To death’s door and back
Vic Winter was admitted to hospital in Leamington on March 20. In short order his wife Marilyn was sent home while he was sent to the intensive-care unit at the Windsor Regional Hospital, where he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and placed unconscious on a ventilator to help him breathe as he fought for his life.…
Let’s go on an adventure!
Every year Mennonite Church Alberta offers education bursaries to students who attend a regional-church congregation who have successfully enrolled in a Mennonite or Anabaptist post-secondary institution. In 2019, Claire Dueck, a member of Lethbridge Mennonite Church, was one of eight recipients. Dueck, 18, just completed her first year at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C.,…
The gift of giving time
Many people have given their time to volunteering, but few have a record of volunteering for the same organization for 46 years. Margie Steingart has that distinction. She has volunteered for the Christian Benefit Thrift Shop in St. Catharines, Ont., since it opened in January 1974, making her, at the age of 93, the oldest…
Online paska contest a resounding success
She couldn’t gather family and friends around her table to eat paska this Easter, so Heather Driedger decided to hold a virtual paska bake-off instead. Paska is a rich yeast bread popular among those of Russian Mennonite heritage. Traditional paska is served at Easter with a sweet cottage cheese spread called glums. Modern-day bakers often…
‘A well-nourished spirit’
Sue Steiner left behind a huge legacy when she passed away on Aug. 26, 2019. As beloved wife to Sam Steiner for 50 years, treasured aunt to a number of nieces and nephews, and a cherished member of several circles of close friends, she left personal legacies. As a woman who served the church as…
We need more Peters!
“We need more Peters! He’s only one man,” exclaims ex-offender Kayel Truong, when asked about the Bridges Ministries program run by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta to help prisoners of faith successfully reintegrate into the community. Peter Worsley, MCC’s offender reintegration chaplain, loves his job. “I get to experience the joy of seeing God work…
Not so radical after all
While people across Canada and around the world self-isolate from COVID-19, work continues on the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline in northern British Columbia, without the full consent of the Wet’suwet’en people. The 670-kilometre long pipeline plans to snake through Wet’suwet’en territory and export liquefied natural gas around the world. Steve Heinrichs, director of Indigenous-Settler Relations…
MC Eastern Canada appoints new executive minister
Leah Reesor-Keller has been appointed as Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s next executive minister. She will begin her new role in late summer, replacing David Martin, who will retire this summer after 15 years in the position. Arli Klassen, MC Eastern Canada’s moderator, is confident in the decision: “Leah has great passion and vision for guiding…
A big heart filled with butter tarts
Barry Reesor is widely known for the generosity with which he shares his famous homemade butter tarts. He calls it his “butter-tart ministry.” Although he is a computer guy who works in network infrastructure, he also enjoys baking, and the coworkers at his office frequently benefit from his big heart. They recognize the white container…
A lifetime of taking pictures
Henry Harms once owned a thousand cameras. He still has a closet full of them. They bear witness to a life-long love of photography. Harms was 9 when he bought his first camera—a Baby Brownie Special. As a boy growing up on a farm near Hague, Sask., he would go to Saskatoon to watch ball…
