Posts by Aaron Kauffman
Mission Begins With God
My father was crazy enough to believe that while it was his job to model and invite faith, it was God’s job to convert me to it. He chose patience over pressure. At VMMissions, we recognize that God is at work long before we ever arrive, and will continue to be at work long after we’re gone.
Read MoreExtending God’s Embrace
On the cross, Jesus extends his arms in an embrace that’s big enough to reach our entire broken world. Embrace is a compelling image for mission in a divided world. Like Jesus, we open our arms to others, inviting them to the kingdom. To make the offer understood, we learn their language and adopt their customs.
Read MoreKnow Them by Their Fruit
What motivates you? What underlying beliefs and values inform the decisions you make? These are hard questions for many people to answer. Our convictions and motivations often lie below the surface, beyond our full awareness. Yet they are at work all the time.
Read MoreRenewing our Connections
For the past 25 years, Virginia Mennonite Conference (VMC) and VMMissions have shared the publication, Connections. VMC Executive Conference Minister Clyde Kratz and Aaron Kauffman discuss challenges and dreams that have emerged about this communication tool.
Read MoreMore With Less?
Virginia Mennonite Missions has seen an exponential increase in adult mission workers in 1+ year assignments, but our level of staffing has remained nearly the same. More surprisingly, undesignated contributions have actually decreased. How can VMMissions do more with the same, or even a little less?
Read MoreGiving Ourselves Away
In a season of uncertainty for our denomination, it’s easy to adopt a mentality of scarcity. The problem with this kind of thinking, according to Jesus, is that in keeping our lives to ourselves, we’ll actually end up losing them. Self-preservation may be a natural instinct, but it’s not a gospel mentality.
Read MoreIn Step With the Spirit
Are we attentive to the Holy Spirit? How do we tell what the Spirit of God is saying to us? Those are key questions, whether we’re discerning our personal vocation, making a major decision, or charting a course as a church. The early Anabaptists wrestled with this question, too.
Read MoreWill Our Faith Have Children?
Numbers are only one measure of success, and maybe not the best one. Faithfulness—our primary aim—does not always yield impressive figures. The potency of God’s kingdom movement lies not in us, but in the message of Jesus we’ve been entrusted to share.
Read MorePartnership as Mission
When followers of Jesus engage in mutual, transparent and interdependent relationships across cultures, they become both an example of God’s upside-down kingdom and a means for its extension into the world. True partnership allows us all to see Jesus more clearly.
Read MorePeople-fishing, Jesus-style
Our mission is “to invite people to faithful living in Jesus Christ.” We seek to be and call forth apprentices of Jesus, not simply start one more program or project. Last summer the Board of Virginia Mennonite Missions approved seven strategic priorities to guide our work over the next 3-5 years.
Read More