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Relief efforts underway to address flooding, displacement in South Asia
At the same time that Tropical Storm Harvey was making landfall in Texas, people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal were experiencing devastating floods that have left millions of people displaced and killed over 1,200 people. South Asia is prone to flooding during monsoon season, from June to September each year, but authorities have said “this…
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Helen’s Bean Sprouts
This recipe is a family favourite for Ken and Willa Reddig and was regularly served in Willa’s home when she was growing up in the 1950s and 60s. While on their honeymoon, 50 years ago, Ken and Willa made a surprising discovery about the recipe’s origins. To see that story, go to “Midwestern recipe has surprising…
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Surrey church embraces Karen refugees
For Living Hope Christian Fellowship of Surrey, hosting Karen refugees from Burma is not a movie plot, it’s reality. Beginning in 2006, Karen refugees started moving into low-income housing near Living Hope, including the Thein family, who were first part of Cedar Hills Mennonite Church, Living Hope’s predecessor. The Theins had first settled in Yarrow…
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MDS volunteers heading to Bloomington, Texas
The Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) assessment team moved deeper into the devastating footprint of Hurricane Harvey on August 31, 2017, as they visited the town of Bloomington, Texas, southwest of Houston in Victoria County, U.S.A. The impact of Harvey suddenly became more intense for the team as the damage was evident “block after block” in…
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Congolese Mennonites suffer atrocities amid displacement of 1.4 million
WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. Dozens of Congolese Mennonites have been killed, hundreds of their homes have been burned, and thousands of them have fled, as violence consumes the Kasai region, birthplace of the Mennonite church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) reports 36 confirmed deaths of Mennonites,…
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Supporting women’s education with a party and a quilt
When retired teacher Martha Wiens of Leamington (Ont.) United Mennonite Church turned 80, she threw herself a birthday party with purpose. She auctioned off a specially made quilt to raise money in support of a young woman’s education at Meserete Kristos (MK) College in Ethiopia. But she didn’t stop there, pledging to pay for a…
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B.C.’s wildfires affect large region
Haze lingered over a wide area of British Columbia in early August, a reminder that wildfires in B.C.’s interior were affecting residents several hundred kilometres away. An air quality advisory index was issued in Metro Vancouver on July 31, 2017, and 10 days later was still in effect, the longest ever recorded. The fires, exacerbated…
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Review: Mennonite-Nazi connection unconvincing
Ben Goossen argues that German-speaking Mennonites of the 20th century had a sense of Mennonite nationality and that this concept of Mennonites as a “chosen nation,” a people with a distinctive heritage, culture and ethnicity, was influenced by the racist ideas of the Nazis. He says he began this study in an effort to understand…
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Committee invites input for Resonate music project
The Mennonite Worship and Song Committee in inviting congregations and individuals to give input toward a new hymnal scheduled for release in 2020. “We want to hear what is giving life to worship across the denomination,” said Bradley Kauffman, project director. “It is essential to hear from these voices – people whose investment will deeply…
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A witness for nonviolence from Nigeria
A doctoral thesis focusing on the nonviolent witness of a peace church in Nigeria was recently completed at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The candidate, Rev. Daniel Y. Mbaya, who is general secretary of the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, or EYN), defended his thesis…
