An exciting first step
I live in one of the most beautiful places on the Prairies. The Shekinah Retreat Centre is situated in the North Saskatchewan River Valley. Northeast of my house, a deep ravine funnels a beaver-filled creek into the wide river below. God’s presence is ubiquitous here, a place that has been significant to my development since…
Rooted in faith or academia
When Justony Vasquez decided to be part of World Youth Day in Poland last summer, she had no idea that the venture would land her at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU). In her final year of high school, she’d already received acceptance and a scholarship to another university. She can only explain the last-minute change as…
Engineering bright futures for students
Before taking the STEM program, which incorporates science, technology, engineering and math, Mackenzie, a Grade 2 student at Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle Schools, wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to be when she grows up. After spending some time working on a team designing and building projects, she has made her decision: “I want to…
‘Do not neglect to do good’
Conrad Grebel University College students Mark Whyte, Mariak Achuoth, Jonathan Smith and Liban Farah accepted a challenge last fall: Build a social enterprise that restores the rights and dignities of refugees. The team participated in the Hult Prize Challenge, the world’s largest student competition for social good, competing for $1 million in start-up funding to…
Alumnus heads to Nepal to serve as general surgeon
Nicholaus “Nick” Bauman (nee Erb), a Rockway Mennonite Collegiate graduate (Class of ’97) and general surgeon, and his spouse, Becky Bauman, are heading to Kathmandu, Nepal, the largest Himalayan state in Asia. For the next two years, Nick will serve as a general surgeon at Tansen Hospital, teaching post-graduate students. The hospital is partnered with…
Build a bigger table, not a higher fence
Ted and Darlene Enns Dyck came in the late 1980s to Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo, Ont., from Winnipeg, Manitoba’s urban capital. When they completed their time at Grebel, they felt a call to co-pastor and expected to do that in “more liberal” southern Ontario. But no call came to them from there. When a…
‘One team’ at MCI
Our purpose at Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) in Gretna, Man., is to educate young people in an Anabaptist/Christian context, seeking to develop their God-given potential in terms of physical, intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, social and spiritual well-being, and to develop in them an appreciation of our Mennonite heritage. Our aim is that our students accept Christ…
A learning community
I recently enjoyed a visit with a Rosthern (Sask.) Junior College (RJC) alumnus whose graduating class is from decades past. There were many smiles as we talked about old classmates, teammates, teachers and coaches. His stories were certainly evidence that RJC is a place where one makes friendships that last a lifetime, and that RJC…
EMU expands restorative-justice course catalogue
This fall, Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) debuted an expanded course catalogue featuring its new MA in Restorative Justice program. In keeping with CJP’s long-established leadership in the field of restorative justice, the degree is the first of its kind offered by a traditional, residential graduate program at any North American…
‘The heart of our song’
On a hot June weekend, more than 100 Rockway Mennonite Collegiate alumni rehearsed, relived and performed a Rockway choral experience. Three beloved choral directors—Jan Overduin, Robert L. Shantz and Ann L. Shultz, a 1984 graduate—each chose a hymn and two pieces that, with prayer and reflections, were melded into a moving, worshipful experience. As we…
