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Our last JoinHands grant helped Ripple Church, a new Mennonite congregation of Mosiac Mennonite Conference, to purchase an existing church building for their meeting place and community center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This dynamic congregation is active in their neighborhood as they provide ministries for children and youth, meal service, and a place of belonging. When I presented our $40,000 JoinHands grant to this church I was impressed with their diversity, level of sharing, and inclusion of people from within their community.

Our next JoinHands grants will go to Mennonite building projects in Burkina Faso and Columbia. Our first is for Iglesia Menonita Caminando En Esperanza in Bogota, Colombia—a six-year-old church plant in a very large borough in Bogotá, Colombia with over 1,200,000 people. Thanks to offerings and a loan from the National Colombian Mennonite Church, they purchased a two-story building. Previously paid rent is now applied to the new property. The church is renovating this building for church gatherings, Christian education, and store front shops to sell their baked goods and rent for income to support their ministries. In addition to the grant we will make, this church invites volunteers from Canada and the US to assist with various repair and remodeling work. Contact me if you are interested in volunteering to work at this project.

Our second grant will go to Kodeni Evangelical Mennonite Church in Kodeni, Burkina Faso. This church plant has outgrown the small building it was using. Another Mennonite church bought land for this congregation. Members of Kodeni have put a lot of work and sweat into the project by making their own concrete blocks (shown to the right) and a sister Mennonite church has helped with building the walls. With good relationships with their predominately Muslim neighbors, Muslim youth have also helped with construction—a remarkable illustration of Christians and Muslims living together in community. Our grant will assist the church to complete their building project.

To make these grants, we need to raise $13,800. Please consider contributing to these projects. Learn more about JoinHands and opportunities to give by visiting mennonitemen.org/joinhands or by emailing US Coordinator Steve Thomas, SteveT@mennonitemen.org.