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Families negotiate education during pandemic
Mary Anne Neufeld of Vineland, Ont. teaches Kindergarten in the public school system and was surprised at the beginning of the school year that 92 percent of students returned to the classroom instead of taking online classes. This was a tough decision for many parents. Staff members at Neufeld’s school were nervous, but the professional…
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Can preaching bring peace?
The annual Menno Simons Sermon Prize is seeking submissions from pastors and lay preachers from around the world in German, English, Dutch, French and Spanish before Dec. 1, 2020. The sermon—on the topic of peace—should have been preached before submission. Half of the prize money (over $3,000 Cdn) is given to the preacher; the remaining…
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!Explore nurtures youth who are passionate about the church
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) leaders of !Explore: A Theological Program for High School Youth are planning for a robust opportunity for teens to deepen their faith, expand their soul and imagine their place in God’s kingdom in the summer of 2021. “!Explore offers a chance to…
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Dishonoured treaties are ‘the ghost of our history’
Myeengun Henry, Indigenous elder, says treaty relationships should be tended. “We need to shine those up every year so we don’t forget how important they are.” Henry was the first speaker in a seven-month, online storytelling series called “Treaty as Sacred Covenant: Stories of Indigenous-Mennonite Relations,” that centres on covenants made, broken and renewed. A…
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COVID-19 global response fund helps more Global South churches
“I have seen entire families in the garbage dumps looking to quench their hunger. I have also watched with sadness as they return the elderly from the hospitals because there are no possibilities to attend them, nor medicines to supply them,” said Erwin Francisco Mirabal González, a Mennonite pastor in Venezuela. “We pray to the…
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Palestinian advocacy persists amid pandemic, Middle Eastern turmoil
Like other educational institutions around the world, the West Bank’s Bethlehem Bible College has been broadsided by the COVID-19 pandemic. Campus lockdowns, infections among staff, a greater dependence on online instruction—all have been the new reality, in addition to the ongoing political uncertainties in the region. Amid the challenges, Mennonite Church Canada, through its International…
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Watch: A look inside Meserete Kristos College
This past March, we published a story about Lynell Bergen’s sabbatical at Meserete Kristos College in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Bergen, who is the lead pastor at Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, spent her sabbatical teaching at the college. Now, you can watch a video exploring the time Bergen and her husband, Brian Dyck, spent at MKC. The…
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Watch: Winnipeg artist Curtis L. Wiebe is ‘The Imperfectionist’
How do you make a thrift shop come to life? That’s the question dogging Winnipeg artist Curtis L. Wiebe in a 30-minute documentary called The Imperfectionist. Released on TV in Manitoba in 2017 and uploaded to Vimeo this past May, the documentary follows Wiebe as he constructs a corner of a thrift shop that comes…
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MWC shifts Assembly 17 to 2022
In close consultation with the national advisory committee in Indonesia, the host country, the executive committee of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) has decided not to hold Assembly 17 in 2021, as originally announced. Instead, MWC has decided to postpone its next global assembly until July 5-10, 2022. “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to infect hundreds of…
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COVID-19 global response fund helps Global South churches
The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) COVID-19 inter-agency task force has approved 21 relief proposals. Food and sanitation materials are part of all the proposals from Anabaptist member churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America. With the COVID-19 fund’s assistance, local congregations in more than a dozen countries will bring relief to thousands of families, sharing…
