Focus

Over the past fews weeks, I expect all of us have been following the developments of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world.

After a full day of engaging in her role as a teacher, Shirah Burns often likes to take a walk on the track of a nearby school. On this one particular night, there were a lot of people on the track. It was a beautiful night to exercise and as Shirah looked around she began to observe the people near her.

After almost four decades of walking with Christ, EMM Mission Team Director Lorri Bentch has learned that the cost of disobedience is always greater than the cost of obedience. Twenty-five years ago, she said “yes” to following her husband to Hungary to serve with EMM just one month after they were married.

As a new follower of Jesus Christ in her early 20s, Nancy Hostetter was drawn to missionaries when they visited her church. A short-term mission trip led to a discipleship training program which led to meeting her husband of 30 years, Michael. As their family grew, they chose to plant themselves in Puerto Montt, Chile.

Do Christians, Jews, and Muslims worship the same God? This is a perennial question that has led to much division in Christian theological circles. It’s also a question that EMM global David Shenk was invited to write about in a book called “Do Christians, Jews, and Muslims worship the same God?: Four views.”

Gibby Mane, pastor of the Catel Mennonite Church in Guinea-Bissau was visiting his in-laws in a village 5 miles from the church. During this trip, Gibby quickly became aware of a young man, named Milo, who was suffering from an overdose of alcohol.

In 2017, Betsy Stewart said “yes” to Jesus and went to Kenya for 6 months. Betsy’s term with EMM was spent at the Amani Gardens Inn in Nairobi, where she served as a hostess to guests who were traveling through the country. Betsy’s “yes” to Jesus was a “yes” to learning more about Kenya and its people — a place Betsy had visited several times before. But this kind of call wasn’t difficult for Bets...

Names are significant in the Dinka culture in South Sudan. Nicky Hess, who served as an EMM worker from 2016 to 2019 learned that early on when she was trying to learn the names of students and people from the community.

On December 14, 2019, the Lord welcomed home his faithful servant, Richard A. Showalter. Richard served as the sixth president of EMM from 1994 to 2011. He left a lasting legacy on both the organization he served and the Global Anabaptist church.

A few months ago, Bethany Tobin, who serves with both EMM and Virginia Mennonite Missions in Thailand, had a particularly tough week of poor sleep. After several tiring nights, a man in the village called for Bethany to come and help calm his wife who had become very emotional to a point of almost becoming violent. It was already 8:30 p.m. and Bethany was in her pajamas. Fearing her tendency towar...

Paper maché. Country western line dancing. Skits and games involving superhero costumes. What do these seemingly unrelated things have in common with each other? In the Czech Republic, these activities are just a few of the ways that workers “break the ice” with students participating in an English summer camp.

When Ted Smoker first arrived in Guatemala, he had ideas and hopes for how he might impact the lives of the K'ekchi'. He also had many questions on how to benefit them most effectively without causing harm to their beautiful culture and their self-reliance.

How did living in East Asia change and define Emma, her husband, Ethan, and their family? The better question to ask is, “How did living in East Asia not change and define them?”

Carol Wert is never quite sure if her own redefining occurs primarily because of the place where she lives or her continuing desire to follow Jesus authentically. But she can think of a few ways that living in Wales may have helped shape who she is today.

Did you know that when you give to EMM and support our workers around the world through your dollars and prayers, you too are bringing transformation to a world in desperate need of good news? We are incredibly thankful for your partnership in this important work. Check out these three short stories that highlight some of the work God has done through us together in 2019.

While living in Belize, the Davises became aware of a celebration called “la fiesta de quinceañera.” This event — which is sometimes referred to as a quince — is the tradition of celebrating a girl turning into a woman in Latino culture on her 15th birthday.

During a two-day conference hosted by the Garifuna churches in Belize Tim Groff was excited and encouraged to watch Orelle Castillo from Dangriga, lead the youth part of the conference, lead worship and preach!

Stacy Nofziger Prknová has served with EMM in the Czech Republic since 2011. Just like the colors yellow and blue turn into green when blended, Stacy is finding that she is being transformed as she lives and serves in Prague - the land of 100 spires.

While Quechua culture has garnered the attention of American audiences with the recent film “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” one Mennonite school in Peru has worked quietly to educate Peruvian children and protect their culture for nearly 15 years. In the shadow of the live-action adventure film that features the Quechua language, The PROMESA school made a little more “noise” as they broke ground...

A small, new initiative has begun for children with disabilities in Sierra Leone. The initiative seeks to create value for children with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, learning disabilities, those who are blind and/or deaf, and others.

David W. Shenk, who serves on EMM’s Christian-Muslim relations team, had a note sitting on his desk. It read, “You are invited to participate in dialogues with Muslim university students in the United Kingdom. Your books are okay.”

Phil and Linda Gottschalk serve in the Netherlands training pastors and missionaries at Tyndale Seminary. From time to time they have the opportunity to share the exciting stores of some of the people they have been privileged to help train.

For the first two months that Eric and Janelle* were in Germany, they were living in a makeshift apartment. The apartment consisted of a small kitchen, a bathroom, and two open rooms where their family of five slept, ate, sat, and played. They were thankful for the space even if it was temporary.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines the term “déjà vu” as “an uncanny feeling that one has been in this same place or had this same, specific experience before, although it is actually new to one.” Some of EMM’s newest workers are experiencing this feeling — like they’ve done this before — getting ready to relocate to a new place to serve in cross-cultural mission.

What happens when an EMM worker serving in Spain meets a Romanian-speaking man in a Spanish prison? For Rolando,* he looked back to the formative mission experience he had twenty-three years ago. Rolando was an EMM YES team leader for a team that was sent to Romania in 1996.