• “Every second, God is here, helping me”

    “A chapter of my story was written while with YAMEN,” says Diana Martínez. The young church leader from Colombia served as an educational assistant at Casa Hogar Belén, a children’s home in Managua, Nicaragua, 2017–2018 through YAMEN. YAMEN (Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network) is a joint program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite World…

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    “Every second, God is here, helping me”
  • A recipe to cure homesickness

    Laos and Indonesia are both in South East Asia, so some kinds of food are similar. But sometimes, as Laotian teaching English on YAMEN in Indonesia, I miss Lao food. When I make food from home, it helps me to not feel as homesick. Cooking Lao food to share with others helps me to share…

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    A recipe to cure homesickness
  • YAMEN ambassador of peace amid violence

    Damaris Guaza Sandoval says her year of service in La Ceiba, Honduras, was about equipping young people to be God’s ambassadors of peace where violence is common.  The 26-year-old from Cali, Colombia, worked as a social worker with Proyecto Paz y Justicia (PPyJ; Peace and Justice Project), a ministry of MWC member church Iglesia Evangélica…

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    YAMEN ambassador of peace amid violence
  • How it works: Emergency food distribution

    In many parts of the area near Kibwezi, Kenya, I see corn that has dried up. Driving around, it’s hard to find any corn that people will be able to harvest this season. In February 2018, MCC’s partner Utooni Development Organization (UDO), which I volunteer with, started a food relief project in one of the…

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    How it works: Emergency food distribution
  • A transformative year: YAMEN participants meet God and people

    Bogotá, Colombia – “The gospel connects us all no matter where we are,” says Laurey Segura. She lived out this realization as a teacher and youth worker with the help of Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN), a joint Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) program which allowed the Costa Rican Mennonite…

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    A transformative year: YAMEN participants meet God and people
  • Spanish speaking YAMENers face unique challenges in Latin American placements

    Serving in an area of the world relatively close to your home country where the dominant language is the same as your own might seem relatively easy. But Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) participants who hail from Latin American countries and are serving in other countries in the same region are seeing differences first-hand.…

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    Spanish speaking YAMENers face unique challenges in Latin American placements
  • YAMEN service builds faith

    Bogotá, Colombia – Taking a risk and trusting in God are sure ways to grow in faith. For Marisela Dyck and Xavier Chen, serving with the Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) program in 2015-2016 was a year of lessons in relying on God. “During my service I learned that looking for God every day…

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    YAMEN service builds faith
  • Offering our blessings to the world

    Sindy Novoa Caro lives in Bogotá, Colombia, where she belongs to the Casa de Oración church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation. In 2010–2011, Sindy served with YAMEN in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, as a teacher´s assistant in a school for children living near the garbage dump. Since her return to Colombia, Sindy has been helping to coordinate a…

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    Offering our blessings to the world
  • Healing wounds through art: A YAMEN experience

    Bogotá, Colombia – For Keila Viana, seeing how art can heal wounds deepened her understanding of God and his love during her international service in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. “I believe that during this time God worked a lot in my life,” says Viana, a 22-year-old young adult from the Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Camino de Santidad,…

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    Healing wounds through art: A YAMEN experience
  • Church participation enriches cross cultural experience

    Winnipeg, Manitoba – Opportunities to fill leadership responsibilities in a local church enrich Yoweri Murungi’s one-year cross cultural service assignment in Lusaka, Zambia. His many new experiences include leading praise and worship services, Bible study classes and youth ministries at the Chilenje Brethren in Christ church in Lusaka. “These experiences help me gain leadership skills…

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    Church participation enriches cross cultural experience
  • New intern brings Korean voice for reconciliation to UN

    New York, New York, USA – JeaHyun Nham from the Republic of Korea (ROK/South Korea) is the latest Mennonite World Conference (MWC) intern to join the staff of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) United Nations Office. The intern is a joint appointment of MCC and MWC. Nham is a member of Jesus Village Church in…

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    New intern brings Korean voice for reconciliation to UN