Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Call to Ministry Stories

Saying “Yes”

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Where did my call to ministry begin? Was it when I invited Jesus into my heart in secret at the age of four? Was it when my parents read me missionary biographies, and I proclaimed that I too wanted to be a missionary? Or when I decided to be baptized at 12? Was it when I asked my grandfather to teach me Greek at age 15? Or during my five months in Chile with Eastern Mennonite Missions’s YES program and learned that overseas missions is not my calling yet I can participate in God’s mission anywhere?

I’m not sure when the call began, but I remember the moments when I began to say “yes” to God’s call to pastoring. 

Michelle Curtis, co-pastor of Ambler (PA) Mennonite Church. Photo provided by Michelle Curtis.

I said “yes” the summer I finally realized my childhood dream of becoming a camp counselor at Spruce Lake Wilderness Camp. I had just finished my first year at Messiah College, majoring in Bible. I loved planning Bible studies for each age group. I delighted in engaging my campers’ questions and sharing what I had learned. When I wrote to my pastor, Sandy Drescher-Lehman, to tell her all about it, she responded, “You’re doing ministry!” I was not convinced. But I kept pondering her words. Maybe, just maybe, my love for teaching the Bible had something to do with ministry. 

I said “yes” two summers later in an internship at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. I did not want to be a pastor. But I did want to go to seminary, so following  Pastor Sandy around for ten hours a week didn’t seem like a bad idea. 

Pastor Sandy sent me to the Friendship Sunday School class, a self-described group of women ages 70+. They embraced me as an earnest 21 year-old, and gave me the honor of teaching them. I soon realized that teaching meant I got to ask all the questions and then soak in their wisdom – wisdom that came from decades of reading the Bible as their beloved friend. Their “yes” to me helped me keep saying “yes” to becoming a teacher of the Bible.

I said “yes” when I went to Anabaptist Biblical Mennonite Seminary (AMBS), dreaming of future Ph.D. work and teaching. But I discovered I was far more interested in taking “electives” like Foundations of Worship and Preaching. I agonized over whether to switch M.Div. concentrations from an academic track to a pastoral one. 

Michelle Curtis with her husband, Jacob. Photo provided by Michelle Curtis.

I remember the day Jewel Gingerich Longenecker, Dean of Lifelong Learning at AMBS, told me that my deep, theological mind was not only acceptable for a pastor but a gift to the church. I would not have to stop thinking and reading and dabbling in the academic world to be a pastor! In that light, pastoring began to seem possible.

I said “yes” on a Tuesday in March when the first crocuses had just bloomed. After a full day of leading worship in chapel and then communion in class, something was shifting inside me. As I walked home, the sun shone on my face and joy bubbled up inside. I heard the Holy Spirit whispering in me, “I am a pastor. I am a pastor!” Eventually I heard the specific call to pastoring. Finally, I accepted, “Yes, I am a pastor.” Then I breathed, “Thank you.” And, “Help!” 

Those “yeses” paved the way for many more yeses that have led me to the joy of co-pastoring with my husband, Jacob, at Ambler (PA) Mennonite Church, where we continue to say, “Thank you Holy Spirit for leading us here!” And, “Help us serve you faithfully!”

Calling to Ministry

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God has been calling me into pastoral ministry since … I don’t even know. Since I was born? Or before? It’s just taken me most of my life to accept it. 

I’m a missionary kid. My parents, Joe and Linda Liechty, left their home in Goshen, IN, to serve with the Mennonite Board of Missions in Dublin, Ireland. There, they formed a little Christian community that lived and worshiped in a dilapidated house in the inner city. That house was my first home, and that community was my first church. 

Jacob Curtis, co-pastor of Ambler (PA) congregation engages in discussion. Photo provided by Jacob Curtis.

I grew up in Dublin, trying to make sense of who I was. My parents were Americans. So, did that make me an American? I didn’t feel like one. I’d never lived in the US. I went to school with Irish kids. All of my friends were Irish. If you asked me, I would have said I was Irish too. 

And yet, I was aware that there was something different about me. It wasn’t always obvious, but it came out. Like the time the neighborhood kids were playing cops and robbers —hiding behind parked cars, making guns with their index fingers, pretending to shoot at each other. I knew from my parents that Mennonites were pacifists, and that meant I couldn’t shoot anyone, or even pretend to. Reluctantly, I went inside and asked my mother if she would play chess with me. 

After graduating from “secondary school” (grades 7–12) in Dublin, I moved to Goshen, IN for college. At that point, I assumed that I would become a missionary like them, probably somewhere in West Africa. 

In college, I got the chance to actually visit West Africa for the first time. With a group of 21 other students, I lived and studied in Mali for three months. It was brutally hard. I got malaria, giardia, and a staph infection that left oozing welts on my legs. I became skeletally thin. By the time I returned to the US, I was mentally and spiritually broken, no longer sure who God was or where God might be calling me. 

Jacob Curtis preaches at an outdoor service, summer 2020. Photo provided by Jacob Curtis.

I spent the next decade drifting. I longed to feel close to God again, but I often felt abandoned and alone instead. In my search, I hiked all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I lived in a little cabin in the woods for a year without running water or electricity. I tried my hand at a number of different jobs. 

Finally, I landed at a United Church of Christ congregation outside Denver, CO, where I worked as the Office Manager and Director of Communications. It was there that it became obvious—first to everyone else and then to me—that God was calling me into pastoral ministry. 

When I told my parents that I was applying to seminaries, they were delighted, but not at all surprised. “Jacob,” my father said, “You could have gone to seminary at any time since you were fourteen years old. But everything you’ve done since then is going to make you such a better pastor.” 

I hope he’s right. I often feel that, at the age of 40, I should be deep into a career by now, not just starting one. But, since becoming co-pastors of Ambler Mennonite Church last May, my wife and I have often talked about how right it feels. There are many things about my life that don’t make sense to me, and maybe never will. But I am as sure that God brought us here to Ambler as I am sure of anything else in the world. And I can’t wait to see where God will lead us and our little church next.

Stepping Out in Faith… Into God’s Perfect Way

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I was born in Indonesia to a very “pastoral” family. My grandfather, dad, and aunts were all pastors. I am the second child of four. I am grateful that my parents introduced me to Christianity from early childhood.

Our house was next to the church building when I grew up. Because of that, I rarely missed any church activity. Beginning in seventh grade, I was involved in the Sunday School ministry. From there, I was active in music ministry. 

Steve Zacheus’ Profile Photo

I never had formal education in music, but found my passion in it. I taught myself to play instruments. I wanted to take what I loved to do (music) and use it to minister to others. After high school, I decided to major in church music at a Christian university in Yogyakarta.

After graduating from university in 1997, I ministered in a church in Jakarta. Periodically, I also ministered in my hometown. 

During this period of time, I met an Indonesian who lived in the US. He often ministered in Indonesia and was a member of JKI Anugerah – Grace International Fellowship Church (JKIA)  in Sierra Madre, CA. In short, he invited me to come to the United States and sponsored me to attend Calvary Chapel Bible College.

It was a long process before I could come to the United States. My visa application was rejected three times. Finally, in 2000, my student visa was granted. JKIA was the first church I attended in the USA and still is my church.

Even though I grew up surrounded by many pastors and was a church activist, my calling to ordination was a gradual process where God showed his patience to me, responding to His love and grace.

On January 12, 2003, I was credentialed by the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference at JKIA and ministered in the music department. My main responsibility was overseeing the music team and small groups. Though I enjoyed serving the Lord, I was not sure about taking the path to ordination. 

One thing I know through all the seasons of my life, I can trust and take refuge in God. He has been faithful to me. He shows His love by guiding me whenever I face challenging situations. Through His love, he called me over and over to step into faith to His calling. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”  (Hebrews‬ 11:1, NIV).

Steve Zacheus ordination in Mosaic Conference, October 2020.

I finally came to the personal assurance that we are called to serve God within our capacity. Servanthood is our response to God’s love. The best way I could respond to God’s unfailing love is to serve Him with the gifts He entrusted to me. All this time He had been patient, waiting for me to be ready.

On October 25, 2020, I was ordained by Mosaic Conference. It is a new chapter of my ministry. For God has been so faithful, I believe He will guide me again in this journey of faith. His work is not done with me. 

“God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40, NIV).  As human beings, our self-doubt and fears haunt us, but the Word of God reminds us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (I John 4:18, NIV).

God’s love guides me in stepping out in faith into his perfect way.

The Call: A Lifelong Journey with God

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I understand God’s call a bit differently than most people.  I have always felt the call to a life of service and never remember a time when I questioned that call as a goal for my life.  My wife, Sharon, and I often experienced this call together.  God’s call was the guiding force in my life’s trajectory, and I view this as simply my journey with God. 

My call has involved specific times of focus, but service in the name of Christ has been central to my life’s journey.  There were times we experienced God’s call in a sacred way as with our call to serve in Indonesia and other times when the call came through intellectual discussions with wise counselors as with the process of discerning our move to Bangladesh.

Photo provided by Conrad Swartzentruber.

I grew up in a Mennonite family with a father who pastored a mission church with the Conservative Mennonite Conference in Eastern Kentucky.  I only understood life in the context of ministry and service to others.  Our church building, Turners Creek Mennonite Church, was 50 feet from our house and the church community was all around us.  Much of my life happened in the church building.

I recall Dad’s words to me as a teenager as we discussed my life goals, “Conrad, whatever you decide to do in life, it’s good to help other people”.  Those simple words made sense to me.  Passages such as Matthew 25 and Micah 6:8 affirmed this simple call to serving and making a difference around me.

In 1982, Sharon and I answered the call to serve with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and spent 11 of the next 14 years in Bangladesh and Indonesia.  In 1997, my call involved stepping into Mennonite school leadership at Shalom Christian Academy in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Today I serve as Superintendent at Dock Mennonite Academy.  

A local congregation has always been an essential part of discerning and affirming our call.  We have been blessed to connect with congregations in several states and countries that have provided guidance and encouragement.  We have been involved at Plains Mennonite Church since 2009.  We have traveled to India several times to learn from and to resource pastors and their wives through the Peace Proclamation Ministries International.  We continue to support the work of MCC through events like the Pennsylvania Relief Sale.  Sharon’s work at the Material Resource Center directly benefits the ministry of MCC.

God’s call for me was always affirmed by a local congregation but was not formalized by ordination until this year.  In my school leadership role, I had prepared academically by completing a doctoral degree.   We recognized, however, my role in the Mennonite school was equally one of faith leadership.  Conversations with school and church leaders encouraged me in the direction of pursuing ordination.  The connection of our Mennonite schools and the Mennonite denomination is essential in preserving our mission and vision for our schools.  The role of a local church in the lives of our students is critical for encouragement, faithfulness, and accountability. 

In October 2020 we celebrated my ordination via a Zoom service.  This unique format due to COVID-19 allowed family and friends in many different places to join.  It felt symbolic of the community that has surrounded me and affirmed my call throughout this journey.  Sharon and I are grateful for the many people who have encouraged and challenged us.  We are always aware of God’s presence in our journey.  

Our call will continue.  We have much more to learn.  We want to continue our work of reconciliation.  We want to continue to walk humbly with our God!

Provoked by God

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by Melky Tirtasaputra, Whitehall (Allentown, PA) congregation

I grew up with one older brother and two younger sisters, all with various religious beliefs.  My grandmother was a mystic from Banten (Indonesia) and converted to Christianity.  My mom only believed in God and my father was an animist.  My brother attended a Catholic school since kindergarten, while my two other sisters went to a Christian school.  I used to lived in a Buddhist temple, learned mysticism, and went to a Muslim school where I learned how to pray and follow the Muslim lifestyle. I searched for my religious identity.   

God’s purpose for my life started in 6th grade.  The way God called me was amazing.  At an early age, I was an independent child who sold goods to make money. I was fascinated by money. A friend invited me to go to church. Every time I walked to church, I found money on the street. God “provoked” me through money. 

On April 24, 1981 (Good Friday), I was baptized.  Since that day, I became more and more interested in serving God and always longed to go to church, until I was almost kicked out of my home. God changed my life not only to be His servant, but also by helping my parents see the changes in my life. Finally, my parents became believers and were baptized. On Pentecost my entire family went to church together. 

When I was 16 years old, I felt a strong calling from God for me to be more engaged in the Bible so I took an online course while I also studied psychology.  For three years, I took Bible classes at night and then started to preach at our church. 

Through the years, earning money came very easily for me. It caused me to almost forget what my calling was, even though I was a high school religion teacher. 

One day I met a girl who has now become my wife.  She saw my potential and God’s calling on me as His servant. This is why she wanted to marry me.  However, I ignored that calling because I wanted to be a businessman who could also serve God. 

In 2001, we moved to the USA and lived in Philadelphia. We started a new life, working at the factory. Every Sunday I attended church services and sometimes served as a singer. 

In 2005, we joined Philadelphia Praise Center (Philadelphia, PA) and served together with Aldo Siahaan as Head Elders. 

In 2007, I pursued an opportunity to start a business with FedEx as an Independent Contractor, while still serving as an Elder at Philadelphia Praise Center.  In 2010, I moved to Nations Worship Center (Philadelphia, PA) to assist Pastor Beny Krisbianto and the congregation, who had just joined Franconia Conference. My duties were to serve as an elder and head of the church construction, while my wife was in charge of the church’s finances. 

In 2015 I began taking pastoral ministry classes at Eastern Mennonite University, graduating in 2018.  In October 2019, I responded to God’s calling as a pastor at Whitehall Mennonite Church (Allentown, PA), joining Pastor Rose Bender.

It turns out I enjoy my calling as a pastor.  I thank God for His faithfulness and love as God waits for my response to His calling. Thanks to my wife who always supports me and never gives up either. Thank you to EMU and to Mosaic Mennonite Conference who helped me fulfill my calling.

Feeling God’s Radical Love

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by Jessica Miller, Perkasie (PA) congregation

My call to ministry was a surprise to me. I never encountered a female pastor until I was a teenager. The possibility that I could be a pastor was something that never crossed my mind. 

When I graduated from high school, I attended Eastern Mennonite University, to pursue teaching, as I had a natural way with children and always enjoyed school. Two years after college graduation, in 2013, I started to seriously question whether teaching was really my calling.

My two years since college were spent teaching at Lezha Academic Center in Albania through Virginia Mennonite Missions. Those years changed me in ways I never could have anticipated. I encountered the radical love of God in new and powerful ways. Furthermore, I found myself feeling more compelled to dedicate my life to helping others experience God’s love. 

By the end of my second year, I was expending more time and energy preparing for the after-school Bible Club than I was for my regular classes. More than anything I wanted my students to know they were deeply loved by God. This shift in my focus, along with weeks of prayer and discernment, confirmed for me that I needed to pursue ministry.

Upon returning home to the US, I was hired as the Director of Children’s Ministries at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church. When I interviewed, they told me they were looking for someone with a pastoral heart, who would consider becoming a credentialed leader. Although I wasn’t certain if credentialing or ordination were in my future, I told them I felt called to the ministry of sharing God’s love with others and that I was open to pastoral leadership if God was leading me to that. Less than 2 years later, with the blessing of the congregation, I was licensed as a pastor through the Conference. 

I spent three years at Souderton Mennonite Church, pouring my heart into caring for the children and families. The deeper I went into pastoral ministry, the more I felt I needed to further my education. 

Over the past three and half years, I have been pursuing my Masters of Divinity at Drew Theological School while working part-time at Perkasie (PA) Mennonite. It has been energizing to be part of a small church community that shares my passion for helping others experience the radical love of God. That same spirit of love was strong among us as we gathered together to celebrate my ordination to ministry this past November.

Every day, I am more convinced that the best way I can communicate God’s radical love is by  helping others to realize that God embraces and cherishes them just as they are. The church reflects that love by reaching out and extending our embrace.

At the last chapel before my graduation from Drew, we sang a song that sums up what I believe ministry is:  

Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still. 
Let this be our song, no one stands alone. 
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide. (by Mark Miller)

This my constant prayer for our churches, our conference, and our world.  May we continue to find ways to draw the circle wider, keeping Christ at the center, and reaching out until no one stands alone and all people know the truth of their belovedness.

Called To Care, Sent To Serve

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by Charlene Smalls, Ripple congregation (Allentown, PA) 

Charlene Smalls, co-pastor of Ripple, preaches during a Sunday worship service.

I was raised by a long line of strong, God-fearing, caring black women who believed that there was power in knowing the name of Jesus. I sense there has always been a call on my life to serve God. As a young girl growing up in the Baptist church, I could strongly sense the presence of God, but had not grown in my understanding of the person of Jesus Christ yet. That understanding actually came with lots of life lessons and a long journey. 

I had two grandmothers that I attended church with: one was Pentecostal, the other was Baptist. I believe I learned to sense the presence of God from my Pentecostal roots, but was drawn to Baptist theology because of its structure. The gift of God, given to me from both these women, helped me get through the loss of a sibling, living with a grieving mother, having a father who returned from the military with a drug addiction, and my own mistakes and failures. The one consistent thing in my life was the presence of God, to which I was always drawn, no matter what. 

In 1989, after a failed marriage, I moved to Pennsylvania and joined the Union Baptist Church where my spiritual growth truly began. I was blessed to remarry, and I have been gracefully married for 30 years to my soulmate. After opening a nail salon that I called Intimate Expressions, my call and ministry unknowingly began. Sitting in that business day after day, as Jesus healed me, He used me to help bring healing to others. 

Life is full of storms, and it was in the midst of a storm that I received my call. I can remember pacing and praying one evening. When God spoke it was not to answer my prayer, but to announce the call on my life. I was thinking, “You have to be kidding! I am broken. How can I minister to others?” 

I have come to realize that I was called to care. I see my call as a sending, God telling me to “Go.” I knew God was sending me, and I knew that wherever He sent me, He would also be with me, as He always has been. 

After being a licensed Baptist minister, receiving my degree in Arts and Religion at Liberty University, and serving as Director of Outreach at Union Baptist Church for 15 years, I now serve as Co-Pastor at Ripple Mennonite Church. This is where Jesus has sent me to care for others. 

My experience with the Pentecostal faith taught me to sit in the presence of God and be open to the voice of the Holy Spirit. That same voice has now led me to this place and an understanding that Jesus is the center of my faith, community is truly the center of my life, and reconciliation is the purpose of those who are called to care.

A Village Boy was Chosen

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by Pastor Joshua Daichor So, San Francisco (CA) Chinese Mennonite Church

I am very thankful to have the opportunity to write my call to ministry story again after 55 years.  It sounds like I should already be retired by now but God still gives me the grace to be part of His story.  I also appreciate the Conference giving me this chance to share.  It was 1965 when I was first asked to write my call to ministry story as part of my entry application to study at The Hong Kong Alliance Bible Seminary.  How can I not be thankful?

I was born in a remote village in Mainland China and was raised in an idol worshiping family.  As the Bible said, “God knits me together in my mother’s womb and I am chosen!”  God had a plan for me!

Our family moved to Hong Kong when I was around 11 years old.  We lived very close to a church and with my curiosity, I stopped in and attended their Sunday school class with my neighbors’ kids for the first time.  From that time on, I became a regular Sunday school attender.  Listening to the Bible stories was always the highlight of each Sunday.  But most of all, receiving awards from the teachers was powerfully motivating to me. 

I accepted Jesus during Sunday school one week and gradually joined a small group.  With my diligent and optimistic character, I was selected to be on the staff of the small group and also serve as a Sunday school teacher.  I was amazed to find blessings and joy from serving the Lord in those roles. Besides attending the small group and Sunday school, I also attended the worship service regularly. The senior pastor, the minister, Sunday school teachers, and brothers and sisters were very proud of me and set me as a role model to other worshippers.  I was also blessed with ample opportunities to serve the Lord at church.

As I remember, I was asked to be the moderator of the Sunday worship when I was only a middle schooler.  I accepted that offer without hesitation.  I strongly believed that serving the Lord is what is pleasing to the Lord and a blessing! I was also in charge of a Sunday evening outreach.

My youth group leader encouraged me to pursue seminary after high school in my last year of middle school.  Even though I was quiet at that time, the Holy Spirit already began to mold me.  Our senior pastor couldn’t be at church regularly and our minister left to further his studies in the US. This left no one in charge of the church.  In my heart, I sensed the urge from the Holy Spirit.  

One day at a school worship service, the preacher invited the audience to accept Jesus’s invitation by using Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”  I replied, “Here am I, send me!”  After I finished my high school in 1966, I attended Hong Kong Alliance Bible Seminary and graduated in 1970.  This year marks 50 years since I first graduated. 

God called me from Hong Kong to Los Angeles in 1975 and a year later to San Francisco. There I completed a BA in Sociology, an M.Div (Sociology major) at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, and finished a D. Min (Cross Cultural Study major) at San Francisco Theological Seminary, with God’s grace. I will continue to serve the Chinese in the San Francisco area with my wife (Anita) and daughter (Sharon).  Praise the Lord!