Missionaries to Australia to speak at Trinity Mennonite Church

HILLSBORO — Mark and Mary Hurst, who serve with Mennonite Mission Network in Australia, will speak on Sunday at Trinity Mennonite Church, 211 S. Elm St. in Hillsboro. The Hursts will be sharing during the 10:30 a.m. worship service and again at 12:30 p.m.
In 1990, the Hursts first went to Australia as church planters and peace missionaries. They are serving as pastoral workers and resource persons for the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand. Based in the Sydney metropolitan area, they build networks of people who share an Anabaptist perspective, conduct workshops on conflict transformation and provide Anabaptist resources.
Their work takes them not only across Australia, but also into New Zealand and other parts of the Asia- Pacific basin.
The Hursts have had opportunities to share their Anabaptist beliefs on national radio programs. Having both come originally from Lancaster County in Pa., they were interviewed on an Australian national TV news show after the tragic shooting at an Amish school close to their home communities in October 2006.
Both Mark and Mary are ordained ministers and previous experience includes pastoral ministry and serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Atlanta and New Brunswick, Canada. The Hursts served with Eastern Mennonite Mission of Salunga, Pa., as well as with Mennonite Mission Network.
The Hursts have dual citizenship, Australian and United States, while their ordination is with the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.