Letter to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

Arli Klassen
MCC Executive Director

Dear Ms. Klassen,

Today I received the Spring 2010 "A Common Place," featuring stories about microfinance in Cambodia and the earthquake in Haiti.

MCC's primary concern seems to be the material and political well-being of the people you're assisting with small loans, food aid, and "peace and justice" for immigrants. In the several years I've been receiving this publication (I sent a donation after the Tsunami which put me on your mailing list) I've seen very little about reaching anyone for Christ. Yes, you donate food and material goods, but if you tell them the Good News of the cross and resurrection it isn't reported. They are clearly Jesus for you (Matt. 25), but who is going to tell them so they have what you have? Is Jesus a secret? After the homes are built, the wells dug, the forests replanted and the schools staffed, then will you tell them? Or are they just supposed to figure it out?

In fact, the only spiritual part of the Spring issue is the story about the amazing faith of the Haitians.

"Earthquake survivors living in a camp in my neighborhood gather every evening to pray and worship--singing praises such as "God blessed us. He saved us," and asking, "God, don't leave us outside, give us homes." People shared testimonies of how they or their loved ones were trapped and rescued from under their homes. "When the earth shakes, Jesus is near us and we don't need to be afraid," my friend Emmanuel Michel preaches." [from article and photos by Ben Depp]

Over 30 years ago at Ohio State University I worked in a program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development that did exactly what you describe in your small loan program. USAID didn't tell them about Jesus, although it did work with missionaries, nor would I have expected it. You folks, however, have a "great commission" to do so.