Lower than expected expenses helped the Mennonite World Conference assembly in Indonesia avoid a deficit.

“We are very pleased to report that    . . . we met the financial goal of breaking even,” said MWC chief operating officer Jeanette Bissoon.

The July gathering was MWC’s first time hosting a hybrid event with in-person and online attendees.

Due to COVID-19, the assembly was delayed for a year, and attendance was capped at 1,000.

“There were many unknowns that made it challenging to budget for registration fees,” Bissoon said. “Thanks to the careful planning and spending by assembly staff, we were able to contain expenses, despite an additional year of commitments due to the postponement.

“Total expenses came in $285,000 less than budget. These savings made up for the shortfall in revenues.”

The net impact of variances in revenues and expenses, along with a transfer of $100,000 from general revenues that had been budgeted, resulted in a break-even position.

“We are thankful to each person and organization that gave to make this result possible,” Bissoon said.

Chief international events officer Liesa Unger said MWC is thankful for each person who attended.

“We thank those who joined online — at home on their computers or together with others at a local church — for joining us as we learned to run a hybrid event,” she said. “We thank our Indonesian brothers and sisters who attended portions of the event in Salatiga, Semarang or at one of the satellite locations. We are confident that God’s Spirit moved among us, and it is our prayer that the blessing we received will carry us forward.”