View source for Nanih Waiya Indian Mennonite Church (Preston, Mississippi, USA)

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The Nanih Waiya Indian Mennonite Church, Preston, [[Mississippi (USA)|Mississippi]], USA, began as a mission outreach by the [[Cornerstone Community Church (Macon, Mississippi, USA)|Mashulaville Mennonite Church]] to the Choctaw People in the summer of 1961. John Garber of the [[Burton Mennonite Church (Burton, Ohio, USA)|Burton Mennonite Church]] in [[Ohio (USA)|Ohio]] led a Bible school in the area. Nevin Bender led the early work at Nanih Waiya with the help of David Weaver of Mashulaville. Because of the connections to the Burton Mennonite Church, the congregation became part of the [[Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference (MC)|Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference]] of the [[Mennonite Church (MC)]].

A church building at Nanih Waiya was completed in early 1963, with the first service held on 10 February 1963. The building suffered the first of three bombings on 18 September 1964, the same night a nearby African-American church was bombed. With the help of the [[Mennonite Disaster Service]], the chapel was rebuilt in 21 days. An addition of Sunday school rooms was completed in April 1965. On 19 February 1966, the church was bombed a second time. Local volunteers helped in the second rebuilding as the church avoided using Northern "outsiders" for the reconstruction. A third bombing took place on 23 December 1966. Nanih Waiya youth who had been Christmas caroling, discovered the bombing that destroyed the chapel part of the building. Cleanup and repairs took place immediately, and the congregation was able to use the unfinished chapel space by mid-January 1967. A later incident occurred in November 2012 when a burglar stole a heater that resulted in fire damage to the building.

The [[Mennonite Board of Missions (Mennonite Church)|Mennonite Board of Missions]] established a [[Voluntary Service]] (VS) unit in nearby Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1972. Many of these volunteers attended the Nanih Waiya church. The VS unit closed at the end of 1987.

In 1973, Nanih Waiya helped to launch the [[Pearl River Bible Church (Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA)|Pearl River Mennonite Church]], about 20 miles away, near a reservation that attracted many Choctaw People and served as the tribal headquarters.

When the [[Gulf States Mennonite Conference (Mennonite Church USA)|Gulf States Mennonite Fellowship]] formed in 1979 to bring together geographically adjacent Mennonite churches in the South, Nanih Waiya joined that conference.

In 2015 the Nanih Waiya congregation left the Gulf States Mennonite Conference. This move was part of a larger withdrawal of Mennonite congregations in the 2010s that were formerly part of [[Mennonite Church USA]]. These congregations were unhappy with Mennonite Church USA's failure to take stronger disciplinary actions against area conferences and congregations that expressed openness to the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. Nanih Waiya continued as a Mennonite congregation associated with the [[Good News Fellowship]].
= Bibliography = 
"Bomb church third time." ''Gospel Herald'' 60, no. 3 (17 January 1967): 66.

"Bombed church rebuilt." ''Gospel Herald'' 59, no. 24 (21 June 1966): 562.

"Choctaw and Blackfeet invite volunteers." ''Gospel Herald'' 65, no. 47 (5 December 1972): 991-992.

"A church at Nanih Waiya" ''Gospel Herald'' 56, no. 14 (9 April 1963): 304.

"A dynamite explosion...." ''Gospel Herald'' 59, no. 8 (1 March 1966): 197.

"Mennonite church bombed in Mississippi." ''Gospel Herald'' 57, no. 38 (29 September 1964): 852.

"Nanih Waiya rebuilt." ''Gospel Herald'' 60, no. 10 (14 March 1967): 237-238.

Roth, Carol. "Church burglarized, stolen heater causes fire." ''TheMennonite'' 15, no. 12 (December 2012): 6.

"Some can't live with their fears." ''Gospel Herald'' 57, no. 44 (10 November 1964): 985.

= Additional Information =

'''Address:''' Nanih Waiya Road, Preston, Neshoba County, Mississippi

'''Map Coordinates:''' 32.902082, -88.925816

'''Phone:'''

'''Website''': 

'''Denominational Affiliations''':
[https://www.gnfonline.org/ Good News Fellowship]

== Pastoral Leaders at Nanih Waiya Indian Mennonite Church ==
{| class="wikitable" 
|-
! Name !! Years<br/>of Service
|-
| Nevin V. Bender (1892-1975) || 1962-1973
|-
| David Glenn "Glenn" Myers (1937-2023) || 1966-1973
|-
| Rudy J. Detweiler (1924-2010) || 1974-1977?
|-
| Ethan J. Good (1929-2021) || 1977-2014
|-
| Mark R. Roth || 1996-2010
|-
| W. Harvey Yoder || 2002?-?
|}
== Nanih Waiya Indian Mennonite Church Membership ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|-
| 1964 || 22
|-
| 1970 || 23
|-
| 1980 || 40
|-
| 1990 || 56
|-
| 2000 || 42
|-
| 2009 || 42
|}

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[[Category:Churches]]
[[Category:Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference Congregations]]
[[Category:Gulf States Mennonite Conference Congregations]]
[[Category:Mennonite Church (MC) Congregations]]
[[Category:Mennonite Church USA Congregations]]
[[Category:Good News Fellowship Congregations]]
[[Category:Mississippi Congregations]]
[[Category:United States Congregations]]