College students worship in the living room of 264 OSH, a hospitality ministry called Eastside College that invites students into a growing relationship with God.

Nurturing the faith of college students

May 30, 2019

God awakened in me a dream for the dividing walls to be broken down and for all of us—university students and local members of congregations—to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the unique gifts of these students to be nurtured for the sake of God’s kingdom.

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Jim and Pam Beachy

Seeds of transformation

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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Aaron Kauffman

The school of obedience

May 3, 2019

Discipleship is about the most important kind of learning possible, learning to follow after Jesus. Yet too often, we see it as an add-on rather than an essential part of Christian faith. Perhaps if discipleship were only a matter of acquiring information, we would be less inclined to neglect it. But it’s more than that.

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Michael H. prays for workers at a resource event for Ministry Support Teams. Workers in South Asia, he and his wife Ruthy practiced organized prayer as a foundational aspect of their ministry in a large Muslim city. They are currently exploring future ministry assignments. Photo: Carol Tobin

Seeing the harvest that Jesus sees

April 25, 2019

With one sweep of my husband’s eye on our garden, he sees past investment, present challenges, and future promise. I learn a lot when I ask him to show me what he sees. This is what we do when we pray. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenges or exasperated by the complexities—“What do we do? Where do we start?”—we ask, “Lord, what do you see?”

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College students pray at a prayer and worship service at 264 OSH, a ministry of worker Rachel Yoder. Courtesy Facebook

Sowing seeds close to home

March 28, 2019

Workers in the U.S. are seeing transformation firsthand as God’s activity permeates local communities among people of every background.

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The sprawling Moria refugee camp in Lesvos. Photo: UNHCR

“Hello, my friend”

March 14, 2019

I came because I thought that I could do something for God. But I soon realized that God brought me to Greece so that he could do something in me. The stories of bravery and courage I heard have impacted me and changed the way that I see the world.

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Aaron Kauffman

Expect a harvest

February 28, 2019

Like the disciples, we can get so preoccupied with our own needs that we can’t see the bounty in God’s global harvest. What if we allowed our hunger to drive us into the grain fields of the world? Can we trust that Jesus is already there, beckoning us to reap with joy what others have sown?

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Ceramic water filters

For such a time as this

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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Maia, daughter of VMMissions workers J and H, walks through thick mud with her family to reach the home of a Rohingya family that had fled Myanmar.

A harvest in the hard places

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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New ways of being church

November 5, 2018

Instead of asking, “Why aren’t people coming to our church? Where is the younger generation? What is the future of the church?” we need to be asking, “Where is God at work? How can we participate in what God is doing in this context? What are we inviting people to be part of?”

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Lynn Suter

A culture of multiplication

November 5, 2018

If you were asked, “What are the irreducible minimums of the church?” what would you say? An assembly of some number? What number? A pattern of assembling? What’s the pattern and what mission and values would it reflect? Beyond discerning that biblically, and agreeing what church should be for a particular context, how would you multiply it?

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Carol Tobin

From anywhere to anyone

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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Norma Teles

Called to go: Norma’s story

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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Francisco and Juanita Machado

Preserved for a purpose

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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Writing calligraphy

A tailor-made niche

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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Aaron Kauffman

Work as witness

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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Peter Eberly

A shared heartbeat for mission

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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Skip Tobin

Local mission on the map

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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Aaron Kauffman

The best is yet to come

October 31, 2017

It’s easy to look at the present landscape of the church in North America and get discouraged. Nearly all denominations are in decline. Where are the streams that God is causing to spring up in what feels like a spiritual wasteland? I see at least three streams of renewal.

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Call to Prayer: Teaching children to pray

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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Seeking and finding

A knock on the door, seeking and finding

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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Don Clymer prepares for a seminar

Sharing the good news in Switzerland

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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Aaron Kauffman

Lifestyle evangelism

August 12, 2017

“People don’t go to church on Sundays to support their pastors in their ministry. The pastor goes to church on Sunday to support the people in their ministry. And their ministry, the ministry that really counts as mission, is outside the walls of the church, in the world, being salt and light in the marketplace.” […]

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A family outing in South Asia

Sowing seeds of good news

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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End of fiscal year campaign

Goal exceeded!

August 7, 2017

Thank you for helping us extend the great chain of disciples who make disciples who make disciples. We slightly exceeded our fiscal-year-end goal of $110,000!

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Grace reads a Bible story book

In Word and with Power

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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Loving our neighbors in jail

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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Sarah Showalter

Call to Prayer: Praying Together

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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Teachers at Buenos Aires International Christian Academy in Argentina.

Becoming one: God’s purpose for community

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 […]

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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

Better together

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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Aaron Kauffman

The wisdom of teams

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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Steve Campbell outside the church in Montenegro.

God’s worldwide team

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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Eve, Benjamin, and Natacha, teenaged refugees from DR Congo, helped the author distribute cookies to Sentara RMH employees working on Christmas Eve. Photo courtesy of Ben Emswiler

Loving our refugee neighbors

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 […]

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Aaron Kauffman

Coworkers for the kingdom

March 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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Elsa Miller with colleagues

Nazareth Village: a living witness to Christ made possible by partnership

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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Rafael and Solange Tartari

Local church, global body

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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Partners in planting

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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Vince Ramella and gym mates, Kosovo

What is church?

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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Aaron Kauffman

Setting sail with Jesus

December 1, 2016

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. Why make that claim? […]

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Stutzman family

Mission and the church in a post-Christian context

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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A tidal wave is coming!

A tidal wave is coming!

September 1, 2016

Story by Megan* James and Megan* live in a guesthouse for Muslim pilgrims, immediately adjacent to a shrine which is packed from morning until night with devotees and seekers from all over the region. They see a ‘tidal wave’ movement to faith in Jesus coming in their country and region, built upon God’s promises to […]

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Finding life inside

Finding life inside

August 19, 2016

Story by Opal*   In the North African context where Raleigh and Opal* and their two children serve among Muslims seeking to overcome their debt to God, they are finding open doors.   We live near a gated community, of sorts. The first time we walked past its medieval-type turrets, sun-baked stucco walls, and arched […]

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Long roads to leadership

May 6, 2016

By Nancy Marshall All photos courtesy of Nancy Marshall Nancy Marshall has discipled several potential leaders for pastoral ministry and church planting at Jesus’ Deaf Church in Belize, with major setbacks along the way.   The first verse I tacked on my wall here in my house in Belize is Ephesians 3:20 from The Message: […]

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Seeds of multiplication

May 4, 2016

By Carol Tobin All photos by Mark & Sarah Schoenhals Where the Mark and Sarah Schoenhals family serve in the Isaan region of Thailand, seeds of a multiplying church planted over 20 years ago are beginning to sprout.   Throughout the long, dry months when the only rain that can be expected in Northeast Thailand […]

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Kingdom multiplication

April 29, 2016

In the world of Christian mission, the term multiplication is often associated with the numerical growth of the church. The basics of biology teach us that healthy organisms multiply. If the church is healthy, we should see an increase both in the number of believers and the number of believing communities. That’s a constant refrain […]

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All of life under the reign of Christ

January 8, 2016

If you want to get a sense for how the gospel touches all areas of life in just over 100 verses, read the book of James. Most likely penned by the brother of Jesus himself, James gives practical advice on what it means to live out God’s kingdom before a watching world. Here’s a sampling […]

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Mission begins with God

October 3, 2015

I grew up in a church that had altar calls. Not all the time, and not in manipulative ways, but from time to time, the leaders at Mountville Mennonite Church would invite us to respond to God by coming to the front of the sanctuary. The invitation would vary. Sometimes it would be for prayer, […]

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A snapshot of Kids Club with Seth and Theresa Crissman

July 21, 2015

Katie waited on her porch, waiting to get picked up for Kids Club, like every Monday evening. Kids Club is her favorite part of the week. She was among the first to come when Kids Club started in May. Leaders from Early Church and Immanuel Mennonite Church met with Seth and Theresa Crissman to listen, […]

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New Creation opening shop to combat sex trafficking

July 20, 2015

The New Creation team at a “pop-up” shop selling items at the ONE Justice Conference in Richmond this past May. Courtesy photo I grew up with the idea that to be a missionary meant going overseas to a poverty-stricken land where no one had ever heard of Jesus. I watched missionaries leave my church to […]

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Living the incarnation

July 17, 2015

In the heart of the South Asian Muslim world, James and Ann (not their real names) work with a small business and with the local church in discipleship, neighborhood outreach, and developing leadership and resources. Girls from the South Asian country where James and Ann serve display traditional dress. Photo by authors Ann enjoys spending […]

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