A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ons we have had since 1964," Snyder reported in January, 1970, "have been of mutual benefit to both MCC and the Boards." 31 The general secretary of the Board of Missions and Services, Vernon R. Wiebe, who also represents the M.B. Conference in COMBS, had expressed similar sentiments some months earlier in an article, "Does MCC Do Mission Work?" After reporting how several mission boards had done "follow-up work" in places where MCC relief and service ministries had prepared the people for church-planting, Wiebe added: "This transaction is indicative of the good relationship that exists between MCC and COMBS. We are agreed that relief and rehabilitation 'in the Name of Christ' should result in a church being born. . . . Our Japan work began this way." 32 However, aid is not all one way. While MCC aids the missions in establishing new fields, the missions help MCC in relief distribution. All who follow governmental aid programs know that the key problem in relief aid is distribution. Aid is often in danger of falling into wrong hands because of dishonest persons who distribute it. Here, according to Wiebe, "the missionary force and the national church rise to the occasion. The Congo and Biafra (Nigeria) are prime examples. Missionaries and national church leaders know who the needy are and see that they get the supplies." 33 Inter-Mennonite relations, however, have not been restricted to service activities. In Faith Conferences It has been said that historically Mennonites have found it easier to work together than to worship together. This traditional pattern was 394 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH changed when the first all-Mennonite ministers' meeting was held in Chicago in 1963. A similar meeting was held in 1965 and again in 1968. Mennonite Brethren took an active part in this inter-Mennonite endea- vor. Approximately seventy Mennonite ministers from eleven North American Mennonite groups attended the 1968 sessions in Chicago. The theme for that conference was, "Our Resources in Christ," based upon a study of the Epistle to the Colossians. The inter-Mennonite ministerial meetings gave birth to the concept of a larger fellowship — the All-Mennonite North American Bible Congress. The three-day faith and life convention held in Winnipeg, July 16-19, 1970, was attended by delegates representing at least eight denominations: 107 from the General Conference (Mennonite), 41 from the (Old) Mennonite, 39 from the Mennonite Brethren, 25 from the Brethren in Christ, 28 from the Evangelical Mennonite Church, 10 from the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren, 8 from the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Church, and six from other denominations. The first inter-Mennonite faith conference on a continent-wide basis was both encouraging and disappointing. An encouraging aspect was the complete lack of consciousness of denominational differences. 31 Discouraging was the weak representation of Mennonit