Celebrating 30 years of Service Adventure
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) –In the last few days of August, Service Adventure units once again welcomed young adults into communities across the United States. Unit houses rang with the bustle and nervous excitement of young adults unpacking bags and suitcases. Unit leaders introduced the shared responsibilities, cooking duties, and living spaces in an […]
Revisiting risks in Service Adventure
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – When Eric and Julie Yoder were in their late teens, participating in Service Adventure in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, stretched them beyond the safe cocoons of their childhoods. Two decades later, as a married couple with three children, they hoped that by becoming leaders of that same unit, they would once […]
Burkholder family acts as global mission ambassadors for sabbatical year
GOSHEN, Indiana (Goshen College) – As a board member of Mennonite Mission Network, Susan Burkholder and her family decided to learn more about the world in which they live. They have just completed a year-long, ’round-the-world sabbatical, often acting as Mission Network ambassadors on "special assignment." "We love travel," Susan Burkholder wrote in their blog. "We were […]
Church planters stoke gospel passions
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Gisselle Guity believed that while compassion and a sense of call led her into church planting, it is coaching and resourcing that would have kept her there. She and several other women discovered this the hard way. After two years of serving marginalized women in West Palm Beach, Florida, […]
Mission worker in India remembered for vulnerability and passion for learning
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Paul I. Dyck, who served as a mission worker in India, died on Apr. 13, 2019. He was 93. Dyck was born in Olds, Alberta, Canada, on Jan. 14, 1926. In 1952, he married Lois Bartel. After graduating with his undergraduate degree from Bethel College (Kansas), and seminary training […]
Women leaders spark a growing blaze of Sister Care ministries throughout Brazil
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – In January 2015, Mennonite Women USA’s Sister Care training sparked a fire that created an explosion of interest among women in Brazil. A few women from northeastern Brazil traveled several long days by bus to reach the training held in Curitiba in the south. Yet no distance was too […]
Wind of the Spirit inspires coordinators of mission partnership in Ecuador
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) – Mennonite Mission Network workers Delicia Bravo and Peter Wigginton say they have discovered many surprises as partnership coordinators in Ecuador. These surprises have forged new connections in a three-way partnership that includes Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Colombia (IMCOL), Central Plains Mennonite Conference and Mennonite Mission Network, in relationship with […]
Leaving convention halls for city neighborhoods
As they cleaned and priced shoes at Adelante Thrift, participants from three youth groups during a Servant Project on July 5 chatted as if they had known each other all their lives. It was befriending strangers that made the afternoon memorable, a couple of teenagers said. At MennoCon19, the norm is to stream down giant […]
Tracing 75-year MVS timeline at MennoCon19 celebration
KANSAS CITY (Mennonite Mission Network) – Judging by stories shared at Mennonite Voluntary Service’s (MVS) 75th anniversary celebration July 4 at MennoCon19, serving others in Christ’s peace amidst a perplexing world never goes out of style, no matter what the era. During the celebration hosted by Mennonite Mission Network, storytellers reminded about 100 attendees that […]
Six MennoCon seminars you may not have attended (but you should have): 2019 Mennonite Church USA convention seminars call for hope, dialogue and reexamination
KANSAS CITY (Mennonite Mission Network) – The wealth of knowledge and experience on display at the dozens of seminars at the 2019 Mennonite Church USA convention could only be described as an embarrassment of theological riches. The toughest choices throughout the week no doubt stemming from only being able to attend one seminar at a given time. Though topics ranged from guns to prayer practices to fostering relationships that empower (clarified as “the one about […]
Launching the Sent Network to equip church planters
ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) – The Sent Network is a new resource from Mennonite Mission Network to explore, equip and send church-planting leaders where the Spirit leads. The resource’s goal is to assess and educate aspiring church planters and give them information and tools to create new communities of faith in the United States. This […]
Fostering respectful relationships with indigenous people
KANSAS CITY (Mennonite Mission Network) – Before she became friends with Cofán people in their Ecuadorian rain forest village of Zábalo, Jane Ross Richer had not thought that dreams people had while sleeping were important, she said. Until a year ago. That’s when she and her husband, Jerrell, who serve with Mennonite Mission Network in Ecuador for six months […]