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.
Alfonso Alvarado
Alfonso serves as a pastor and church planter of Iglesia Menonita Monte Moriah in Lacey Spring, Va., in partnership with Grace Mennonite Fellowship, Lacey Spring, Va.
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.
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 and Theresa Crissman
Building on their work with the Kids Clubs in local congregations, Seth and Theresa create resources for families and households to become stronger Christ-forming centers through memorization and reflection on scripture through music.
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.
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.
Dan and Mary Hess
Dan and Mary serve in Milot, where they are building relationships, engaging in evangelism and discipleship, and expanding the work through kids clubs, youth work, teaching English, and Bible studies.
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.
Olivia Kasidiaris
Olivia serves in college ministry in partnership with Every Nation Campus. Olivia leads Bible studies and small groups at James Madison University and focuses on identifying and mentoring leaders for campus ministry.
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 Tennessee/Carolina/Kentucky 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.
Lee and Peg Martin
Lee and Peg Martin are serving as MCC Appalachia Build location coordinators with Mennonite Central Committee in Kimball, West Virginia, as Associated Workers with VMMissions.
Rissa Martin
Rissa has been appointed to serve as the Volunteer Coordinator at Agape Home, an orphanage in Chiang Mai, Thailand, helping volunteers and teams from all over the world who come to join the Thai staff in serving the children of the surrounding communities.
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 and transformed into a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, together pursuing the glory of God for the good of the world. Mosaic’s mission is to share the joy of knowing and…
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 employed half-time as a software developer in the local business owned by VMMissions worker Jay*, who recruited them for a computer programming internship with the team and business in Central Asia.
Yosiah and Anita Rahma
Yosiah and Anita Rahma (names changed) live and serve in a slum community, running a preschool and after school program for neighborhood kids called House of Hope in a large Southeast Asia city, serving with Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor, in partnership with VMMissions as Associated Workers.
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. They have already been living into Jesus’ new life and learning what it is to be a family on mission, and they have many powerful stories to share about how God has met them, changed them and through them is changing other men and women too!
Armando and Veronica Sanchez
Armando and Veronica are church planters of Iglesia Shalom-Nuevo Comienzo in the city of Waynesboro, Va. Armando and Veronica also pastor Iglesia Cristiana Enciende una Luz in Harrisonburg, Va.
Michael Santana
Michael (name changed) serves in a tranSend internship for a ministry apprentice at Mosaic of Grace Church, Harrisonburg, Va. As part of his internship, he served for several months alongside long-term workers in a slum in Southeast Asia and is currently exploring a possible return to that largely Muslim context.
Adam and Elise Sauder
Adam and Elise (names changed) have been appointed by VMMissions as Associated Workers serving with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) at the YWAM Myrtle Beach base and will lead teams in global mission experiences in Asia and Europe.
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, a well-known 10-week study called The Conquer Series, and also an eight-month program called Seven Pillars of Freedom.
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.
Dini and Klementina Shahini
Klementina is executive director of the Lezha Academic Center, a K-12 Christian school. Dini is executive director of the Albanian Mennonite Mission Foundation, serves with VUSH (Albanian Evangelical Alliance), and is lead elder at Guri I Themelit, the local church.
Hannah Shultz
In partnership with Iglesia Esperanza de Vida and Iglesia Menonita Monte Moriah in Harrisonburg, Va., Hannah is using her fluency in music education and Spanish to share Jesus and practical disciple-making strategies with children and their families.
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. They have extensive experience and expertise in organizational management and speak four languages.
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. They are spending their first year in language learning and relationship building, followed by working part-time as they serve in mission.
Devin Stipe
Devin has been appointed to a tranSend assignment in partnership with Coracle and Early Church. Devin will serve as a SLAQ servant leader helping Ken Wettig to further develop and run the SLAQ program. He will also serve at Early Church, being mentored and discipled by Early Church pastors, working with the youth and leading worship services and preaching.
David and Rebekka Stutzman
David and Rebekka are church planters in the multicultural urban center of Mannheim and network with young adults throughout Germany who are seeking to live and serve in missional communities. They serve in partnership with the South German Mennonite Conference and Mennonite Mission Network.
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 in Lezhë. She also leads after-school programs, a women’s group, and a girls club, and is a worship leader in the Lezhë congregation. She serves in partnership with the Evangelical Mennonite Alliance of Brazil.
Elaine U.
Elaine U. (name changed) has been appointed to a tranSend assignment, serving on the Central Asia launch team and teaching Elementary English and Government/Social Studies at upper levels. She will spend half-time in language learning and connecting with the launch 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.
Jason and Jenny Wagner
Jason serves in a full-time position as chaplain at the Augusta Correctional Center, a medium security prison in Craigsville, Va. He and his wife Jenny serve with VMMissions as Associated Workers, enabling them to partner with others who are passionate about God’s life transformation.
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.
Brynn Yoder
Brynn 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.
Ben and Risa Yutzy
Ben and Risa join VMMissions as the first workers in a new mission worker category: “Marketplace Workers.” They 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. Melissa (name changed) will teach in an international school in their city.