Cindy and Daryl Byler are MCC representatives for Iraq, Iran, Jordan and Palestine. They live in Amman, Jordan. In the past month, their travels have taken them to Gaza and Iraq. They write a weekly blog at the link below.

MCCs work in the region focuses on relief, community development and peacebuilding projects, which are implemented through local NGO partners. MCC works primarily at a grassroots level, but occasionally gets involved in bridgebuilding work at the governmental level  as has been the case with several meetings with Irans president.

As part of their five-year assignment in the Middle East, they make an annual trip to speak in Canadian and U.S. Mennonite communities. This year, they will concentrate on MCC Great Lakes region and MCC Ontario.

Cindy is a graduate of Bluffton University and has been an elementary educator for more than 30 years. Daryl is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University and the University of Virginia School of Law. He served as director of MCCs Washington Office from 1994 to 2007. The Bylers have three children: Jessica, a social worker in Denver; Holden, a web programmer for EMU; and Jeremy, a freshman at Bucknell University.