GOSHEN — Members of the Mennonite faith will ring in the 100th anniversary of Mennonite service in the Congo this Sunday with a day-long celebration hosted by the Silverwood Mennonite Church of Goshen.

According to Jeremy Shue, chairman of the event committee and member of the pastoral team at Silverwood, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Mennonite mission station planted in the Congo through the Congo Inland Mission, now known as Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, or AIMM.

“Part of this story is the history of AIMM, which is what CIM is now called,” Shue said. “Silverwood is the location for one of these North American celebrations because of our rich history with this organization.”

Numerous Congo missionaries have called Silverwood Mennonite Church their home over the years, one of whom, Jim Bertsche, is currently assisting Shue in putting on the event.

“Jim and his wife moved to the Congo in 1949, and were there until 1974,” Shue said. “And then they moved back to the States after that, and Jim was the director of AIMM from 1974 to 1986. And even though his title has changed now, he has never really stopped working, even though he’s over 90.”

According to Bertsche, who has written an extensive history of AIMM’s work, the Mennonite faith’s first foray into the Congo started very small, with just three missionaries who in 1912 decided to pack up all their belongings and make the dangerous trip into the wilds of central Africa.

“Within that territory there were six major tribes, each with their own language, their own culture and history, and most with a long history of very bitter conflict between them,” Bertsche said. “So there they were, three missionaries living in tents, clearing brush, trying to scrounge food, trying to get a handle on language, in 1912. And before that year was up, one of the three was already dead from Malaria fever. So that was the beginning, and it was pretty tentative, pretty fragile and very uncertain.”

Jump forward to today, however, and that picture has changed dramatically.

“There are today in Congo several autonomous Mennonite conferences and somewhere in the neighborhood of 225,000 members comprised of these tribes that just 100 years ago were warring amongst themselves,” Bertsche said. “From day one, they said, yeah, there are these tribes, yes there is a history of conflict, but we believe that people as they find Christ, and as they discover themselves around a common faith, we believe that the impact of the gospel is such that enemies become friends, and brothers and sisters, and we went from there.”

In addition to the various former missionaries and their families who will be in attendance Sunday, the church will also welcome two African pastors connected to AIMM who will serve as guest speakers during the celebration. In attendance will be Benjamin Mubenga, president and legal representative of the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Congo, headquartered in Mbuji Mayi, and president of the AIMM International Central Council. Also speaking will be Siaka Traore, president of the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso, and vice president of the AIMM International Central Council.

“So we know on Sunday we’ll have former missionaries and people connected to AIMM coming from as far as British Columbia from the west and Africa from the east,” Shue said.

As plans stand now, the day will begin at about 9 a.m. with the arrival of Mubenga and Traore.

“We’re hoping to have a big welcome party,” Shue said. “Then starting at 9:15 a.m. we’ll have a storytelling time that is being arranged by a group of ladies that just visited the Congo in May. Their connection is with a group called the Congo Cloth Connections, and what they do is purchase material through Kinshasa and some of the Mennonite churches that have connections there and bring it back for resale here in the United States. It’s a way to create jobs and raise funds for some of the Congolese Mennonites.”

Following the storytelling time, the church worship service will begin at 10:10 a.m. with Pastor Mubenga presenting the message and Pastor Traore following with a response.

“Once the service is over we’ll have a potluck for anyone who wants to stick around, and then after the potluck we’re going to have a time of reflection from numerous missionaries, people who have visited the Congo, and then from the African pastors themselves,” Shue said. “So we’ve definitely got a big day planned, and we imagine we won’t be done until around 3:30 or 4 p.m.”

For more information on the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission or to become involved, visit the mission website at www.aimmintl.org.