Bold Humility: Mission in the Way of Jesus

February 27, 2020

Is mission a thing of the past? Contemporary attitudes toward mission are much different than the ones that gave rise to Virginia Mennonite Missions one hundred years ago. Today, the claim that Jesus is Lord offends our pluralistic sensibilities. But is sharing the gospel inherently oppressive? Not if we follow the example of our crucified Lord.

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Gratitude to God Funds Mission

February 21, 2020

The early model of centralized funding depended on donors entrusting their God-given resources to the mission agency to use in accordance with its priorities. But when giving rapidly declined in the 1990s, it became clear that donors wanted to give where they had involvement. A paradigm shift was needed.

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Getting On Board With Business

February 14, 2020

The call is going out for business, professional and trade men and women who love Jesus and believe that the marketplace is a place for the good news of the gospel. Who will get on board?

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USA Ministries: A Story of Missionaries and Migrants

February 7, 2020

God knows how to weave good stories, in which the puzzle pieces from one time and place come together to create something new and beautiful in another time and place. In this story, the puzzle pieces are missionaries and migrants, the places are Honduras and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the time will unfold in the telling.

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An Examen: God, Where Have You Been Present?

January 31, 2020

Now in our fourth decade of short-term missions, what have we learned at VMMissions? Are short-term mission experiences about rendering a service or surrendering to Christ? Martin Rhodes shares his own story of how a short-term assignment in Mexico shifted his focus from doing to being.

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A Dream, a Need, a Gift: the Launch of tranSend

January 15, 2020

Over 100 persons have explored their sense of call to mission through tranSend since the program began in 2005. What were the dreams and needs behind this one-year mission internship program, and how did it become a reality?

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Extending the Reach to Every Nation, Tribe and Tongue

January 10, 2020

In recent years, VMMissions has placed greater priority on sending workers to unreached people groups. Thanks to the Lord of the harvest, dedicated and creative VMMissions workers are living incarnationally among some of the fifty largest unreached people groups in the world.

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The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Our Entrance Into Albania

December 31, 2019

When the walls came down, “We were swept along, praising God for opportunities! We didn’t program it! We could hardly keep up with it,” Willard Eberly exclaimed. An isolated nation after a forty-five year communist regime, Albania opened in 1991 to the outside world and to the gospel of Jesus.

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Will You Go? Our Expansion into the Caribbean

December 26, 2019

Twila Y. Brunk’s book, Together in the Lord, is an engaging account of the first twenty-five years of the Jamaican Mennonite Church. The following recounts those beginnings, as well as the expansion of VMMissions’ work into Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

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From Virginia into the Heart of Christendom

December 20, 2019

“I do not believe that it is above what we could expect, if the Lord tarries, that we would have a native Mennonite Church in Sicily.” These were the words of Truman Brunk in his report to the executive committee of the mission board upon his return from a visit to Sicily in November 1950.

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Tidewater Virginia: Our Antioch

December 2, 2019

“We know that in the time of the early church, ministry began in Jerusalem. Later, Antioch became an important mission center. The Shenandoah Valley is the Jerusalem of Virginia Mennonite Conference. But, realize, Tidewater Virginia is our Antioch!” What made that particular context so special? How did VMMissions contribute to the picture, promoting greater faithfulness and fruitfulness?

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John-S-Coffman

Beginnings: Called to the Mountains

November 21, 2019

In the early days, mission vision emerged at the district level of Virginia Mennonite Conference. Middle District was exemplary in mobilizing witness over the mountains into West Virginia. Though many declined the invitation to serve, a steady stream of workers labored over the years, eventually giving birth to over a dozen churches.

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Catching the Wind of the Spirit: VMMissions Celebrates 100 Years

November 11, 2019

Hundreds gathered to celebrate the centennial year of Virginia Mennonite Missions. Leaders from partner church conferences in Italy, Jamaica, and Trinidad were featured guests at events that included a reunion brunch for present and former workers, staff, and board members, a banquet to honor financial and prayer partners, an evening worship service, and a Sunday afternoon a cappella concert.

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College students at a prayer and worship service of Eastside College, a discipleship ministry of worker Rachel Yoder. Photo: Rachel Yoder

One Hundred Years of Sharing Jesus with Neighbors Near and Far

November 5, 2019

This year marks 100 years of Virginia Mennonite Missions helping the church share Jesus with neighbors near and far. How did it all get started? What has God done through our work? Where might God be leading in the future?

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The River and the Sea: Making Sense of the Story

November 2, 2019

For one hundred years, VMMissions has existed to help the church know itself as sent. It is when we look back that we are best able to see an unfolding storyline that can then help us to orient toward our future. What do we see when we look back?

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Centennial Celebration

VMMissions Centennial Celebration Photos

July 20, 2019

VMMissions is celebrating one hundred years of equipping the church to share the good news with neighbors near and far. View images from the celebrations at Virginia Mennonite Conference Assembly on Thursday, July 18.

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