Spring break helps family pass baton of faith values
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — Rather than spending time over spring break visiting family or hanging out at home, 14-year-old Alina Bergstresser and her 11-year-old sister, Marta, of Goshen, Indiana, became makers of date-nut bread and students of racial justice at Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia. The sisters, with their parents, Annette and Deron, […]
Toba Qom hear hope in their language
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Even cold, rainy days cannot stop 73-year-old Vicente Pérez from putting on his boots and tromping to the radio station/recording studio at Centro Educativo Saỹaten (Qom Knowledge Educational Center) in Castelli, Argentina. It’s where the indigenous Toba Qom man brings the warmth of Scripture to listeners in the Chaco […]
Celebrating 100 years of being the church together in Argentina
A celebration of mission and discipleship occurred Sept. 27-29 in Argentina as the Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Argentina (IEMA) celebrated its centennial anniversary of the first baptisms of the church. Mennonite Board of Missions (MBM), a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network, sent two families to Argentina in 1917: Mae and Tobias (T. K.) Hershey and […]
Praying with brothers and sisters in Latin America
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) - The news from Latin America these past weeks has been very difficult. Ecuador is relatively calm again as the government is in a slow process of dialogue with indigenous and other groups. In Chile, protests and violent repression followed news of an increase in bus fares. Churches canceled services due […]
Mennonite Mission Network seeking executive director
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Upon the recent retirement announcement of Stanley W. Green as longtime leader of Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA is currently seeking applicants for its executive director position. To continue Mission Network’s long legacy of fostering organizational faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, […]
Youth Venture trip to Peru stretches teenagers’ trust
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Each time the luggage belt circled, 16-year-old Kate Krabill felt further from her home in Elkhart, Indiana. She had just landed at the airport in Lima, Peru, as a participant in Mennonite Mission Network’s Youth Venture program. As the belt circled again and again, the other participants plucked up […]
Former medical mission worker helped start a nursing school in Nazareth, Israel
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Nancy L. Martin, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, spent most of her career as a medical missionary in Nazareth, Israel, serving through Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network. She died Sept. 16 at her home. She was 78. Nancy and Robert, her husband of 56 years, […]
Missionary Myth #3
This is the third post in a three-part series addressing some of the common myths and misconceptions we experience most regularly while serving with Mennonite Mission Network in Barcelona. Read Part 1 and Part 2. Missionary Myth #3: We work for you We believe spiritual poverty is real and spreading, and the church is entering […]
Mission worker leaves healthcare legacy in Taiwan
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Roland P. Brown, longtime medical mission worker in Taiwan, birthed a 35-bed hospital in Hualien that has grown into a 500-bed regional hospital with 900 employees. After serving in Taiwan for more than 40 years with the Commission on Overseas Mission (COM), a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network, […]
Spiritual direction in Kekchi context brings mutual growth
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – When Deb Byler sensed a call to offer spiritual direction to Kekchi women in Guatemala, she was uncertain how it would unfold. Byler, who serves with Mennonite Mission Network, wasn’t sure North American training in spiritual direction would translate in ways that aid the faith journeys of indigenous Mennonite […]
Missionary Myth #2
This is the second post in a three-part series addressing some of the common myths and misconceptions we experience most regularly serving with Mennonite Mission Network in Barcelona. Read part 1. Missionary Myth #2: Having fun "Wow, it sure looks like the Garbers are having fun!" This is the less-extreme incarnation of the previous myth that […]
Three missionary myths
Three missionary myths Note: This is the introduction and the first of a three-part series that addresses some of the common myths and misconceptions we experience most regularly as international service workers for Mennonite Mission Network in Barcelona. Some time ago, I talked to my friend Daniel, a monthly donor to our ministry, about challenges […]