A letter to my mom
Dear Mom, I’ve been looking for ways to share with you the love in my heart and the gratefulness I feel for all that you and Dad have given us, taught us, and been to us. “Mom” is a very small word on the Scrabble board, but it fills my heart with so much love […]
Left behind- Church reaches out to those who cannot flee
War between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in two self-declared autonomous people’s republics, Donetsk and Luhansk, has ravaged the region for two years. While the situation isn’t as dramatic as it was a year ago, it seems to have stalled in a permanent state of conflict. One of my friends is a pastor who represents […]
MVSer featured in article about San Antonio Mennonites’ role in immigrant hospitality networks
From TheMennonite.org (2-14-16): Luz Varela, a participant with Mennonite Mission Network’s Mennonite Voluntary Service program and a recent Bluffton (Ohio) University graduate, volunteers with Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and helps coordinate volunteer schedules at La Casa, a guest house, where refugees can find food, a place to rest, clean clothes, […]
Research yields riches
When Jackie Wyse-Rhodes researched the strengths of people in a Dutch neighborhood, she never dreamed the “gold” she found would enrich congregations around the world in a curriculum based on her findings. In the secularized neighborhood in Almere, the Netherlands, it would have been easy for her to uncover deficits in the people who came […]
Trust-building
As the Ecuadorians were in the Midwest, a group of Argentines visited congregations in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), their partner in mission since 2003. On July 19, Amer Oyanguren, pastor of Piedritas Mennonite Church, preached at Neffsville Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His brother, Daniel Oyanguren, pastor of Villegas Mennonite Church, preached at Ridgeview Mennonite […]
Long flight, new friends
As they traveled from Ecuador to Iowa and Minnesota in mid-July, Luis Tapia, Daniela Sánchez, Manuel Ronquillo, and Darwin Villacis wondered what they would find on the other end of their journey. They knew they would reunite with some longtime friends from Central Plains Mennonite Conference with whom they had related in what is called […]
Immigration in Australia
In our last post we wrote about our involvement with the “Love Makes A Way” movement here in Australia in an attempt to speak up for the needs of refugees. (See Protesting Refugee Detention In Australia In The Name Of The One, Who Was A Refugee.) The issue of refugees has now exploded on to […]
Unpacking memories – the last blog post from Indonesia
As of this moment, it’s 12:03 p.m. on June 29, and I’m not OK. I’m kind of freaking out. I got back two hours ago from a trip to Jakarta, and will leave at 6 p.m. to go on another one with our pastor’s family and Ashlynn’s host family. After we get back from that […]
Simple living speaks to God’s abundant grace
When we acknowledge that God gives us life and satisfies our needs, we are no longer driven to acquire more. We can be generous and hospitable in our communities. We aren’t awake very long before we are bombarded by advertisements. We can’t even watch a YouTube video without having to sit through a quick ad. […]
A taste of God’s love in the ordinary moments
For those of you who have ever visited or lived in France, you know that the French are pretty serious about their food: the snails, the duck, the foie-gras, the wine, the cheese, the champagne, the meals that last four hours, etc. Yet you couldn’t possibly have spent a night in the “City of Lights” […]
What is an Anabaptist Christian in Paraguay?
After receiving the Nivaclé invitation, Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite Church Canada asked Mennonite Mission Network to coordinate a speaking tour with Palmer Becker to speak about his publication, What is an Anabaptist Christian? in South America. Prior to Paraguay, Palmer was in Bolivia and Brazil. Feb. 27, he traveled to Argentina, and Mar. 5 […]
Meeting myself through community
Coming back from Christmas break in Ohio with my friends and family, I have taken some time to mull over some of the questions Tyler and I were asked. From the Denver weather to what we will be doing next year, people wanted to hear about our adventures. But some of my favorites were the […]