By Lynda Hollinger-Janzen, Waterford Mennonite Church

Ntumba Bukassa, known as Ruth to her English-speaking friends, arrived at Amigo Centre, near Sturgis, Michigan, on Friday afternoon, September 11, knowing only one person, me – her mentor for the Journey program. However, by Sunday noon, she had made friends with each of 36 people attending the weekend orientation. She felt comfortable talking with her peers and their mentors, as well as professors and staff from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) and leaders from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and four conferences of Mennonite Church USA.

“The weekend was really good,” Ntumba said. “I met new people and heard the new ideas.”

Ntumba’s amazing ability to enter into and enjoy conversation with anyone is a pastoral gift that will serve her well as she follows God’s call to create a welcoming worship environment and community for French-speaking immigrants in the South Bend, Indiana, area.

Ntumba’s call came four years ago in a Panera Bread café near her home in South Bend. She was overwhelmed by all things she was juggling, including the demands of her full-time job as a Certified Nursing Assistant and calls from relatives who still live in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo where violence is raging.

“I was sitting there, silently crying out to God,” Ntumba said, “when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Mrs. Anne. She told me that she was praying for me and that God was calling me to start a church. I knew the Holy Spirit was talking to me through her, saying, ‘Don’t worry, God will send you the right people to help you succeed in your mission,’” Ntumba said.

 Ntumba didn’t know how all this would come about, but as a sign of the rightness of the prophecy, God gave her the name of the church, African Community Mennonite Church and its motto: Let Us Sing and Celebrate Christ as One Family.

When work permits, Ntumba attends Kern Road Mennonite Church with her husband, Alain Nawej. This year, Ntumba was introduced to Sharon Witmer Yoder, one of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference’s conference ministers. As Sharon listened to Ntumba’s story, she told her about Journey: A Missional Leadership Development Program, designed for people like her, those who are called into ministry, but cannot take off time for full-time study.

Journey: A Missional Leadership Development Program is a three-year certificate program sponsored by AMBS and four Mennonite conferences or regional churches – Central District, Indiana-Michigan, Ohio and Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. The Journey curriculum consists of online classes, in-person weekend learning events and regular meetings between mentors and mentees.

Belousek, Conference Minister of the Ohio Mennonite Conference. We wrote significant life events on yellow sticky notes. After completing that, life experiences that were traumatic were re-written on pink sticky notes and organized into columns representing periods of our lives.

Working on the life timeline was like a therapy,” Ntumba said. “As you write out your life problems, it’s like you are laying them down and then, you feel free.”

The Journey program is organized by cohorts, meaning that all those who start in a given year, continue through the three years together, often becoming a close-knit study community. There are five participants in Ntumba’s cohort, representing four continents.

In the chaotic times that we are living though, Jesus is preparing leaders for God’s people through the Journey program, who assure us that with Jesus on the throne, things are better already.