Category: Web First

The first thing they said was “Can you help us help?” recalls Sarah Funkhouser, who, together with her husband, Seth Malone, is Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) representative for Jordan, Palestine and Israel. MCC staff were reaching out to MCC partners in Gaza to see if they were safe in the wake of days of bombing…

Elisa Humphreys was sitting on her couch in her home in Carstairs, Alberta, when she got the emergency alert about the tornado. It was July 1 and Humphreys, 63, who manages Clothing for a Cause—a ministry that recycles clothing and household textiles to provide financial assistance to non-profit partners in Canada and in the developing…

I like telling stories. And I like trains. So when organizers of the “Memories of Migration: Russlaender 100 Tour” asked if I would join the cross-country train tour as a reporter, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. Yes! Through the tour, which ran from July 6-24—I was on the first and third legs—I was…

And that’s it: The first leg of “Memories of Migration: Russlaender Tour 100” is over. From July 6-11, 60 people travelled by train and bus from Quebec City to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, getting to know each other, sharing stories and learning more about the journeys taken by their ancestors 100 years ago. Laureen Harder-Gissing points to…

One hundred years ago, the first of 21,000 Mennonites who left the Soviet Union boarded a train in Quebec City for new lives across the country. On July 6 some of their descendants and others will replicate that journey when they board a train for a trip that will go all the way from Quebec…

A new documentary exploring questions of land and reconciliation in rural Saskatchewan will have its Manitoba premiere in Winnipeg this weekend. Custodians: A Story of Ancient Echoes is showing on Saturday, March 4 at 5:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU). The university’s Art of Peacebuilding class is organizing the event…

During the pandemic, Christian churches across various faith traditions have disagreed with public health orders restricting in-person gatherings. Some church leaders challenged public health orders in law courts, their stories covered in news headlines across the country. Among Christians, there has been lament about the division and the message it sends. Doug Klassen. Doug Klassen,…

For Joyce Ngumbao, a mother of five living in Kenya, a brood of chickens has made all the difference. Joyce Ngumbao holds a chicken in the coop of her family’s farm. (MCC photo by Matthew Lester) In the past, she and her husband struggled to feed their children. Although they worked hard on their modest…

Each summer for the last four years, a community on the outskirts of Soacha, Colombia, has gathered to watch its children play in a soccer tournament for peace, their own local version of the World Cup. In Soacha, where many families have experienced conflict, displacement and violence, Creciendo Juntos (Growing Together) offers children and youth…

Mennonite Church U.S.A. has released the completed report from its denominational survey, “The Mennonite Experience: MC USA Membership Study 2021-22.” “The Mennonite Experience: MC USA Membership Study 2021-22.” The 85-page report revealed that members have deep commitments to their faith, a passion for peacebuilding, a heart for service and close congregational ties. They also desire…