ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) – Beginning their work this past fall, David Jost and Matthew Cordella bring enthusiasm and knowledge to their new development roles. Cordella visits and relates to individual supporters as Mennonite Mission Network’s newest development associate. Friends of Mission Network who live in his territory – which is comprised of the District of Columbia, northern Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, western Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia – can expect to receive handwritten thank-you notes from him in the future.
Jost comes to Mission Network as a donor engagement associate. He builds relationships with supporters all over the United States and a fortunate few can expect to receive a friendly phone call from him with ministry updates.
Originally from Long Island, New York, Cordella first came to Elkhart, Indiana, as a participant in the Mennonite Voluntary Service program. While serving, he worked at the Center for Community Justice (CCJ) and then was hired as a staff member with their Victim Offender Reconciliation Program. Cordella continued to work with CCJ until this past August when he joined Mission Network.
Cordella is a member of Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart. When he isn’t on the road visiting Mission Network supporters during the academic year, Cordella can be found at the library as he is also a full-time student at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary.
Download full-resolution image.Between work and study, Cordella dotes on his new cat, Brucie, named after F. F. Bruce, the New Testament scholar.
Originally from Harrisonburg, Virginia, Jost studied at Eastern Mennonite High School and attended Community Mennonite Church. He described his formation there as “a nurturing faith-based community,” and pointed out the good fortune to have later moved to Goshen, Indiana, where he studied at Goshen College and began attending College Mennonite Church.
“These experiences [Mennonite education] for me and many of my friends was deeply enriching, and I really value that and hope that it continues to enrich people’s lives,” said Jost.
Before arriving at Mission Network, Jost taught English as a new language at Eastern Mennonite University and worked in development and information technology services at Goshen College.
An avid language learner, Jost considers himself conversational in Spanish and has a good working knowledge of Albanian, French and German. He learned through living abroad in Germany and Peru, serving in Albania, and traditional language study. He hopes to learn Arabic next as he considers it to be an important skill in our world today, and has considered living in the Middle East in the future.
Download full-resolution image.On any given day, Jost enjoys spending some time on a racquetball court, exercising his love of choral music, or knitting his next project.
Both Cordella and Jost share that they are energized by the people they visit and interact with in their new roles, and see development work as an extension of serving God’s kingdom.
“I enjoy hearing the stories of people who have done interesting things for Jesus in mission, and the opportunity to talk to the wide variety of people in the Mennonite church,” said Cordella. “I have always been interested in ministry and have a love for the church and passion to see it exist. I understand mission to be essential to the church and so I see the work of Mission Network deeply connected to the life of the local church.”
At Cordella’s baptism, Alan Kreider, retired Mission Network mission worker, blessed him with the words from 2 Corinthians 5:8: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”
“Mission Network works at holistic reconciliation with God and Jesus Christ and with one another and all of creation, and equips people to be practitioners of that reconciliation wherever they are,” said Cordella.
Jost shared that he gets to relate with people whose lives really impress him and who are living very authentic expressions of their faith.
Recently, Jost has reflected on 1 Peter 4: 8 to “maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.”
“I’m very aware of the world’s multitude of sins and I’m trying to also be aware of how we find different ways to love one another so we can cover some of that,” Jost said. “And I think development is largely about making other people aware of how love shown through Mennonite Mission Network can cover a multitude of sins.”
