Stories of Mission

Exponential: Accelerating Multiplication

Exponential Conference has become a significant conference of leaders and practitioners engaged in God’s work of planting churches. Held annually in Orlando, Florida, this year’s conference included 5,000 people, with 24 persons attending through Virginia Mennonite Missions.

Marsha Kanagy with Germany course classmates

Love and Boldness for Christ’s Glory

Where I once was completely timid and new to missions and speaking boldly of God’s love, I am learning the importance of sharing his love, even at the face of possible rejection. I continue learning love and boldness for Christ’s mission and glory.

In Christ, the Crooked Made Straight

I finally reached bottom and started thinking about God. His word, planted in my soul, still spoke to me. A tremendous inner battle raged. Although drawn back to church with a deep sense of guilt, I was still shackled to worldly friends and vices.

Net·work·ing

Emily Gingerich has learned the importance of a team as she serves in the Czech Republic. The team has connected her with other mission workers, churches, and organizations with a common bond: wanting Czechs to know Jesus.

Life Enrichment Church members and the Schoenhals family

When Waiting for God’s Spirit, Who Knows What Will Result!

Mark and Sarah Schoenhals were given the opportunity to share in village gatherings and to teach a Bible study for leaders of the LEC. Although their ability to communicate is still limited, these occasions brought them encouragement and renewed vision.

Reflections on the City of Rubble

My host’s voice carries a longing of someone who has lost a love. She sees through a lens of memory, now clouded with the blood, dust, and destruction of decades of war. She remembers more. I see only ruin.

Checkups with members of the Haiti medical team

Medical Team Helps Hundreds in Haiti

When our medical team arrived in Haiti in February, we had a difficult time getting through customs with 14 suitcases of medication. We saw about 780 patients in five days of clinic.

God is Showing the Way in the Midst of Trials

Kristel, 14, is deaf and likes to sign “God is so good” from a worship song during worship at Jesus Deaf Church. Manuel, 21, has grown in confidence and faith, and now knows with certainty that God has called him to pastor our church.

God is Raising Up a New Pastoral Couple in Trinidad

Richard and Margaret Keeler quickly noticed the spiritual growth in a married couple at Sangre Grande Mennonite Church. Humble and teachable, they began participating in Friendship Bible Coffee (FBC) studies, and later became leaders, accepting additional responsibilities in the church.

Chickens, Pigs, and More at Maranatha School for the Deaf

We have been blessed to be a part of the work at Maranatha School for the Deaf and the local Mennonite Church. It’s awe-inspiring to see how God works in our lives and provides for us, the school, the church, and our friends.

“Gracias a Dios” for Every Small Miracle

The Guatemalan people have been God’s light in my life. They have taught me to take higher value in my relationships, to stop worrying about the hour and instead focus on the present, and to be hospitable in my home, on the street, or in the bus.

Terry Witmer (center right) with members of the women's group she meets with in La Mesa, Colombia

An Accidental Hair Appointment?

Our time in Colombia has been, from the beginning, enveloped in relationship: who we have come to know, who has put down roots in our hearts, and who we cry for in prayer. God has sewn our lives inextricably into the lives of so many people here.

Willard and Eva Eberly (left) with Mara and Dino Colonna.

The Unfinished Task

Although those of us serving long-term with VMMissions face the constant challenge of overcoming spiritual barriers and strongholds, the persistent hope of establishing viable, Christ-centered churches with Italian leadership propels us forward.

Doors for Ministry Open Through Italian Schools

The schools that our boys attend have become major areas of ministry for us. We help teach English in the middle school. This has been an open door to talk to and be a healthy example to youth that have few good adult role models to follow.

Norma Teles and Joshua Center children, 2012

Mission Encouragements at Joshua Center

It has been a cold winter here in Lezhe, but we have been blessed in a lot of ways. The work at Joshua Center is going well. I can see God working in a very special way in the lives of the little ones.

Allen Umble (right) and Samuel Jablonski, member of the EMM YES team.

A Thirty-year Round Trip of Mission

Thirty years and the circle has come around complete. Only God knows what else will come around full circle in the next thirty years out of the obedience to the call of Jesus by his followers.

Miraculous Turnaround at Lezha Academic Center

We have been through our share of fires this year at Lezha Academic Center. The first months of our ministry here were full of conflict. Each of us had days when we felt like throwing in the towel, but somehow we made it through.

God is a Rewarder!

Muslims are thirsty. We don’t want to just give them a drink, but to see their eyes opened to the well, to drink deep of God’s love for them, so that those rivers can begin to flow out from them as healing for their nations.

Winds of the Spirit

The Spirit blows at will, we are told. We do not fully know its direction nor can we ever adequately predict its affect. We can, however, see some of the results and we have been told what fruit to look for. We do well to continue to look for “love, joy, peace” as evidence of where the Spirit is blowing.

In Christ, All Things New

Being unaware of the importance of marriage in God’s eyes, my marriage at a very young age soon proved to be a tragic mistake. After escaping that trap of anguish, I began pursuing what I hadn’t found. But this search only caused more suffering.

Much Given, Much Required

Scripture says that to the person who has much given to them, much will be required. Throughout my week in Belize, I was humbled and challenged by the training and counseling given again and again, the prayers offered, the food given freely.

Jamaica Mennonite Church Leader Dies

Pastor Morris Baker died in Kingston on February 15, 2012, after a five-month illness. He served as pastor of the Alpine Mennonite Church since 1995. He was appointed president of the Jamaica Mennonite Church in March 2011.

Global Sisters Enrich My Life

I have the unusual privilege to visit church sisters in the Caribbean region several times a year. Talking with the women in their settings is heart-warming, and sometimes heart-rending. Global sisters show me that holding onto faith is imperative in this uncertain world.

A Pause for Prayer at Life’s End

My patient was a young man with right leg swelling of several weeks’ duration. A large abscess in his thigh pressed on the large vein nearby, causing it to clot off. Clots of this nature are dangerous, because they can break loose and travel to the heart and lungs.

Service sows passion to see German youth grow in God

In reflecting over this past year on my mission-intern assignment in Kaiserslautern, Germany, I have been astounded in God revealing more of the passions and skills He has placed in me. I have the opportunity and blessing to live with nine Germans currently between the ages of 16-19 years old. The youth live here for…

The difference between hope and despair: refugees in Ecuador

As I was enjoying the company of a few Ecuadorian friends in late June, my cell phone unexpectedly rang. The anxious Colombian voice on the other end explained the details of a dilemma that has become a common story since I began working with the Colombian refugee population in Ecuador in December of last year:…

Marie Shantal’s story: a very bad day in Haiti

Eight-year-old Marie Shantal went to school just like the other children in her middle class Haitian neighborhood on that fateful day in January 2010. But, as she walked home from school with her friends, the ground began to shake. Buildings fell around her. Thousands of people ran, screaming, into the streets! She got separated from…

Remember, remember not

One of the paradoxes of the Bible is God’s call to remember but not dwell on the past. “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there,” declares Deuteronomy 24:18 (NRSV). That memory forms the basis of Israel’s identity. When remembrance turns to nostalgia, however, God has…

Virginia youth build relationships with Jamaican community

On July 5, fourteen senior high youth and four adult leaders from Mountain View Mennonite church, in VMC’s Southern District, left the mountains of Virginia for the mountains of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. We were going to do a work project in the Top Hill community, where Rodney & Lindsey Nice were serving as missionaries with…

Music educator shares in worship with the Italian Mennonite Church

When Phil and Marcia Lehman left Bari, Italy in 2009, Centro Koinonia prayed fervently that God would provide musicians. Over the past two years, these prayers have been answered through church members like Luigi, Elena, Valentina, Francesco, Chris, and Melody. However, the church desired more training, prompting them to request that VMM send me as…

Humility and growth: Partners in Mission turns 25

When I began working at VMM one year ago, the organization was in the midst of routine transition. A new strategic plan was in development, and several program directors were moving on from their posts. Like a plant entering a new season, the ongoing process of growth was being felt more acutely, in exciting and…

Lezha Academic Center opens first school year

The sounds of school ring loud and clear this September at Albanian Christian School’s Lezha Academic Center (LAC) in Lezhe, Albania. The city is located along the Adriatic Sea in the northwest corner of the country at the foothills of the Albanian Alps. Virginia Mennonite Missions has had a presence in this city of approximately…

Children in Bari, Italy, enjoy meaningful activities at “Happy Week”

What occupies the long summer days for children who live in high-rise apartment buildings in densely-populated Italian cities? Many parents ask this same question! In the South, parks are usually few, crowded, and poorly equipped. Apartments have limited space for active play. Recognizing this opportunity to meet a felt need, the Mennonite churches in Italy…

Educator lays foundation for new partnerships in Israel, Palestinian Territories

Partners teams have traveled to the Palestinian Territories and Israel over the last 5 years to volunteer at Nazareth Village and teach English to local children. These groups have traveled the land, stayed with host families and learned quite a lot about Arab & Israeli history, life and culture in the Galilee. Through these successful…

Virginia youth build playground, relationships with Jamaican community

What neither we as leaders and planners nor the youth anticipated was the rich fellowship with the deaf community of Top Hill… Over the coming years, I anticipate that these experiences will be the most valuable “things” that they brought back from Jamaica.

Partners pedals to Pittsburgh

It was a hot day in the City of Bridges as the group wound their way along bike paths and city streets. They were following a couple they met on the Three Rivers Trail a couple miles earlier who had offered to lead them in to the Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh and were telling…

Indonesian Mennonites promote interfaith dialogue

From mid-January to the end of March 2010, my wife Cathy and I were in Indonesia on a short-term Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) assignment during our sabbaticals, mine from Park View Mennonite Church, Cathy’s from Eastern Mennonite University. We stayed on the island of Java, in the city of Salatiga, centrally located on the island…

International team takes leadership at Cornerstone Church, Lezhe, Albania

After faithfully serving the Albanian church in many capacities during the last five years, Leon and Naomi Zimmerman (Rosedale Mennonite Missions workers) have terminated their missionary service. Leadership of the Lezhe church has now been passed on to a newly chosen “church council” composed of three Albanian believers who will collaborate closely with the three…

Introducing new Virginia Mennonite Missions staff

Aaron Kauffman, Global Ministries Director Aaron Kauffman will begin serving in a quarter-time position as Global Ministries Director for VMMissions on June 1. This new position convenes and leads a team of four regional directors with responsibility for VMMissions’ global relationships and ministries. Aaron served in Ethiopia with Eastern Mennonite Missions and more recently with…

It all looks different

As we look in the rear view mirror, we can see that we have come a long way on the road of language and culture learning, the main focus of our first years in Thailand. One of our purposes in coming here is to work on Bible teaching with the Life Enrichment Church (LEC). It feels like such a “destination” is many kilometers ahead.

Playing, laughing, talking, building relationships

There are many teenagers in Palermo (population about 80,000) and just 2% of them know what it means to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus. Andrea and Sheila Crocivera are involved with Youth for Christ and tranSend in a project to reach them. In November we opened a youth center called MY SPACE…

“Full circle” after forty years

With youthful excitement, we eagerly researched the Italian city where we would serve after language school in Florence. Finally, we were going to fulfill the call to missions we’d both received years before! Vasto—a coastal city amid vineyards and olive groves on the foothills of the Abruzzo mountains in central Italy—was to be our destination.…

LCC International University hosts ecumenical conference

About a month ago, LCC hosted our 2nd annual Congregational Development Conference on the theme, “Proclaiming the Gospel in Contemporary Lithuania.” Once again, there was a good response and participants from almost all church groups in Lithuania. Steve had a brief opening address on “Discussing theology in a liberal arts setting.” He attempted to share…

Inside and outside the hospital in Honduras

God works in mysterious ways, so mysterious that it is often easy to miss the ways He’s working, especially when times get challenging. Thank God His plan does not depend on whether we understand it or not. That is how I would sum up my first year in Siguatepeque, Honduras—recognizing a call without fully understanding…

Anticipating God’s amazing ways

Wow! What a year it has been. A year ago I was busily finishing my last semester of college while preparing for this mission year by accomplishing seemingly endless forms, personality/spiritual tests, interviews and trainings in Pennsylvania. I knew I was being called into missions, but wasn’t exactly sure where, how or when. May EMU…

Actions speak louder than language barriers

“Good morning.” “Buenos dias.” “Alli punsha.” In the small Ecuadorian jungle community of Arajuno, these three languages, English, Spanish and Kichwa, flowed together harmoniously as a group of 10 men from Nebraska, three Colombians and I worked alongside the local indigenous people to help them construct a new church building. During a week of hard…

Jamaica Mennonite Church Conference Delivers Deep Impact

The 53rd annual conference of the Jamaica Mennonite Church was held March 4-6, 2011, in Kingston. Delegates gathered on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday to discuss reports from congregations and directors of various areas of church work. Rajin and Sheriza Sookharry represented the Mennonite Church of Trinidad & Tobago at the conference.

The Global Family of Faith

A church conference dare not exist for itself. Myopic or extended self-absorbed attention tends to devolve into defensiveness and mere maintenance. It is for these reasons that I believe in missions. The church must always think beyond itself and risk its life for the sake of others.

Seven Joyful Baptisms in Trinidad

Richard and Margaret Keeler had the privilege of participating in the baptism of seven people on January 30, 2011. As we heard testimonies from all the baptismal candidates, all of us rejoiced to see God at work. I gave each one a special verse, then myself and Bro. Ramon, a lay leader, baptized them.

Transformed, Transforming.

All of us at Virginia Mennonite Missions share in common the desire to be instruments of God’s transformation. Then, transformation turns around and continues to change us! Thinking we were the ones changing others, we discover that we are the ones being changed.

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