MCC is at a tipping point for change. We are facing financial and structural difficulties in unprecedented ways. Both are causing us to reevaluate our programs, and forcing us to cut some of our programming in some places, and expand programming in others. Each crisis brings with it an opportunity to work in new ways. The purpose of this memo is to explore this relationship between the good and the bad of the financial crisis in light of the growing trends we see in the Wineskins process; and to urge MCC towards a strong vision that responds to each crisis and opportunity with the unique values and spirituality of the global church. 
 
 
The rhetoric at MCC has been mixed in the midst of our financial difficulties. This is likely the result of feeling uncertain about the future, as there is no precedent for us knowing how to deal with these things. In some of our communications we have talked of the financial problem as offering us an opportunity to do things different. In other communications we have talked about waiting for the economy to “bounce back.” There are three aspects to this communication that I want to focus on in this memo as it relates to MCC’s financial difficulties: the economy, the environment, and the globalization of MCC and the church. My hope is that we could open up dialogue and wrestle through these issues as a community. I am writing this as the IPD/Binational Representative on the Young Adult Network, whose mandate it is to offer their particular young adult perspective to those who seek council, and to push MCC in it’s mission and vision.  
 
 
This memo is not a proposal which seeks a specific action. It is, instead, an opportunity for continued reflection and dialogue on the philosophy and vision of our institution It is the belief of this paper that MCC cannot organize your structure around power, but instead should organize itself around need, and how to best meet the needs of the world.  
 
 
The Economy
There is no denying that MCC cannot do more programming with less money. It’s simply true that less money means less programming. It has been said that MCC will not be able to do more with less. The question that I want to ask, is whether MCC can do better and have more integrity in our work with less?  
 
 
It needs to be stated that the financial crisis is not a new crisis. The global economic system has been a crisis since as long as global economics have existed; including the events of the global slave and commodity trade, and the subsequent expedited political and economic colonization of indigenous peoples around the world. Indeed the global economic system, both in its beginning and in its current state, has been a system that built on economic injustice and the exploitation of communities.  
 
 
And so we must begin by acknowledging the inherent racism and ethnocentrism that society is using at treating this as a “sudden” crisis. The financial crisis for the poor and marginalized communities is not a new crisis. Two-thirds of the world has been living on less than $2/day for some time now. This is a crisis that has had many names that have been accepted as normal for the privileged class in all its forms and nomenclatures from the slave trade and colonization, to NAFTA and Neo-liberalism.  
 
 
The crisis that is making news now is the crisis of the rich: the banks, Wall Street, and housing (which never have been equally accessible for poor communities or communities of color). What is being seen now is the crash of the ideological dogmas of an unsustainable and unregulated free-market system that sees growth as its primary, if not only, value.  
 
 
Truly, it can be rightly said that the poor will be the first to be effected by this “new” financial crisis. But let’s be honest- trickle down economics have never been working out for the poor anyway, so it’s not right that we would now use the poor as an excuse to push the rebuilding of an economic system that has never had their interests in mind. To do this would essentially be to use the same arguments that slave traders used to justify slavery- that they are better off as slaves than free people. So we must have the creativity and courage to push long term solutions that truly liberate the poor from being dependent on their oppressor for livelihood. 
 
 
MCC in its advocacy work since the “More With Less” cookbook has been pushing for wealthy countries to consume less of the world’s resources. Yet it seems that as this economy, which is dependent on regular consumption and waste, begins to be questioned and as people start consuming less, MCC has spoken of waiting for the economy to bounce back.  
 
 
This begs the question, “bounce back to what?” Are we hoping that our economy bounces back to the same economy that is oppressing the people we are hoping to help? Let’s acknowledge that we are starting to get what our advocacy has asked for. This means that we either need to acknowledge that our advocacy efforts are wrong, or have the prophetic courage to continue to push even when we are feeling the effects of less. 
 
If we remain prophetic to the ideals of less this will certainly mean that our constituency will have to live with less (which we have been asking them to do), and certainly that will mean less will be donated to MCC. But if MCC needs the ideologies of the Empire to do its job, then maybe we should rethink our institution. 
 
 
And so my urging to MCC is that we not insult the poor with the neo-colonial attitude that they are dependent on MCC, or western economic ideologies, for their freedom. Indeed, what they are dependent on is not our ability to fix and finance poor communities- what they are dependent on is in wealthy communities not exploiting resources that are rightfully theirs and God’s. 
 
 
Instead I hope we see the opportunity that has been given to us to renegotiate global economics; to make louder the voices of the poor and oppressed communities around the world and in our midst; and to push now for a lasting economic solution that sees the rights of the poor, and the continued weakening of western institutions (including MCC in North America), as central to a healthy global society and church. 
 
 
The Environment
This financial crisis is not temporary. The financial crisis is the crisis of a failing and unsustainable system. The non-renewable resources that drive our economy, namely oil, are depleting. As we move towards the inevitable end of oil, transportation costs rise, and the moving of commodities no longer is as cheap as it once was. Equally we are learning of the effects of a fossil fuel based economy on climate change and environmental sustainability. This is obviously a somewhat general and simplistic summary- but simply speaking the economic system based on the global transportation of goods is neither sustainable nor healthy.  
 
 
China and India are often shown as examples of beneficiaries of the global economy- as many poor farmers have found work in the manufacturing industry and in other urban professions.  
 
 
This, however, has played a significant toll on the environment. The environmental footprint of these industries is high- from extraction, to manufacturing, to transportation (not to mention human rights abuses, poor labor standards, and resource wars). Indeed this system may be liberating some select people from poverty- but it’s not a system that can last as there just aren’t enough renewable resources for this system to sustain itself over the long haul, and as consumers seeking the perpetuation of this system we are creating environmental and social damage that seems irreversible. 
 
Speaking specifically to MCC, both the financial crisis and the environmental crisis is causing us to travel less. This is a good and necessary thing. However, the question always seems to arise- how do we value both the environment and relationships?  
 
 
It would be dishonest to say that face to face relationships do not have significant value, and that something would not be lost if these were to not happen. However, to be honest we must recognize all of the relationships that we are destroying in the process of building a global church. Whenever we take an airplane, or use our internet servers, we are entering into global relationships, often with people we’ve never met. We are entering into relationships with all the Iraqis, Nigerians, and First Nations communities who are between us and the oil we are so addicted to; and we are entering into relationships with indigenous communities in northern Canada, and on the coasts of Africa and Asia whose homes will soon be underwater in the name of globalization.  
 
 
And so we may be losing something in not seeing our partners face to face. But we need to acknowledge the people and the earth that we are also destroying every time we use the world’s resources in order to be a face to face global church. It is not apparent to me how we be a global church without using so many resources- however, theologically speaking, the church is to be a blessing to the world, and when we use more of our share of resources in the world, then we are no longer being a blessing to the world. In the same way that violence is not a plausible means towards peace and security, exploitation and environmental degradation are not plausible means towards being a global church. 
 
 
We need a drastically new way of working. Flying restrictions cannot be temporary; they need to be continued, and made even stricter with time. As we look towards becoming a global institution, now is the time for us to figure out how to do it without using the resources that are keeping us apart. Technology will not be our answer (internet servers, a necessary part of video conferencing, will likely surpass the carbon emissions of flying in the next few years). So now is the time to figure out creative ways of being a global church. To do this we are going to need to trust our international workers and partners more and we are going to need to lose some relationships. But for the sustainability of our planet and our work, need to drastically change our habits in such a way that seeks the health of all communities. We cannot continue to use exploitation to work against exploitation.  
 
 
Being a Global MCC
This brings me back to my initial question; can we do more with less? The answer, I think, is still no, we cannot do more. But maybe what MCC is being called to do in this new chapter is precisely that, less. This certainly goes against every impulse of a Protestant white male culture- and all development agencies for that matter- for we are prone always to do more. But the theology of Anabaptism is not that we do more, but that we live faithfully in just and peace filled relationships with God, our neighbors, and creation. More money does not mean better work. MCC has never been called to fix the world. The work of fixing things is God’s work; the work of obedience is ours. Our calling has always been one of long term presence.  
 
 
The greatest difficulty in being a global church is not language, culture, customs, geography, or even theology. The greatest difficulty in being a global church is knowing that when we, the privileged part of the North, sit down with our partners in the South we are often responsible, at least in part, for their suffering and oppression. We cannot become a global institution until the privileged portion of the Anabaptist church starts to live with less power and resources. This will be a learning process- and it is one that has already been started. This is the process of us learning to be global partners engaged in the work of decolonization, poverty alleviation, economic justice, and environmental stewardship. But we are at a crossroads as an institution right now- will we adapt to a changing environment, or will we continue to be dependent on an old and unsustainable system? And, more pointedly, in the midst of crisis can we still learn to free ourselves from our dependency on the Empire- which exists in both Canada and the US.  
 
 
Daniel Leonard, Young Adult Representative to MCC IPD/Binational