This past Sunday, Peace Church had the wonderful opportunity to gather as a community with Dann and Joji Pantoja. This inspiring couple are fellow Mennonite Church Canada workers and founders of Peacebuilders Community and Coffee for Peace. We were privileged to be mentored by them during our internship in Davao and many others from Peace Church have also worked with them.
Near the end of our internship in 2008/2009, Dann and Joji and us began to envision Peace Church. As more and more people (army Generals and Islamic leaders!) were asking us where the church is that believes in building peace, we began to feel God calling us to plant a church- one that is Jesus-centred and follows His radical teaching of reconciling all people and all of creation. We wanted to encourage and equip followers of Jesus to have a faith in action and felt that God was calling the Body of Christ to be a mediator among various conflicting groups in the Philippines.
Fast-forward a few years and this vision has become a reality! What a blessing it was to visit with Dann and Joji and be inspired by their story and encouraged by the affirmation they received during their recent 3-month speaking tour in North America. And having just spent a few weeks living at my parents house, they came bearing gifts from Gramma and made me feel a little closer to home:) All in all, a very special evening filled with excitement, laughter, thanksgiving and hope.
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Makai was a little overwhelmed by all the people and clung to my hip
most the evening. |
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| We fit 18 adults and 6 children in our apartment! Just barely:) |
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| praying together. |
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| Cody loves his Tito Dann:) |
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