Basic Information

Marvin Lorenzana was born in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. In 1994 he felt called by God to become a missionary to the third country in the world with most Hispanics after Mexico and Spain: the United States of America!  In the USA, he has served as a youth pastor, associate pastor, senior pastor and church planter in assignments in New Orleans, Louisiana; El Paso, Texas; Miami, Florida; and Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is a licensed minister with Mennonite Church USA. Marvin lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, along with his wife, Mariana. The Lorenzanas have two children, Pablo (19) and Alexa (17).


Work

Marvin currently works for Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) as director for discipleship initiatives (MDI). In this role, Marvin functions as a coach for missional leaders who are interested in implementing effective discipleship tools within the local congregations. He challenges leaders and churches to go back to the relational roots of the Great Commission.

He also works for Virginia Mennonite Missions (VMMissions) as a director for the Mennonite Hispanic Initiative (MHI) which seeks to develop leaders with a mindset for local missions, provide foundational theological education (diploma level) for Hispanic leaders, and plant new missional communities within Virginia Mennonite Conference (VMC).


Education

Marvin has a BS in management and organizational development from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). He also has a master of divinity degree (MDiv) from Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS). Furthermore, Marvin is currently working on his dissertation for a doctorate of ministry (DMin) program at Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS) where he is a Beeson Scholar.  His Ministry Transformational Project (dissertation) title is “Missional Discipleship: Nurturing a Disciple-Making Culture within Hispanic Congregations in the USA.”