Photographs through the lenses of Toba Qom women
Emilia Oyanguren, daughter of mission workers José Oyanguren and Alfonsina Finger, grew up in the town of Castelli, in the Argentine Chaco, among Toba Qom people. Emilia developed a strong interest in photography and moved to Córdoba to study at La Metro Escuela de Diseño y Comunicación Audiovisual (School of Design and Audiovisual Communication). Her […]
Episode 06: You Must Remember This
How do the stories of mission become the history of mission? Anicka Fast shares about why some stories get preserved and remembered, while others become forgotten. Plus, Rod Hollinger-Janzen gives insight into how AIMM (Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission) worked with Fast to unearth forgotten narratives from a century ago. To learn more about Anicka Fast’s ministry, […]
Episode 05: Where’s this mission from, anyway?
Does Christianity change a culture, or is it the other way around? A conversation with James Krabill on the Biblical impetus for mission, and what North American churches can learn from mission practiced around the world. Krabill is a co-author of the new book, Unless A Grain of Wheat: A Story of Friendship between African Independent […]
Episode 04: Parts and Service
When does service become mission? Marisa Smucker and Andrea Sawyer-Kirksey weigh in on how their experiences leading MVS (Mennonite Voluntary Service) and DOOR(Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) have informed the way they see the connection between service and mission. ‘MissionWary?’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Mission-wary to Missionary: Witness as with-ness
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — Even before becoming the executive director of Mennonite Mission Network, Mike Sherrill had plenty of practice explaining how the agency "does" mission. Sherrill and his wife, Teresa, first became connected with Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency of Mission Network, in 2000 as mission workers in Japan. Sherrill […]
Unless a Grain of Wheat chronicles relationship-building in Africa
Whenever I hear that White missionaries have gone to Africa, I suspect less than healthy motives. Therefore, I was initially skeptical of the relationship between Mennonite Mission Network and the African Independent Churches (AICs) in western and southern Africa. We cannot separate AICs from their colonial and Indigenous contexts. The AIC movement was birthed in […]
Breaking borders to build God’s kingdom
At Mennonite Mission Network, I hear countless stories about people leaving their local congregations to serve in the United States and around the world. But it is rare for me to hear a story that describes how a vision caught in one part of God’s kingdom and was released back home, where it stretched hearts […]
Family to help sustain home for people living in exile
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 knew, however, that they shared a strong calling to reach out to and walk alongside people living […]
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.
“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 […]
Transforming into vulnerability
In Luke 10, Jesus commissions 70 new missionary disciples and sends them out ahead of him into the towns and settlements he will pass through on his way to Jerusalem. He instructs them to travel light, so that they will have to depend on whatever hospitality might be offered to them along the way. He […]
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 […]