Mission workers
Joyel Allen
Joyel serves in college ministry, in partnership with Every Nation Campus. She is leading Bible studies and small groups at Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, Va., and focuses on identifying and mentoring leaders for campus ministry.
Destiny Alston
Destiny will serve in college ministry at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, in partnership with Every Nation Campus. She leads Bible studies and small groups, and mentors leaders for campus ministry.
Alfonso Alvarado
Alfonso serves as a pastor and church planter of Iglesia Menonita Monte Moriah, Timberville, Virginia, serving in partnership with Grace Mennonite Fellowship and the Northern District of Virginia Mennonite Conference.
Marcello Arrostuto and Marianna Vaglica
Marcello and Marianna serve in an internship with the Shalom Church in Palermo, and are mentored and discipled by pastoral leaders. Marcello is working toward long-term bi-vocational work in pastoral ministry.
Victoria (Vicki) Barnes
Vicki is serving in college ministry in partnership with Every Nation Campus, leading Bible studies and small groups at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., and identifying and mentoring leaders for campus ministry.
Peter Brown
Peter (name changed) is joining the Central Asia Launch Team. His primary focus for the first year will be language and cultural learning, and he is exploring long-term work. He plans to move to the eastern part of the country in the fall of 2025 to fill a long-term role.
Nathan Carr
Based in Harrisonburg, Va., Nathan is working to build networks of faith-based support for people who have struggled with addiction and substance abuse issues, and for those who have been released from jail.
Seth Crissman
Seth works alongside a creative team to create resources for families and households to become stronger Christ-forming centers through memorization and reflection on scripture through music.
Priska DiGennaro
Priska will serve as an intern with Viva Youth in Bogotá, Colombia, a ministry that partners with local churches in children’s ministry and builds faith community for young adults exiting the foster care system.
Jorge and Ginny Enciso
Jorge and Ginny serve in Bogotá, Colombia, with South American Mission. The organization they founded and lead, Viva Youth, partners with congregations in children’s ministry and the creating community for young adults exiting the Colombian foster care system.
Diomedes Franco
Diomedes is in initial phases to plant a church equipped to reach out to marginalized youth. His dream is that this church will be a greenhouse for young leaders who can be trained and launched into reaching more youth for Christ.
Shawn and Laura Green
Shawn and Laura and family serve with a church-planting team in Termoli, assisting with worship and discipleship, reaching out through home Bible studies, and developing relationships to expand the work into new areas.
Andrea Hamsher
Andrea will work alongside volunteers and participants at Die Villa, participate in the life of the Emmaus community under the leadership of Dave and Rebekka Stutzman, and provide occasional child care for the Stutzman family.
Michael and Ruth Hershey
Michael serves with Immerse International, an Intensive English program focused on business and community partnerships, spiritual formation for staff and students, and missional training. Ruth leads regular in-person and virtual prayer gatherings.
Steve Horst and Bethany Tobin
Steve and Bethany are working at evangelism and discipleship among Isaan believers in Nam Yuen, in partnership with the Life Enrichment Church. They serve in partnership with Eastern Mennonite Missions.
Clay Kauffman
Clay serves as an intern with Highland Retreat. His internship is half-time with Highland Retreat, exploring various jobs and responsibilities that advance the mission of the camp, and half-time serving with a local congregation and in community service.
Juan José Lagos
Juan José and his wife Cecilia are planting Iglesia Cristiana Renuevo, a Spanish-speaking congregation in Winston-Salem, N.C., that partners with the TCK District of Virginia Mennonite Conference.
Joy M.
Joy M. (name changed) has been appointed to a tranSend assignment, serving on the Central Asia launch team and teaching at an international school. She will spend half-time in language learning and connecting with the launch team, and half-time teaching.
Mike and Risha Metzler
Mike and Risha are co-pastors and church planters of Mosaic of Grace Church, Harrisonburg, Va., which envisions a community redeemed by Jesus Christ, together pursuing the glory of God for the good of the world.
Alia Muhammad
Alia serves with Every Nation Campus as a campus minister at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va., inviting others into Christian community and walking with them as they grow as disciples of Jesus.
Raleigh and Opal
Raleigh and Opal (names changed) serve with their four children among an indigenous people group and are making connections for future ministry through business for transformation. They serve in partnership with Rosedale International.
David and Marta
David and Marta (names changed) serve as interns on a multicultural business for transformation team and are in language and culture study. David is also employed half-time as a software developer at a local company.
Yosiah and Anita Rahma
Yosiah and Anita (names changed) run a preschool and after school program for neighborhood kids called House of Hope in a slum community in a large Southeast Asia city.
Rebeca Ramírez
Rebeca (name changed ) is exploring possible assignments. A dentist by trade, she will initially invest most of her time in language learning. She serves with United Brethren Global, in partnership with VMMissions.
Yacoub Rasul
Yacoub (name changed) is an Egyptian church planter serving among Harrisonburg’s Arabic-speaking community. He is serving in a partnership ministry between VMMissions and Faith Community Church called Love 4 All Nations.
Baker Rigg
Baker serves as the part-time chaplain of the Rockingham Harrisonburg Regional Jail, where he nurtures inmates in Christian faith, resources and develops ministries within the jail and cultivates church and community support partners in the ministry.
Lewis and Ashley Roberts
Lewis and Ashley’s tranSend internship gives them an opportunity to grow in leadership as local recovery mission workers. God has met them, changed them and through them is changing other men and women.
Armando and Veronica Sanchez
Armando and Veronica are church planters and pastors of Iglesia Shalom-Nuevo Comienzo, Waynesboro, Va., partnering with the Southern District of Virginia Mennonite Conference.
Adam and Elise Sauder
Adam and Elise (names changed) serve with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) at the YWAM Myrtle Beach base at the Discipleship Training School and lead teams in global mission experiences in South Asia.
Randall Schlabach
Randall is a pastor who is launching a recovery ministry from pornography addiction for men in Wayne and Holmes counties in Ohio. His plan is to offer men’s groups that revolve around two Christian recovery programs.
Mark and Sarah Schoenhals
Mark and Sarah serve in the rural northeastern Thailand among the Isaan people, where they support the Life Enrichment Church and engage in Bible teaching and leadership development. They serve in partnership with Eastern Mennonite Missions.
Caleb and Stephanie Schrock-Hurst
Caleb and Stephanie will serve in ministry roles in a local congregation. Stephanie will work at a large Mennonite hospital to reintroduce spiritual practices and work toward the establishment of a nursing exchange program.
Lydia Showalter
Lydia will participate in Vida220’s three-month discipleship training school in Central America followed by five months of ministry outreach as an intern with Viva Youth in Bogotá, Colombia.
Hannah Shultz
Hannah teaches English as a second language with Eastern Mennonite University’s Intensive English Program. Hannah reflects the love of Jesus as she teaches and builds relationships with folks from around the world.
Paulo and Ana Silva
Paulo and Ana (names changed) serve in a Central Asian country and focus on mentoring new workers. They spent 17 years in the region prior to this assignment, serving as team leaders of multinational teams.
Nathan and Anya Stan
Nathan and Anya (names changed) are sent by their home congregations in Eastern Europe to the Launch Team in Central Asia as business for transformation (B4T) workers, spending their first year in language learning and relationship building.
David and Rebekka Stutzman
David and Rebekka are church planters in Mannheim who partner with the South German Mennonite Conference to create missional communities and reach spiritual seekers through networking events and spaces.
James and Anne T.
James and Anne (names changed) T. serve with Pioneers in a dense South Asian city, where James works as a graphic designer. Together they are discipling youth, developing leaders, and working for church multiplication in the Muslim-background believer church.
Rafael and Solange Tartari
Rafael and Solange work in partnership with Albanian leaders in the city of Shkodër to model family life in Christ and to multiply disciples, leaders, and faith communities. They serve in partnership with the Evangelical Mennonite Alliance of Brazil.
Norma Teles and the Joshua Center ministry
Norma is director of the Joshua Center, an early childhood learning center for Roma children. She also leads after-school programs, a women’s group, and a girls club, and is a worship leader in the local congregation.
Elaine U.
Elaine U. (name changed) serves on the Central Asia Launch Team and teaches at an international school. She spends half-time in language learning and connecting with the team, and half-time teaching.
Jay and Em
Jay and Em (names changed) serve in locations in Central and Western Asia in business for transformation, engaging with a ministry team and bringing expertise and experience to current and future transformational businesses.
Ken Wettig
Ken serves as the founding director of SLAQ (Servant Leader Quest). SLAQ combines real life outdoor adventure with faith formation to raise up servant leaders for the next generation church from diverse backgrounds.
Malakai Wettig
Malakai serves as an intern with Viva Youth in Bogotá, Colombia, a ministry that partners with local churches in children’s ministry and builds faith community for young adults exiting the foster care system.
Ben and Risa Yutzy
Ben and Risa are ‘making disciples who make disciples’ among the Spanish-speaking farm workers with whom they work as they bear witness to Christ and nurture expressions of simple church.
Max and Melissa Z.
Max (name changed) will work in a management role with an agricultural business for transformation (B4T) in Central Asia. Arriving in late summer 2024, the couple will initially engage in language learning as they transition to professional roles.