Navigating grief in our bodies: Dealing with ‘an unspeakable loss’
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the February issue of The Mennonite, and is republished here with permission. The late Chloe Weaver, daughter of Cindy and Herm Weaver, was a participant in Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS), a program of Mennonite Mission Network, in Alamosa, Colorado. It was early afternoon on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010, when the […]
Wheat harvests, home repairs, and honoring immigrants
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — Growing up on a farm outside Moundridge, Kansas, Michelle Schrag drove the tractor and grain cart to catch harvested wheat pouring from the combine. If the truck or cart broke down, Dad Kyle Schrag and Grandpa Lee Flickinger fixed them, or took them to the shop. Last August, that […]
Indigenous believers in Ecuadorian Amazon seek Anabaptist connections
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — Clever Mashiant and Sofia Gualinga, Shuar indigenous leaders in the Amazon region, asked mission workers Jane and Jerrell Ross Richer, "How can we become Mennonites?" This question arose after they read Mennonite Mission Network’s Missio Dei booklet, What is an Anabaptist Christian? The material helped to clarify for them […]
Mennonite Church USA ‘Hope’ gathering stresses peace with justice
DALLAS (Mennonite Mission Network/Mennonite Church USA) — At this year’s Hope for the Future (HFF) gathering, attendees celebrated the legacy of Stanley W. Green, one of the event’s original organizers, and discussed ways to press forward for peace and justice throughout the church. The Jan. 23-26 gathering in Dallas honored Green, executive director of Mennonite […]
Mennonite Mission Network exceeds fundraising goal
Mennonite Mission Network closed out 2019 with one of its highest fundraising months ever in December, demonstrating how Mennonites continue to practice what they pray – "on earth as in heaven." By giving $1.2 million last month, donors are continuing to support the ability of the agency to join God’s work in the world through voluntary service, […]
Returning volunteers celebrate repurposing of former Hopi school
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — It had been 40 years since Cheryl Lehmann sat at a teacher’s desk in the former Hopi Mission School in Kykotsmovi, Arizona. During her November visit to the Hopi Reservation with a Mennonite Mission Network-sponsored alumni service-learning tour, Lehmann returned to the room where she had taught kindergarten from […]
A missed opportunity
Why are the overwhelming majority of Black and Brown students on campus, athletes? That’s a thought I had as a freshman in college in the mid-1980s. I was one of the athletes at that predominantly White, small, religious college I attended in the northeast. I was recruited from Brooklyn, N.Y., to play basketball. Out of […]
Journeys through the unfamiliar: reflections on life in Service Adventure
I’m three months into my Service Adventure year, and I believe it’s an incredible program. Taking young, ambitious teenagers with the will to serve others, sending them to a new home with new people, and making them figure out how to do life together. For me, this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever […]
A tale of two cities
On the day the G7 Summit began in Biarritz, France, another international gathering, a few hundred miles to the north, proclaimed the powerful message of reconciliation and healing of the nations. PARIS, France (Mennonite Mission Network) – A tale of two cities runs throughout human history: the city of Babel, resulting in the scattering of […]
The Christmas story, our story
"So, I am like Jesus?" Jesse, our 10-year-old son, was seeking to understand our recent recounting of the events leading up to his birth. Eleven years ago, during Advent, we received a notice of eviction from our first South African home even as we learned that we were pregnant with our fourth child. Like Mary, […]
Streams of formation create a river of ministry in global mission
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — As he prepares for retirement in July 2020, Stanley W. Green, longtime executive director of Mennonite Mission Network, faces a transition that evokes memories of how his boyhood shaped a half-century of adult ministry. Reflecting on the evolution of his faith journey, from being born in apartheid South Africa […]
The Mennonite, Mennonite Mission Network launch Spanish-language podcast
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — For those who want to nibble sound bites for the soul while sipping evening tea with friends, listening to a new Spanish-language podcast, Merienda Menonita, may be the perfect match. The new podcast, named after the Spanish term for a light dinner or tea in the evening, is being co-hosted […]