International Witness Sunday set for Oct. 24
Mennonite Church Canada invites congregations across its nationwide community of faith to celebrate International Witness Sunday on Oct. 24, 2021. The focus of this year’s celebration is on experiencing God’s call, drawing inspiration from the MC Canada denominational Vision: Healing and Hope statement: God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ and, by the…
Foodgrains Bank celebrates good harvests in Zimbabwe, Malawi
A combination of favourable weather conditions and good farming practices means many farmers have had a fantastic growing season at many of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank project sites in southern Africa. “This was a bountiful season for me as compared to the 2019-20 agriculture season,” says Velina Siapani of Zingozo village, Zimbabwe, a lead farmer…
CMU honours Class of 2021
After a year of mingling on Zoom and many online classes, the Canadian Mennonite University community gathered in person on Aug. 21 to celebrate the Class of 2021. At an outdoor convocation ceremony on CMU’s grounds, CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls conferred 68 undergraduate degrees, 20 master’s degrees and three certificates. “This afternoon we celebrate…
MC Canada announces theme for Gathering 2022
“We Declare: What We Have Seen and Heard” will be an opportunity for members of the nationwide church to re-examine what it means to tell the good news and to share and hear stories of bearing witness to the gospel of peace. “Across Mennonite Church Canada, the idea of sharing the good news elicits strong…
Fire destroys church and five homes in Iquitos, Peru
The night of Aug. 29, a fire raged through a Mennonite church building and five neighbouring wooden houses on Isla Iquitos, Peru, a small island near the main island where the city of Iquitos is located. Neighbours attributed that the fire was likely caused by a candle that the caretaker of the church had left…
Global Anabaptist family encouraged to donate to vaccination efforts
Tanzania, home to 66, 744 baptized members of Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania, less than one percent of the population has received vaccination protection against COVID-19. Mennonite World Conference is calling on its members around the world to love their neighbours by donating to UNICEF’s campaign to share coronavirus vaccinations around the world. While some countries…
Beirut explosion: One year later
Samir Menassa remembers when his convenience store used to attract many customers. Located among pubs and restaurants in Beirut, Lebanon, the store was a convenient place for people to purchase a few things they needed as they strolled through the area. That memory blew up along with a massive explosion of ammonium nitrate at the…
Goshen alumni contribute to Pfizer vaccine efforts
Two alumni from Indiana’s Goshen College played important roles in the development of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19. Robert Lerch, Ph.D., head of lab and site management and business operations at pharmaceutical company Pfizer, and Mark Wittrig, senior director of quality assurance at Pfizer, both graduated from the college in 1984. Robert Lerch. Early days…
New book explores God’s kingdom
What is God’s kingdom, and what does citizenship look like? Mennonite World Conference general secretary César García explores these questions in a book published this past February. The book is part of The Jesus Way: Small Books of Radical Faith, a series from Herald Press. Mennonite Central Committee’s United Nations Office asked Garcia questions about…
MDS in Shenandoah Valley celebrates creativity of volunteers during pandemic
Dozens of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers in Harrisonburg, Virginia gathered for a picnic in May to celebrate the creative ways they had responded to community needs during the pandemic. Brimming with joy at seeing each other in-person for the first time in more than a year, they met to mark how more than 250…
