View source for Penner, Mathilde Ensz (1879-1961)

Born 27 April 1879 at Halstead, KS, Mathilde Ensz grew up on a farm and attended country schools. She became a member of the [[Brudertal Mennonite Church (Hillsboro, Kansas, USA)|Brudertal Mennonite Church]] near Hillsboro, KS. After her marriage to childhood sweetheart, [[Penner, Peter William (1876-1953)|Peter W. Penner]] on 7 August 1902, she and her husband attended German Wallace Seminary, Berea, Ohio, 1904-1908. They were ordained missionaries ([[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite]]) to [[India|India]] on 20 September 1908, and arrived in India a few weeks later to begin evangelistic work at [[Janjgir Mennonite Church (Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh, India)|Janjgir]]. On their first furlough, 1916-1921, they took along Nellie Asna, a motherless Indian child with disabilities; later they adopted and educated her. She became a teacher and a high school principal. The Penners worked at the Mennonite city mission in [[Los Angeles (California, USA)|Los Angeles]], 1919-21 (E. F. Grubb). They returned to Janjgir, 1921-1938. Their zeal for the Lord took them to hundreds of villages with the gospel, where Mathilde also used her medical skills. From 1940 to 1949 they worked at Bethesda Leprosy Hospital and Homes, [[Champa (India)|Champa]], and then in evangelistic work in the Champa-[[Mauhadih Mennonite Mission Station (Mauhadih, Champa, India)|Mauhadih]] area. After 40 years of service in India, they retired to Hillsboro, KS, in 1949. Mathilde Penner died 3 November 1961.
= Bibliography =
Burkhalter, Martha et al. "Forty Years in the Vineyard." <em>India Calling </em>12, no. 3 (Autumn 1949): 1, 2-4.

Moyer, Samuel T. <em>They Heard the Call. </em>Newton, KS, 1970: 63-72.

Penner, P.W. and Mathilde. "Around Mauhadih." <em>India Calling </em>4, no. 3 (Autumn, 15 August 1943).

Penner, Mathilde. "High Peaks of Late." <em>India Calling </em>4, no. 4 (Christmas issue, 15 November 1943).

Ratzlaff, Ruth R., ed. <em>Fellowship in the Gospel, India: 1900-1950.</em> Newton: MPO, 1950: 13-23, 143.

<em>Twenty-Five Years with God in India. </em>Berne: Mennonite Book Concern, 1929: 188, 213-14, 217, 221, 227, 229, 232,
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