Published in August 2021

“My first Assembly was in Calcutta, India, in 1997 – a gawky 17-year-old then! I volunteered at the first ever Global Church Village where I worked with an international group of 18 people. The entire experience helped me see that even though we are from different cultures and languages, we worship the same God.” Those were the words of Jessica Mondal, Assembly’s Global Church Village coordinator, about her first global church experience in her home country.
Fast forward six years, she attended  another first: the Global Youth Summit (GYS) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. “By being a GYS delegate, I saw that young leaders need to exhibit initiative and integrity that will enable church leaders to trust us.”
Jessica Mondal has since become a part of church leadership in Emmanuel Chapel and later Hastings Chapel, both part of the Bharatiya Jukta Christa Prachar Mandali (BJCPM) conference in India. She taught Sunday school classes, was secretary of the church board, led worship, prayer meetings and Bible study. She now ministers as a pastor’s wife while being the children’s representative of the BJCPM conference for the last three years.
Assembly only circles back to the same continent every 25 years, so upon hearing that Indonesia would host the Assembly, she was already planning to come with her husband. “And then Liesa asked if I would like to organize the Global Church Village. I was immediately transported back to my experience in Calcutta, excited about bringing a miniature global village to life once more! I’m thankful for the opportunity to contribute,” Jessica Mondal says.
The Global Church Village will be a celebration of what each Anabaptist culture represents, and will be available to virtual participants.

• Each continent will have a booth to host activities, display photos or videos of their churches, and share their perspective
• A stage will host a multitude of cultural performances
• A storytelling booth will host people who want to share their unique faith journeys
• Everyone will also be able to participate in a mural or collaborative art project

Indonesia as the host will be given its own space to showcase their diversity.
“Here, all Assembly participants can learn a little something about other cultures and churches. It will be a multisensory experience: people can taste, dance, sing, watch, listen, feel, and interact with each other!” Jessica Mondal says.

Download all news from MWC page:
https://mwc-cmm.org/sites/default/files/resource-uploads/newsletter_6_en-rev_4-2.pdf

Das Rundschreiben No. 6 in deutscher Sprache als PDF-Datei herunterladen: