Seeds are Bursting Forth with New Life

By Aaron Kauffman

Patience is hard. We see a broken world in need of Christ and want change to happen right now. But seeds lie dormant for a long time before springing to life. These past few years, faithful partners like you have helped us plant ministry seeds around the world. As we emerge from the pandemic, I see these seeds bursting forth with new life. Just like a vine on a trellis, that new life thrives when it has adequate support. I’d like to share four specific ways I see ministry growing on the trellis of our new strategic SEND Plan.

S – Seek Spirit-led renewal. Prayer is the foundation of all we do. After a 12-week prayer seminar we hosted last fall, one participant said, “I’d like VMMissions to consider hosting prayer field trips to missionaries and pastors so that we can continue to practice and encourage the church with these practices.” In response, we are now planning prayer teams to local ministries this summer and to Albania and Thailand in the fall.

E – Empower missional disciples. Research has shown that two-thirds of American teens who grow up in the church drop out when they become young adults. We recently appointed Ken Wettig to lead a youth and family ministry called Serving Leadership Adventure Quest (SLAQ). SLAQ combines outdoor adventure with faith formation to raise up diverse servant leaders for the next generation church.

Ken Wettig (left) leads a weeklong SLAQ Summer Faith Adventure group. Courtesy photo

N – Nurture diverse partnerships. Our Business for Transformation board recently invested in a Christian-led microcredit company in an impoverished Central Asian country. In two decades, this company has helped create 16,000 jobs, while also sharing faith in the workplace. In the owners’ words, “We profess to be followers of Jesus and often pray for the sick. We lead different people in discipleship, some with good leadership potential.”

D – Design sustainable systems. The church planting ministry of Juan José Lagos is starting to bear the fruit of multiplication. Some members of this new community are discipling new believers themselves, teaching them to obey the basic commands of Jesus. Meanwhile, the local district of Mennonite churches plans to make the building of a former congregation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, available for the church plant’s Saturday gatherings.

Thank you for providing the support that will allow these ministries to bear lasting fruit for God’s kingdom.