Our Stories (PDF) - Mennonite Mission Network

Photo by Ryan MillerAirmailChildren’s paper likenesses travel the worldMarie Unruh, a Radical Journey participantfrom Peabody, Kan., took her class around theworld—without leaving home.Unruh, who served with Mission Network inBradford, England, assisted teachers at Lidget Green,a primary school (pre-K to grade 6). One of Unruh’sideas was to do a “Flat Stanley” project with herkids, a class of 8- and 9-year-olds.Flat Stanley is a character from a series of books byJeff Brown. In these books, Stanley is flattened by abulletin board that hung over his bed, and as a result,Flat Stanley can be sent around the world by mail.Unruh helped her class create flat versions ofthemselves and send them to five different continents.Unruh’s connections helped make it possible forthe flattened students to “visit” South Africa, NewZealand, China, Germany and the United States.Unruh’s friends and acquaintances, who received theflat students, responded with information about thecountries where they live.At an assembly that followed, the students tookturns sharing what they learned about each countrythey “visited.” They told about a safari in SouthAfrica, performed a Maori dance called the Hakafrom New Zealand, and shared facts about China.They conversed in German and explained the UnitedStates’ pledge of allegiance, as well as the differencesbetween British and American English.Biblia booksByler finishes Spanish Bible trilogyWhen Dennis Byler, a longtime Mission Network workerin Spain, released Hablar Sobre Dios desde la Biblia(Talking about God using the Bible) in March, it was the culminationof an unexpected labor of love that lasted more than20 years and resulted in a trilogy totaling more than 1,000pages. Here, he discusses the history and purpose of each one.La Autoridad de la Palabra en laIglesia (The Authority of the Wordin the Church) In the first book, Iwanted to explore how the Biblefunctions as authority for the doctrineand decision-making of the church. Theworking assumption for many Spanishspeakingevangelicals is that the Bible issome sort of self-evident set of rules of conduct and set ofbeliefs, which, if held rigorously, delivers human souls fromthe threat of hell into the promise of heaven. This bookexplores what the Bible is, how it came into being, and howGod leads the church by means of the Holy Spirit and theexample and teaching of Jesus, as communities of believersgather around the Bible seeking God’s leading.Todo lo que te Preguntabas sobre laBiblia (Y algunas cosas que prefeririasno saber) (Everything You wereWondering about the Bible [And aFew Things You Would Rather NotKnow]) contains an overview of the Bible,brief reviews of each of the Bible’s books,and a section of frequently asked questions about the Bible.Dennis Byler in theseminary library atEl Escorial, Spain.Lidget Green Primary School students Zishaan Rauf, Omar Bin Melha,Maryam Sadiq, Usaid Shah, Ayesha Malik and Nafisah Kiran showoff the “flat” versions of themselves that they shipped around theworld. Marie Unruh, a Radical Journey participant who volunteeredat the school, used the project to help the students learn about othercountries and cultures.Photo courtesy of Marie UnruhHablar sobre Dios desde la Biblia(Talking about God using the Bible)Several years ago, I was requested by theseminary where I teach to write a coursefor congregational study in “biblicaltheology,” which resulted in this book.While the first book was about how theBible functions in order to give shape to the teaching andpractice of the church, this third book is about 12 specificsets of ideas we derive from the Bible as we think aboutGod (and about life and meaning, and the universe).FollowMennoMissionNeton Twitter for allthe latest news.Find Mennonite Mission Network on Facebook.BeyondOurselves.MennoniteMission.net ■ 5