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Just as interested in life
Hugo and Doreen Neufeld, 84 and 88 respectively, co-directed the Welcome Inn Community Centre in Hamilton before they were both ordained. Doreen was one of the first ordained Mennonite women in Canada. They are now deacons at Trinity Mennonite Church in Calgary. What is your earliest memory of church? Doreen: I remember being about three or…
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The blessings of life with Opa
Throughout my 20s, I’ve struggled with feeling “behind.” Whether it’s marriage, finances or career success, I’m tempted to look at the blessings others have and to resent the fact that I don’t have the same things. It’s not that there are set paths—people in my generation choose incredibly diverse ways of life. And yet, as…
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A localized pilgrimage
As I write this, the birds are flying south. Their migration has me thinking about pilgrimage. I wonder about Mennonite understandings of pilgrimage, and what place pilgrimage might have in our lives and faith. For much of Western Christian history, pilgrims went from their home to a sacred place, often one where the relics of…
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Follow the water
It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m staring at a storm drain. The “Adopt-A-Drain” website led me here. The commitment seems simple. Name the drain, check it regularly and clear debris before and after storms. The promise? Cleaner rivers and less flooding. I name it “Singing in the drain.” Others in my neighbourhood include “Catherine the Grate”…
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A word about winter blues
Note: This article discusses suicide and depression Suicide is a delicate and complicated subject. As I’ve walked with people enduring the brutal grief process in the wake of such loss, I’ve had few words to offer. As I’ve reflected on my own relationships with people who’ve taken their lives, I have only questions. The primary one being, “Is there something I could have done?” This past holiday season, I found myself being…
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‘It’s the world’
John Peters, 89, is a retired sociology professor from Waterloo, Ontario where he lives with his wife, Violet, and attends Waterloo North Mennonite Church. He and his late wife, Lorraine, were missionaries in Brazil with Evangelized Field Missions (now Crossworld) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He has an extensive history with Inter-Varsity Christian…
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Awakening to the Church’s true vocation
“God has been at work from the beginning to form a covenanted people of God to help bring about God’s plan for reconciling the world to its intended purposes.”– From The Baby and the Bathwater, by Robert (Jack) Suderman When I heard that Jack and Irene Suderman were visiting Winnipeg this fall, I reached out…
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With God, all things are truly possible
I am honoured and delighted to share my faith journey and to witness to the grace and love of Christ in my life. I am a proud Eritrean-Canadian who has called Canada home for eight years. I am a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, grounded in the teachings and love of my Saviour. I live…
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The challenge of Anabaptist leadership
In the faith community of my youth, church leaders were held in extremely high esteem. The expectation of respect for leaders weighed heavily, for better and worse. To respond to a call, to serve and to be an elder or pastor in the church, meant equal parts responsibility and regard. Growing up, I was taught…
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Grateful for community
Mabel and Walter Paetkau of Abbotsford, ages 91 and 89 respectively, met as university students in Edmonton. They were married in 1960 and raised two sons. At different points, Mabel was a registered nurse, homemaker, director of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) B.C. Refugee Program and a Government of Canada Refugee Board member. Walter did…
