paraguay. Lobe said MWC expects 6,000 participants, including 4,000 from Paraguay, but the economic downturn has made it a challenge for many to come.

Tigist, a young adult, said MWC had planned for 100 at the Global Youth Summit, which will meet during the assembly in Paraguay, but 200 have already signed up, and she expects more.

Lobe said the worship at MWC “is the hope of the church for the North.” MWC members in the North, he said, “may say they believe the church is the vehicle for God’s reconciliation in the world,” but they don’t act on that belief. People in the South, however, “particularly the young, the poor and the suffering, do believe this and are showing the way.”

Peacock said the effect of having an MWC Assembly in India in 1997 was positive. “People learned they are connected to others around the world. They’re not alone.”