100 faces of MCC
The fall cover of MCC's magazine, A Common Place, illustrates the vital role that people and relationships have played in MCC's 100 years of ministry to share God's love and compassion for all in the name of Christ.
MCC is people. Nothing we do in the name of Christ would be possible without the hope, faith and support of all of you who give of your time, money and prayers; of partners who carry out life-changing projects; of MCC workers in locations at home and around the world; and of project participants who put their own skills, perseverance and creativity toward improving their lives and their communities.
This compilation, created by MCC designer Abby Dixon and used on the fall cover of MCC's magazine A Common Place, is a tiny sample of the thousands of people who have helped change lives through MCC over the last 100 years. We know there are so many more faces to show and so many more stories to be told. Will you share yours? Upload photos, videos or short accounts at mcc.org/share-your-story.
Second row: Oroba Alshahwan, staff in school with improved water system, Jordan, 2018; Victoria Mamani Sirpa, greenhouse project, Bolivia, 2018; Dorcus Birhonoka, student, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2020; Chim Thoeun, agricultural cooperative, Cambodia, 2019; Grace Umwiza, culinary arts student, Rwanda, 2018; Ibrahim Ali Mohammad Khamis, West Bank villager, Palestine and Israel, 2018; Edna Ruth Byler, sparked pioneering fair trade enterprise that grew into Ten Thousand Villages (originally part of MCC), U.S., 1964; Wipi Menai, International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP), Indonesia, 2014; Mbege Menasse, displaced by violence, Nigeria, 2014; Orie Miller, early leader, U.S., 1920s.
Third row: Rev. Ibrahim Nsier, distributes emergency assistance, Syria, 2014; George Klassen, worker who developed rower pump, Bangladesh, 1979; Titus Peachey, worker who helped arrange for removal of unexploded ordnance in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, U.S., 2015; Remas (last name not used for security reasons), Syrian refugee, Jordan, 2015; Abdoul Rashid Zerbo, student, Burkina Faso, 2016; Maryam Ali, goat project, Ethiopia, 2016; Aleksandr Dmitriyenko, received comforter, Ukraine, 2016; Anna Janzen, worked in relief kitchens, southern Russia (present-day Ukraine), 1920s; Joan Heller, Great Winter Warm-up comforter-making event, U.S., 2020; Brajiÿ Zivko, post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2000.
Fourth row: Soba Bika Sunchiuri, nutrition and agriculture training, Nepal, 2017; Damica Spamovic, chicken project, Croatia, 1998; Joe Haines, Pax program, West Bank, Palestine and Israel, 1960; Sladjana Todonc, Croatian refugee, Serbia, 1998; Giffrah (full name not known), needlework program, West Bank, Palestine and Israel, 1950s; Lois Gunden, children’s home worker who sheltered Jewish children, France, 1940s; Issa Ebombolo, founder of peace clubs, Zambia, 2011; Murisela del Carmen, school kits, Nicaragua, 2005; Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali, program partner, Iran, 2014; Zola Davis, home built by Mennonite Disaster Service, then part of MCC, U.S., 1975.
Fifth row: Floyd F. Yoder, Civilian Public Service; U.S., 1942; Aumul Banin, student, Afghanistan, 2015; Leroy Stoltzfus, staff and board member, U.S., 2020; Kenneth Erb, Pax program, Bolivia, 1968; Michelle Armster, executive director, MCC Central States, U.S., 2018; Saraya Mbuyi, children’s center, South Africa, 2017; Eileen Klassen Hamm, executive director, MCC Saskatchewan, Canada, 2015; Name not known, Rwandan refugee, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1994; Rodrigo Victorino Morales, cistern and greenhouse project, Mexico, 2006; Kayaya Lulula Clementine, support group for older refugees, South Africa, 2017.
Sixth row: Name not known, school kits, Angola, 2002; Ruth Yoder, worker and nurse, Vietnam, 1966; Leonard Dow, staff and board member, U.S., 2010; Joseph Kondziola, thrift shop volunteer, U.S., 2019; Name not known, Christmas bundle recipient, Republic of Korea, 1958; Annetta Miller, long-time worker, Sudan, 1994; Jane Gou, peace project, South Sudan 2012; Antonio de León de la Cruz, student, Guatemala, 2016; Name not known, emergency assistance, Burundi, 1994; Jack Knox, volunteer and advocate, U.S., 2017.
Seventh row: Oswaldo Vera, Venezuelan refugee, Ecuador, 2020; Harriet Sider Bicksler, board member, U.S., 1999; Clayton Kratz, died while serving with MCC, southern Russia (present-day Ukraine), 1920s; Nezaheit Rraci, assistance for refugees, Albania, 1999; Jocabeth Canoles, youth leader, Colombia, 2017; Ambora Pallangyo, health project, Tanzania, 2012; John Bhattacharjee, project coordinator, India, 2018; Guadalupe Felix, peace project, Mexico, 2013; John Hostetler, served more than six decades, U.S., 1961; Derek D'Silva, staff and leader, Bangladesh, 2012.
Eighth row: Kawthar Abed, relief kit, Iraq, 2007; Jean Baptist Enid, savings group, Haiti, 2018; Tristan Pries, meat canning crew, U.S., 2019; Papayon Adji, water project, Chad, 2019; Name not known, Spanish refugee, France, 1941; Maheshwar Pujari, irrigation project, India, 2017; Vincent Harding, program director in Atlanta, U.S., 1963; Ocius Mèus, cistern restoration, Haiti, 2017; Catia Deudata Giménez Lorenzo, teacher training, Paraguay, 2019; Name not known, agriculture project, Greece, 1959.
Ninth row: Maya Panduya, HIV and AIDS support group, Nepal, 2009; Vesta Zook, worker, Turkey, 1920s; Gulab Begum, student, India, 2004; Antrennet Remilous, water project, Haiti, 2017; Batire Gujo, had child in feeding program, Ethiopia, 2003; Aubrey Strasbaugh, relief kit packing, U.S., 2018; Mariam Tulito, food assistance, Kenya, 2018; Doris Janzen Longacre, More-with-Less Cookbook author, U.S., 1978; Leah Wang, peace partner, China, 2011; Ndabenhle Ncube, Brethren in Christ partner, Zimbabwe, 2020.
Tenth row: Name not known, food assistance, Italy, 1940s; Molita Nacuduzi, well project, Mozambique, 2019; Ky Stoltzfus, Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program, Philippines, 1998; Salem Abdalah Khrisha, partner, Jordan, 2018; Miriam Stoltzfus, Teachers Abroad Program (TAP), Kenya, 1967; Isita Chambugong, student, Bangladesh, 2017; Name not used for security reasons, kitchen garden project, Afghanistan, 2018; Rev. Juan Marrero, Philadelphia pastor whose church distributed food in COVID-19 response, U.S., 2020; Laura Litwiller, long-time worker, Ethiopia, 1988; Cilana Louissine, cholera prevention, Haiti, 2018.
MCC uses full names when possible. Some names were not known; others were not used for security reasons.
