Going to J-school: my walk of protest
The time has come. At the beginning of September, I began full-time journalism studies at the University of Regina. Our family moved back to Regina for this reason, and after a year of staying at home with our two young kids, I’ll be off studying for the majority of the week. I’ve gone through a…
Houmphan
Rad and Pat Houmphan, centre, have a long history of working in the Mennonite church. When they came to Canada as refugees in 1979, Otto and Florence Driedger of Regina, far left and far right, helped them settle in Regina. Pat attended Swift Current Bible Institute and Mennonite Brethren Bible College, and eventually graduated from…
Embracing transition in our lives
Transition is something that we all face! From the time we are born until we breathe our last breath, we are transitioning from one stage of life to another. Some of these transitions are almost imperceptible, and we adjust to them with ease, while others, such as events outside of our personal world, may throw…
Readers write: August 29, 2016 issue
Dealing with mental illness is ‘hard enough already’ Thank you for the recent special issue of Canadian Mennonite on “mental health.” It is an important topic if we are to love each other well. Mental differences are invisible but they can lead to very different ways of interacting with other people and the world around…
Ride for a ‘dream’
In October 2014, Wame Chiepe invited us to dream. Wame lives near an abandoned park in Gaborone, Botswana. Young children play on a rusty, broken-down slide. Surrounded by drinking establishments, the park is an unsafe place. Night-time robberies and stabbings are not unusual. Eventually, the playground kids graduate to the nearby bars. Wame dreamed of…
Healthy families adapt
It’s an exciting time for many people in my extended family. Three nieces are university students, preparing for careers in education or medicine. One niece, with BA newly in hand, has entered an intense one-year fellowship, halfway across the continent from her family and friendship supports. Two nephews are marrying this year. Others of that…
A big change
Mennonite Foundation of Canada (MFC) is about to make a big change. In October, we will become Abundance Canada. This decision did not come easily. Our process was both cautious and comprehensive. Long before we considered rebranding, the board and management began strategizing for the future. Through this process we affirmed a number of core…
The pursuit of truth (Pt. 8)
In John 14:6, Jesus claims that he is the truth. What does this mean? I used to think that the truth of Christ was a set of doctrines I needed to believe in, but I’ve become convinced that it is actually his state of consciousness and his way of life that we are now called…
An open letter to MC Canada
I was grateful for the opportunity to attend your biennial meeting in Saskatoon in early July. As always, I was impressed by the creativity expressed in your worship services and the focussed, thoughtful discussions in your business sessions, along with the comic relief I’ve come to expect in your gatherings. I enjoyed the conversations that…
Vineland
When Mennonites came to Ontario and western Canada in the 1920s, they were helped by the “Swiss” Mennonites, such as those from The First Mennonite Church in Vineland, Ont. The poor farming conditions and low commodity prices of the 1930s made the financial situation very difficult. In these circumstances, Mennonite Brethren and Mennonites worshipped together…
