Reflecting on the hospitality of Jesus
For Mission Month 2021, Alisha and Joshua Garber reflect on how Jesus’ hospitality inspires them in their ministry in Barcelona, Catalonia (a region where allegiance to Spain vies with voices calling for independence). For more information on the Garbers and their ministry, click here.
Trailblazing and contemporary initiatives pave way for antiracist future
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — As Mennonite Mission Network takes new steps towards becoming a more antiracist organization, a pathway paved by the agency’s forebears and contemporary initiatives is pointing the way. From the late 1800s until today, people of color have helped shape a more multicultural Mennonite church. Mission Network’s leaders say that […]
Armed conflict threatens environment
Editor’s Note: Mennonite Mission Network invited Ben Tapper, a freelancer from Indianapolis, Indiana, to write a reflection on the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, observed Nov. 6. The 21st International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict was marked around the […]
“You Had Us On Our Toes!” Highlights of the Youth Venture Civil Rights Learning Tour
Join Isaac Ramirez, Michelle Ramirez, Jose De La Rosa, and Joshua De La Rosa as they recap some of their highlights from the 2021 Youth Venture Civil Rights Learning Tour! From July 16-24, the Youth Venture Civil Rights learning tour group visited service and learning locations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. The group participated in […]
Story 1: Broadening horizons at 71
Mission work in a post-modern, post-Christendom setting like Barcelona takes on many forms. Several hours each week I find myself across a table from a local person or neighbor desiring to learn English. As I’m not a formal teacher, we focus on "street English," incorporating idioms, slang, phrasal verbs and conversation practice. One of my […]
Story 3: Transforming Down Under
Mary, my spouse, and I were asked to lead a two-day online retreat for pastors in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the theme, "Pastoring In A Pandemic." Churches were experiencing lockdown conditions, and pastors were finding their way as leaders of congregations that were struggling with the changes. We began the retreat […]
Story 4: Missiology shaped by servanthood
In one of the most important collection of essays on mission and Anabaptism, the late Wilbert Shenk noted: "Amid the extremisms of the day and the erosions of the past, and the uncertainties of the future, the messianic community is privileged to bear witness … The fundamental missionary stance is that of the servant. […]
Embodying oneness through the enfleshment of the Eucharist
Editor’s Note: Mennonite Mission Network invited Melody Pannell to share a reflection on World Communion Sunday, Oct. 3. She dovetails her thoughts with 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 (NRSV): 17 Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, to begin with, […]
Family to help sustain a home for people living in exile
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — When Joseph and Rachel Givens contacted Mennonite Mission Network about the possibility of becoming mission workers, they came with a keen understanding of what they were not. They were not church planters. They were not pastors. They both, however, knew that they shared a strong calling to reach out […]
Christ leads mission agency to sail for new seas
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — The wind of the Holy Spirit is carrying Mennonite Mission Network into uncharted waters and forging more nimble, integrative and mutual mission partnerships in a changing church and culture, agency leaders said in recent interviews. The most urgent challenge in the realignment is to keep Christ at the center […]
Serving Jesus as Mary and Martha
Note: Below is a devotional written by Deb Byler, who serves with Mennonite Mission Network in Carchá, Guatemala, among the Kekchi women. Mission Network is posting her piece to reflect on the International Day of Rural Women, celebrated Oct. 15. Her devotional comes from Devocionales 2021, a book of devotionals produced by the Movimiento de Mujeres Anabautistas […]
Generosity helps fire-ravaged Peru community rebuild
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — A generous outpouring of $13,000 USD in donations and grants is helping Iglesia Cristiana Menonita Iquitos Perú (Iquitos Mennonite Church) rebuild five houses that were ravaged by a fire on Aug. 29. Local and global communities quickly offered help after the fire on Isla Iquitos, a small island near […]