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‘Jesus Christ is present here’
“Jesus Christ is present here. Alleluia!” sang enthusiastic worshippers in many languages to begin the fourth annual Mennonite Church Eastern Canada multicultural Mission Festival, held on Oct. 26 at First Mennonite Church in Kitchener. Worship leader Yoel Masyawong, the pastor of Grace Lao Mennonite Church in Kitchener, expressed his delight to see “all the nations…
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Like a bird who flew away . . . and came home
Nancy Frey remembers as a young child seeing a bird flying by and telling her mother, “Someday I am going to be like that bird and fly away.” She did just that, spending a year in France after graduating from high school. That was only the beginning of a ministry career that has spanned two…
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Langham artist finds connection through painting
Her parents called her Dynamite. Although she didn’t care for the nickname when she was a child, Valerie Wiebe has come to appreciate its layers of meaning. The Langham, Sask., artist says that when she looked up the etymology of “dynamite,” she learned that the prefix “dyna” describes “something with the potential for an explosion…
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Senior inspires others with desire to give
The small group of cyclists cheered as Irvin Driedger set off on his walking bike, kicking off the 2019 Shekinah Bike-paddle-hike-a-thon. His participation was inspiring on many levels. Eight years ago, he suffered a massive stroke. He could only move his eyes and one foot. The doctor told Irvin’s wife Donna that he likely wouldn’t…
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Dave Wall inducted into sports wall of fame
Dave Wall, who was an active member of Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines and an ardent supporter of Silver Lake Mennonite Camp fundraising dinners, was honoured by his local community for the many roles he played there and for his enduring legacy. On Aug. 23, Wall was inducted into the Sports Wall of Fame…
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Move to Canadian office ‘a blessing’
For César Garcia, general secretary of Mennonite World Conference (MWC), relocating to office space in Kitchener has “been a blessing.” He shares the office with four staff, some of the 40 people who work and volunteer for MWC around the world. MWC shares space at 50 Kent Avenue with staff from a variety of other…
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MCC program shares ‘tools’ to combat homelessness
In 2013, the first cast of Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz’s “Homeless Jesus” was installed. The bronze statue, which depicts the Christ figure as a person sleeping on a park bench, was offered to two churches before being installed at Regis College at the University of Toronto. When Pete Olsen, coordinator of the Mennonite Central Committee…
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Staging change behind bars
Ontario’s Theatre of the Beat has a mandate of staging change and creating conversations around social justice issues, but that’s also happening in communities beyond the Mennonite enclaves the company brings its plays to. Once a week, a couple of the members of the theatre troupe provide therapeutic drama classes to the inmates incarcerated at…
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‘That school kit saved my life’
Ly Vang was 16 and stuck in a refugee camp in Thailand with a pair of shoes and two sets of clothes. She was lonely and sad. She struggled with suicidal thoughts. “What is the meaning of living like this?” she complained to God. “Being dead would be better.” One day, though, she noticed a…
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Three generations find working for MCC a blessing
Bob Lebold made his first donation to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) when he was about 10 years old. It was Christmas, sometime in the late 1960s, when he tagged along to the MCC centre in Kitchener with his mom Elaine, who was the material aid supervisor. His task was to help sort and bale clothing…
