Mennonite Church Canada congregations match $50,000 donation for MWC COVID-19 fund in 2020

Donation matches earlier gift for a total of over $100,000

Francine Mukoko – a public health graduate, and the first university graduate
from the Communauté Mennonite au Congo community in Bateke –
presents public health advice in Teke, the local language.
Photo courtesy of Seraphin Kutumbana.
Source: MWC.


Congregations across Mennonite Church Canada have matched a $50,000 donation made by Mennonite Church Canada to a COVID-19 relief fund operated by Mennonite World Conference / Congreso Mundial Menonita / Conférence Mennonite Mondiale (MWC).
 
The fund, which is part of MWC’s Global Church Sharing Fund, helps MWC-member churches struggling because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

"This giving demonstrates to churches in other parts of the world that we belong to each other, and that we, with more financial resources, can help those with less to carry out their witness as Jesus followers in pandemic times,” says Arli Klassen, Mennonite Church Canada Joint Council member and regional representatives coordinator for MWC.
 
Mennonite Church Canada's Joint Council approved a $50,000 donation to the fund in May 2020 and asked congregations to match the amount in their giving for the rest of the year. Congregations across the five regional churches gave $50,946 in 2020, which means Mennonite Church Canada's total contributions to the fund were over $100,000.

Klassen says Canadian congregations have much to learn from churches in the Global South, who connected with needy families in ways Canadian churches did not, often leaving tasks and relationships to social agencies and government support.

As of November 2020, the MWC COVID-19 fund supported 45 humanitarian initiatives carried out by 53 national Anabaptist churches in 28 countries. It’s current total project value is $436,824 (USD).
 
The national church recipients of the relief fund include Angola, Colombia, India and Indonesia. Read the full list here. In India, a desperate families were given relief kits with food and hygiene supplies; in the Democratic Republic of Congo, food relief, equipment and training in protective health measures.  
 
“Mennonite Church Canada’s giving enabled this strong witness. We are growing in our understanding of what it means to be an Anabaptist faith community that transcends borders,” says Klassen.
 
 
Media contact:
Katie Doke Sawatzky
kdsawatzky@mennonitechurch.ca
306-520-8049