The visit of Jack and Irene Suderman in Mindanao last 13-20 February 2014 was to us an embrace of our global Mennonite community.
Our whole team have been immersed in the Haiyan disaster response since the 9th of November 2013. Our intense activities include:
- Emergency search and rescue operations for pastors and families in Ormoc City, a major urban center hit by super typhoon Haiyan;
- Helping pastors and their families find temporary shelters;
- Providing critical incident stress debriefing services to the pastors and their respective families; and,
- Organizing and coaching churches to do contextually efficient and effective relief operations in their respective communities.
We were physically tired, psycho-spiritually drained, and needing lots of hugs.
Jack and Irene —
- took over our teaching responsibilities at the PeaceBuilders School of Leadership
- listened to our hearts and minds while relaxing together at the Paradise Island Beach Resort
- spent lots of times interacting with us about Coffee For Peace and other ideas to make our ministry sustainable
They also challenged us to think through our idea of power and leadership development based on the life and work of Jesus:
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF POWER ACCORDING TO JESUS
Power, as we understand in the life and work of Jesus, is the Spirit-energized, transforming capacity we receive to actively advance the purposes of God–love, justice, mercy, peace–in and through us, as we incarnate ourselves among the people we love even at the point of giving our own lives, yet not taking other human lives, for them.
