Ellyn Dubberly

Where:  Ahuachapán, El Salvador

Organization:  UMC General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) Missionary

Project:  Leadership development coordinator of the Evangelical Methodist Church in El Salvador

About the Ministry: 

The Evangelical Methodist Church of El Salvador is a young community of slightly more than 1,000 members, of whom half are children. It also has many young adult participants. El Salvador has gone through a great deal of social upheaval in recent years, but its resourceful, resilient people are reconstructing a country committed to human rights, health, and economic prosperity. Through is programs and projects, the Methodist Church has become an expression of social conscience.

About Ellyn:

Ellyn is a native of North Carolina, where she is a member of the First United Methodist Church of Rocky Mount in the North Carolina Annual Conference. She received a Bachelor of Social Work from Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, and a master’s degree in Christian Education from Pfeiffer University, Charlotte, in 2011. She also holds a United Methodist certification in Chrisitan education and children’s ministry. Ellyn has worked as a pre-kindergarten teacher, and from 2005 to 2013 was director of children’s ministries at her church in Rocky Mount.

Her parents exposed Ellyn to mission at an early age and she came to understand, she says, that “God’s love is way bigger than his love for me and my loved ones; that it stretched across the world.” She says that God has given her a desire to share her gifts with others. “I am humbled to be a light of Christ wherever he plants me, and am strengthened by faithful trust in the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.”

Her first mission trip was to Puerto Rico when she was in the fourth grade, the first of many such experiences. “The majority of our work was throughout Central America,” she recalls. “I remember struggling to understand why there were people with so little, when I saw so much materialism in my home country….Then I realized that while others might be poor in material things, I was poor in spiritual things. The people I met on those earliest trips were a witness to me of the joy that is present in a living, dedicated relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Ellyn’s interest in El Salvador began with her husband, Brian, who felt called to serve the young church there as a long-term volunteer. At first, he planned to spend three months in Central America and three at home, but came to realize more concentrated attention was needed there. The couple moved toward Ellyn becoming a missionary in the place where she had received such a warm welcome when visiting Brian.

In El Salvador, Ellyn was drawn in by the way in which the church includes children, youth, and women in worship. There are several women pastors. Young people are actively involved in worship leadership and evangelism. “My heart melted in Communion when all the children were served first, a beautiful reminder of Jesus welcoming children in his arms and blessing them,” she says.

Connect with Ellyn:  edubberly@umcmission.org

Grace Dennis

Where:  George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Organization:  Cru

Project:  Helping college students know Jesus, grow in their faith, and go to the world to tell others.

About the Ministry: 

Grace transferred to Mason her junior year seeking Christian community and found that in Cru. She felt called to campus ministry after being poured into by many people in the field throughout high school and college, and growing in her faith through her involvement with Cru. After graduating and marrying her husband, Ryan, Grace joined the Mason team. Some of her favorite things are Jesus, spending time with old and new friends, helping people grow in their faith, running, and popcorn. Ryan also volunteers with Mason Cru through discipleship and coaching the worship team.

Daniel Mohr

Where: Vienna, Austria

Organization: Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE)

Daniel Christian Mohr is an international Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service.

Daniel serves with CPCE, where he is helping to plan a large international convention in 2024, as well as planning other church meetings and engaging in social justice mission work such as food distributions and refugee assistance.

The Global Mission Fellows program takes young adults ages 20-30 out of their home environments and places them in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong young leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world.

Daniel is a member of Sterling (Virginia) United Methodist Church, Virginia Annual Conference. Daniel also attends Centreville (Virginia) United Methodist with his parents and attended Wesley United Methodist Church (Charlottesville, Virginia) while in college. He participated in service projects and mission work and served as an annual conference delegate in 2020, 2021 and 2023.

At the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Daniel was vice president of the Wesley Foundation’s Student Coordinating Council. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics/ foreign affairs and German. He speaks German, Swahili and Spanish.

“The Global Mission Fellows program,” Daniel said, “intrigues me for multiple reasons. In many ways, I believe my education and upbringing have prepared me well and put me in a position that allows me to gain as much from this program as I hope to give to it.”

Church and community involvement is part of Daniel’s DNA. His father is the missions coordinator and communications director at their local church. His mother was a social worker until he and his brother were born.

“From a young age,” he said, “I have gone on mission trips, participated in food drives, and watched my parents work to serve others and make our community better. Now that I have graduated college and begun a life of my own, I understand the value of such endeavors and want to dedicate myself in some way to the causes my parents have worked on for the past 20 years of my life.”

Daniel cherishes opportunities to put his faith into action. “I may not always find the right words to evangelize effectively on a street corner or sing in the choir on Sunday mornings,” he said, “but I can do my best to display the love that God has shown me in my life, in good times and bad.”

In both educational and professional situations, Daniel seems to thrive in nontraditional settings.

“I need a certain level of variability and mobility that I believe Global Mission Fellows can provide,” he said. “I enjoy problem-solving on the go and analyzing new and unique situations. GMF allows for ingenuity and critical thinking in evaluating issue areas and solving problems. I enjoy this and will be more effective in my work with this in mind.”

Daniel recognizes the benefits of leaving his comfort zone and experiencing new cultures and environments.

“I was blessed with the chance to live in the Czech Republic with my family when my mother and father engaged in short-term mission with United Methodist Volunteers in Mission in 2011,” he said. “I also studied for five months in Berlin in 2022 and enjoyed both experiences very much.”

After Global Mission Fellows, Daniel hopes to work internationally, either as a foreign service officer or with another organization.

Chaddy Ilunga

Chaddy Ilunga Mutombo is an international Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service.

The Global Mission Fellows program takes young adults ages 20-30 out of their home environments and places them in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong young leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world.

Chaddy is a member of Salem United Methodist Church, Galile District, related to the South Congo Annual Conference. As a president of the United Methodist Student Movement at Africa University, Chaddy was involved in many activities – preaching, counseling, evangelizing, social action and creating training platforms.

He earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in theological studies at Africa University and did his Clinical Pastoral Education unit at Bonda Mission Hospital, Zimbabwe. He has volunteered through teaching children’s evangelism, visiting hospital patients, distributing mosquito nets and participating in community outreach.

Chaddy’s parents divorced when he was a year old. “The culture made it imperative that I was to stay with my father,” he said. “I grew up without knowing my mother until when I was 17 years old.”

His childhood and adolescence were difficult. Because his father was absent much of the time, Chaddy sometimes was mistreated and denied a good education. His stepmother accused Chaddy of being a witch. He was kicked out of the house several times.

“Such living conditions made me feel lonely, deserted and depressed,” Chaddy recalled. Homeless, he begged for food and sought refuge and a place to sleep in churches. He wondered, “Why me? Why can’t I live a normal life? Why do I have to suffer as if I did something wrong in my life? What is the importance of life if I have to suffer like this?”

He came across Philippians 2:3-4, NLT, which reads, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

Reading this passage proved a turning point for Chaddy.

“This verse enlightened my thinking about life,” he said, “because, at that time, I complained too much that no one was there to listen to my problems. It helped me to reflect on these questions. I realized that we should not be selfish by forgetting that other people also have problems, and we should be there for them, too. I decided to commit myself to helping people and giving priority to their well-being.”

Life is all about fighting for, not with, one another other, Chaddy asserted. “Life makes sense when I prioritize others,” he said. “I started seeing myself as someone who must be a pillar of people’s well-being.”

Chaddy is excited about joining Global Mission Fellows. He wants to transform society, he added, “by aiming to produce a community of justice, compassion, hope and success for the advancement of the church.”