Stories of Mission

When it became apparent that Rosa’s house needed a new roof, church planter and pastor Armando Sanchez was ready to add his roofing skills to the energy already present in the Springdale and Waynesboro Mennonite churches. This led to a productive work day in which these congregations came together to give the house a new roof.

In the desperate tedium of a large refugee camp, we were entering a world where we would feel sorrow, joy, rage, exhaustion, frustration and happiness, all in a matter of a few hours. Every day. I have never felt more strongly that every minute we were trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

On November 26 at 3:51 a.m., we experienced a 6.4 magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks here in Albania. The church has mobilized to provide help, and I see that the Lord is revealing himself to the lost. We pray that God will be glorified in the relationships built and that there will be lasting fruit for God’s kingdom in Albania.

We were ostensibly doing good work in the community, but the lack of transformative spiritual engagement left us feeling empty, dissatisfied, and questioning. This desire to see gospel transformation take root began, however, in a startling and unforeseen way: right in the midst of, and in fact, through, my brokenness.