Celebrating Some Of Our Next Door Neighbors

On the official Mennonite World Conference website,
Jamaica, an English speaking former British colony,
is listed with Central and South American churches
rather than with their nearby North American neighbors.

We were blessed having two delegates from the Jamaica Mennonite Church speak to our 12-member house church at VMRC's Village Hall Sunday. 

Sister Yvonne McDonald, treasurer of the Jamaica Mennonite Conference (JMC), and Sister Regina Taylor, their Training and Education Ministry Director, shared how Virginia Mennonite Missions was a vital part of their founding in 1955, and how they have since grown to over 700 members in 11 congregations across the island. They described JMC as a mission driven church recognized for its outreach to people in need, its educational and children's ministries and for promoting peace and reconciliation in communities rife with local conflicts.

 Since our house church is small, we invited others to join us, made an announcement at the Park Village Coffee Hour, put up posters around VMRC, and had a bulletin announcement go to local Mennonite churches. 

We had a wonderful meeting, raised over $200 for our sister church (one with a fraction of the financial resources we take for granted) and experienced some great fellowship. But I keep wondering how we can get more of people interested in our worldwide neighbors, given the fact that there were only ten persons present at Sunday's meeting who were not a part of our house church. 

Any ideas?