Who We Are - Arelti

Meet the Staff

Chief Executive Officer

Joseph A. Manickam, Ph.D.  

Dr. Joseph A. Manickam was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand to Paul and Mano Manickam, missionaries sent by the Church of South India to Thailand in 1958. The youngest of six children, Joseph grew up in a family deeply committed to seeing God’s Love translated into the local context crossing social barriers of many forms as he and his family continually swung between a South Indian home, a western school system and living among the Thai people. Joseph married Wanda Wyse in 1994 in Yoder, Kansas. They have two children, daughter Faith and son Matthew.  

Dr. Manickam most recently served as the ninth president of Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas, following his role as Director of the Institute of Religion, Culture, and Peace and faculty member for Peace Studies at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Previously he served in Thailand for three years with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada as Director of the Central-Southern and Northeast Asia Program, and earlier in his career, he was Director of the MCC Asia Program and Associate Director of the Center for Anabaptist Leadership in California.

He earned a B.A. in Communications from Goshen (Ind.) College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, Calif.). He has also previously served on the boards of The Mennonite and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart, Ind.), and his academic interests include Race/Ethnic Studies and Interreligious Engagement.

Dr. Manickam’s relational abilities and his strong intercultural competency have been common threads in his work. His doctoral dissertation at Fuller focused on “A Study of Race, Culture and Ethnicity in Mennonite Church USA.”

Director of eNGLISH PROGRAMS

Myrrl Byler

Myrrl’s journey in education began in Ohio, where he served as a high school English teacher and principal in a small Amish and Mennonite school. Early on, he developed a passion for building bridges across communities, which eventually led him to Berlin, Germany. There, he and his wife, Ruthie, devoted four years to an inner-city church, working to create welcoming spaces for asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East. After a transformative period teaching English in China, Myrrl became the director of the Mennonite Partners in China program, a role he held for three decades. In this position, he oversaw academic exchanges that connected Chinese universities with Mennonite colleges in North America, fostering cross-cultural understanding and lifelong relationships between students and scholars.

Myrrl’s educational background is extensive, with degrees in English, TESL, Religion, and a Doctorate in Intercultural Studies. He is also the author of Crossing the River by Feeling for the Stones: Mennonite Engagement in China 1901-2020, a comprehensive account of his experiences and the broader Mennonite history in China. Now, Myrrl and Ruthie divide their time between Thailand and other parts of Asia, continuing their work, research, and travels, with an enduring commitment to connecting people across cultures.

Director of Communications

Scott E.L. Sundberg

Scott E.L. Sundberg has worked in education, communications, and development for most of his career, from teaching sixth grade to teaching English, history, and biology in colleges and universities in the U.S., Mexico, and East Asia. He was also the executive director of Anabaptist Communicators for over five years.

Scott’s education includes degrees in history, and ancient literature, and postgraduate work in education, Scandinavian studies, and anthropology, having studied at Biola University, UCLA, California State University, Northridge, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Augustana College/Grebbestad folkhögskola in Bohöslan, Sweden, and Eastern Mennonite University.

Working, teaching and living in East Asia has allowed Scott to travel extensively throughout Asia, especially China and Thailand, and to have become immersed in a wide variety of cultures.