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Team players
Aaron and Laura Kauffman sat engrossed in the sermon at Zion Mennonite Churchin Broadway, Va., on a Sunday morning in 2004 just as they did any other Sunday. They listened as Clyde Kratz spoke eloquently of the importance of taking risks for God’s kingdom. In the pew, the Kauffmans found each other’s eyes. The glance confirmed what they both knew. They were going to Colombia. The difficult decision had not been whether to serve but where and how. Choosing the Mennonite Mission Network opportunity in La Mesa, Colombia, meant entrusting themselves to God in a country with a violent reputation. (They say North American news headlines overemphasize the negatives.) The community offered teaching possibilities for Aaron at the local Mennonite school, Colegio Americano Menno. It also had a public-health component that complemented Laura’s strengths as a nurse. The Kauffmans would be participating in a relatively new way to support international mission workers—a ministry support team. Forming a team was something of a risk. The Kauffmans, working with Mission Network staff, asked friends and fellow church members—many of whom had played important roles in discerning how and where they should serve—to join their team, which would ensure that the work in Colombia was backed through prayer, personal contact and financial support. In essence, the Kauffmans entrusted their ministry to this team. “We’re looking for people with a vested interest in that particular worker,” said Sandy Miller, Mennonite Mission Network’s director of Church Relations. “The MST role is to reach out to individuals to ask for support.” “People are more aware, not just in our support team but in our congregation, of what we’re doing. They are keeping in better touch because we have a team and because there’s a financial commitment,” Aaron Kauffman said. “I feel that there’s a difference in the way Zion is aware and keeps in touch with us. Other friends of ours don’t feel they have the same level of thought in their [support].” Sharon Showalter coordinates MST communication, making sure the Kauffmans’ regular newsletter is e-mailed to their supporters, as well as hand-delivered to each Zion church mailbox. Although Zion has sent other mission workers, Showalter has not felt as connected to them as she does to the Kauffmans. The team, she said, creates investment. MST shows the Kauffmans the investment of the church in their work The Kauffman team is not solely for the Kauffmans’ benefit. Kratz said Zion, through the MST, is connected with its members ministering on their behalf in other places. And church members see God working—both in blessings and challenges—in ways not evident without a first-person perspective of life in a mission field. “This becomes another way of saying, ‘Yes, we’re deeply invested in this work,’” Kratz said. As one of the early MSTs, the Kauffman team and the Mission Network support staff worked through some miscommunication and cloudy expectations. Todd Stoltzfus, who coordinates the team’s finances, said team members struggled at first to figure out what their roles were, then to clarify how the money would be funneled to Aaron’s and Laura’s work. Early on, the MST took the lead in asking for financial investment from friends, family and church members. They organized a dinner that included meals and music. And the money came in. Before the Kauffmans left for Colombia, the team had raised enough money for their three-year term. An MST is about relationships, not just money Kratz said money is an important part of any support system for mission workers, but the MST is about more than money. The e-mail newsletter, plus video stories and messages from Colombia that the Kauffmans put together on DVDs, help the MST to allow others to feel part of all aspects of the Kauffmans’ work with the Colombia Mennonite Church. “We are part of this, but we’re not being hit up every time we turn around,” Kratz said. “There’s a sense of personal connection, a sense of hearing the stories. There’s a sense of joy and goodwill rather than the sense of burden. “Perhaps one of the shifts [to MSTs] is the awareness that a church can be actively involved in the mission of its members overseas and feel connected in more than just the fund raising,” Kratz continued. “There’s some exciting ownership in this model.” Matthew Hunsberger, who chairs the Zion MST, is in frequent contact with the Kauffmans and visited La Mesa during holy week in 2007. Part of his role, he said, includes bringing any special needs before the congregation. Hunsberger said the team has created an ongoing sense of intimacy, even though their friendship was tight before they left. “I’ve known other people who’ve gone into mission, but I’ve never stayed this closely connected, following their day-to-day struggles and joys,” he said. That sense of ownership extends to prayer and emotional support when life is difficult. When the Kauffmans went through a personal crisis in 2006, the church reached out with more prayer and contacts. Laura Kauffman believes that the team’s role in keeping their work before the Virginia congregation prompted members to connect more personally with phone calls and letters when they needed support. The contact from the community they left behind augmented the love the Kauffmans felt from their friends and church family in La Mesa, extending their network of support across the globe. Virginia Mennonite Missions also supports Aaron and Laura Kauffman. Other members of their ministry support team include Mandi Stoltzfus and Mark Mast. The Kauffmans also relate to Blooming Glen (Pa.) Mennonite Church, Manhattan (Kan.) Mennonite Church and Peace Mennonite Community Church in Aurora, Colo. In this issue: Features Additional Articles Viewpoints |
