Serve Globally has named a new regional coordinator for the Middle East North Africa (MENA). Hannah began serving in the role on September 1. (For security purposes, we are only using her first name.)
“Hannah brings a wealth of ministry experience and gifts to this role through both formal and real-life training, her strengths in strategic leadership and management, and her pastoral heart to develop and care for others,” says Grace Shim, executive minister of Serve Globally. “Living in the region, she contributes important perspectives and insights that will help our local churches, global personnel, and partners grow to truly be ‘mission friends’ in this key region of the world. I am grateful for her willingness to say ‘yes,’ especially at this time.”
Hannah succeeds Jeff and Darlene Anderson, who were the first regional coordinators for MENA. Jeff’s experience as a conference superintendent helped make new connections. Darlene brought leadership skills from her knowledge of nursing and care for systems and those whom systems don’t serve well.
Shim says, “Jeff and Darlene took a significant step of faith to be the first regional coordinators for the MENA region. Throughout their leadership, they cultivated new and existing partnerships, increased needed awareness and engagement with US and Canada Covenant churches, and facilitated numerous trips to the region for Covenanters to learn from and interact with key leaders and organizations. We are grateful for their passion and commitment to expand our understanding of a region that gives us insight into God’s heart for peacemaking, justice, and mercy.”
We sat down with Hannah to ask about her new role.
What path led you to this position?
My husband and I have worked with Serve Globally since 2009. We knew we felt a strong vocational desire to pursue international service, and we were willing to go wherever we were invited and where our skills matched the ministry. That led us to serve in Belgium and France until 2018, where I worked among refugee communities and supported women who had experienced exploitation through human trafficking. During that time, I completed a master’s degree in intercultural studies with an emphasis in Islamic studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. That was a very formative experience for me. When Serve Globally named MENA as an official region of service, my husband and I were invited to consider relocating to “somewhere” in MENA. A process of discernment led us to our current location in North Africa in 2020. Now, in the past year, our former MENA regional coordinator stepped down and a series of transitions within our local ministry saw a convergence of the need, opportunity, and invitation from Serve Globally to step into the role.
What was your previous role?
I worked for a nongovernmental organization that supports development initiatives in partnership with local communities throughout my country of service. I was a project manager, assisting the organization to develop and implement an anti-human trafficking project within the wider scope of its work. With this project launched and now facilitated under local leadership, it was a natural time for me to move into a new position.
How will this role be different for you?
Many of the elements of the position are similar to my previous job, including partnership development, collaboration with local partners in project design and fundraising, and staff care. The primary difference is that my focus is now at the regional level in addition to the local level. I will work closely with partners throughout MENA, building relationships and opportunities for collaboration between them, Serve Globally, and the Covenant. I will also support global personnel serving the MENA region and do much of the administrative work that is involved with regional leadership in Serve Globally.
What are you looking forward to in this work?
Getting to know our current regional partners and building relationships that could lead to new friendships and partnerships. There are so many amazing people serving their local communities throughout MENA. I’m excited to get to know them better and support the Covenant in getting to know them better, as well. I also want to help facilitate recruitment and volunteer efforts within the denomination. There are many opportunities to serve here, and I would love to see our team grow as we seek to be bridges between our local churches and communities in MENA.
What else should readers know about MENA?
Since relocating to the region, I’ve noticed that unlike anywhere else I have lived or traveled, MENA surprises people. Engaging with the people and places of this region is an invitation to ask deeper questions about our assumptions. It invites us to delight in the beautiful variety of the landscapes and the ethnic, religious, linguistic, and culinary diversity of the people who call this region home. I highlight this because too often we are only exposed to the disaster and conflict imagery here, which limits the opportunity for people to represent themselves in the fullness of their lives. Serving here, we get to see a larger picture. That includes coming alongside people in deeply challenging circumstances through peacebuilding, emergency relief, and care for refugees and survivors of human trafficking. It also involves learning from partners who are active in community development through filmmaking in Egypt, capacity-building among teenage tech entrepreneurs in Tunisia, literacy programs with single moms in Mauritania, and equipping Arab Christian women for church leadership throughout the region. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve here.
