wfn.org | Young adult becomes Christian

[BethAH <BethAH@mbm.org>]

July 11, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>
July 11, 2001

Young adult becomes Christian during short-term mission trip

ELKHART, Ind. (MBM/CHM)  A friend from First Mennonite Church in
Berne, Ind., persisted in inviting Josh Stevens to the churchs
youth group.  I finally accepted because you cant keep saying
no forever, Stevens said.  I probably wouldnt have returned
except that the music was great.  I wanted a chance to prove that
I was a better guitarist than the one in the worship band!

During spring break of Stevens senior year of high school, First
Mennonites youth group planned to go to Florida for a short-term
mission project.  Although faith usually precedes participation
in mission, First Mennonite invited Stevens, a skeptical
newcomer, to join them.

While working with a Habitat for Humanity project in an
African-American neighborhood near Polk City, Fla., the young
people organized games with the kids.  As they shared a snack
afterward, an old woman came to them with tears in her eyes.
Ive never seen anything like this, she said.  Weve always
taught our kids that white people are devils.

This womans words made a deep impression on me, Stevens said.
I was amazed that small acts of caring touched people so
deeply.

One night after evening worship at Camp Gilead, where the Berne
youth were staying, Stevens wandered out on the pier to look at
the stars.  I realized that God was passionate about knowing
me.  I accepted Christ into my life, he said.  I came away with
an assurance that life could be different than what I had known.

After a year in college, Stevens joined RAD (Reaching and
Discipling)1, where he had three months of training at the Great
Lakes Discipleship Center near Fort Wayne, Ind., in preparation
for the next eight months that he spent in Mexico.
Mike Schneider, GLDC chair, had noticed Stevens gifts and
invited Stevens to his congregation, the Maranatha Mennonite
Chapel in Nappanee, Ind., where Stevens has been youth pastor to
14-20 kids since August 2000.

One day as Stevens drove past MBMs Elkhart office, God nudged
him to apply for a job.  Several weeks later, he was called in to
do temporary secretarial work.  In February, Stevens began to
work four days each week as an administrative assistant in
Partnership and Development Services, which works with conference
and congregational relations.

Stevens has the impression that God is preparing him for his next
ministry.  His real passion is to plant churches in countries
that havent heard the gospel.

* * *

Lynda Hollinger-Janzen      PHOTO AVAILABLE

1 RAD is a partnership that involves Anabaptist-related
congregations in the Great Lakes area, Mennonite conferences,
MBM, the Commission on Home Ministries (General Conference
Mennonite Church) and the Evangelical Mennonite Church in Fort
Wayne.