Focus

Ethan and Emma* serve as EMM’s regional representatives for East Asia. At the beginning of 2019, it seemed like the right time for their family to leave the country in which they were serving. Due to some family health concerns and increasing challenges in their region of East Asia, Ethan and Emma moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Somwang struggled for years with mental illness. She fluctuated between periods of silence to fits of violent anger. Her husband, her sons, and her neighbors all learned to ignore her and had given up caring.

Tim told himself to relax, as he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his van with a rowdy crowd of youth inside and another rowdy crowd surrounding the van on the outside. Then it happened. Unexpectedly, the peal of shattered glass brought the noise to its sudden ruckus crescendo.

EMM worker Melanie Nofziger often meets with house cleaners to help them find work. One day, she had hopes to start a Bible study with these women, but felt a call to only begin with two women in particular: Juanita and Mariela.

Kandace Glenn has served on two assignments as an EMM mission intern in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, over the last two and a half years. She never would have guessed that God would have kept her in Cambodia for as long as He has. And now, she is preparing to go back to Cambodia as a long-term missionary with EMM.

Leon and Naomi Zimmerman, who are non-resident EMM workers, were teaching about marriage and parenting. However, they left Vietnam feeling a great sense of admiration for the way the Vietnamese culture is so family-oriented.

There is an African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child.”

It may not take a village to prepare and send EMM’s mission interns and workers, but it does take a committed and experienced team who seek God’s voice and the best for all involved.

One EMM mission intern in Wales keeps busy by not only serving the community through children’s programs and meals for the elderly but also through intentional living communities. And it’s changed the way she views the world!

For many young people, summer is a time to sit back and relax. However, youth and young adults will have the unique opportunity to work on coffee farms high in the mountains of the Intibuca region of Honduras or minister in the urban setting of Chamalecon on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula.

Joanne and Werner De Jong may not fit the typical profile of an EMM mission intern. They are the parents of three young adults and have established careers. Werner has served as a pastor in Alberta, Canada, for over 12 years and Joanne served as an associate pastor for 7 years.