Common Witness: A Story of Ministry Partnership between French and North American Mennonites, 1953–2003
Church planting, sheltered workshops, African student ministry, an Anabaptist research center—what do these initiatives have in common? They are the result of French and North American Mennonite bodies combining their modest resources for a common witness in postwar France. Allen Koop, in his study of late twentieth-century mission in the country, claims that “no other missionary project . . . fostered cooperation as close and as productive as that carried out by French and North American Mennonites. No other mission succeeded in combining evangelism and church planting with significant social work to the same degree.” The story recounted here celebrates the past and challenges God’s people to faithfulness in the future.
"True partnership is based on solid relationship. When there is a lack of relationship, patterns of paternalism and dependency emerge. Through this book David Yoder Neufeld offers an encouraging example of what happens when—in the framework of relationship—evangelism and church planting are combined with significant social work in a context of intercultural cooperation. Inspiring!” — César García, General Secretary, Mennonite World Conference
About the author
David Y. Neufeld studies early Anabaptist history as a PhD candidate in The Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies at the University of Arizona. He and his wife, Gina Martinez, currently attend Shalom Mennonite Fellowship in Tucson.
© 2016
Price: $17.50
Author: David Yoder Neufeld
ISBN: 0-936273-55-0
Publisher: Institute of Mennonite Studies
Co-Publishers: Mennonite
Mission Network and Éditions
de La Talwogne
178 pages.