The Mustard Tree

the long version

Phyllis J. Martens tells the story Mennonite Brethren (MB) Christian mission efforts from 1889 through to 1971. The first MB missionaries were nominated and supported by their conference of churches in Russia to go to India in 1889 and begin establishing churches, schools, print-shops, and hospitals. This was common Christian missionary practice in the 19th and 20th centuries. MB mission efforts spread also to China, Congo, Japan, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Columbia, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico. Phyllis does not "glamorize, but tells the realistic story of victories and frustrations, progress and retreats, opportunities utilized and hesitant waiting," so says Loyal Martin in the Introduction.