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Two countries, one mission on the Korean Peninsula
It has been more than 60 years since the ceasefire that ended the Korean War, but to this day North Korea and South Korea do not have an official peace, and the divide remains great. In the last months of 2018, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada executive director Rick Cober Bauman and MCC U.S. executive…
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Congolese army officer arrested in U.N. murders case
Michael J. Sharp and fellow U.N. sanctions monitor Zaida Catalán of Sweden were abducted and killed in 2017 in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo while monitoring sanctions violations and possible war crimes by the Congolese national army and various militias. The prosecutor overseeing the case told Reuters news agency that Jean de…
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Ukrainians witness amid suffering, hope
In a region of Ukraine that thousands of Mennonites left generations ago, two dozen of today’s Mennonite leaders from across Europe gathered for three days of fellowship in October 2018. Hosted by Ukrainian leaders from Mennonite Brethren churches, meetings in the city of Zaporizhzhia included participants from Portugal, Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania…
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Canada announces funding to empower women and youth in Senegal
In December 2018, the federal government announced funding for a new five-year project with Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) that will improve the economic resilience of women and youth farmers in Senegal. The project, valued at close to $18 million, will encourage farmers in the Sedhiou and Tambacounda regions of Senegal to adopt innovative technologies…
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How steam wells work to relieve droughts in Ethiopia
In parts of the world where the effects of climate change are severe and rains are dangerously infrequent, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is supporting innovative projects to improve access to water. In the Afar region of Northern Ethiopia, MCC supported the Afar Pastoralist Development Association (APDA) to build and maintain a steam well benefitting 60…
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MEDAx 2018: Creating pathways for future innovators
A team of six students from Conrad Grebel University College participated in MEDAx, a conference that was part of the larger Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) conference, held in November 2018, in Indianapolis. MEDAx culminated in a $5,000 pitch competition to foster innovation for emerging social entrepreneurs. The Grebel team and SheLeads founder and Epp…
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Experiencing Christmas by lamplight
Old-fashioned oil lamps graced each windowsill in the tiny sanctuary, their steady flames bathing the room in warm light as people filed into the pews. The people came to experience “Christmas by lamplight.” The Mennonite Heritage Museum and Interpretive Centre in Rosthern hosted the event in the church that stands next to the museum on…
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North Korean farmers visit Manitoba, build relationships
In those first few minutes after arriving at Syl’s Restaurant in Carman, members of a delegation from North Korea sit at the edge of the outdoor eating area, where they see local resident Rene McFarlane at a picnic table with her son Lane. The visitors move toward McFarlane and, with the help of a translator,…
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MCC supports vulnerable people on the move
Daniel (a pseudonym, for security reasons) doesn’t have just one reason for leaving his daughter, 8, and parents in Honduras. He has many reasons for joining a caravan of thousands of migrants walking toward the U.S. border with Mexico. “I was forced to leave because there weren’t jobs or opportunities, plus the insecurity and violence.…
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Imagining a new world at Women Doing Theology 2018
“Wipe away all tears for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.” Over 200 people from across North America filled the Chapel of the Sermon of the Mount with these lyrics, singing and dancing the “Canticle of the Turning” at the third biennial Women Doing Theology (WDT) conference. The conference, which…
