John C. Murray, Board Chairperson, has served in congregational pastoral ministry for 29 years: 12 years at Emma Mennonite Church in Topeka, Indiana and 17 years at Hesston Mennonite Church in Hesston, KS. He is a graduate of Hesston College, Goshen College, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and Claremont Lincoln University. He is currently Dean of Global Engagement at Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas. John is married to Krista and they have three adult children.
Neil Frey, long time board member says, “When ask by Harvey to become a part of the board, I believed that God could use me there and that this is something that I could do while still working in Indiana. I have always had a burden for the less fortunate and this is a way that I can be part of spreading God’s love in a tangible way. I enjoy being part of something larger then what I can accomplish on my own and something that I believe can and will have an impact for Christ.”
Weldon Friesen has been a Menno Clinic India Board Member since 2001 and participated in the dedication and opening of the Clinic in January 2002. A retired Family Practice physician, Weldon spent most of his childhood in India along with four brothers and parents, John and Genevieve Friesen. He attended boarding school in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains from age 6 through high school, followed by Hesston College and Goshen College. After graduating from Indiana University Medical School, he and his wife, LuEtta, worked in a leprosy hospital in central India for 3 years under the Mennonite Board of Missions (now Mennonite Mission Network). On returning to the USA, he joined Middlebury Family Physicians in 1971. He has made two additional trips to Chiluvuru. Weldon says, “As a board member I have enjoyed observing and being a part of the growth of clinical services to include dental and eye care, as well as seeing the results of the Christian witness in the community.”
Gene Hartman is the pastor at Emma Mennonite Church, where Menno Clinic India was envisioned. He says, “In one respect, I serve on the Menno Clinic-India board due to my position as lead pastor of Emma Mennonite Church. However, I also serve because this ministry is a tangible way to share the love of Christ.”
Kelli Krase is an Ob/Gyn physician and professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, KS. She grew up in Hesston, KS and became interested the Menno Clinic when she was in high school. She took her first trip to Chiluvuru in 2013 and have since visited 3 times. She joined the Board of Directors in the spring of 2016 after her most recent trip to Menno Clinic. Her husband, Stan McClurg, and she welcomed their first child, Harvey William, in July 2016.
John N. Murray serves as the Coordinator for Recruitment at Mennonite Mission Network and appreciates the opportunity to invite others into God’s transformational work in the world. He says, “My experience with Menno Clinic has shaped me more fundamentally than I will ever be able to give back to the community in Chiluvuru. This ministry stands as an example of looking beyond our own perspectives and meeting people where they are.” John lives in St. Paul, MN with his wife Denay and their dog Ruger.
Kathy Taylor became involved in Menno Clinic in 2003 and has traveled there several times. She was raised in Shipshewana IN. She has worked for CenturyLink since 1997 and has been a System Design Engineer for the last 10 years. As a board member, she says, “It has been an honor to serve and watch the mission expand to include not only medical needs but to be part of working on the design of the Dental & Eye Clinic while on one of the Mission trip.”
Michelle Ramer has been the treasurer for Menno Clinic India since fall of 2013. She moved to Newton, KS in 2016 with her husband, Derrick, and two sons, Dominic and Zeke. They previously lived in the Goshen, IN area, and Michelle grew up in California. Derrick and Michelle visited the clinic in 2013 and fell in love with the people and India.
Brenda L. Yoder has known Doc and Olga since her youth and watched Menno Clinic grow from a pile of seed money of silver dollars spread out on the altar at Emma Mennonite Church. Brenda and her husband, Ron, live on a farm in Shipshewana, where they are active with their four kids from teens to young adults. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, author, speaker, former teacher and school counselor. Brenda speaks for Doves’ Nest and advocates for children, mental health, education, life and faith beyond the storybook image.
Menno-Clinic, India 