-
A bouncer for Jesus
So how did a 22-year-old Mennonite from France end up volunteering on the streets of Lethbridge as a bouncer for Jesus? Even he’s not sure, but he’s loving it, and when he returns to France in September, he plans to continue working with street people if he can find an opportunity. Simon Crelerot, a volunteer…
-
Dragons in the Bible?
Twenty-five youth and sponsors gathered at Camp Elim, on Lac Pelletier, south of Swift Current, Sask., for Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization’s youth retreat. Held May 24-26 the retreat was filled with fun and games, worship, and dragons! Retreat speaker Erika Enns Rodine, pastor at First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, Man., began the weekend by looking at…
-
Reduce, reuse, SheCycle
For many women around the world, accessing pads, tampons or menstrual cups isn’t as easy as making a trip to a drug store, nor is it affordable. Some women and girls resort to making their own menstrual products out of things like mattress foam, newspaper or old clothes, which can cause problems like tetanus and…
-
Offering the gift of non-judgmental listening
Elaine Presnell has presided at around 600 funerals. That’s a number most pastors won’t achieve in a lifetime. But Presnell isn’t an ordinary pastor. For more than 10 years, she has worked for Mourning Glory Funeral Services in Saskatoon as a funeral officiant. Previously, she spent 16 years as a psychiatric nurse at Saskatoon’s Regional…
-
Making art ‘like breathing’ for B.C. illustrator
For Dona Park, making art is the equivalent of eating, sleeping and breathing. She does it every day because she needs to. The 24-year-old attended Goshen (Ind.) College, from which she graduated with a double major in fine arts and history in 2017. She is now a freelance artist based in Abbotsford, B.C., where she…
-
Extending the table
On May 14, Breslau Mennonite Church hosted an iftar meal after sunset, marking the end of the daily fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, a season of fasting, prayer, reflection and charity observed by millions of Muslims around the world. Each week during Ramadan, a different church in Waterloo Region hosted an…
-
Worshipping across cultures
Every year, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate in Kitchener, Ont., facilitates worship services at churches in the area, to build bridges between the school and its constituency. This year, the senior choir students had a particularly moving experience when they sang and led worship at Kitchener’s Chin Christian Church, a member congregation of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada,…
-
Giving back
“We’ve experienced a lot of humbling stories,” says Phyllis Roth of her participation in the Saskatchewan Valley Hospital home-building project, but one story in particular stands out. When Roth and a group of friends began building a home as a fundraiser for the new Saskatchewan Valley Hospital Foundation in Rosthern, they hoped local businesses would…
-
Vegan Mennos
Type the words “Mennonite vegans” into your search engine and you likely won’t come up with much. But being a Mennonite vegan is very doable, whether you are culturally Mennonite or not. And with a birth name of Carrie and a married name of Steven, I am clearly not culturally Mennonite. Why did we go…
-
Easy Beans recipe
Vegan cooking can be as easy or challenging as you want to make it. I’m a “10-minute—five ingredient” kind of gal so here is a crockpot bean recipe that takes minutes to make. If you put it together in the morning, it will easily be ready for supper. (Read the accompanying Gathering Around the Table article, “Vegan…
