Kauffman has extensive local and international mission experience serving most recently as VMM global ministries director and advancement associate since 2011. A seven-member search committee of members began their work in June 2013, and recommended Kauffman to the VMM Board.

Phyllis Miller, chair of the VMM Board states, “We are delighted with Aaron’s selection as president. His unanimous selection by the Board indicates a trust level in his leadership along with a proven track record as global ministries director. We are grateful to God for this servant leader he has given us to lead VMM for this next period of time.”

Kauffman will follow Loren Horst, who has served since 2002 as VMM president. Loren and his wife, Earlene, will be considering future VMM mission assignments after he concludes his current role on December 31, 2013. He states, “I am very pleased with the selection of Aaron Kauffman. Aaron is relationally warm, missiologically sound, and administratively competent. He combines mission passion with a deep faith in Jesus and love for the entire church. Aaron’s mission experience and proven leadership have prepared him well for this additional responsibility. I offer my full and prayerful support.”

Growing up in Pennsylvania, and attending , Mountville, Pa., Kauffman recounts learning a mission-minded way of living through the congregation’s refugee ministry, active youth group and mentoring relationships with church members, including mission leader, David Shenk of . As a result, he eagerly participated in local and international short-term mission experiences while a high-school and college student.

After completing a bachelor of arts in at 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ), he finished a MA in TESOL and bilingual education at Georgetown University in 2003. Following two years as an ESL teacher in , he and his wife Laura were jointly appointed by VMM and and served from 2005-2008 in La Mesa, Colombia, as church youth group leaders, members of a church planting team, and as a teacher and a nurse, respectively, at the local Mennonite school.

Upon returning to Harrisonburg, Va., to attend seminary, he became curriculum coordinator of the at 91����Ƶ while also teaching university courses in language instruction and methodology. He completed a in 2012. He has since taught undergraduate courses in as adjunct professor at 91����Ƶ.

Upon his selection, Kauffman notes, “It is truly an honor to be asked to serve Virginia Mennonite Missions in this way. With God’s help and the church’s prayerful support, I look forward to continuing VMM’s legacy of faithful witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. It is an exciting time to be part of what God is doing around the world through the church.”

Aaron and Laura Kauffman are members of , Broadway, Va., a congregation of Virginia Mennonite Conference. They have four children, Abigail, 8, Sophie, 6, Asher, 3, and David, 3 months. Laura Michelle Souder Kauffman completed a at 91����Ƶ in 2002 and has worked as a maternal health nurse. She is currently a member of a VMM Ministry Support Team and a stay-at-home mother. Their parents are Paul and Donna Souder, Harrisonburg, Va. and Dennis and Rose Kauffman, Lancaster, Pa.

Virginia Mennonite Missions was formed in 1919, with headquarters in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Now with a budget of $2.5 million, its mission is to invite people to faithful living in Jesus Christ by forming and enabling congregations and individuals to continue God’s reconciling work in the world. Approximately 75 persons serve in 16 countries including the United States in the areas of disciple-making and church planting, education, leadership development, deaf ministry, refugee ministry and urban ministry.

Article courtesy Virginia Mennonite Missions, Oct. 21, 2013

Sunny skies prevailed and temperatures topped out at 85 degrees by the height of the sale early Saturday afternoon. Activities began Friday evening, Oct. 4, at the with nearly 1,000 volunteers giving of their time, talents and toil.

This year’s sale netted about $303,456 for the worldwide relief and service program of the . Last year’s effort raised a record $307,000.

Declared a huge success

“It was a great day and a huge success, thanks to the volunteers and persons who came to spend their money to support the work of MCC,” said Dave Rush of Harrisonburg, relief sale chair.

“We expect that once all reports are finalized that more funds will be forwarded to MCC than last year, as some of our operating expenses were down and we received some additional sponsor money this year,” he added.

The money raised included $25,404 – down slightly from last year’s $30,737 – from the annual “Penny Power” project, in which area congregations, schools, homes and businesses collect coins and currency in large water jugs for weeks and bring their containers to the sale for sorting and tabulating done by employees of .

in Harrisonburg headed the list of 37 participating congregations with $3,057.76, followed by with $2,262.91 and , Lyndhurst, with $1,761.57.

The final Penny Power total is expected to be higher with some matching funds and other gifts expected to come in, according to Rush.

Penny Power funds will be divided equally between Mennonite Central Committee and . The money will assist partner organizations in numerous places around the world that are helping to meet the needs of thousands of displaced people, supporting work in places like Ecuador, Haiti, Indonesia, Jordan and Thailand.

$5,000 more raised by auction of handcrafted items

The annual auction of handmade quilts, wall hangings, knotted comforters and afghans, artwork and wooden handcrafted items accounted for $117,603 of the total funds raised, up more than $5,000 over last year.

The highest bid item at the auction was a “Lincoln’s Platform” wall hanging, appliqued and pieced by Carolyn Bontrager of Harrisonburg and quilted by Charlotte Swope of Linville that went for $4,500.

A 90” x 108” off-white feathers and star quilt completed by 94-year-old Anna May Burkholder of Waynesboro took the highest quilt bid of $4,000. Burkholder has made a quilt every year except one since the sale began in 1967; this was her last. Sixteen quilts went for $1,000 or more.

A Shaker-style slant top walnut writing desk on frame, made of walnut with oiled finish by Norman Lambert of North Carolina, was sold for $3,500.

The homemade glazed donut operation got under way at 3 a.m. Saturday, with 14,500 of the confectionary delights sold out by half past noon.

Other popular food items included 180 gallons of Brunswick stew made on the premises by members of and Mountain View Mennonite churches in Augusta County, 3,500 barbecued chicken halves, chili, Laotian and Indian dishes, chicken corn soup, homemade potato chips, caramel popcorn, apple butter and fresh cider.

“We had a great Friday evening, followed by a beautiful, although very warm, Saturday,” Rush said. “I saw a lot of people having a fun time together. It was a great experience in community-building.”

And that’s what gives relief sale chairman Dave a major rush.

Matthew Bucher and Greta Shenk are teaming up with to help Christians learn more about Egypt through a two-week “Partners in Mission” trip, June 11-24, 2013.

“I want us to deepen our understanding of a country we only see for 30 seconds at a time in the news,” said Bucher, who is dual enrolled in 91����Ƶ’s Seminary and Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

Shenk, a 2010 91����Ƶ grad with a degree in teaching English, said that Egypt “is often portrayed in ways that are distancing and off-putting, but we are hoping to help Christians connect with our brothers and sisters there and experience some of our similarities.”

Bucher and Shenk will lead “Walking the Nile,” spending time in Cairo, Anafora, Beni Suef and Il-Qosseya.

“Our goal is not to try to see everything there is to see,” said Bucher. “We want this to be a pilgrimage, which is primarily about meeting people, learning about the world of Christianity and deepening discipleship.”

Bucher and Shenk, who have both lived in Egypt, have organized the trip around experiencing different languages, cultures and locations, as well as a variety of worship services.

Shenk spent a year with teaching classes in Cairo and Beni Suef. Bucher spent four years in Egypt with MCC, mostly working with a Coptic Orthodox diocese, where he facilitated peacebuilding trainings, taught English and networked with MCC partners.

“I learned in Egypt that the best peacebuilding comes out of being rooted in faith,” said Bucher. “The best peacebuilders I met were that way because they loved Christ and engaged others with creativity and compassion.”

To learn more about “Walking the Nile,” visit or call Matthew Bucher at 717-644-2078. One elective seminary credit may be earned for the study tour.

“My parents always tithed, plus,” says Paul, referring to giving more than the biblical standard of 10 percent of one’s income. “They were farmers when I was growing up… I remember them borrowing money to support the missionaries until their wheat check came in.” After Paul’s father stopped farming in mid-life, he shifted to pastoring and then (late in life) to fundraising for 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ).

Carol’s parents were also farmers and they too tithed religiously. “In every way, we’ve been blessed,” she says. “How can we not give?”

Paul cites a favorite quotation: “It is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

After 48 years of marriage, these 1963 graduates of 91����Ƶ exude a sense of comfortable companionship. They wait respectfully in joint conversations, making space for the other to wrap up his or her set of sentences, before offering a new thought.

He is an eye surgeon; she used to be an operating room nurse. They live in a large all-brick house on a hill overlooking their own lake on the outskirts of Harrisonburg. But the Yoders’ demeanor is unassuming—one could almost see each of them helping with haying or hanging out the laundry, way back when.

After decades of quietly funneling large sums to many worthy projects in the Harrisonburg area—and to some outside of the region—Carol and Paul have at last  allowed themselves to be publicly recognized this year as the “Philanthropists of the Year” by the Shenandoah chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

What induced them to step into the spotlight? “We do understand the power of examples of philanthropy in encouraging others to give,” says Yoder. “And we are finally off all of the local boards on which we have served.”

When one or the other of them was on the governing committee of Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Eastern Mennonite High School, 91����Ƶ, Park View Church, Virginia Mission Board and a local bank, the Yoders felt that “detractors might say we were using our positions for personal gain or power—to push our own agenda.” They also wanted their two daughters—Liesel and Nicole—to be able to blend into the student population at their Mennonite schools and colleges, rather than being perceived as offspring of one of the institutions’ underwriters. So they simply gave without fanfare.

The Yoders began their lifelong commitment to cross-cultural service when they went to Nepal in 1968. Needing to do alternative service as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Paul chose to work as a newly minted physician—he was between his internship and residency—under the United Mission to Nepal. When Carol and Paul returned home in three years later, they were carrying Liesel, adopted in Nepal.

91����Ƶ a decade later—after Paul’s practice was established and their children were in elementary school—Carol read a book about Medical Ministry International (MMI), which had begun with a small group of volunteer eye surgeons. Paul and Carol signed on and have been on at least one service trip per year for a quarter of a century.

Paul explains the ripple effects of the program: “We started going to Ethiopia six years ago. We met two Ethiopian doctors in their first year of surgical residency—they came to us and said they wanted to be ophthalmologists. We [MMI] sent them to the Dominican Republic for a four-and-a-half-year training program. Then they went back and we helped them set up a clinic. The next time I went to Ethiopia, I was assisting them!”

Carol explains that “MMI serves the world’s poor by trying to lay the groundwork for lasting solutions to their lack of medical care.”

Though fit and active, both Yoders feel that it is time at age 70 to step aside from almost all of their public responsibilities, making room for a younger generation to step up. Paul enjoys running, golf, tennis and skiing. Carol ran miles daily until age 69 and now simply walks strenuously. The secret of their robust health? “You just have to keep moving,” says Carol.

Paul is a member of 91����Ƶ’s Commission for the Sciences, which is leading an initiative to renovate and enlarge the Suter Science Center.

Daniel B. Suter, professor emeritus of and developer of the at 91����Ƶ, died Dec. 24, 2006, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community where he was a resident. He was 86.

Dr. Suter joined the science department at 91����Ƶ in 1948 and eventually became head of the biology department and pre-med advisor. He retired in 1985.

, completed in 1967, was named after Suter “in recognition of his leadership in the development of the school’s science/pre-medical program and his influence among students during his teaching years.”

Doctor of the Year

During his tenure, 91����Ƶ students had an acceptance rate of more than 85 percent into medical, dental and veterinary schools, well above the national average of 40-50 percent. He was named “Doctor of the Year” in 1985 by the Mennonite Medical Association and the Mennonite Nurses’ Association.

The board of trustees of 91����Ƶ established the Dr. Daniel B. Suter Endowed Biology Chair on Sept. 19, 1986 in honor of his distinguished teaching career and “contributions to academic excellence and the highest standards of personal and spiritual maturity in the .”

Dr. Roman J. Miller, who joined the 91����Ƶ faculty in 1985, was named first appointee to the Suter Chair.

“When I arrived at 91����Ƶ as an associate professor of biology, Dr. Suter was gracious and helpful as I began teaching some courses that he had taught and assumed premedical advising responsibilities in a program that he had largely developed,” Dr. Miller said. “Through his excellence in teaching and carefulness in advising students, Dr. Suter created a legacy of influential premedical training.”

Dr. Daniel B. Suter and wife Grace at Daniel’s 80th birthday party, April 2000, in the Suter Science Center.

Servant of the Church

Suter was ordained a minister in Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1951 and served as pastor of Gospel Hill Mennonite Church and later Weavers Mennonite Church in Rockingham County. He also served the broader church as a visiting minister and teacher. He spoke in many settings on the harmful effects of alcohol use and abuse on the body and on “the biology of aging.”

He served as secretary of Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions and as a board member of both Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) and VMRC.

Suter was a skilled woodworker and strong advocate of church music, promoting singing from the “Harmonia Sacra,” a songbook edited and first published by Joseph Funk of Singers Glen, Va., in 1832.

Suter was a graduate of Eastern Mennonite High School, Eastern Mennonite College, Bridgewater College, Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Virginia, where he received a Ph.D. in neuroanatomy in 1963.

Divine Placement

91����Ƶ President Loren Swartzendruber noted that Suter was offered a faculty position at UVa. at three times the salary that 91����Ƶ had paid him. Suter felt compelled to return to 91����Ƶ because “I believed that’s where the Lord wanted me to be.”

Asked if he had any regrets, his response was “No, not really, although it was difficult at times. I’m grateful when I think about the more than 300 physicians, dentists, and other health care workers who are serving all over the world that I helped to train.”

He married the former Grace Fisher on June 23, 1941, who preceded him in death on Dec. 8, 2003. He is survived by two daughters, two sons, one sister, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held Dec. 29, 2006 at Strite Auditorium of VMRC, with internment at Weavers Mennonite Church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daniel B. Suter Endowed Chair at 91����Ƶ, 1200 Park Rd., Harrisonburg, VA 22802 or online at or by phoning (800) 368-3383.

Representatives of 13 church-related service organizations will have displays set up in the Campus Center Greeting Hall and are available to talk with students and area residents about openings with their agencies.

Programs represented will include Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa.; Mennonite Board of Missions, Elkhart, Ind; Eastern Mennonite Missions, Salunga, Pa.; Presbyterian Church USA; Mennonite Disaster Service; Lutheran Volunteer Corps; Serving With Appalachian People and Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions.

A group of 91����Ƶ professors and students who have been in mission/service assignments will hold a panel discussion 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 13, in the Campus Center Greeting Hall. A Peace Corp information session will be held 5 p.m. that day, also in the Campus Center.

Walter Caballos, a pastor and trauma healing specialist representing Justpaz, a justice and peace ministry of the Mennonite Church in Columbia, Central America, will speak at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 in the Common Grounds coffeehouse in the University Commons.

The event is coordinated by 91����Ƶ

Service agencies and organizations will have displays set up in the Campus Center Greeting Hall through noon Wednesday and are available to talk with students and area residents about openings with their programs.

Programs represented will include: Lutheran Volunteer Corps, , Mennonite Central Committee, Eastern Mennonite Missions, Mennonite Mission Network, Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions and .

91����Ƶ President Loren E. Swartzendruber will give a chapel address on the topic, "What is Your Calling?" 10 a.m. Wed., Oct. 12, in Lehman Auditorium in keeping with the service theme.

The event is coordinated by 91����Ƶ

Representatives of 10 service organizations will have displays set up in the Campus Center Greeting Hall through noon Wednesday and are available to talk with students and area residents about openings with their programs.

Programs represented will include:

• , Akron, Pa.
• , Elkhart, Ind.
• , Salunga, Pa.
• Innisfree, Crozet, Va., a community for persons with disabilities
• , home repair among disadvantaged people
• Metro Youth for Christ, Maryland

The event is coordinated by 91����Ƶ