Trauma-healing workshops promote dignity for Kekchi women
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — As Kekchi women told their stories in a July 27-28 trauma healing workshop in San Pedro Carchá, Guatemala, the Holy Spirit breathed the message of their dignity as women of God. Five Kekchi Mennonite women leaders, along with Deb Byler, who serves with Mennonite Mission Network in Guatemala, have facilitated four trauma healing workshops. Another workshop is scheduled this year […]
An open door to hospitality
Where do you see hospitality? Join Horace McMillon, pastor of Open Door Mennonite Church in Jackson, Mississippi, and learn what hospitality means to the Open Door community. This video is a part of Mission Sunday 2021, a resource series that helps equip churches to learn about and celebrate mission in the month of November. To […]
Join online discussion of hospitality and plan your Mission Sunday
Do you want to dig deeper with others into the Bible’s call to hospitality and mission? Join Mennonite Mission Network Church Relations representatives Eric Frey Martin and Joe Sawatzky to learn about our Mission Sunday materials. Come to engage in conversation around the biblical texts that inspire your practice of hospitality and mission and plan […]
Supporting service with a pew dollars
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — When I stood before my home congregation and told them I was preparing to do a year of service, I was greeted with silence. Granted, my home church congregation greets most things with silence, be it child dedications, music performances or tearful testimonies. For German/Russian Mennonites, it’s practically our […]
Meeting face to face with peers from faraway
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) –— Because of an online Mission Seminar, hosted by Mennonite Mission Network, Argentine mission associates José Oyanguren and Maria Alfonsina Finger were invited to gather face to face with mission colleagues who are serving far away. The couple, who serves in the Argentine Chaco, joined 33 other workers from around […]
Chronicling transformation: writings from MennoCon21
Throughout the 2021 MC USA convention, a feeling of transformation was palpable. It buzzed and hummed in the air of the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reverberated through seminars and delegate sessions being held in a virtual space for the first time. It manifested itself in youth groups across the country through […]
Building peace in Africa by bridging relationships
CINCINNATI, Ohio (Mennonite Mission Network) – Peace between Muslims and Christians is about relationship. Instead of framing the seminar "Peacemaking in Africa with Muslims and Christians" as about an issue and conflict with a quick fix, the discussion focused on the slow work of building interpersonal connection. Sharon Norton, Mennonite Mission Network co-director for Africa […]
Embracing mission, evading conquest
CINCINATTI, Ohio (Mennonite Mission Network) – One of the first pieces of knowledge that Jane and Jerrell Ross Richer presented in their seminar, ‘Two-Way Mission’ came courtesy of the World Bank. While indigenous people occupy roughly a quarter of the land on earth, they protect 80% of the planet’s biodiversity. The Cofán people, an indigenous […]
Pandemic challenges foster agency growth
CINCINATTI, Ohio (Mennonite Mission Network) – Mike Sherrill has had a wild year. He stepped into the role of Executive Director at Mennonite Mission Network in August, 2020, and after nearly a year in the position, came to his seminar, ‘Future Driven Partnership: Pursuing God’s Call at Mennonite Mission Network’ with good news. The challenges […]
Transforming voicelessness into sharing voices together
Safwat Marzouk’s morning Bible study July 8 on the story of Joseph and his brothers makes me think of Voices Together. For years, planners and creators of the new Mennonite hymnal and worship resource listened to the stories, songs, and hearts of a diversity of people. This helped them to create a tapestry of narratives in […]
Pueblo MVS forges lifetime bonds
NEWTON, Kansas (Mennonite Mission Network) — In the late 1960s, when Dick Lengacher served in Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) as a conscientious objector in Pueblo, Colorado, he discovered pacifism was not always popular beyond his Mennonite circle. For example, while serving on the geriatric floor of Parkview Hospital as his alternative to serving in Vietnam, […]
Breathing in the expanse of God
I imagined the expansive prairie night sky as Dr. Meghan Good gave the sermon July 7. She opened her message on "Jesus is the Peace" by describing this: space is rapidly expanding as planets, galaxies and stars move away from each other faster than the speed of light. As a result, eventually, people standing in the […]