Category: Web First

While cheap gas prices were celebrated in the United States, in Venezuela the low cost of oil has led to painful shortages in everyday needs, such as food, electricity and medicine. The once-thriving Venezuelan economy depends greatly on exporting oil. Previously, when oil prices were high, this income stream allowed for low national production, permitting…

Holding his 19-month-old grandson, Ray Martin told the audience gathered at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) on Aug. 11 why he had made a generous donation to study and combat the issues of climate change. “We’re playing fast and loose with God’s creation,” Martin said. “I feel as if I owe it to him,” nodding toward…

“There is no path, Pilgrim. The path is made by walking.” This lovely phrase by the poet Antonio Machado epitomizes my life journey, particularly the two years I sojourned in Colombia. Each person’s identity is marked by their family and social contexts, and other histories. To tell the truth, my identity as Rut Atarama, a…

Erb Street Mennonite Church not only welcomes all people who enter its doors, as its vision statement indicates, but it also extends that same welcome to “future guide dogs.” These animals are being fostered and given basic training during puppyhood by two church families, before entering intensive training with the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog…

When South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, hopes were high and the future looked bright. But conflict broke out in 2013, and violence has ebbed and flowed ever since then. Education levels remain consistently low. Only half of the primary school teachers have more than a primary school education themselves. The national literacy…

A dedicated fundraising website for the new song collection for Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA has been launched at hymnalproject606.com. MennoMedia is taking leadership of the new hymnal development. A digital version of much of the music is also anticipated. The fundraising phase is called Project 606, a title drawn from the anthem…

Cloudy skies and a cold wind weren’t enough to keep a large group of people from gathering in the parking lot at the Bethany Manor seniors’ housing complex to celebrate the facility’s 30th anniversary. With the help of warm jackets and, in some cases, blankets, residents, family and friends enjoyed music, visiting and a barbeque…

Holy Spirit fire dances in Bercy Mundedi's eyes. It sets aflame the ministries to which she has been called—the most recent being to lead the Kalonda Bible Institute in Democratic Republic of Congo. She was named director during the June 29-July 3, 2016, general assembly of Communauté Mennonite au Congo (Mennonite Church of Congo) that…

By the time Feryal arrived at a camp for displaced people in Iraq’s northern Ninewa Governorate, she had little desire to leave the security of the tent she shared with her parents and sister. And for the first four months, she mostly stayed put. “I didn’t like to talk to anyone, just be silent,” recalls…

God is at work and the gospel is alive in our cities, towns and communities. This is the message Marty Troyer wants to share in his new book, The Gospel Next Door, released by Herald Press. As a pastor in Houston, Tex., Troyer has found the gospel to be thriving in the city. “People are…