Acknowledgements

This book grew out of a sense of calling—for which I am very grateful, and with­out which I would probably not have persevered.  My grateful thanks go to my supervisor Prof.  John DeGruchy, whose expert, steady guidance and unfaltering support have been invaluable in bringing this work to completion.   Further, this work could not have been done without the generous support of members of the Mennonite commu­nities in North Newton, Kansas, and Elkhart/Goshen, Indiana.  Among them I would like to mention especially Prof.  James and Dr.  Anna Juhnke, who hosted me, and supported me with helpful advice; Sara and Fremont Regier, who spent much time sharing of their rich experience, thereby helping me to find a clearer focus for my investigation; Tina Block Ediger in North Newton, and Leona Schrag in Elkhart, Indiana, who were instrumental in putting me in touch with the interviewees.   I fur­ther thank my husband Thomas for his con­tribution to this work through many hours of conversation, and through the way he lives out his own sense of call.   I will always be grateful to him and my son Matthew for providing me with the space to pursue this my dream.   The real stars of this work, how­ever, are the missionaries who so gene­rously and honestly shared their experiences.   It is to them that I dedicate this work. —Mirjam Scarborough

Postscript

The contents of this book were originally presented to the University of Cape Town for the degree of  Doctor of Philosophy.   In September 2009, my wife obtained her docto­rate—yet, tragically, she was diagnosed with end-stage bone marrow cancer just three months later.   Believing this work to be a treasure, I took on the task of prep­ar­ing it for publication.   However, I was uncertain as to how to pro­ceed—in spite of firm offers from pub­lishers.  Then some­thing out of the ordinary caught my imagi­na­tion.  Jim Bertsche invited me to provide one copy of the work for display at the cente­nary celeb­rations of the AIMM.  This prompted me to set up a mechanism through which any number of copies would be available on demand—a demand which soon materi­alized.  This publication of my wife's work does not merely represent the duplication of a disser­tation.  Knowing that her health was in decline, she wrote as much for the church as for the university.  The easy development of thought which follows would seem to belie the fact that she dedicated most of ten years of her life to this work. —Thomas Scarborough