Summer 2025 Itineration

We were blessed to be invited to share about MCC’s ministry at a different Mennonite church every Sunday during our 5-week home leave. I thought I’d share a brief outline of the churches that hosted us during this itineration. I’m not going to share about visits with family here but we did bury my Father’s ashes on this trip and maybe I’ll write about that another time.

Meilun Mennonite Church in Hualien, Taiwan

I won’t say much about our time in Taiwan here since I already wrote a dedicated post about Crystal’s sermon at Meilun Mennonite Church in Hualien, Taiwan. We had a wonderful time of fellowship there and came away greatly encouraged. It was such a blessing to see so many adults with disabilities welcomed fully into the service.

North Star Mennonite Church in Drake, Saskatchewan

In Drake, Saskatchewan Crystal shared a sermon about MCC’s work in Myanmar at North Star Mennonite Church. This church has a large contingent of Canadian Food Grains Bank farmers (in 2022 my sermon here was about our MCC’s food security projects in Cambodia). After the sermon, Crystal connected with some MCC alumni and later in the week I met with some of the farmers for coffee. It was great to see materials from MCC’s Climate Action for Peace campaign posted at the church.

It was also wonderful to see MCC Saskatchewan’s good work promoting the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the good work of MCC’s communications department with their publication of Hello Cambodia out for the kids.

Grace Mennonite Church in Regina, Saskatchewan

In Regina, Saskatchewan Crystal shared a sermon about MCC’s work in Myanmar at Grace Mennonite Church. This wonderful church is currently supporting the resettlement refugees from Myanmar and we were able to have lunch with some from Chin state (where we have some significant projects in conflict zones). Decades ago, Grace helped to resettle many Laotians and many have continued with the church resulting in a vibrant community (and a mixed language service). We met with many MCC alumni and thrift store volunteers after the service. Then we had lunch with the Chin family at the home of a Russian Mennonite family that’s supported MCC and Ten Thousand Villages in many ways over the decades.

While we were there we spotted an article in Canadian Mennonite celebrating the life of Sue Kehler. We had just visited the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualien where she had left such an incredible legacy and it was special to connect the article to the all that we had heard about her while there.

Plains Mennonite Church in Hatfield, Pennsylvania

In Hatfield, Pennsylvania Crystal and I shared a short ‘update’ sermon at Plains Mennonite Church. This was focused on the biggest highlights/changes since our last visit to Plains. We were especially glad to share about the Seek cohort in Cambodia and the good work that is happening in Myanmar.

We were also blessed to be able to visit Plains’ new Playground for All in person – which was featured in Faith in Full Color by Jeanne Zimmerly Jantzi – and see that Plains was using some of the same green therapy techniques – like a sensory herb garden – that we’d seen used on the other side of the world at Mennonite New Dawn in Taiwan. What a testimony to the power of love and inclusion.

We were blessed to connect with many old friends. Many of whom are also MCC alumni, grown MCC kids, MCC thrift store volunteers, MCC Material Resource Center volunteers, and even a few former MCC Reps. We felt the void left by dear friends like Sam and Helen Lapp, former MCC Reps to Jamaica, who passed away in the years while we have been in Cambodia.

Reuniting with the Sumatra kids in Akron

We also stopped in at the Mennonite Central Committee office in Akron, Pennsylvania during our travels. It was leadership orientation so – in between our meetings with colleagues at the office – we also got to connect with some friends from Asia. It was especially good for our children who were reunited with the Sumatra kids – the children of the MCC Representatives to Indonesia who we took rice harvesting last year.

In Fairfield, Pennsylvania I shared a sermon overviewing MCC’s programs in Cambodia and Myanmar at Fairfield Mennonite Church. I had given an in-depth background on the context last time and this time focused more on sharing what’s happening, rather than explaining why it’s important. Fairfield is my home church – I never would have joined MCC, gone to Bluffton, or met Crystal without them – and it always feels like a special homecoming to be with them again.

2014 Photo of Charlotte at her first Gift Festival with Joyce and Earl

Fairfield is best known for it’s foundational role in supporting Edna Ruth Byler’s Fair Trade ministry – which would become Ten Thousand Villages/Self Help Crafts – to grow beyond a personal one. I can’t step into the sanctuary at Fairfield without warm memories of the Gift Festivals when we’d carry out the pews and convert the church into a Fair Trade marketplace. As we joined the Sunday School Discussion I keenly felt the absence of the quiet, steady, and insightful voice of Earl Shutt.


It’s our responsibility to report to the Church on the work that Mennonite Central Committee is doing in Cambodia and Myanmar. But – every time – it’s so lifegiving and such an encouragement to reconnect with these wonderful communities of faith. We come away reminded that we’re part of something far greater than our daily work and that is God is at work all around the world in a myriad of ways. It’s such a blessing to be part of these communities and to be able to connect with them in person. It makes the hours of car time with three kids who aren’t use to car time worth it.

One Comment Add yours

  1. Emma Marie Hanna says:

    💕Beautiful share.

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