In 1994, Shimeles and Yutta Retta met the “Russian Mennonites,” or Aussiedler, who had recently moved from the former Soviet Union to Germany. Being recently converted to Christ, Shimeles, an Ethiopian refugee, and his German wife, both of Catholic background, were incorporated into and discipled by this conservative Anabaptist community.
Agnès Ntumba remembers the day her husband and seven children fled the violence that took over their village in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The community lined the sides of the road to welcome six vehicles rolling in from an arduous 500-mile journey from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
KIKWIT, Democratic Republic of Congo — Loving the generous people of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not difficult, but evil happening in the rural Kasaï region of that lush country is hard to comprehend.
CHIBOK, Nigeria — Cradling a faded school picture of her daughter, Kolo Adamu sat on the front porch of the Church of the Brethren meetinghouse. She recalled the months after the teen was abducted by Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group known for its brutality.
Another suspect in the killing of a Mennonite United Nations investigator in the Democratic Republic of Congo was arrested Dec. 29, but an understanding of who killed Michael J. Sharp — and why — continues to be unclear.
NYABANGE, Tanzania — Mennonite Theological College of Eastern Africa has experienced a dramatic turnaround, going from a dying school of just three students to a thriving college in one year.
The Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia continues to grow, increasing by 4.5 percent over the last year to 310,877 baptized members. It is the largest national Anabaptist body in the world.
