Manitoba Mennonites to explore vulnerability and mission
Embracing vulnerability can help congregations “engage with the world the way Jesus did,” says Ken Warkentin, Mennonite Church Manitoba Executive Minister. Through plenary talks and workshops, Manitoba congregations will have the opportunity to learn about mission and vulnerability at InFuse, a one-day learning event that takes place at Canadian Mennonite University Nov. 3, 2018. “We…
Anabaptist Peace Network creates space for relationships
Coffee breaks at the triennial Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Council, Commissions and networks meetings in Kenya, April 2018, allowed Colombia peacebuilder and human rights lawyer Ricardo Esquivia to share with an old friend his vision for the Global Anabaptist Peace Network (GAPN): to build networks supporting peacebuilders in the field and communicating with the…
Education equips Ethiopian leader to serve
“With the grace of God, I escaped many deaths throughout my journey in Christ,” says Tigist Alamirew. Born to an Orthodox family in Finote Selam, she now serves as distance education director at Meserete Kristos College in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. “While I was a teenager, one of my friends witnessed to me about the love…
Voices Together committee seeks input
Six people who have been meeting virtually for the last two years via videoconference gathered together in person for the first and only time this summer to speak through and listen to the worship resources that will be part of Voices Together, a new hymnal to be published by MennoMedia in 2020 for Mennonite Church…
‘I need to go to school’
Ten-year-old Kanku Ngalamulume fled from his home in the village of Senge after armed groups beheaded his mother and father and his siblings too. He was among 1.4 million people in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have been forced from their homes as violence among local militias and the…
Burns Lake ‘in the thick of’ B.C. fires
As the month of August 2018 ended, British Columbia found itself dealing with rampant wildfires for the second consecutive year. In mid-August, there were 566 wildfires burning in the province, with 29 evacuation orders affecting approximately 3,050 people. As of Aug. 31, there were still 46 “wildfires of note” burning across B.C., according to Global…
Decades-old sexual abuse comes to light
Ruth-Ann Klassen Shantz has a long history with Silver Lake Mennonite Camp in Sauble Beach, Ont., and a story she has kept long hidden. But earlier this year she shared with the camp’s board of directors her allegations of long-term sexual abuse by a former camp director. Describing herself as a “camp kid” in her…
Young people key to resilient church
Throughout its history, the people of the Vietnam Mennonite Church have never failed to demonstrate their resilience and their commitment to live out the peaceful way of Christ. First established in 1964 in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), the church went through many periods of hope, suffering and then restoration. And we have a…
The Holy Spirit transforms prison
“My members are rapists, kidnappers, murders and fraudsters—all washed by the blood of Jesus our Lord,” says Pastor Ignacio Chamorro Ramírez. Chamorro is director of an integrated transformation program and pastor of La Libertad (Freedom) Church in Paraguay’s overcrowded Tacumbú national penitentiary. But he was once a prisoner like the men he serves. Chamorro’s life…
Teaching with Talking Books
Teaching technical information to people who are mostly not literate can pose serious challenges. But if use of books isn’t helpful, Talking Books can get the message across. The Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) project of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) has made wide use of Talking Books through a partnership with Literacy Bridge,…
