Spring 2022 multiply.net
together that the world may know Jesus
Witness
Discerning the Call
Witness Spring 2022 Contents Editorial: The Call..................................................... 2
The Call EDITORIAL | Vic Wiens
Wherever, Whenever..............................................4 Ask God Which Town............................................6 Three Decades in Portugal..............................10 Don’t Go....................................................................... 12 When the Sent are Sent Away........................14
Staff Managing Editor..................Mark J.H. Klassen Layout & Design..........................Darcy Scholes Illustration & Design..................... Colton Floris Prayer Mobilization..........................Nikki White
Is some special call required for missionary service? Perhaps you have asked yourself that question, or you’ve heard it being asked by others, such as your children or grandchildren, or those you are discipling. If so, how does the call happen? How can someone be sure it’s God calling, and not just their own thoughts or feelings? You have probably heard colorful quotes like these regarding God’s call to service: “If God hasn’t called you to stay, you are called to go!” (Keith Green); “If God has fit you to be a missionary, I would not have you shrivel down to be a king!” (Charles Spurgeon); or “Don’t bother to give God instructions, just report for duty!” (Corrie Ten Boom). These may inspire you, or intimidate you, or infuse you with more questions than answers, but let’s take a minute to explore this matter further.
Story Research..................................Eric Geddes Circulation.......................................... Robin Lesser Media Director................................ Daniel Lichty
How can someone be sure it’s God calling, and not just their own thoughts or feelings?
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In our last edition of Witness, we trumpeted the “Macedonian call” which highlighted the request from peoples and regions beyond to “come over and help us.” The original story is found in Acts 16 where this call for help came in a dream to Paul and his team, inviting them to bring the Good News to Macedonia. We are hearing a similar call today from many countries. However, there is an even more basic call we must consider. It is the call to leave, to go, and to serve. Some call it the “missionary call.” Regrettably, this matter has generated lots of questions and even confusion, as the quotes above remind us. Below, I will offer some thoughts for your consideration, thoughts that I’ve gathered over my forty-year journey in mission. First, I would encourage you to start with the Scriptures. There are certain calls in the Bible that are for all of us. We’re all called to trust and obey Jesus. We’re all called to go and make disciples. We’re all called to pray and to give. No need for any special call here. However, the Bible also records on numerous occasions God’s call for some extraordinary assignments. Abraham was called to leave his homeland, and to go to Canaan, where he would be blessed in order to be a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:1-3). Jonah was called to go and preach to Nineveh, and then he was called again after he disobeyed the first call! Barnabas and Saul were “set apart” for an assignment that was yet to be revealed (Acts 13:1-4). Do missionaries need a call? Most of those who have been missionaries, or oversee missionary work, would answer “yes.”
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nurture the young Gentile churches, the call was simply “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us” (Acts 15:28). There is no template, no formula, and no predictability to God’s call. His ways are his to choose, and delightfully diverse. Together with my wife, Marty, early in our missionary journey we experienced a combination of these. We sensed an inner urge when we were in classes at Fresno Pacific College and first learned about the shortage of workers. We wondered if we had what it took to be missionaries, in terms of giftedness and resilience. We applied to several mission agencies. Our own MB agency (then MB Missions/ Services) followed up and contacted our local church, Butler MB in Fresno. Our church wisely wanted a voice in this discernment and invited me to be a pastoral intern while we continued to process the call. Vic and Marty Wiens were sent to Brazil in 1982. A deep sense of conviction that this assignment is “from the Lord” will carry one through when things get tough (and they will). Those who study missionary attrition and retention have concluded that a sense of being called to a service, while no guarantee, is indeed a retaining factor that helps missionaries face the sacrifices they inevitably are required to make. Furthermore, if you know you have been called and sent by the King, you will approach your assignment with the authority of an ambassador, not merely as a volunteer. How does this call happen? In his wisdom and sensitivity, God issues custom-made calls according to his perfect plan and our capacity to listen. Again, we do well to turn to the Scriptures: the Book of Acts alone gives numerous examples. For some, a call may be mysteriously miraculous. So it was for Saul (Acts 9) when he saw the blinding light that left him flat on his back, leading to his conversion and his commission. Similarly, Peter had the same dream three times (Acts 10) of unclean foods so he would take the Gospel to the Gentiles. For others, the call is through a community commission. So it was for Barnabas of Cyprus when he was sent by the church in Jerusalem to Antioch to gather and nurture a young church (Acts 11). In turn, the Antioch church, while worshiping and fasting, sensed the Spirit setting apart two of their key leaders for an apostolic assignment (Acts 13). Yet there are also records of common-sense calls, such as when Philip was somehow placed before the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8). He didn’t need a special vision or a commission, he just needed to obey common sense for this cross-cultural mission. Or when Judas and Silas were sent with Barnabas and Paul on a second missionary journey to
There is no template, no formula, and no predictability to God’s call. His ways are his to choose, and delightfully diverse. In all, it was a convergence of a growing inner conviction, a local church confirmation, a mission agency invitation, and then a circumstantial open door when our visas were granted after a year of waiting that finally landed us in São Paulo, Brazil. Later, the final conviction of God’s missionary call actually came for us near the end of our internship in Brazil when our Brazilian co-workers said to us, “You are gifted for this. We need you here. Please come back.” Is someone speaking similar words to you? Or is God’s missionary Spirit prompting you to say those words to someone nearby? Remember the importance of Christian community. Proverbs says, “in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (11:14). Pray to your Father in heaven about such a call. Continue to grow where he has planted you. Surround yourself with godly and mature counselors. Approach pastors, leaders, and others, for God has appointed such to help discern and confirm a call. Take steps to pursue those promptings, and remember, “Faithful is he who has called you, and he will also do it!” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Vic Wiens currently serves as the Interim General Director of Multiply. He and his wife, Marty, spent twenty-five years as missionaries in Brazil. multiply.net | 3
Wherever, Whenever FRANCE | Nikki White
“My bags are always half-packed,” said Marcela Taquet, from her home in France, “because I have learned to be ready to go.” Her confidence and gracious demeanor can easily lead one to believe that she has lived there all her life. In reality, she has been transplanted to so many different cultures and countries over the years. Marcela is one of Multiply’s global workers living and ministering in the district of Montbéliard in eastern France. There, she and her husband, David, and their daughter, Louciana, are part of a small international team that partners with a local French Mennonite church.
we are all called to preach the Gospel to the nations, I asked them, ‘Me, too?’” “You, too,” she was told. “I rushed home and told my parents, ‘I’m going to be a missionary!’” Her parents nodded absently, not taking their daughter seriously. After all, she was only ten years old.
“For one year, they forbade me from going to church,” Marcela said.
“I was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay,” she related, “the most secular country in all of Latin America. We never spoke of God in my home.”
However, when she told them four years later that she wanted to be baptized, that was too much. They would not allow their sensible child to become a fanatic.
So, it was a surprise to her parents when, at age six, Marcela expressed her desire to attend a summer Bible camp at a newly planted Mennonite Brethren church nearby.
“For one year, they forbade me from going to church,” Marcela said. Then, unexpectedly, her grandfather had a heart attack and passed away at the age of sixty. Processing the shock and grief of sudden bereavement somehow softened and changed her parent’s hearts.
“A friend invited me, and it sounded like fun,” she explained, “and I was feeling adventurous even then, ready to go wherever, whenever.” At the camp, she heard about Jesus for the first time. Immediately, she grasped the concept of who he was and was excited that he wanted to be her friend. That summer, Marcela chose to begin a relationship with Jesus, and told her parents that she wanted to keep attending church. Because it was just down the street from where they lived, they allowed her to go, although they were confused by Marcela’s insistence that her little sister come with her each Sunday. They could not fathom what two little girls would find so interesting at a church.
“Not only did my parents allow me to go back to church,” she said, “but they said it was all right for me to be baptized!” After that, there was no holding her back. Each week she insistently told her pastor of her desire to be a missionary. Wisely, the pastor asked Marcela to wait until she was a little older, and suggested they meet to pray together about this once a month.
“I loved that there were always missionaries at the church,” Marcela explained, “sharing their stories from all over the world.”
Two years later, a ship from Operation Mobilization (OM) docked at the port of Montevideo, carrying a crew of young adults trained to reach communities all over the world with the Gospel. When some of the workers came to her church to ask for volunteers to serve on board, Marcela was first in line. She was ready to go; she had been ready since she was six years old.
One missionary couple in particular, John and Janice Goertz, had a significant impact on Marcela at a young age. “They had come from Canada, and were heading to Panama,” she said. “When they shared from Scripture how
That month of service and discipleship was life-changing and led to one year with OM in Mozambique. There, she met women from Iran and Iraq, and her heart was stirred with a desire to reach Muslims for Christ. It was then that she
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realized that this calling to mission was not just for a time, but for a lifetime. Back in Uruguay, she finished her biology degree and began work as a teacher. Those were busy years, but when the OM ship returned to her port and asked her to help as a translator for a few hours a week, she made the time. Before she knew it, Marcela had committed to a two-year voyage. “It happened so fast,” she said. “The finances came in less than four months! We set sail for Brazil, West Africa, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon… so many places, so many needs.” She was twenty-five at the time, ready to follow Jesus wherever he led. When she came back to Uruguay, eager to re-pack for another two years, she found out that her church had decided they would no longer be working with OM, and support would not be forthcoming. “It was a big disappointment,” she shared, “but I chose to surrender my dream and to serve the church in any way I could—with children, youth, whatever.” Over the next few years, Marcela’s humility and faithfulness did not go unnoticed by her church, and she was invited to represent their conference at a gathering of Latin American MB churches in 2005. It was there that she met Randy Friesen, then the General Director of Multiply. Hearing him describe a vision to reach North African Muslims ignited her heart anew. “Send me,” she told him repeatedly. “I am ready to go.” And go she did. The next year found her in Portugal, with a team that taught her how to share the Gospel with Muslim immigrants. Two years later, she was invited into Multiply’s FOCUS training for long-term mission service. By 2011, Marcela was joining a team in Paris that was specifically working with Muslims. Although she had hoped to be sent
to North Africa, she was quick to pivot and meet this new challenge. Surrender had yielded such good fruit up until now; surrender was the way forward. In Paris, Marcela also joined a nearby Baptist church where she met David, who was to become her husband. She was thirty-seven, an age at which such a dramatic life change could be challenging.
Surrender had yielded such good fruit up until then. Surrender was the way forward. Marcela laughs at the memory. “I just told David, ‘As long as you know that our calling to serve must always come first!’” Having himself spent two years serving in the Cameroons, David both understood and shared her passion for global mission. In 2021, David and Marcela moved to Montbéliard to form a team with Paul and Sara Raugust and to work in closer partnership with French Mennonites. David now works fulltime and is very involved in ministry at their church, while Marcela divides her time between caring for their six-yearold daughter and building bridges with the North African community in Montbéliard. She and her team are involved in running an after-school program for over fifty children, monthly afternoon games events at a local park, an English club, discipleship, hospitality ministry, and more. It delights her to see their daughter, Louciana, thriving in this environment of multi-culturalism and mission. Is Marcela prepared for the day when Louciana may, like her mother, pack her bags for another country? “Absolutely”, she asserted. “It will be hard to let her go, but look at us—even now, we are ready to go, wherever he calls us!”
GO Are you ready to go wherever God calls you? We are inviting people to serve in places like Montbéliard, France. View opportunities at multiply.net/serve
France Team: David and Marcela Taquet (top row) and their daughter, Louciana (bottom right), with the Paul and Sara Raugust family
To learn more about Multiply’s FOCUS Training for long-term global workers, go to multiply.net/focus multiply.net | 5
Ask God Which Town CENTRAL ASIA | Mark JH Klassen
In 2006, Ivana (not her real name) and her husband moved with their five children from Germany to Canada, where they soon welcomed their sixth child. It was a big move for a big family. Little did they know, eight years later, God would be preparing them for another international move.
After finding it on the map in Central Asia, Ivana started praying for Zara. “There were times when I forgot about it,” she said, “and then again times when God put it heavy on my heart. As predicted, the desire grew in me to visit the town and to find out what God was doing there.”
One year after arriving in Canada, a missionary visited their church and told them this story:
Several years later, Ivana and her husband were talking about taking a trip for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. “As my husband was praying and asking God where we should go,” said Ivana, “God drew his attention to Zara.”
A woman put her hand on a world map and asked God to show her a town she should pray for. She was led to pray for a town in Iran. After praying for that town for thirty years, an Iranian pastor came to her church. He testified to the great things God had been doing in his town in Iran. After his report, she walked up to him and asked him the name of his town. Because it was very small and didn’t appear on most maps, he didn’t think she would recognize the name. She insisted to know it. When he finally told her the name, she said, “Thirty years ago, I started praying for this town.” He replied, “Thirty years ago, I became the town’s first follower of Jesus!” Ivana remembers well the challenge that the visiting missionary gave after sharing this story: “He told us, ‘Go home and ask God which town you should pray for.’ Then he added, ‘and maybe someday you will even go there.’” The next morning, Ivana was lying in bed, and she heard God’s voice: “Your town is Zara.” “Right away, I thought of our daughter’s name, Sarah” said Ivana, “which, in German, we pronounced the same way. But God said, ‘No, your town starts with a Z and doesn’t end with an H.” 6 | witness
On their anniversary trip, the couple visited the town of Zara. “We walked the streets and prayed for the people,” Ivana said. “We also distributed Bibles in the town. I can’t describe the joy we had knowing that the Word of God was now in Zara.” The Bibles the couple distributed in Zara included contact information of an organization that provided Bible study material upon request. Within months, someone from Zara was actually ordering more material online. The trip was a turning point for Ivana and her husband. As they traveled, they saw God’s hand of faithfulness upon them. “We were overwhelmed by God’s care over and over again,” said Ivana. “We saw God orchestrating a plan and bringing the right people into our path. On the trip, God gave my husband the assurance that he was calling us to move.” However, for Ivana, the idea of another move was not easy. “I wasn’t ready for that at all,” she said. “The challenges of moving to Canada were still in my memories. Learning a new language was difficult. Helping our teenage children to adjust to the culture was very tiring. We all struggled in
so many ways. Fifteen years later, I didn’t want to leave our home, our children, and grandchildren. And what about our teenage boys who would come with us?” It didn’t take long for Ivana’s heart to soften. “We serve a gentle Lord,” she reflected. “He showed me his heart. It was his love that was calling us, calling me, to follow him to this new country.”
“It was his love that was calling us, calling me, to follow him to this new country.” During their time in Canada, Ivana and her husband had been involved in a variety of ministries through their church family, and they cherished the spiritual lessons learned over the years, which kept pushing them as a couple to trust God with the next big step. However, following God to the ends of the earth, to some unknown town, was hard for others to understand. “We experienced opposition,” said Ivana. “People were trying to keep us back, people that we loved and appreciated. But the call of Jesus remained clear in our hearts.” For Ivana, one of the obstacles to overcome was seeing her teenage sons embrace the call to go. “God did not conquer only my own heart with his love,” she said, “but he also showed our boys individually that he had called them as well! This assurance gave them strength to say goodbye to very close friends and siblings and a home they loved.” When the time came, Ivana, her husband, and their two sons were sent off by their home church in Canada, and
through a mission organization, to Central Asia. In turn, their organization seconded them to Multiply, to work with a church-planting team that was located literally down the road from Zara. “We are called to follow Jesus,” reflected Ivana. “We have been learning that our focus should not be on what we do or where we do it, but simply on abiding in him and following him. Wherever we are, we only try to serve the people he puts in our way as we follow him. Our service changes according to the needs of the people. We have to remain focused on Jesus.” Since moving, Ivana and her husband are fully engaged in language and culture learning, and they are embracing the opportunities that God brings them. Their team is focused on supporting the local church and on helping to plant churches in the surrounding area, which includes Zara. Ivana reported, “My husband and some other men from our local church are going regularly to meet with seekers in the area near to Zara. A few of the seekers are actually from the town of Zara. One of them, a young man, has recently put his trust in Jesus.”
PRAY Are you willing to ask God which town he wants you to pray for? Are you open to going there someday to serve? To receive our Daily Prayer Guide and keep up to date on the various needs and requests of our workers and worldwide, go to multiply.net/dpg multiply.net | 7
“By God’s grace, I get to serve him by mobiliz ing the whole church to reach the whole world.” Sam Dick
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“God called me through the story of the rich young ruler.” Eric Geddes
e, I cl ea rly “W he n Go d ca lle d m th os e on se ns ed hi s he ar t fo r ou nt M th e fri ng es .” Katie
What would you say about your own calling to serve?
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Three Decades in Portugal Jonathan and Joanna Pharazyn-Gutierrez are full-time global workers with Multiply in Lisbon, Portugal. They recently sat down with their newly retired coworkers, Otto and Marjorie Ekk, who have been serving in Portugal since 1988. In the photo above, Otto is holding Jonathan and Joanna’s firstborn child, Valin.
Jonathan: How did you originally discern God’s call to go to Portugal? Otto: We had already worked for three years in Brazil and then finished our seminary training when we applied with MB Mission to go into cross-cultural ministries. After a lengthy interview, the leadership asked us whether we would consider going to Portugal to be involved in pioneer church planting. We were shocked. Marjorie: We had never thought about pioneer church planting, and we had never thought about Portugal. I didn’t even know where it was on the map. But the leadership said to us, “You pray about it for the next month and see what God will tell you.” Otto: That was a very powerful thing. We were young at the time, and immature. We thought we knew what we wanted. But we heard the voice of God through the leadership. Their confidence in us was humbling. Marjorie: Otto felt called within a week. It took me longer, but I know exactly where I was standing when God gave me the peace that both of us were called. Our calling was a combination of the invitation of MB Mission leadership, and also having people around us at home to pray about it with us, and then God confirming it to both of us separately that, yes, we were called to this. 10 | witness
Joanna: What a beautiful picture of discernment in community. What about when you arrived in Portugal, what were your greatest challenges with cross-cultural ministry? Marjorie: I would say the language. I had three young children when we arrived, so I was tired after a full day of language training. And, of course, there are so many things within a culture that you’re never taught in school. You only learn and experience these things by trial and error. But the thing that helped me most was finding places that we could go to get fresh air, like just sitting at the edge of the ocean. Those places became very special. The children would play in the sand and watch ships come into the harbor, and we would just sit there and relax. Those are things that really fed the soul. You need to find those places and activities that help you to recharge. Otto: I would agree with Marjorie. You only learn the real nuances of the culture as you goof up. You learn to pick yourself up, and dust yourself off. That’s the only way to become an incarnation of the Gospel and to understand how to live out your faith in a very practical way.
Joanna: Did your roles as missionaries change over the years? Otto: Well, in the last few years, we have not been involved in direct leadership of the churches, except in a few very small ways. The leadership is in the hands of nationals, and it’s just a blessing now for us to watch that grow and develop. But when we first arrived in Portugal, we were told that it would take about twenty-eight years to see an indigenous, autonomous church emerge. At first, we said, “That’s crazy. We’ll get it done quicker.” But doing church planting from zero was a major lesson for us. It took time to go through the process of meeting people, sharing the Gospel, discipleship, conversions, baptisms, forming a small community of believers, and developing the church. You know, we would have never chosen this, but it was an experience we will never trade. Marjorie: We had many bumps along the road. Some of the pillar leaders in the church, we walked with them for eight years before they agreed to be baptized. They were ready, and then they weren’t. They were going through this, and then that. The bottom line of your role as a missionary is to walk with people, and you only see the fruit much later in the journey. Otto: That’s the question I’ve asked myself again and again, “Who do I want to walk alongside?” For me, it was new believers who were still making mistakes but really wanted to follow Jesus. That’s been a major encouragement to me, and I think it’s key for any new missionary to find people who truly want to walk with Jesus and walk with them. We need to embrace each other and walk together, so we’re learning together. I think that’s very key in discipleship, not to ever say, “I’m going to teach you,” but rather to say, “Let’s learn together.” Jonathan: What has been the most satisfying part of your ministry over the years? Marjorie: People who have made decisions and actually stick with it and grow and become firm in the church. I remember one lady in particular, during a very difficult time in the church, she met us after the service and she said, “This is my church. Nobody’s going to get me out of my church.” When you see that commitment to the Word of God, and to meeting together in fellowship and supporting the leadership, that makes it all worthwhile. Joanna: What would be your best advice for new missionaries? Marjorie: Come with a servant’s heart and come with your ears wide open to listen to the community of believers around you, to the missionaries that are already there,
and make your decisions with them. As you come with a heart to serve and with two ears to listen, God will open up opportunities for you. Otto: I agree with Marjorie, and the other thing is to come with an attitude to learn. We need to embrace culture learning in order to understand the people. We also need to have a long-term commitment. It took about twelve years for our neighbors to realize that we were committed long term. When we would go to visit the States, they would say we weren’t coming back. But we kept coming back, and they began to welcome us home. Marjorie: I would also say, “Don’t be afraid to be a tourist.” Especially at the beginning, go to the famous places and learn to love the country. It will connect you with people because everybody wants you to love their country. And when you can say, you’ve been here, there, and everywhere, and you’ve found these beautiful places, you immediately have a connection with people. Otto: Yes, make that country proud. Make that culture proud of who they are. It will help you get into people’s hearts and lives. If you start with being critical of a culture, you’ll lose people. We realized that we weren’t there to change the culture, we were there to give people a taste of Jesus. Jonathan: What will you most miss about living in Portugal? Marjorie: The people. The beautiful places. We’re going to miss everything. We know it’s time to leave, but I have nothing but wonderful, sweet, precious thoughts and memories of my time in Portugal. Now it’s time to invest in our children and grandchildren back in the States. We’ve missed many years of their lives, and we just know it’s time. But we do look forward to when we can come back for a visit. Otto: We will miss the challenges of living out the Gospel in a very practical way in a place like Portugal. It was a very stimulating environment for us to be creative in our ministry in order to connect with people. I was constantly being pushed to look at Jesus, who came into this world to live with us as human beings for thirty years before his ministry started. He was making tables and chairs with his father. He was just working with the people, getting to know them, getting into their lives, into their hearts. We all have that same task. Marjorie: And don’t forget that there is still a great need for missionaries in Portugal. There’s a need for people to come behind us, to go and start a life there. If that is for you, God will call you and affirm it in you. multiply.net | 11
Don’t Go USA - PERU | Nikki White
“There we were, with such a strong sense of God’s calling to long-term mission in Peru,” Maricela said, “and at the same time, we were being told, ‘Don’t go!’” Pablo and Maricela Chavez have been pastoring an MB church in California for almost sixteen years. Originally from Mexico, they are familiar with the challenges of immigration and culture shock, difficulties faced by all who leave their homes, families, and communities for a new land. The words “Don’t go!” were also painfully familiar. “We began the immigration process when I was only ten,” Maricela shared. “It was rough. The worst part was facing those that we were leaving behind. To them, I was a traidora, a traitor.” In those first months in the US, Maricela would dream that she was back in Mexico and then wake up, feeling trapped. She took some comfort in knowing that all the members of her family agreed that God had called them to immigrate, and eventually settled into her new life.
Years later, Maricela met her future husband on a trip back to Mexico—a relatively new Christian named Pablo who was trying to discern the call of God upon his own life. Although it became evident that he was going to marry this beautiful lady, at first he was appalled at the thought of leaving Mexico. However, as the couple prayed, Pablo saw that the Lord was indeed leading them in this decision. “My friends were furious,” he related, “saying that all I cared about was the money. My mom was terrified. She heard so many stories of our countrymen going to the United States and becoming alcoholics or getting messed up with drugs. I promised her that I would follow Jesus, no matter what.” As he prepared to leave with Maricela, his mother gripped him and looked deeply into his eyes. “She told me, ‘Remember your promises!’” Pablo paused. “I could hardly meet her eyes. I couldn’t even face saying goodbye to my grandmother.” Not all from the Mexican community opposed their decisions. Pragmatically, many encouraged them to better themselves and pursue higher education, stability for their future children, and fruitful ministry opportunities. As a couple, they did exactly that. “To our friends and family back in Mexico, we were soon living the American dream,” Pablo smiled. “Then, God gave us a different dream.” The call to pursue full-time ministry in Peru came as a shock to their Latino community in California. “We were just responding to God’s leading,” Maricela said. “But some saw this decision as not just foolish, but ungrateful. Again, I was a traidora.” Even her own father and sister were upset, urging them to reconsider.
Maricela and Pablo Chavez, mobilizing to Peru
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“I could understand their hurt,” Maricela added. “My dad sacrificed so much for our family to be established here in the US. It must have seemed like we were just throwing it all away like so much garbage—education, house, car, jobs, ministry. My mother was quiet for months. We were taking her grandchildren away!”
Pablo faced challenges of his own, as the church he had been pastoring voiced their hurt and confusion. They wanted to know if they had done something wrong, or if Pablo was no longer happy with them. Many felt that they were about to be abandoned by the pastor who had so impacted their lives. “Why are you leaving us?” they asked, “Stay!”
The growth process continued to be messy. “But life is always messy!” Pablo said. “Sometimes, we wonder how we can leave in the middle of the mess. Then we remember that Jesus is calling all of us, calling us to Peru and calling the church here to reach their own neighborhood.”
Pablo and Maricela heard the love and longing behind the words, even as they gently disengaged themselves from leadership in the fall of 2020. They worked diligently to identify and establish a transitional pastoral team. “We told the church, we are not leaving you,” Pablo said. “You are sending us!”
For Pablo and Maricela, whether the cry of “Don’t go!” is tender and yearning, or critical and confused, it will always be drowned out by God’s call to “Go!”
The ensuing months were rocky, as Pablo and the new leadership team navigated the transition. At times he felt guilty for causing such a disruption in the church he loved. “But as a church, we have also learned a lot,” he said. “We began to see some patterns that needed to be changed, and our interactions with Multiply exposed us to healthy leadership models, eldership governance, and community discernment. We are all growing together.”
P R AY / G IVE Please pray for churches in North America as they help their people discern the call and send them into global service. To become a part of the support team for Pablo and Maricela Chavez, go to multiply.net/chavez
T WO V I DE OS A BO UT DISCE RNING TH E CALL MY NEXT YES
Travis Jost worked at a bank in Kansas before God called him to serve long-term with Multiply in Burundi, Africa.
S U RR EN D ER
In this gripping video about radical obedience, Travis recalls his comfortable life in America and says, “My biggest fear was that I was going to miss what God had for me.”
This second video explores the reality of sacrifice and surrender not only for those like Travis Jost who are sent into missionary service, but also for those like his twin brother, Bruce Jost, who send their loved ones and release them into God’s care. The Jost family was put to the test recently when Travis faced a debilitating illness while serving in Africa.
Follow Travis on his emotional journey of surrender, life change, and overseas service.
Watch how both brothers were able to surrender to God in the midst of hardship and declare their trust in him.
To watch “My Next Yes” go to
To watch “Surrender” go to
multiply.net/story/my-next-yes
multiply.net/story/surrender multiply.net | 13
When the Sent are Sent Away GERMANY - UKRAINE | Nikki White
Kateryna Oliferovski was completing a church internship in Dortmund, Germany, when the war in her Ukrainian homeland began. She is still there. “It was supposed to be a short mission trip,” Kateryna explained. “I felt that God was sending me to Germany, to serve the church and help bring the light of the Gospel. Then suddenly, I could not leave.” She called her parents when the invasion was imminent, wanting to fly home right away. Instead, she was told to stay where she was, which was not easy for her to accept. When all flights were cancelled, it was like a door closing in her face. Before long, there would be thousands feeling this same sense of loss, being sent away to other countries for their own safety. 14 | witness
Her parents, Maxym and Anya, said they were going to remain in their city of Zaporizhzhia for as long as they could, together with other staff from the New Hope Center, a ministry to families in crisis that was, they knew, about to encompass a crisis beyond comprehension. “I didn’t want them to stay,” Kateryna said. “Then I remembered that when I was small, my mom and dad never forced me to do anything. They let me make my own decisions. This is their decision. But it is hard.” This is not the first time that Kateryna has spent a significant time away from home. At age twenty, she sensed God sending her to Canada for one year of service with Mennonite Central Committee. During that year, her parents were also in Canada, but in a different province, going
through FOCUS training with Multiply. They were at least able to spend a few weeks together in British Columbia and, knowing that her parents were in the same country and that their time apart was temporary, made Kateryna’s homesickness easier to bear.
When I finally met her, it felt so strange to see her in this context. Suddenly, the war was real, not just images on a screen.” In the end, the two friends embraced, drawing strength from a grief shared. Together, they have also found courage to dream again about the future.
“Now it is different,” she said. “When will we be together? I try not to think about the future. I can think only about today. This moment, today, they are safe. Okay. Today is good.”
“Next to the little cabin outside of the city where my parents are sheltering,” Kateryna said, “there is a plot of land. My mom and dad talk about building there when the war is over. A restoration and recovery center, where traumatized people can come and be in nature. I really want that. I want to go back. I want it more now because I know that I cannot go back. I want to go and restore what is broken.”
She hopes her training as an art therapist will help children process the trauma of being refugees. Waves of loneliness hit her at random moments. Seeing children playing in Dortmund, she misses her work with children at the New Hope Center in Ukraine. She sees spring flowers and misses the hills of her hometown. She sees people on the street and misses seeing the people of Zaporizhzhia strolling along leisurely and chatting in coffee shops. “They are not doing that now.”
Recently, Kateryna posted a photo of herself to social media, standing in a field of purple flowers in Germany. Under the photo, she wrote, “During war, smiles seem inappropriate. Beautiful places seem to be a reason for envy… I would like to have this beauty, not only for a moment, but always. I would like to enjoy the sun on my native land, fully confident about tomorrow. But I only have this moment. A state of calm that sometimes I can’t explain. It’s not permanent.” “But when it fills me,” she said, “hope comes into my heart.”
“Oh, and I miss teatime,” she added, suddenly brighter. “Every evening, dad makes it for us. He calls me, ‘Katya! Come for tea!’ and offers me a choice: chamomile, which mom likes, or black, which he likes.” She smiled. “Sometimes he would leave it for me in a thermos, if I was going to be coming home late.” The smile faded as she remembered the taste, wondering when she would have tea with them again. Kateryna knows that her parents want her to stay in Germany, but she has struggled at times to find meaning in still being there. Her sense of mission is re-emerging since she accepted a job working with Ukrainian refugee children at a local school. She hopes her training as an art therapist will help children process the trauma of being refugees. “I know how they feel,” she said. “At first you feel guilty. It feels unfair to be here, safe and fed, while back in Ukraine they are scared, hiding. It feels really wrong. It feels wrong to even be happy.” This tension was very present when she heard that other refugees from a neighboring church in Molochansk were soon to arrive in Germany. At first Kateryna felt happy and excited at the prospect of seeing some of her friends. Then she felt anxious. “When I found out my best friend was coming with this group, I was almost afraid to see her,” Kateryna admitted. “How would we be? What would we talk about? She was not coming to have some fun adventure, but to be a refugee.
Oliferovskis before the war, together in Ukraine
P R AY Please pray for Kateryna in Germany and for her parents, Maxym and Anya Oliferovski, in Ukraine, where they have converted the New Hope Center into a shelter for refugees. Staff and volunteers who have chosen to stay behind are caring for the traumatized and helping those who are on a journey to safety across the border. To read more about Max and Anya’s response to the war in Ukraine, go to multiply.net/story/a-healing-ear For recent updates about Multiply’s response to the war in Ukraine, including prayer requests and giving opportunities, go to multiply.net/ukraine-in-crisis multiply.net | 15
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