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An article in Anabaptist World on August 28, 2023 stated that MAX was insolvent and in liquidation proceedings. The article went on to say that Mennonite Aid Plan of the Pacific Coast (MAP) was part of MAX. That part is incorrect.

MAP is not part of MAX. We do not have any investment or reinsurance connections with MAX. Our AMBest rating continues to be B++ (good).

In 1956 Anabaptist insurance companies formed the Association of Mennonite Aid Societies (AMAS) for fellowship and the exchange of ideas. MAP joined AMAS until it dissolved in 2001 (when MAX was formed).

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or 559-638-2327.

By Lorie Ham

At a time when diversity is being challenged all over the country, it is more important than ever that churches strive for it. One church in Fresno has a unique perspective as four different congregations meet in their sanctuary with three different language groups. Shelly Spencer has been the Office Manager at Butler Mennonite Brethren Church, referred to as Butler Church, for seventeen years. She and her husband began attending there after college when they were newly married. We chatted with Shelly recently about the diversity within their church.

Q: Does each congregation have its own services or is it all together?

Shelly: There are four worship services each Sunday in English, Spanish, and Lao. Each congregation has a name since their characteristics are more than just language or style. And even within each congregation, there are multiple ethnic groups! For example, our Asian Grace congregation includes Khmu, Laotian, Thai, and Mien. Translation is needed there also!

Q: What are some of the best things about having so much diversity within the church?

Shelly: The food! We for sure have the best church potlucks! And it’s a taste of heaven to be able to worship together in multiple languages. It blesses my heart to see people who might not otherwise even interact with each other begin to engage in each other’s lives and extend themselves on behalf of each other.

Q: What are some of the challenges?

Shelly: Communication across languages and cultures is certainly something we’re always working at. It’s not just translation, but understanding that various groups each approach things like decision making and leadership differently. For example, it can slow down the process of implementing a new initiative. Actually ‘being’ one church is more than just getting together regularly.

Q: How do you feel having such diverse perspectives strengthens the church?

Shelly: We gain a much broader view of what God is about in the world and don’t just see him through one type of lens. We discover how our various gifts and talents fit together to serve our church family and also to share the Hope of Christ with others. I love being able to greet someone in the office and have so many options to connect them with, depending on what their situation is. I can offer them food, if they’re not English speaking I can connect them with our Amor y Fe congregation, if they’re wondering if they fit in our church, I can invite them to a worship service in English attended by people of various backgrounds and racial groups.

Q: What are things the church does to build bridges between the groups?

Shelly: Our ministries for children, youth, and adults include all of our congregations. While there are groups within each congregation that meet regularly for Bible study, each time we have a special event there are often people from each of our congregations who attend – like the recent Men’s Day at the Lake, or our summer Women’s Lunches. We find that food brings people together! This is an area we’re still working on though. One thing we’d like to try is a common teaching series at certain points in the year where we are all studying the same section of scripture and could share (with translation of course) testimonies of what we’ve been learning. We do have a common theme every year; our current one is Confident Hope.

Q: What are some things your church can offer the community because of that diversity?

Shelly: A place of connection that is possible even when coming from a variety of languages or socioeconomic backgrounds. Having worship services in Spanish and Lao are especially important for our immigrant communities. And, having those alongside English services means worshiping with an extended family; they may have young adults attending our Common Ground service in English where they may feel more comfortable while the parents or grandparents would like to continue worshiping in Spanish or Lao.

Q: Are there special events that you have that highlight some or all of the different groups?

Shelly: We do have combined services several times a year. Coming up we’ll have a fall Cultural Celebration night where we get to highlight the uniqueness of all the parts of Butler and our surrounding community. As one church we also have a shared budget for shared activities and ministry which would include children’s and youth ministry, the costs of office and facilities, and the staff positions that serve all of the church. We also work together in various ministry events like Food Distribution, Neighborhood Clean Up Days, and community events like Meet and Treat.

Q: Anything you would like to add?

Shelly: Folks who have been at Butler for any length of time have made an intentional choice to be part of this church family because it is multicultural. We’re all in different places of understanding what it means to be a healthy multiethnic church though, and many would be the first to say we haven’t got it ‘all figured out!’ This past year, we’ve been digging into that even more and are in the process of working at this more intentionally. There are so many aspects of that – creative funding models, growing in our awareness of cultural dynamics, ministry partnerships, and understanding the demographics and needs not just of our church family but of our southeast Fresno community. Our story from intentionally choosing this multicultural model over 30 years ago is still unfolding!

For those in the Fresno area who might want to check out Butler Church, you can find them at 4884 E Butler Ave. in Fresno, California. You can learn more on their website. Services for the four different congregations on Sundays are:

9:00 a.m. Faith Community and Asian Grace

10:45 a.m. Common Ground and Amor y Fe

Faith Community and Common Ground services are in English, though different worship styles. 

Do you have a story of diversity within your own church? We would love to have you share on the Mennonite Insurance Services Facebook page!

By Lorie Lewis Ham

By the beginning of September, most students are back in school. While many schools now provide free lunches, some parents still prefer to decide what their kids will be eating. However, it can be a challenge to keep it interesting, healthy, and yet simple enough for their busy schedules.

If you Google school lunch ideas there are many out there. PureWow has an article entitled “70 Simple, Delicious School Lunch Ideas That Even the Pickiest Eaters Will Love” which includes ideas like BLT Pasta Salad, Lunch Kebabs, and a Peanut Butter and Banana Roll-up Snack Box.

The article also includes tips for packing those lunches such as starting with a fun but functional lunchbox, doing fun things with their lunches, and even getting your kids involved in the planning and making of them.

For some ideas you won’t find on Google, mystery author Kate Lansing who writes the Colorado Wine mysteries, has some great tips! “When I first started packing school lunches for my daughter, I was surprised by the prevalence of bento boxes. It makes sense, though, because in my experience kids aren’t so much picky eaters as they are particular. They like things the way they like them, namely, deconstructed. Kids like to know each component of what they’re putting into their mouths. Luckily, multi-compartment containers—easy enough for little hands to open—make packing lunch a piece of cake!”

Kate’s go-to lunches include pizza, what they like to call “salad”, and classic PB&J (note, you can substitute sunflower butter if your school is nut free!).

For pizza, put small slices of plain cheese pizza or even just crust with red sauce, in the largest container (leftovers are great for this!). Then add black olives, turkey pepperoni, slices of bell pepper, and diced pineapple in each of the smaller openings.

For “salad,” pita bread goes in the largest container, with hummus and whatever veggies you have on hand in the others—cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, maybe even butternut squash, which pro tip: you can get peeled, diced, and frozen at the store!

And for the classic PB&J, put the sandwich in the main section, with baby carrots, grapes, and something fun like Goldfish, granola bites, or chips in the other containers.

For kids who may need to head out early and would like to include a little something for breakfast, mystery author Edith Maxwell has a delicious recipe for Cheesy Biscuits in her book Flipped for Murder from her Country Store Mystery series.

Cheesy Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter cut in half-inch cubes
2 eggs
½ cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix the dry ingredients.

Cut butter into the flour mix until mostly pea-sized pieces.

Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and milk, mixing with a fork in the well.

Add the cheese and stir all with a fork until liquid and cheese are just blended with the flour. Do not over mix.

Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and on the dough. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the surface, rubbing flour around the inside of the bowl until clean.

Lightly knead the dough until it comes together.

Flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough to a half-inch thickness. Fold in thirds. Roll, fold, and repeat several times.

Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass and position on a baking sheet. You don’t need more than half an inch in between.

Bake for about ten minutes or until risen and golden brown on top.

Serve warm with apple butter, honey, or gravy.

If you would like to include a sweet treat for dessert after a healthy lunch, mystery author Leslie Budewitz has a recipe for gingersnaps in her book Killing Thyme, the 3rd Spice Shop mystery.

Pepper’s Gingersnaps

The classic, with a bite of a little something extra. Call it Pepper’s personal touch.

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil, such as corn or canola
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1/4 to ½ cup white sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and salt. In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Beat well. (No need to dirty your mixer and clean the beaters—the oil makes this dough easy to mix by hand.) Add flour mixture and stir until well mixed.

Shape the dough into one-inch balls. If you’d like to top the cookies with sugar, pour the white sugar into a small soup or pasta bowl or on a small plate. Roll cookie balls in the sugar. Place two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, until bottoms have darkened slightly and tops begin to crack.

Makes about 4 dozen. These cookies will be soft at first, but crisp up nicely. They freeze well.

If you enjoy reading mystery novels you can find even more recipes in any of these authors’ books!

FamilyDoctor.org offers safety tips on packing your kid’s lunch, such as finding out if their school offers refrigeration. If it doesn’t, be sure to pack foods that don’t need to stay cold or include an ice pack. The same article has helpful information should you choose to have your children eat the lunches the school provides. To see the nutrition information for lunches offered by your child’s school you can check out United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

If you have tips or suggestions you have found helpful, we would love it if you would share on the Mennonite Insurance Services Facebook page!