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Young people key to resilient church
Throughout its history, the people of the Vietnam Mennonite Church have never failed to demonstrate their resilience and their commitment to live out the peaceful way of Christ. First established in 1964 in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), the church went through many periods of hope, suffering and then restoration. And we have a…
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The Holy Spirit transforms prison
“My members are rapists, kidnappers, murders and fraudsters—all washed by the blood of Jesus our Lord,” says Pastor Ignacio Chamorro Ramírez. Chamorro is director of an integrated transformation program and pastor of La Libertad (Freedom) Church in Paraguay’s overcrowded Tacumbú national penitentiary. But he was once a prisoner like the men he serves. Chamorro’s life…
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Teaching with Talking Books
Teaching technical information to people who are mostly not literate can pose serious challenges. But if use of books isn’t helpful, Talking Books can get the message across. The Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) project of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) has made wide use of Talking Books through a partnership with Literacy Bridge,…
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Transmission of love and peace at European Mennonite gathering
“We can’t keep our story. We must share.” That is the message Danang Kristiawan brought home after attending the European Mennonite Conference (known by its German acronym MERK), from May 10 to 13, 2018. The gathering of European Mennonites that occurs every six years was bigger than ever, with a total of 2,300 people attending…
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Spiritual snapshots of the U.K. and Africa
Mike and Cheryl Nimz: United Kingdom Mike and Cheryl Nimz do not fit typical missionary scenarios, but neither does their mission field conform to stereotypes. As Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers living in Birmingham, England, since 2013, their assignment is to nurture Christian groups in a post-Christendom urban setting as part of an emerging Anabaptist…
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MC Canada staffer sentenced to seven days in jail
Steve Heinrichs was found guilty of criminal and civil contempt of court in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver on Aug. 8, 2018, and was sentenced to seven days in provincial jail. He was immediately taken into custody and transferred to the North Fraser Institute in Coquitlam to serve his sentence. (Aug. 13,…
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Gathered with our people
Death brings to the fore the cost of having left home. For many at First Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Canada is a home away from home. When death strikes, they cannot be gathered with their people in their countries of origin. Finances, dangers or immigration status can stand in the way, and many, many kilometres…
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‘We became family to each other’
What do you get when you start a Mennonite church in the middle of nowhere? A community that is still going strong more than 50 years later, even after the church itself has closed its doors. Thompson United Mennonite Church was formed in 1962 in Thompson, Man., an isolated northern frontier town formed out of…
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Where he leads me I will follow
At a time when a woman’s sphere of influence was limited to hearth and home, Anna Dyck was making a difference. Dyck spent nearly 40 years of her life as a missionary in Japan. During those years she lived in three communities and worked as a nurse, Bible teacher, pastor and church planter. She helped…
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Words to the wise
At the age of 18, most young people are making the transition from high school to whatever comes next. It’s a formative time with many possibilities. So Canadian Mennonite asked eight people: “If you could give your 18-year-old self some advice, what would you say?” This is how they responded. • Rebecca Steiner, 28, is…
