Hope and peace shine through in difficult times
It’s been two years. Two years since the first case of the virus that causes COVID-19 was confirmed in the United States. Two years since the country — and much of the world — ground to a screeching halt in the face of a public health crisis that exposed glaring weaknesses in our society. It […]
Hope and peace shine through in difficult times
We are being transformed By Mike Sherrill The only constant in the world is change, which most humans tend to resist. Change can be devastating — or it can be transformative. Sometimes change can sneak up on a society, like the multi-year pandemic that has sadly upended — and ended — lives all around the […]
SOOP opportunities at Pine Lake Fellowship Camp
Matt Graybill, Executive Director for Pine Lake Fellowship Camp, shares about Mission Network’s SOOP program at the camp. It is located just outside of Meridian, Mississippi. You can find out about the year-round service opportunities available there at this link.
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 […]
Christian service and global citizenship
Technology brings information from all over the world into our lives around the clock. There is no doubt that each of us is becoming more and more globally connected. However, global connectivity is not the equivalent of global citizenship. At its heart, global citizenship is about active learning on a global scale and responding responsibly […]
Story 2: Building trust in shaky times
People thrive and grow in trusted and mutual relationships, which are essential during these difficult times. An example of these solid relationships involved my fellowship with Oxford Circle Mennonite Church (OCMC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the first Sunday of August — their first Sunday back in person after pandemic protocols loosened. OCMC is a diverse […]
Story 3: Transforming Down Under
Mary, my spouse, and I were asked to lead a two-day online retreat for pastors in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the theme, "Pastoring In A Pandemic." Churches were experiencing lockdown conditions, and pastors were finding their way as leaders of congregations that were struggling with the changes. We began the retreat […]
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 […]
Looking up, looking around, looking forward
The reflections in this annual report sparked a memory about how transformation occurred in my life about 15 years ago. I had been traveling to Costa Rica with ministry groups, as well as on my own, for about 5 ½ years. I straddled these visits with a settled life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One day, near […]
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 […]
Story 5: All invited to the Lamb’s throne
"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs […]
Story 4: Missiology shaped by servanthood
In one of the most important collection of essays on mission and Anabaptism, the late Wilbert Shenk noted: "Amid the extremisms of the day and the erosions of the past, and the uncertainties of the future, the messianic community is privileged to bear witness … The fundamental missionary stance is that of the servant. […]