The following are stories from Disciple missionaries working for the Division of Overseas Ministries in countries around the world.

Click on the Photos to enlarge.

Greetings from way south of the equator where it is really COLD!  God has called me to be like a dandelion, vulnerable yet hardy, exposed and weak yet strong, chopped down and picked out and yet always coming back. I love to blow my twirling seeds and watch new dandelions sprinkle the lawn ... more trouble after cut than before! Like the dandelion I can't help but bring joy to children, trouble to a perfectly green lawn, a dab of sunshine to a crack in a concrete slab, and the gifts of a quiet teacher to those who thirst to learn. I do what I do because, like the dandelion, it is how I dance in harmony with creation, creatures and Creator.

Elena Huegel
June 27th, 2001

Elena has been a missionary since 1993, serving in Paraguay and Chile, currently with the Pentecostal Church of Chile (a Disciples partner), based in Curico, as a youth worker and partnership enabler.

I am a missionary partly because it teaches me about humility and grace. Living with people from other cultures reminds me of the richness and diversity of God's creation and especially of the depths of the faith of the poor. I am also blessed to be able to be a cross-cultural person, a sojourner, living with and learning from people who are different from me. This gives me a critical perspective about my own culture and about myself, and has enriched my life immeasurably. I am further blessed to be able to serve my church - not only my own church but the world church - through various avenues of ministry. My involvement in theological education for many years has deepend my own faith through exposure to the many exciting ways in which people from other cultures do theology and live out their faith.

Shalom, Lydia Johnson

Lydia has been a missionary since 1979, serving in Jamaica, the Fiji Islands, South Africa, and currently in New Zealand. She has her two daughters with her and serves as Assistant Director of Pacific Theological College Education by Extension (PTCEE) (a Disciples partner), and is editor of PTC publications.

I enjoy doing mission work because it provides an opportunity for me to travel away from home and help those around the world who are less fortunate than myself. Mission work allows me to see and experience cultures and people with backgrounds different than my own, while providing much needed work in my field of social work. Through my experiences, I feel that I gain just as much, or more, than what I feel I'm able to give- but it's seen as a win/win situation!

Thanks, Barton Hanna, MSW Cape Town, South Africa

Barton has been a Global Mission Intern since January 2000, serving with the Cape Town Mission (a Disciples partner) in Cape Town, South Africa, as a social worker in the child and youth department.

As missionaries, our world view is enhanced as we learn about a new culture and see the world through the eyes of someone else.  We grow as individuals and as a family thereby receiving far more than we give.  Life is an adventure everyday as we are challenged to think outside our own "norms."

Reverend Scott E. Couper and Reverend Susan M. Valiquette

Rev. Couper and Valiquette are Disciple missionaries in Africa.