Focus

EMM worker Lucy returned to the U.S. a few months ago after having served in the Middle East. She is living a very different life than she was three months prior.

Early in January, when Andre and Karen’s first attempt to return to Thailand was thwarted, Andre began to wonder if God would ever allow them to get back into the country. He reflected on the discouragement of Nehemiah in the presence of the king. When the king asked Nehemiah what was bothering him, Nehemiah responded, “The wall in Jerusalem is broken down and I want it repaired.”

EMM worker Jen Hoover serves in disciple-making in Costa Rica with her family. Recently, she asked the question, “Do we need to rent a mixer?" It was a simple question, asked in the presence of three individuals who processed the question very differently.

Jesus calls us to invite the stranger in, to love our neighbor. Come join us on April 28 at 7 p.m. at 450 N Prince St, as we engage with the topic of immigration from a kingdom perspective, featuring Philip Gottschalk, author of the recent book “Entertaining Angels Unaware.” Learn from refugees who were resettled in Lancaster, share your questions and experiences, hear how you can get involved, an...

Carol and Alan Wert serve as EMM workers in Wales, which is in the U.K. In March, they had the opportunity to join thirty people from all four nations of the UK gathered to explore the topic of Reimagining Church in a post-Covid setting.

Eric and Janelle* are EMM workers who serve in Germany. The month of March was busy for them as they prepared spaces in their church’s building to welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing the current war.

EMM workers Andre and Karen* had just returned to Thailand after having traveled from the United States. They were immediately asked by two friends if Andre and Karen would take them to a wedding three hours away. Andre was reminded of something he felt God was speaking to him as their flight was landing in Thailand.

A few weeks ago, EMM worker Jonathan Bornman went for a walk and stopped to chat with two teenage boys, refugees from Syria. Jonathan asked them if they had witnessed the shooting that happened in front of their house. No, they had not, but their younger brother was on the porch and saw the whole thing.

Esther and Lance are Thai church leaders. The couple’s closest neighbor, who they practically were family with, had a complicated conflict with the couple. Esther and Lance’s neighbor is an older woman who is also a member of the church. Her daughter lives in the same house and became very angry with the church and began verbally attacking Esther and Lance.

Michael Clancy is an EMM urban missionary serving in Lebanon City, Pa. Last summer, there was a couple who had been sleeping near the railroad tracks behind Michael’s church parking lot. One of the church members noticed the couple and invited them to a Sunday worship service, enticing them with air conditioning and coffee.

EMM worker Jen Hoover serves in disciple-making in Costa Rica with her family. Just the other day, she enjoyed her first quiet morning in a long time. She enjoyed a second cup of coffee and had a peaceful conversation with her son on the back porch. It was the first day of a new school year — a year with much-hoped-for in-person learning. On this day, Jen said that the “to-do list” had to wait.

On January 3, we flipped the switch to begin generating enough solar energy to meet half of the electrical demands of our Hub 450 property. We are delighted to be able to initiate this renewable energy resource as part of our renovations on this historic building!

EMM worker Carol Wert, who serves in Wales, U.K., was teaching an English lesson one day on different types of transport and asking her students which type was their favorite. Along with the usual mentions of bus, car, train or plane, there was horse and camel, including some fun animal sounds and gestures because the students didn’t know the words in English.

EMM president Marvin Lorenzana refers to this “in” relationship as “the great investment.” Simply put, because we love God we also love our neighbor. We love our neighbor enough to invite him or her to follow Jesus with us (discipleship).

EMM worker Eric gets excited when he hears the word “mentoring.” He desires human relationships that simultaneously empower and encourage both individuals. Mentoring has formation/transformation as its goal, and that is worth being excited about. However, Eric’s experiences with mentoring have often left him feeling less than satisfied with what he finds conceptually to be such a positive and powe...

When I think about this disciple-making mission that we’re called to — especially in this Christmas season — I am reminded that our goal is to become more like Christ and to invite others on that journey with us.

Nathan B. Hege of Lititz, Pennsylvania, went to be with the Lord on December 8. You might recall that he founded this very radio program in 1969. To honor Nathan, here are a few words he wrote in October 1992 for his last column in Missionary Messenger .

For more than 100 years, EMM has shared the good news of Jesus around the world. Thousands of global workers have gone to dozens of people groups. Decades later, the seeds that EMM workers have sown are multiplying into hundreds of thousands of people following Jesus in places like Tanzania, Ethiopia, Honduras, and many other places around the world.

You’ve probably heard us talk before about Hub 450, the newly renovated building at 450 North Prince Street in Lancaster City. I’d like to share with you a little bit about Deb Muenstermann who is an EMM worker that oversees the community-centered ministries on the first floor of Hub 450.

Stacy and Vojta Prknovi, and their daughter, Vikki, serve with EMM in the Czech Republic as regional representatives. For many years they had been living in the capital city of Prague. For a few months, they had been praying about and sensing that it might be time for them to move to another city.

Andrew and Kara serve with EMM in northeast Thailand. Andrew will never forget a life-changing event that happened in 1993 while they were planting their first church. A Thai pastor and Andrew set up a Sunday afternoon preaching point in their carport. Gospel tracks distributed in the housing developments surrounding their home brought in believers. Things went fine until the day they announced th...

Darrel and Miriam* are EMM workers serving in Germany with their two daughters. After a one-year break because of the coronavirus, their church, Soli Deo, once again held their annual international tour of food and music called Esskultour. At the event, there were seventeen national foods served. Irom Iranian gormeh-zabsi to Brazilian coconut chicken rice to American funnel cake.

Michael Clancy is an EMM worker doing urban mission work in Lebanon City, Pennsylvania. Michael had been in a discipleship relationship with a man named Mark before. But Mark walked away from their discipleship time. In April, Michael saw a social media post saying that Mark was looking for a place to live.

EMM workers Jeremy and Jen* first met Pii Prik about a year ago. They were visiting a nearby village that struggles with poverty and sickness. Their language teacher coordinated these visits. Jeremy and Jen delivered food to the individuals and families with the greatest needs.

Thousands of green sea turtles lay their eggs on the coast of Costa Rica every August, and EMM workers Wendell and Melanie Nofziger hoped to see at least one! When Melanie's parents visited the famly for two weeks in August, everyone took three days and headed to a boat-accessible-only national park on the Caribbean coast.