♪ Gordon and Sharon Skopnik have been serving South Sudanese refugees for 21 years and have seen for themselves that helping can end up hurting.

AS I READ newsletters, send emails back and forth, and have phone or Zoom conversations with EMC missionaries serving around the world, I have been inspired by several things. These are ordinary people from our EMC churches doing ordinary things in other countries.

THE ST. MARY’S First Nation, where Venus Cote lives and does ministry, is inside the city limits of Fredericton, New Brunswick. It is home to the Maliseet people, or “people of the beautiful river.” Although the proximity of the reserve to the city makes it seem like it would be culturally similar to Winnipeg, where her aunt Elvira Cote works, Venus says it is very different and therefore ministry looks different as well.

“COMO NACIDO ENTRE NOSOTROS” (CNEN; “as born among us” in English), a network of Christian communities that responds to the migrant situation held its Encuentro (meeting) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from January 30 to February 2, 2024.

Why do we continue to send money to Nicaragua when we haven’t had missionaries serving there since the early 1990s? Aren’t they self-sustaining yet? Couldn’t we use our funds for other ministries that are more valuable? Doesn’t this cause them to be dependent on us?

Waiting is not one of my strengths. “Everyone” knows, time is money. Move quickly, be efficient, do more in less time: this is good stewardship.

I’ve always loved filmmaking and made tons of little movies as a kid. As I left Bible college, I tried to shake that hobby and focus on ministry, working in the church and camps and with missions. But I’ve spent the last year seeing if I can combine my two passions.

Let’s talk about missionaries who rarely report in The Messenger or through any of our other publications. If you read any EMC missions publications, you will see occasional blank spots—maybe just an initial, no photo, no mission agency listed, no home church. And no details of the work they are doing, only general information about what to pray for. What’s going on? What’s the risk?

This past March, we were able to finally complete a project in Livingstone, Zambia, that had been planned since before the pandemic. In just four days, with the help of a five-person team from a church in Virginia, USA (two men and three women), and some local people, we managed to build two shelters and complete three double toilet structures at several of the Open Schools Worldwide project locations there.

Bernardo is a very helpful boy. His teacher asks the students if they can find out how many sick people there are in the neighborhood. Bernardo volunteers and learns there are five. The teacher urges the students to act by setting aside some of their own lunch money to buy fruit or something else for them. Bernardo and his friends do so and are very happy. The student's action serves as an example, and soon the adults also begin to help the sick in their neighborhood.

This is the summary of one of 106 stories written by Nelson Aguilera in the context and the heart language of the Paraguayan people: Guarani Jopara.

It feels good to be back in the classroom at Wellspring Academy! I have a lovely bunch of grade 4/5 students who enjoy each other and engage well with the varied learning activities. They are fun, full of energy, and well-behaved. What more could a teacher want?!

After serving with Operation Mobilization (OM) for six months in 2021–22, God directed us back, and we committed to another nine months in El Salvador. Another nine months of enjoying a different culture, learning more Spanish and of course, eating more pupusas.