Six students complete Journey Missional Leadership Development Program
Published: January 11, 2023
By Annette Brill Bergstresser
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) 鈥� In 2022, six participants completed the Journey Missional Leadership Development Program of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (bg真人) in Elkhart, Indiana. They represented congregations of , and the .
The distance-friendly undergraduate-level certificate program develops leaders centered in Jesus Christ for ministries in local churches and communities. It鈥檚 designed for pastors, those exploring a call to ministry, church planters and lay leaders. The program consists of online study, biweekly meetings with a mentor, and two in-person gatherings per year.
The six graduates include:
Charles Baraka
Charles Baraka of Madison, Wisconsin, was ordained in Africa, where he led a church for seven years as senior pastor; in Madison, he preaches in different churches and is part of Madison Mennonite Church, a congregation of (CDC) of Mennonite Church USA. He also works in the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.
Baraka expressed gratitude for how the Journey program helped him learn about Anabaptist history and equipped him spiritually to continue to accomplish the mission of God. He鈥檚 applying what he鈥檚 learned in the program to his work as CEO of (AMC), a nonprofit organization he founded that works in Burundi, the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and Madison. AMC has helped refugees in Malawi by providing food and a community development program for families in poverty, accompanying reconciliation in different tribes. This program is one way Baraka is living out his calling to work for healing, peace and reconciliation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to continue empowering other church leaders and Christians in different churches in Africa 鈥� to help them to be transformed and call them to transform others in their communities, country and the world,鈥� he reflected. 鈥淚 know that the church is the foundation of everything and that God still has hope in the church. Through the Journey program, I can help my church spiritually and my community for God鈥檚 glory.鈥�
Baraka鈥檚 mentor in the program was Lavon Welty (MDiv 1979) of Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana 鈥� also a CDC congregation. Baraka is married to Gilbertine Harerimana, and they have three children.
Ramon Lianez
Ramon Lianez of Wauseon, Ohio, began Dec. 1, 2022, as Associate Pastor of North Clinton Church in Wauseon, a congregation of the Evana Network. While participating in the Journey program, he was Co-Pastor at Central Mennonite Church in Archbold, a congregation of the .
Over his life, Lianez has been part of four denominations: Catholic, Southern Baptist, Nazarene and Mennonite. While deciding to go into full-time ministry, he said he looked at different confessions of faith and felt the Holy Spirit drawing him to the Mennonite Church. He returned to school 鈥� Ohio Christian University, a Wesleyan school in Circleville 鈥� and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry and a Master of Arts in Practical Theology.
While Lianez was at Ohio Christian, Dick Barrett, Conference Minister for Ohio Conference and a former pastor and mentor of Lianez鈥檚, suggested the Journey program to him.
鈥淗e felt I needed to get more faith formation in Anabaptist beliefs, and I totally agreed,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 went through the Journey program to get that. I felt I got that and so much more.鈥�
Lianez shared that he had been the only Anabaptist in his program at Ohio Christian.
鈥淚t sharpened me because they asked all kinds of questions, but they came across as genuinely wanting to hear me, to be respectful and to see where I was coming from in the Word,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was so happy to find the same mindset in the Journey program.
鈥淚 loved the fact that there were so many differ颅ent people from different cultures and walks of life [in Journey]. I loved how we all gelled together and respected one another and asked some really tough questions out of love so we could grow. That was just phenomenal. The leaders and guest speakers would ask us ques颅tions and see where we were at, and help us grow as individuals and in the Word with an Anabaptist theology. I can鈥檛 express how grate颅ful I am for that to have been the way it was.鈥�
For Lianez, the relationships he formed with peers in the program were also significant, even when the biannual gatherings had to happen online during the pandemic. He鈥檚 stayed in touch, and one of his Journey peers came to speak at his church about his experiences of ministering to groups in an ethnic conflict.
Lianez鈥檚 mentor in the program was Gary Stuckey of Inlet Mennonite Church in Wauseon (Ohio Conference). He is married to Carmen Lianez, and they have two sons and three grandchildren.
Rebecca Riek
Rebecca Riek of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, is involved in the Intercultural Committee of her church, First Mennonite Church in Kitchener 鈥� a congregation of (MCEC)
鈥淲e organize events and plan services that are multicultural, e.g., choosing songs in different languages to sing for worship or praying in different languages,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 also work within my community as a faith leader to participate in praying during funeral services or events such as baptisms.鈥�
Riek is now pursuing a Master of Divinity with a major in Christian Faith Formation through bg真人鈥檚 distance-friendly MDiv Connect program. Her mentor in the Journey program was Rebecca Yoder Neufeld (MDiv 1981), also of First Mennonite in Kitchener. Riek is married to Joseph Wuol, and they have six children.
Janet P. Schumacher
Janet P. Schumacher of Bluffton, Ohio, is currently helping with pastoral care in her congregation, First Mennonite Church in Bluffton, a congregation of (CDC) of Mennonite Church USA. Over the summer, she served as a guest speaker in area Mennonite churches when their pastors were away.
Schumacher鈥檚 former pastor Steve Yoder first pointed out her gifts for ministry. A graduate of Bluffton College (now University), she began taking courses at a Methodist seminary close to home but needed to stop due to other circumstances. Later, Doug Luginbill, CDC Conference Minister, suggested she look into the Journey program.
鈥淚t just fit me perfect,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 could learn, but without the demands of seminary. I鈥檓 glad I did the Journey program because it helped me to learn more and know more, and to grow as a person.鈥�
Schumacher said she enjoyed the learning aspects of the program and found the in-person Weekend Learning Events especially meaningful.
鈥淭hose were very sacred times for me,鈥� she reflected. 鈥淚 just appreciated that time and the camaraderie and community we built, and I still feel connected to my peers even though we don鈥檛 meet anymore.鈥�
During Schumacher鈥檚 time in the program, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and she also was diagnosed with cancer. When it came time for her to choose a topic for her independent study 鈥� which is required of Journey participants from CDC 鈥� she opted to focus on pastoral care.
鈥淲hen I was going through treatment and feeling the need for community and couldn鈥檛 have it because of COVID, I said, 鈥業 think my gifts really lie in caring for people,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚 asked Doug, 鈥楥ould I do an independent study and be sanctioned by the church to represent First Mennonite as a pastor and visit people?鈥欌��
Schumacher said she enjoyed doing home visits with a variety of people in her congregation, and she wrote a reflection paper on her learnings.
Schumacher鈥檚 mentor was Gloria Hernandez Bucher, also of First Mennonite of Bluffton. She is married to Tim Schumacher, and they have five adult children.
Ly Vang
Ly Vang of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, has been involved in leadership for many years in her congregation, First Hmong Mennonite Church in Kitchener, a congregation of (MCEC). She has served as a Sunday school director, church treasurer, youth director and elder, in addition to helping with the Hmong women鈥檚 ministries. She has also served as an MCEC representative to Mennonite Church Canada. Currently she is a mission elder and helps support refugee families sponsored by the church.
Vang described how the Journey program gave her not only strength, but also another perspective on Mennonite history.
鈥淭he program helped me to see the history of Anabaptists and their suffering, how they have grown and how from generation to generation they鈥檙e still growing,鈥� she reflected. 鈥淭hey have impacted the community. I feel like I had seen the fruit [of the tree], but now I see people as a part of the root, and I see how strong it is and where it is holding the tree. It can bring blooms and beauty and bear fruit for others to eat. Journey helped me to see the root from the beginning to now. I see myself as part of the fruit and the leaves and the beauty of it.鈥�
鈥淭he program also helped me to see further who God is and who I am,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t helped me understand that being a Christian is not just believing the Word but doing the work. Helping, saving and healing the community 鈥� not just by words but by actions and the practice of faith.鈥�
Vang鈥檚 mentor in the program was Nancy Brubaker (Certificate 1983) of First Mennonite Church in Kitchener 鈥� also an MCEC congregation. Vang is married to Toua Vang, and they have five children and six grandchildren.
Beth Yoder
Beth Yoder of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is on the lay leadership team of her congregation, Sermon on the Mount Mennonite Church in Sioux Falls, which is part of (CPMC) of Mennonite Church USA. In this role, she plans and leads worship services and leads the congregation in exploring new ways to relate to their community.
Professionally, she is a Life Skills Educator with two programs of Volunteers of America 鈥� working part time with homeless teenagers and part time with pregnant women and mothers in a chemical dependencies rehabilitation treatment center. She鈥檚 also a 2012 graduate of Goshen (Indiana) College.
For Yoder, whose family has a history of involvement in and leadership of the church, participating in Journey felt like 鈥渃oming home.鈥�
鈥淏eing in the Journey program has solidified my passion for the church,鈥� she reflected. 鈥淚t has helped me articulate my faith better. It has helped me articulate my sense of calling for myself and for the church and how the church can be relevant for our world. I now have confidence in myself as a leader, which I never thought of myself as before.鈥�
Yoder鈥檚 mentors in the program were Jack (MDiv 1982) and Cathy Scandrett, also of CPMC.
Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs 鈥� all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God鈥檚 reconciling mission in the world.
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