Eastern Mennonite Missions

Our vision for the English Institute is now being realized in a neighborhood here we were told no one – especially girls – would want to come. It is located in a blue-collar, lower-middle-class neighborhood, where nothing of the sort has existed in recent history. This felt like the neighborhood where God opened the door for us to begin. Since a few of us live here too, we were excited about the “upside-down kingdom” element of having it here.

We work with a curriculum that is student-centered – giving the majority of the “talking time” to students for interaction, rather than the teacher for lecturing. We also try to take time for one-on-one conversation, especially among more advanced students. We are reaching out to students who are age 15 and older; many are in their 20s. Presently, we have four teachers – two women and two men, all of whom are native English speakers.

The long-term effects of short-term missions

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. – Growing up at the First Presbyterian Church, Hannah* had never heard of Eastern Mennonite Missions until one of her high school friends told her about the YES program.

It was 1993. Hannah had just finished her student teaching and was wondering what to do next. She hungered to know God at a deeper level – to get in touch with his purposes for her life.

Love invades the Dadab refugee camp

DADAB, Kenya – Hedi Lee, a Paraguayan Mennonite who serves as a member of the Eastern Mennonite Missions team in Nairobi, facilitated two multi-national teams which visited the Dadab refugee camp in October.

The East African drought has ravaged this semi-arid region, including northeastern Kenya and Somalia. Complicated further by intense political unrest, the Dadab refugee camp – built 20 years ago to hold 90,000 people – now serves over 500,000.

Global Leadership Summit impacts broader Lithuanian society

KLAIPEDA, Lithuania – Four years ago when EMM workers Gregg and Sharon Brubaker adopted two small Lithuanian boys, Sharon thought she’d have to step back from her chaplaincy work at LCC International University.

Gregg planned to continue on at the university as a math and computer teacher, and Sharon tentatively agreed to try out a new role as director of church relations, juggling that with church work and mothering.

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