December 31, 2019
When the walls came down, “We were swept along, praising God for opportunities! We didn’t program it! We could hardly keep up with it,” Willard Eberly exclaimed. An isolated nation after a forty-five year communist regime, Albania opened in 1991 to the outside world and to the gospel of Jesus.
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December 20, 2019
Paul Timothy Yoder, Sr., president of Virginia Mennonite Missions (VMMissions) from 1985 to 1990, died on December 16, 2019. He was 91. Paul brought to his presidency the particular perspectives of his medical background, and during his tenure, Paul envisioned VMMissions as a channel through which personnel and material resources would be released for the purpose of expanding God’s kingdom.
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December 5, 2019
VMMissions is delighted to report that the Albania Earthquake Relief Fund needs have been met! Thank you! Through December 31, 2019, VMMissions has received $28,712 towards the expenses of a temporary shelter in Lezhë, Albania, for 15 Roma families who lost their homes in Albania’s recent 6.4-magnitude earthquake.
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December 3, 2019
This year for #GivingTuesday, join with VMMissions as we equip the church to share new life in Jesus Christ with neighbors near and far. All donations will go to the Mission Fund, which allows us to support 32 individual ministries in 24 countries.
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December 2, 2019
“We know that in the time of the early church, ministry began in Jerusalem. Later, Antioch became an important mission center. The Shenandoah Valley is the Jerusalem of Virginia Mennonite Conference. But, realize, Tidewater Virginia is our Antioch!” What made that particular context so special? How did VMMissions contribute to the picture, promoting greater faithfulness and fruitfulness?
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September 26, 2019
By Priscilla Gnanamanickam Children don’t have a junior Holy Spirit.” This is what we were told by a missionary couple when we were young parents in India, as we were learning to listen to the voice of the Lord and follow him. “Encourage your children to listen to the voice of the Lord speaking, like […]
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July 20, 2019
VMMissions is celebrating one hundred years of equipping the church to share the good news with neighbors near and far. View images from the celebrations at Virginia Mennonite Conference Assembly on Thursday, July 18.
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July 5, 2019
Our priority on prayer is guided by clear biblical principles. We emphasize the fact that God hears our prayers and that we can hear from him. But principles are not enough; we need to practice. Here are a few family-friendly prayer ideas that we have used to develop our family prayer life.
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June 27, 2019
All Kids Club volunteers love the children who come, and there is something special about teachers who choose to be at Kids Club each week. They are experts at giving and receiving the love of God in our local communities who are competently leading both at school and at Kids Club.
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May 22, 2019
I soon came to realize that my primary purpose for being at LAC was to build relationships. Teaching my subject area well was important; but the real substance of our time there was in the one-on-one conversations with students, other teachers, and persons in the community. Students watched us closely and asked deep questions, trying to understand our faith and our relationship with God.
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April 24, 2019
Join Putt Fore Missions, a mini-golf tournament and meal fundraiser for VMMissions on Thursday, May 23, 5:30PM – 9:30PM. There will be two waves of the tournament, with teams of four. Not a golfer? Come just for the dinner (suggested $10 donation) and enjoy a fun, family atmosphere and support missions!
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February 14, 2019
Business for transformation (B4T) is a way of opening doors for the gospel in areas that might otherwise be closed. Here are a few examples.
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February 7, 2019
Workers in Asia and Europe share stories of potential harvests in difficult soil, and of immense needs. Is God inviting you to serve?
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November 30, 2018
Traveling for up to 14 hour by public bus, van and train, Anabaptist believers from Thailand and Laos gathered together in Chonburi, Thailand, for a rich time of lively worship, fellowship and interactive teaching at the 4th Thailand Anabaptist Gathering (TAG), October 8-12, 2018.
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November 28, 2018
Each year, VMMissions workers propose projects to meet some special or immediate need for our Alternative Christmas Gifts program. Consider a gift to engage their ministry passion and enhance their mission.
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October 10, 2018
As a small token of our gratitude for the ways in which you have prayed earnestly and given generously to the work that God is doing through Virginia Mennonite Missions, we invite you to an evening of food, music and stories of our work in the past year and right now.
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September 10, 2018
We are seeing the fruit of changed lives and communities that God is producing through our ministries! Like an abundant harvest, a great deal of work lies behind these fruitful ministries. Thank you for making this possible.
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September 4, 2018
Prolific writer and New Testament scholar N.T. Wright will give a series of presentations on “Discerning the Dawn” in Harrisonburg, Va., November 13-14.
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August 16, 2018
At first glance, the idea of all of us “going” sounds like a perfect recipe for chaos! But, somehow, this is what the Holy Spirit does when he gets a hold of us. Our hearts enlarge. Our vision expands. We go beyond our culturally comfortable borders.
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August 14, 2018
Norma Teles is a Brazilian VMMissions worker in Lezhë, Albania, working with Roma children at the school she has founded, the Joshua Center. By Norma Teles Norma Teles at the Joshua Center. Courtesy of Janet Blosser I grew up in a Christian family with nine siblings in Salvadore, Brazil. I was expected to […]
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August 13, 2018
Francisco and Juanita came to the U.S. as asylum seekers from Honduras. Now God is using them as church planters in Madrid, Spain.
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May 21, 2018
With J.T’s type of design work, he gets to continue in this “cultural mandate” of developing this language and while doing it, share with his Muslim colleagues this beautiful heritage of how Christianity uniquely uplifts languages.
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April 30, 2018
Too often we as Christians have adopted our culture’s divide between the spiritual and the secular. We designate what we do at church or in our personal devotional life as “spiritual,” and the rest of life as “secular.” Except for paid ministry, we rarely think of work as spiritual. The Bible, however, makes no such distinction between spiritual and secular.
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March 22, 2018
Attend a training by Bruce Bennett, CCP founder and international church planter, on Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8, at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. You can attend one or both days of this two-day training.
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January 29, 2018
The Shenandoah Valley Men’s Chorus, directed by Jared Stutzman, performed two public concerts on Sunday, February 25, at Eastern Mennonite School and VMRC. Offerings collected to support a VMMissions worker family serving in South Asia raised $1,945.
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January 23, 2018
Lady Latte needs summer time volunteers in 2018! A couple is needed to come to the beautiful rural town of Istog, Kosovo, from May 15 – September 1 (flexible) to give temporary oversight to a recently opened coffee shop just for women!
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November 3, 2017
If the church is made up of disciples, then everything we are part of should replicate: disciples who can make disciples, small groups who can make new small groups, churches that can plant churches. I have missional dreams that from Eastside would come churches in many locations. That replication process must begin with individual disciples.
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November 2, 2017
I am excited about all that is happening within VMMissions USA Ministries: my daily interactions with workers and prospective workers, the requests for tranSend interns from local pastors, the interaction with district leaders regarding their missional hopes, the ground work of discipling that happens in my coaching contexts and in the many new huddles.
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August 30, 2017
As believers, we are tasked with the job of bringing the little children to Jesus. One of the ways we do this is by encouraging and teaching children to pray. We can spend all the time in the world teaching children about God, but if we don’t teach them how to relate to God, we’re not doing any better than the disciples who tried to shoo the children away.
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August 19, 2017
“I believe that Jesus is God, and I want to be a Jesus follower.” I couldn’t believe my ears as Yousif prayed a beautiful prayer of repentance, expressing a humble need of Christ. How could this be happening? A Muslim young man, coming to faith so quickly?
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August 16, 2017
I wasn’t sure if my writing and work on spirituality in the United States would connect with the people of Europe, but the loneliness, brokenness and hunger for a deeper relationship with God is as evident here as at home. Sharing the good news here in Europe is helping people develop a closer relationship to God and helping them to return to what God created them to be, rather than what the outer world forced on them.
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August 9, 2017
Holy moments right here and now: mission workers and staff share fresh stories of gospel seeds being sown in the course of their everyday lives. “God, may you bring the fruit!”
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August 7, 2017
In a slum community in a large Asian city, Anita and Yosiah have gained their community’s trust through deeds of love. Now they ask, “How do we proclaim the gospel holistically?”
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June 15, 2017
Jason Wagner, appointed to serve as chaplain at the Rockingham Regional Jail. Courtesy photo By Jason Wagner I have seen firsthand the deep hunger for connection to God and loving fellowship that inmates have in the Rockingham Regional Jail. Since being appointed as a VMMissions worker to serve as jail chaplain, I have been […]
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June 15, 2017
By Sarah Showalter “The difference between success and failure is a great team.” —Dave Kerpen “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” —Michael Jordan “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” —Helen Keller “Teamwork is the secret that makes common people achieve uncommon results.” —Ifeanyi Onuoha “Sticks […]
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June 12, 2017
Crystal Lehman (second from right) works with an international team of teachers who actively support each other to love and effectively educate the students at Buenos Aires International Christian Academy in Argentina. Photo courtesy of Crystal Lehman By Crystal Lehman Missions has always played an important role in my life. I am, however, still […]
moreJune 8, 2017
You are invited to celebrate the commissioning of new mission workers at the Friday evening worship service of Virginia Mennonite Conference Assembly, held at Park View Mennonite Church, 1600 College Ave, Harrisonburg, Va. (map), on Friday, July 21. Gathering music begins at 6:45 p.m.; the service begins at 7:00. The 2017 class of tranSend, […]
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June 5, 2017
If you are attending Mennonite Church USA Convention in Orlando this summer, stop by the VMMissions booth in the display area of the convention center. Staff will be available to connect with you and share some stories of our work. Pick up a mission activity card, complete it, and you will be registered to win […]
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May 31, 2017
Bethany and Steve desire to enhance their evangelism and discipleship ministry among Isaan migrant workers in Bangkok, Thailand, by again bringing a team together. Steve and Bethany’s Isaan friends help with evangelism efforts to share the Good News with other Isaan people over pizza at the Horst’s home in Bangkok. Photo by Steve Horst […]
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May 31, 2017
Have you ever tried playing baseball by yourself? Or singing four-part harmony alone? There are some things you simply can’t do without the help of others. And we believe mission is one of them. One of the guiding principles for our work at VMMissions is that team is our preferred mode of engaging in mission. […]
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May 30, 2017
Steve and Laura work with the leadership team of one of only five evangelical churches in the country of Montenegro, with a focus on discipling believers, and a vision for growth. Vladimir Cizmanski and Steve Campbell meet to plan various activities at the church. Photo by Janet Blosser By Steve Campbell When Laura […]
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March 15, 2017
By Ben Emswiler It was yet another very cold night in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as we searched for a parking space outside of James Madison University’s Convocation Center where JMU was hosting Eastern Mennonite University in a cross-town men’s basketball game. I apologized to my Congolese friends in the car with me for having to park […]
moreMarch 8, 2017
Our culture idolizes heroes. Hollywood tells story after story with the message, we need heroes to solve the world’s problems. Right now my little boys are fixated on Superman, Spider-Man and Batman—a curious thing, since they’ve never seen them on the big screen. But somehow they’ve caught our culture’s love of heroes. Who doesn’t wish […]
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March 6, 2017
By Elsa Miller Located in the city of Nazareth, Israel, Nazareth Village is a working historical village that gives visitors to the Holy Land a chance to experience what life would have been like for Jesus growing up in his hometown. One aspect that brings the village to life is the team of historical actors […]
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March 3, 2017
Rafael and Solange Tartari serve as pastoral leaders of the Guri I Themelit (Cornerstone) congregation in Lezhë, Albania. Through a partnership that spans three continents, they engage in evangelism, discipleship and mentoring. By Solange Tartari In Ephesians 2:11-22, the Apostle Paul gives us a vision of the church that is not just the local community. […]
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February 21, 2017
Mennonite Hispanic Initiative is a joint effort to birth, nurture and sustain new mission impulses among Spanish-speaking people in Virginia and beyond. By Lizzette Hernandez and Marvin Lorenzana God’s model for eternal existence is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living in loving relationship with each other. God has modeled this perfect relationship of […]
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December 2, 2016
(From left) Granit, Bledor, Bek, Valdet and author Vince at the fitness center. Vince is holding his training schedule. Photo courtesy of author Living in an under-reached nation, with no church in their community, Vince and LaVonne Ramella and their children seek to embody the gospel in their daily lives as a picture of church […]
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November 21, 2016
The front entrance to the Protestant church the Stutzmans relate to, with a crane in the background. Photo courtesy of author In Mannheim, Germany, Dave and Rebekka and their three children serve in a context where churches have experienced decline, but opportunities for mission abound. By Dave Stutzman One of the things that interested me […]
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November 15, 2016
Some of the participants at the Third Thai Anabaptist Gathering. Photo by J* By Carol Tobin, VMMissions Asia Regional Director Det Udom, Thailand – A simple open air pavilion at the Life Enrichment Church Center in a far corner of Northeast Thailand (Isaan) served as the location for Thai Anabaptist Gathering, from September 27 to […]
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November 10, 2016
Since 2008, more than 200 students have been challenged and blessed by taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class right here in the Valley! The Harrisonburg coordinating team is thrilled to bring the Spring 2017 class to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry Center, 711 S. Main Street, Harrisonburg, Va., on Monday nights, January […]
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