RMM News Bulletin

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Rosedale Mennonite Missions (RMM) of Rosedale, Ohio, has purchased a nearly 33,000 square foot training facility on the east side of Columbus near the airport. The former nursing home, built in 1963, will house the REACH and City Challenge programs, as well as additional short term training and ministry programs.

REACH is a missions experience for young adults that includes three months of discipleship training in Columbus followed by six to nine months of cross cultural outreach in locations around the world. Participants serve in a variety of situations, including orphanages, English teaching, and youth outreaches. Currently, teams are serving in Southeast Asia, Thailand, North Africa, and South Africa.

City Challenge is a weeklong opportunity for youth and school groups to experience life and ministry in inner city Columbus. The schedule includes ministry opportunities, creative teaching sessions, and service projects.

Todd Miller, director of RMM’s SEND Ministries, which operates REACH and City Challenge, notes that the current “SEND House” facility is maxed out. “If we would have had one more female applicant for REACH this year, we would have had to turn her away,” Miller says. “And we’ve already had to turn away youth groups that are too big for us to handle for City Challenge. We need a larger facility.”

In addition to the current ministries that are now bearing fruit in our local churches and around the globe, RMM will develop additional training opportunities that have been impossible with the current facilities. RMM President Joe Showalter envisions a training center for missionaries on their way to the field. “We would like to do more to prepare new missionaries before they go to the field. If we’re going to ask them to make disciples in Asia or the Middle East, why not make sure they’re successful at it here before they have the added challenges of language learning and cultural adjustment? This facility will allow us to better prepare people for what they’ll be doing overseas.”

“We believe God has clearly led us in this,” Showalter says. “We’ve prayed all along the way, asking God to open the doors if this is for us. As we’ve moved forward, the doors have kept opening. It’s been exciting to see God answering our prayers.”

The building will need some renovation to bring it up to current code and to make it more energy efficient. Bob Stauffer, RMM property manager, will be giving leadership to the renovation, which will eventually include some space reconfiguration to allow for larger groups to use the facility.

RMM expects to sell the two properties in Columbus that this facility will replace, and will be initiating a capital campaign to make renovation and occupancy possible. Watch for further announcements of opportunities for involvement by groups and individuals. Needs will include a general contractor/supervisor and work teams and individuals for a wide variety of tasks such as painting, plumbing, electrical, and drywall, serving for as little as a day or two or as much as 3-6 months. Gifts in kind and monetary contributions will also be needed. For further information about this project and how you might be involved, please contact Bob Stauffer at bob@rmmoffice.org. You will also soon be able to obtain regularly updated information at www.rosedalemennonitemissions.org.

Posted by RMM Blog Administrator at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some of you may recall that RMM used to have a missionary presence in the country of Uzbekistan in Central Asia. The following is an update on the region that was forwarded to us from two of our workers who used to be in Uzbekistan. It is posted here for your information and for your prayers!

Please be praying for the people of Uzbekistan.
We are still in some contact with friends in Uzbekistan.

We keep hearing reports that life there has gotten harder and harder. Just living has become incredibly difficult. It has always been a poor country but corruption, ineptitude and cold-heartedness on the part of the government there has made a bad situation much worse. Prices for even basic things (bread, oil and flour) have gone up with 150% inflation in the last 10 months! Flour and oil have become scarce. It sounds like there are some seriously difficult times approaching. The believers have persevered through a lot of persecution and now they face these same problems along with their countrymen.
It is hard for us to know what to do. We would like to look into ways to help the people there. We know of only one person (out of hundreds who have applied) who has received a visa to go back. There are almost no foreigners left in the country. So we may need some creative thinking.

I know we ask for prayer on so many different things, but our hearts break for the people we’ve left behind!

Would you please pray:
- some kind of a break through in Uzbekistan. That the government would change and that justice and peace would come there for the first time!
- Pray that people would find ways to feed themselves and take care of their families. That God would show mercy and save lives.
- Pray that the believers would be salt and light and living water in this time.
- Pray for the marriage of one of the young leaders in the ch. In our former city. He is a wonder young man and responsible for many people under his leadership. He gets married on Monday.
- That God would show us if there is anything we can be doing through relationships there.

Posted by RMM Blog Administrator at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For immediate release:

The board of directors of Rosedale Mennonite Missions and the board of directors of Choice Books Great Lakes – Rosedale have taken action to appoint Nathan Miller of Rosedale, Ohio, as the next Executive Director of CBGLR. Miller chaired the CBGLR board from 1990 to 2001. He also served for more than eight years on the CB LLC board (Choice Books national board), serving as its first chair (1997-1999) and later as secretary/treasurer (2003-2005). He served as president of Rosedale Mennonite Missions from 1990 to 2001 and has been employed by MMA since 2002. Miller succeeds Al Troyer, who has served as Executive Director since 1992. Miller will take office on October 1, 2007.

Posted by RMM Blog Administrator at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently, RMM missionaries Leon and Naomi Zimmerman and their children stopped by the RMM office to share about their ongoing work in Albania.

The Zimmermans arrived in Albania in March of 2006, where they lived in the capital city of Tirana and studied the Albanian language. Recently they moved to the city of Lezhe (pronounced LASIA).

One interesting thing that they shared was the difficulty in learning the language. Albanian does not derive from any other language—it is totally unique. Consequently, there is nothing to compare it to and learning it requires diligence.

But apparently, God speaks Albanian quite well, as a movement of God among the churches in Albania is happening. In fact, Leon will now be the pastor of a congregation in Lezhe. He shared with the RMM staff that there are not many Albanian church leaders—most of the pastors and elders are Western missionaries. Consequently, his focus will be to help the congregation grow to maturity and to identify and train leaders who can lead the church into the future in a uniquely Albanian way.

The Zimmermans also shared how their children have been especially effective witnesses in Albania. They have picked up on the language well and formed many relationships through sports and other activities. This has encouraged Leon and Naomi that they can all have an impact for the Kingdom of God in Albania.

The Zimmermans have now returned to Albania to continue their work. Please join us in prayer for the Holy Spirit to move in a great way in Albania and in the ministry of the Zimmermans, and that many Albanians would be trained to lead the church for the glory of Christ.

Get Involved
Pray in specific ways for Albania.
Give a financial gift toward RMM's work like this around the world (this links to RMM's mailing address where contributions can be sent).

Posted by RMM Blog Administrator at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Chris Skinner
Oscar Wilde famously said, "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life." But for Esther Reynolds*, it was the idea that art can bring life that shaped the past two years. The young artist has just returned from a missionary internship with RMM, where she used her skills to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of the Middle East.

“One of my goals (in going overseas) was to see how God could use me, or artists in general, in missions,” she said. What she found was that God can use artists in many ways. “Art opens up so many doors that I couldn’t open up if I were teaching English. This was just so different. I said I was an artist, and (Middle Eastern people) immediately had interest and were curious about it.”

She also was able to contribute to many art projects, including design for theater productions that presented the Gospel, mural painting, teaching art lessons, and more. Those opportunities allowed her to meet many Middle Eastern people and build relationships that pointed toward Christ. “It was great to see God break down the walls of (Middle Eastern peoples’) views on Christians. They thought I had something neat going on, and people were drawn to it.” She sees this as an advantage in missions: “Art provides me with a way to build relationships and have a legitimate way to live my life in another country,” she said.

She also saw God’s plan and provision unfold. “I am just amazed at how many doors were opened through the arts, and I know God provided those doors,” she said. Seeing God work in this way has convinced her that He will continue to do so in the future, no matter what the next step is in her life. “God has proven to me that I can use my gift wherever I am, wherever he puts me. He’ll provide the opportunities. Art isn’t something you typically think of as a form of ministry. But God used art in the Middle East. Five years ago I would’ve never said that. I have seen God’s faithfulness.”

Please join with us in prayer for more artists like Esther to answer the call to be the “Gospel incarnate” to the unreached peoples of the world, and for the Middle East. Also pray that the next steps of God’s plan would be revealed to Esther, and that she and RMM would continually say, “We have seen God’s faithfulness.”

Get Involved
Pray for unreached countries in the Middle East.
Go to the Middle East with RMM.
Give toward the work in the Middle East (this links to our mailing address).

*Name has been changed for security reasons.

Posted by RMM Blog Administrator at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)