Focus

As the recent school year was wrapping up, there were picnics and celebratory meals for Lea.

Perhaps you've heard stories of people who don’t yet know Jesus having strange dreams. In many of these stories, people encounter a message to follow Jesus. Sometimes we might pause and ask, “Is it really happening like this?”

After one very long day on the road, having traveled more than 900 miles, the record-setting youth group from Kalona (Iowa) Mennonite Church arrived in Lebanon on Sunday, July 28.

Debriefing after the conclusion of a military operation is commonplace. In fact, the term “debrief” originates from military usage. So, how do peacebuilders debrief after serving in one of the most war-torn regions of the 21st-century world? For one Iraq-based team, they start with Paula*, an EMM worker based in Spain.

Shouting, singing, and celebration resounded throughout the village. Water came flowing into tanks from Lake Victoria, which is just to the north of the Mennonite Theological College of East Africa. John Wambura, the acting principal of the college, recalled people in the village declaring that “God is back in Nyabange Mission.”

Visits with grandparents can be special … whether they live close by or far away.

Jayden and Anika, along with their two children, served in Central Asia in business for transformation and education. They are now preparing to embark to a new region in Asia but reflected on a ministry they were involved with for the past year.

One night, as Pedro and Rolando were visiting with Ben, they boldly shared their faith in Christ and encouraged him to make a decision to follow Christ. That night he accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior by saying a simple prayer!

Ethan and Emma* serve as EMM’s regional representatives for East Asia. At the beginning of 2019, it seemed like the right time for their family to leave the country in which they were serving. Due to some family health concerns and increasing challenges in their region of East Asia, Ethan and Emma moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Somwang struggled for years with mental illness. She fluctuated between periods of silence to fits of violent anger. Her husband, her sons, and her neighbors all learned to ignore her and had given up caring.

Tim told himself to relax, as he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his van with a rowdy crowd of youth inside and another rowdy crowd surrounding the van on the outside. Then it happened. Unexpectedly, the peal of shattered glass brought the noise to its sudden ruckus crescendo.

EMM worker Melanie Nofziger often meets with house cleaners to help them find work. One day, she had hopes to start a Bible study with these women, but felt a call to only begin with two women in particular: Juanita and Mariela.

Kandace Glenn has served on two assignments as an EMM mission intern in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, over the last two and a half years. She never would have guessed that God would have kept her in Cambodia for as long as He has. And now, she is preparing to go back to Cambodia as a long-term missionary with EMM.

Leon and Naomi Zimmerman, who are non-resident EMM workers, were teaching about marriage and parenting. However, they left Vietnam feeling a great sense of admiration for the way the Vietnamese culture is so family-oriented.

There is an African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child.” It may not take a village to prepare and send EMM’s mission interns and workers, but it does take a committed and experienced team who seek God’s voice and the best for all involved.

One EMM mission intern in Wales keeps busy by not only serving the community through children’s programs and meals for the elderly but also through intentional living communities. And it’s changed the way she views the world!

For many young people, summer is a time to sit back and relax. However, youth and young adults will have the unique opportunity to work on coffee farms high in the mountains of the Intibuca region of Honduras or minister in the urban setting of Chamalecon on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula.

Joanne and Werner De Jong may not fit the typical profile of an EMM mission intern. They are the parents of three young adults and have established careers. Werner has served as a pastor in Alberta, Canada, for over 12 years and Joanne served as an associate pastor for 7 years.

In the fall of 2016, Becca Lapp Wierwille traveled to Cusco, Peru, to be a mission intern with EMM teaching English at PROMESA, a school connected with the Peruvian Mennonite Church. Becca was looking for adventure, for a chance to serve others, and to grow closer to God’s heart. She was able to use the internship for credit to complete her college degree. Becca’s semester in Peru did meet all of...

Leaders of the Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia were eager to launch the new Amharic translation of “A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue.” However, publishing was put on hold so the church could secure the participation of the leadership of the Amharic-speaking Muslim community.

When Julie and Tim Groff arrived in Dangriga they were aware of the fact that their local church had shuttered its doors and was no longer functioning. Local leaders had burned out for various reasons, and new life was needed.

Twelve people were gathered closely in a circle as Yvonne Garber uttered a simple Swahili phrase: “Mungu Anajua.” Yvonne then shared the translation of this short expression — “God knows” — as she and her husband, Joe, elaborated about how they first discerned a calling to serve Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania.

Gathered in a simple one-story building, surrounded by a grassy courtyard, and shaded by an enormous fig tree, pastors and leaders of the Shirati Diocese of the Tanzania Mennonite Church explored Anabaptist essentials.

Pastor. Board member. Executive director. Missionary. Head of school. Theology teacher. Executive vice president and chief operating officer. Gerry Keener has been all these things ... and all while serving with EMM. It is exactly this wealth of 40 years of experience that makes him so uniquely qualified to serve as the eighth president of Eastern Mennonite Missions.

Justice. Did you know it was voted the 2018 word of the year? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, justice was looked up online 74% more often than it was in 2017. Like the year before, 2018 certainly had its time of hardships and sorrows. Justice seemed elusive. Wars and rumors of wars. Floods, earthquakes, famines. Political, racial, and economic divides.