Focus

In the fall of 2016, Becca Lapp Wierwille traveled to Cusco, Peru, to be a mission intern with EMM teaching English at PROMESA, a school connected with the Peruvian Mennonite Church. Becca was looking for adventure, for a chance to serve others, and to grow closer to God’s heart. She was able to use the internship for credit to complete her college degree. Becca’s semester in Peru did meet all of these expectations.

Leaders of the Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia were eager to launch the new Amharic translation of “A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue.” However, publishing was put on hold so the church could secure the participation of the leadership of the Amharic-speaking Muslim community.

When Julie and Tim Groff arrived in Dangriga they were aware of the fact that their local church had shuttered its doors and was no longer functioning. Local leaders had burned out for various reasons, and new life was needed.

Twelve people were gathered closely in a circle as Yvonne Garber uttered a simple Swahili phrase: “Mungu Anajua.” Yvonne then shared the translation of this short expression — “God knows” — as she and her husband, Joe, elaborated about how they first discerned a calling to serve Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania.

Gathered in a simple one-story building, surrounded by a grassy courtyard, and shaded by an enormous fig tree, pastors and leaders of the Shirati Diocese of the Tanzania Mennonite Church explored Anabaptist essentials.

Pastor. Board member. Executive director. Missionary. Head of school. Theology teacher. Executive vice president and chief operating officer. Gerry Keener has been all these things ... and all while serving with EMM. It is exactly this wealth of 40 years of experience that makes him so uniquely qualified to serve as the eighth president of Eastern Mennonite Missions.

Justice. Did you know it was voted the 2018 word of the year? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, justice was looked up online 74% more often than it was in 2017. Like the year before, 2018 certainly had its time of hardships and sorrows. Justice seemed elusive. Wars and rumors of wars. Floods, earthquakes, famines. Political, racial, and economic divides.

A coffee house outreach is providing English-language practice for youth and young adults, with opportunities for leadership training, and of course, free coffee. EMM workers Jayden and Anika*, serving in Central Asia, hope that this outreach will provide opportunities to share God’s word with nonbelievers, and as a way to disciple those who already are believers.

Living overseas during Christmas can be a challenging time. But this past Christmas, EMM workers serving in Sierra Leone, Jon and Heleen Yoder, decided to embrace Christmas in a different place.

Short-term EMM workers serving in Nairobi, Kenya, learn that their valuable experience of once owning a hardware store has impacted their ministry in a very unique way.