TAIPEI, TAIWAN- For the first time, a leader from the global South will become the general secretary of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC). On May 4, the MWC executive eommittee formally appointed César García of Bogotá, Colombia, as General Secretary-elect, to succeed Larry Miller on January 1, 2012. Garcia, who was chair of the Iglesias Hermanos Menonitas de Colombia (Mennonite Brethren Churches of Colombia) from 2002 to 2008, is currently completing masters studies at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif. He also serves as secretary of the MWC Mission Commission and as a member of MWCs task force on the creation of a new network of service ministries. In addition, he has been active in inter- Anabaptist and ecumenical endeavours in Colombia. According to Garcia, 39, the Colombian church and his local congregation, Iglesia HM Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower MB Church) in Bogotá, had sent him to California for studies in order to return and serve in Colombia, where he has been a church planter, pastor and professor of Bible and Theology. Garcia is married to Sandra Báez, who is also completing studies in Fresno. They have two teenage daughters, Maria and Paula.

Author affiliation:

- Byron Rempel-Burkholder, MWC editor