Current Book: Nothing Bad Between Us

Marlena’s new book Nothing Bad Between Us: A Mennonite Missionary’s Daughter Finds Healing in Her Brokenness was released by Mango Publishing in October 2020. It is now available for order on Amazon.

It is a vulnerable and inspirational tale of personal transformation. It’s the story of a girl who stumbled from one disaster in her life to another. She always got back on her feet, thinking she was in control once more, only to hit bottom again.

In the midst of that all-too-familiar place at rock bottom, she finally understood the futility of one more attempt to explain away or justify what was happening to her. At the same time, she gradually became aware that her father, the willful and powerful hero doctor who seemed invincible, was also experiencing blows to his ego. At the intersection of their brokenness, healing became possible.

Back Cover Blurb:

This is a heartwarming and often shocking tale of a religious father and his sinful daughter. It will transform your perception of what it means to simultaneously rebel against and yearn for a father’s love.

Marlena is four months old when her parents are called as missionaries to establish a leprosy compound in a Mennonite community in Paraguay, South America. Throughout her early life, she grapples with contradictory desires to please her autocratic, hero-doctor father and his Mennonite clan, and at the same time, revolt against their often-abusive control. But the story does not end there. Nothing Bad Between Us reveals unexpected openings to find redemption and reconciliation in the most broken parts of ourselves.