Stories of Mission

Becoming One: God’s Purpose for Community

“Teamwork was never one of my strengths as a child,” Crystal Lehman writes. In fact, I often avoided working in teams if I could. If I was alone, I could make sure every detail was just right. Depending on others felt too risky. But God challenged me by putting me in situations where I needed others.”

Better Together

Mission’s dual foundation of absolute rest in the love of God and commitment to God’s is best maintained in community. We need others to hold us accountable, worship with us, encourage us, and make the logistics of ministry possible.

The Wisdom of Teams

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. We believe mission is one of them. I want to share five ways why team is our preferred mode of engaging in mission.

God’s Worldwide Team

Discipleship has been our focus for our ministry here in Montenegro. Our desire is to introduce Christ and the concepts for his kingdom, and help the church sort out what that looks like in this culture. We talk a great deal about building a bridge instead of a wall.

Loving Our Refugee Neighbors

The couple of hundred refugees that Harrisonburg receives each year, coming from places such as Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Cuba, and Congo, are not helpless people that we should feel bad for. In fact, it’s quite the opposite—they are fighters that we should respect.

Coworkers for the Kingdom

The church often longs for heroes, just like our broader culture. We want spiritual giants whose gifts and charisma loom larger than life. Even so, I’d like to suggest that heroes are not the primary way God brings about transformation in the world.

Elsa Miller with colleagues at Nazareth Village

Nazareth Village: A Living Witness to Christ Made Possible by Partnership

Located in the city of Nazareth, Israel, Nazareth Village is a working historical village that gives visitors a chance to experience what life would have been like for Jesus growing up in his hometown. What brings the village to life is the team of historical actors.

Local Church, Global Body

The more effective the collaboration, the more we have hope for lives affected and changed. After people come to the full knowledge of revealed truth, which is salvation in Jesus, we want to disciple them to be able to share the same grace they have received with others.

Partners in Planting

VMMissions is trying new approaches for church planters. One such approach is the Covenant Partners for New Church Initiatives, which outlines the gifts and responsibilities of everyone involved: church planter, mission agency, and the group of existing congregations who will sponsor the work.

What is Church?

Vince lives in a town in Kosovo where there is no church currently meeting. He has been called to become church on the fly and in common or routine actions. More often than not, he has no pre-set schedule for what church typically looks like.

Setting Sail With Jesus

We live in an age when it’s popular to be spiritual but not religious. Many view the church with indifference or even suspicion, though they may still admire Jesus. So we at VMMissions know we are going against the grain when we say church is the primary instrument for God’s mission.

Mission and the Church in a Post-Christian Context

When David Stutzman talks about mission in the Western context, he is often surprised about how the post-Christian reality doesn’t catalyze much change within the church. It is as if there is an awareness of the tremendous change going on, but it doesn’t lead to much action.

Thai Anabaptists Gather for Encouragement on the Journey

Most of the 150 people who attended the Thai Anabaptist Gathering from September 27 to October 1, 2016, were Thai, Isaan, and Lao first-generation Buddhist background believers who are growing in Anabaptist identity.

EMM Christian/Muslim Relations Team to Present at Public Forum

Members of the EMM Christian/Muslim Relations Team, will present on Thursday, October 27, 2016 in Martin Chapel. The goal of the forum is learning how to be better equipped to know, love, and share Jesus with Muslim members of our community.

Kingdom Vision as a Way of Life with Dr. Scot McKnight

Dr. Scot McKnight, author of The Kingdom Conspiracy, will speak in a series of events in Harrisonburg, September 28-29, 2016. Hosted by a partnership of agencies including VMMissions, Dr. McKnight will speak on the theme “Kingdom Vision as a Way of Life.”

A Tidal Wave is Coming!

God has given us these instructions: “Devote yourself to prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). It’s not about lifting up our own feeble attempts and ideas to fix all the problems around us. It means entering into God’s presence to hear what his plans are.

Finding Life Inside

We live near a gated community, of sorts. The first time we walked past its medieval-type turrets, sun-baked stucco walls, and arched gateways we were intrigued. We wanted to explore but someone told us the crumbling fort was where the poor lived. Walking through would actually be trespassing in their homes.

Bike Shenandoah to Benefit VMMissions and Others on September 17

Bike Shenandoah is a family-friendly and healthy way see the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, connect with other riders, and support seven local agencies including VMMisions. It draws more than 100 riders each year for rides ranging from 5 to 100 miles.

Jesus Deaf Church in Orange Walk Town, Belize

Long Roads to Leadership

“Deep in my heart I knew the tendency for a deaf congregation to become a “club,” a place where people gather to fellowship, which is well and good but not enough,” Nancy Marshall writes. “I deeply wanted our church to grasp their missional role, to spread the gospel to the unreached.”

Seeds of Multiplication

Dukata met a young woman at the hospital who grew more receptive to the gospel as her health declined. When she was baptized at Christmas, she was too weak to climb into the cement water tank, but her joy was evident. She died in February with a vision of being dressed in white and welcomed by the Lord.

VMMissions Launches Regular Prayer Bulletin

In addition to the monthly Mission Prayer Calendar, VMMissions has launched a weekly email to engage partners more effectively, including through prayer for the people and ministries of VMMissions.

Kingdom Multiplication

Sometimes multiplication gets reduced to a business model. If we get more people gathered into more churches, we’ll have more money for what we hope to provide. I am certainly in favor of increasing our membership, but church growth is not the primary aim of God’s multiplying mission.

All of Life Under the Reign of Christ

Holistic witness is about letting the gospel declaration that Jesus is Lord permeate every corner of our lives. That’s why VMMissions works not only at evangelism and church planting, but also in many other areas. Christ’s kingdom impacts all of life, and so should our witness as his people.

VMMissions Welcomes Two Staff Members

Virginia Mennonite Missions is pleased to welcome Steve Leaman and Melanie Sherer as new staff members. Steve was hired as Director of Public Relations and Melanie Sherer was hired as Administrative Assistant.

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.

Seth Crissman leads an activity at Kids Club

A Snapshot of Kids Club with Seth and Theresa Crissman

Every Monday evening at Immanuel Mennonite Church, you can find volunteers in blue t-shirts with around 40 children, pre-K through 8th grade. Together, they sing, act and retell stories from the Bible, eat and play together as they learn to give and receive God’s love with each other.

New Creation Opens Shop to Combat Sex Trafficking

God led Caitlin to stay in her own community and to work with New Creation, a Harrisonburg, Virginia, ministry that combats human trafficking. Her heart was drawn to this business fulfilling a need and shining the light of Christ.

Living the Incarnation

If you joined our team, we would have you live with a local Muslim family for about a year. It is terribly hard: You must eat and sleep as the family eats and sleeps, and function without any English. All of our teammates can attest to days in which each moment was painful.

Being a Bridge

I need to be God’s humble servant (at least that feels more comfortable to me than being his raging prophet) sharing God’s love when trying to bring the good news into another culture. Only as I really know the culture and love the people will I be aware of how to address the culture’s issues.

Extending 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.

Twinkle’s journey: The education of a Kalinga missionary in the Philippines

Twinkle’s early missionary zeal persisted through her teenage years, as did a sense of inferiority regarding her Cordilleran identity. She was seventeen before, as she says, “I fully embraced my identity as a Kalinga without the shame.”

Learning to Walk After Jesus

I moved to the slums four years ago. My mind was full of big ideas of hope and the dream of seeing slum communities transformed by the love of Jesus. But in my time here, I have witnessed grueling poverty, a devastating fire, demolition and eviction of over 1,000 homes. What does discipleship mean in such a context?

Come to the Table

The idea of meeting around the table for a meal and talking, listening and telling stories is all a part of the Mediterranean culture and has been for centuries. During our time in Italy, we were able to experience fellowship at the table as opportunities to share with them the hope of Christ.

Know 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.

Gospel Openings But Few Workers in Hmong Villages

Jonah Yang was part of a team that took 730 pairs of glasses donated to the Lion’s Club to Thailand. These were distributed among seven villages. The majority of the people who received the glasses were non-Christians, and it gave him and the team a good opportunity to live and share the gospel.

Renewing 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.

Milk Plant Builds Trust in Kosovo

Whitney’s love of working with dairy cows and her desire to follow God led her to work in Kosovo. So far, she has been here for five months, and for four of those months she has worked at a local milk collection and processing center called Jeta e Re, which means “new life.”

New Wineskins, New Wine

“I have been trying to put the new wine into my old skin. And a few days ago, I thought I was ready to burst,” Jeanette Strode writes. “There was anger and pain and frustration. I was sitting in a dark room while Lucy napped. So, I picked up my Bible and began to read. There it was, two chapters in.”

Meaningful Work, God’s Provision

Even though her workload has been steadily increasing, the Lord has made Katrina’s work more meaningful and life-giving every day. “He has shown me that the more energy I put into building relationships, being merciful, generous and kind in the classroom, ” she writes.

More 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?

Building a Network of Mennonite Relationships in Germany

David hopes that the network he works with will be a place for people to find encouragement for starting new initiatives, for new and ongoing church plants, and for renewal efforts in existing churches; a place that practices the gathering and sending of disciples.

Thanksgiving Celebration in Italy Introduces New Traditions

At the beginning of November, we offered to prepare a traditional American Thanksgiving meal as an outreach. It was exciting to have the chance to share our culture, to use it as a tool for outreach, and to stay busy to ease the homesickness that comes with the holidays.

A Visit to Purok Pluto’s Coffee Fields

In order for the owner of a coffee field to bring in a harvest, he or she usually needs three additional harvesters. These extra hands receive their pay in coffee: one kilogram for every five that each harvests. As the women described their work, they are frustrated at the reality of hard work for small returns.

Learning to Receive

This poor woman’s gift to us was exorbitant. I insisted that she share my plate, which she refused. She took some bread added a piece of cheese and a few tomato slices, while the rest of us enjoyed the potatoes and chicken she had prepared. I could hardly take a bite for the lump in my throat.

Let’s Do This Together!

“Hagámoslo juntos!” or “Let’s do this together!” was the first-ever Mennonite Hispanic Initative (MHI) leaders retreat at Highland Retreat. Four Spanish-speaking churches from the Harrisonburg area were represented, with 26 church leaders and 28 teens and children participating.

Dianna Lehman Hired as Executive Assistant and Human Resources Manager

Dianna Lehman joins VMMissions as Executive Assistant and Human Resources Manager to provide administrative support to the President, handle logistics for the Board of Directors and manage HR for staff and mission workers.

Sister Care Seminar in Trinidad “Part of God’s Master Plan”

VMMissions, Virginia Mennonite Women, and Latin American Women Theologians partnered with Mennonite Women USA to offer a Sister Care Seminar. Event coordinator Marsha Ragoonath said, “As a leader, I was inspired by the level of energy emanating from our discussion.”

A Day in the Life of Nancy Marshall

Nancy Marshall lives and works in Orange Walk Town Belize She shares a window into a typical day for her as she juggles pastoring the Jesus’ Deaf Church, parenting, and tutoring.

Relationships Over Accomplishments

Each day brings a new challenge at Maranatha School for the Deaf. But it’s not Caleb’s usual work that is challenging, it’s the fact that he can never get done what he sets out to accomplish during the day. But God is showing him that relationships are more important to cultivate.

Celebrating 40 Years of God’s Faithfulness in Trinidad

MCTT celebrated its 40th anniversary in a blessed and uplifting weekend. The work that began in 1974 has led to five congregations. For this huge milestone in the life of the Trinidadian church, 26 fraternal guests from the United States and one from Jamaica joined in the occasion.

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