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Stories of Mission

Explore mission themes in our quarterly magazine as workers tell stories of making disciples in the way of Christ.

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After church in Lezhe, Albania

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.

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Aaron M. Kauffman

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.

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Twinkle with Daniel Pantoja

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.”

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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?

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Eating together at the table

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.

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Aaron M. Kauffman

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.

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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.

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Aaron M. Kauffman

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.

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Whitney Specht

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.”

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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.”

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Katrina Schmid with LAC students

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.

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Aaron M. Kauffman

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?

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