Focus

Sometimes in mission, visible transformation is incremental and even hard to see, especially when circumstances like a global pandemic disrupt your regular mission routine. This past year has probably been the toughest year in ministry that Alan and Carol Wert have faced since their sabbatical in 2010. That’s why passages like Colossians chapter 1 can be so encouraging. The Werts are reminded of h...

Sometimes people have told EMM workers Mark and Sarah Schoenhals, with a twinge of regret in their voices, that all they can do to support the work in Isaan, Thailand, is to pray. Others wish they could do something, besides “just praying.”

The transfer of leadership is a work of God’s grace that holds its unique challenges. It was 1988 that Joe and Yvonne Garber left for a three-year term to a place in Tanzania that the Tanzanian Mennonite Church had invited them to serve.

The world is changing, and God is not surprised. He is on the move, shifting things and using Christians from the Global South and East to take the lead in global missions. It’s their turn, and we can partner with them.

We recognize that while we have gifts and resources to offer, we have much to learn and gain from others’ contributions and from walking this path of discipleship together.

There are many benefits to a good partnership. Partners focused on a similar mission can provide us with skills we don’t possess alone, help us see from new perspectives, and expand the reach of our efforts. Throughout our history, we have partnered with hospitals, schools, children’s ministries, churches, and mission agencies around the globe who are motivated to share the transforming love of Ch...

Owen* preached his first message in the local language. He worked hard and his language ability has really expanded since then. Ever since he shared his first message, it seems as if his language has hit a turning point.

On Tuesdays, Kara and Andrew* help a woman from a local church in her evangelistic endeavors. One week, two leaders from the neighboring province, whom they worked with in the past, were there to assist them in expanding that work into their province. Suddenly, Andrew felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit saying that he should take the team with him to this church.

EMM workers Peter and Christy have heard the Arabic phrase inshallah a lot among their time serving among Muslims. This phrase means “if God wills it.” Every time, Peter and Christy hear someone say “inshallah,” it reminds them of James 4:15, which says: “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

The pandemic is still taking its toll on Europe. Germany is still under a shutdown with only the essentials open. Despite the pandemic, Charlotte was thankful to be able to still complete an internship. Due to the pandemic, Charlotte had to find an internship in Germany. As Charlotte describes it, “God’s plan always exceeds expectations.”

Almost a year had passed since Jon and Heleen Yoder returned to Alabama from Sierra Leone. The past year has been interesting for them, but they are very grateful for God’s faithfulness and His work of restoration in their lives. But they decided it was time for a change again.

In 2015, at an EMM workers’ conference at Black Rock Retreat in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, Carol Wert picked up a newspaper called Mennonite Weekly Review . In it, she saw an article about a new course starting in Bristol, England, that focused on theology and mission from an Anabaptist perspective. The course was led by a church planter, prolific author, and trainer, Stuart Murray Williams.

Stephen and Bethany Horst, who are jointly appointed workers with EMM and VMMissions, and their family are preparing to return to their home in Thailand. They have quarantine bookings, visas, documentation and airline tickets to return. After a lengthy quarantine, they should arrive back home in Nam Yuen at the end of April, just shy of a year since they left.

For years, EMM worker Michael Clancy dreamed of starting a Christian community house, much like the one he lived in when he purchased his current house fromJubilee Ministries. The house that his family is now living in was once a program house for Jubilee Ministries Christian Discipleship program.

Why are people traveling up to 40 miles to be part of this fellowship in rural South Asia? It's simple. They've experienced the healing and deliverance that only Jesus can bring through His Holy Spirit. And as one comes to faith, and family members or neighbors see the miracle that happened, it's not long until the others begin to follow too.

Do we really see who’s at our door? Or do we see who we expect to see? EMM worker Phil Gottschalk says that much of what we see when we look at the “other” — the immigrant, the refugee — depends on what we are prepared to see and what we expect to see. 

Multiplication is one of the kingdom principles we are all called to live out. We multiply ourselves by making disciples of Christ, and then equipping those disciples to step out in their areas of gifting. As a pastor, Darrel* is called to raise up leaders who will not only work alongside him but will one day step into his role.

In his 2015 book, “Animists to Anabaptists,” the late Beryl Forrester wrote, “I have offered my life … to Jesus for the sake of God’s kingdom. That is the model I desire to see replicated in the lives of those our mission reaches with the Gospel.” 

Every week, Andrew* takes time to talk with a Buddhist temple monk. At the onset of one of Andrew’s weekly discussions with the monk, the monk asked Andrew, “Do you want to see the spirit?” Andrew could not understand why the monk would be talking to him about a spirit in the temple.

Jonathan Bornman provides leadership to EMM’s Christian-Muslim Relations Teams. Jonathan recently told three vignettes of God at work. What did each of these stories have in common? God keeps connecting Jonathan with people and events that lead to meaningful interactions. 

Change: it’s inevitable. We’re told that change is the only thing that will remain constant in our lives. This past year seems like it was really living into this truth as there was almost nothing that remained unchanged in our lives. The words of the prophet Isaiah remind us that even God is always moving, doing something new. The winds of change are ever-blowing, and so perhaps, are the winds of...

For Jeremy’s* first birthday in Thailand, he received a gift from his brother in Canada. It was a black and white photo of his grandfather on stage at an evangelistic crusade when he was about Jeremy’s age. He was a very spiritual person, and Jeremy remembers his deep laugh and voice that sounded like Pavarotti when he sang.

Since December 20th, Alan and Carol have been doing a lot of walking through green fields and beside small streams once again as human interaction is limited by another lockdown in Wales, which is in the United Kingdom. In this simple act of observing nature, listening to music, or talking and laughing with a family member as they walk, they find the refreshment their souls desperately need.

A few weeks ago, while John* was preparing to leave the village for the city, a woman told him that her older sister had developed a new health problem. An hour later, John left to join his wife, Debbie, in the city and they traveled to northwestern Cambodia. A few days later as they were completing their trip, they received a call that Sokaa’s older sister had become much sicker.

Every Christmas season, Eric is reminded of the beauty of the song “Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming”. Eric was practicing this song on the piano, and being an amateur pianist, was having a terrible time with the last two measures of the first two lines. He felt like maybe he should just stick with playing the treble clef notes alone so that it has a semblance of cohesive sound. But the full sound is...