Exploring the Anabaptist family online
(Image by Lars Nissen from Pixabay)
As a self-described church nerd, I love to learn about my larger church family, and I’ve found much to explore online related to the Anabaptist-Mennonite world.
Volume 26 Issue 16D
Diversity in our unity: Belonging to each other in the body of Christ
(Photo by Julianna Arjes on Unsplash)
When I was a young adult volunteer in Jamaica, part of Mennonite Central Committee’s Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program, I brought a pie to a Mennonite church-sponsored baking competition and was disqualified because my mango pie did not fit the unstated criteria of being a sweet pot
Finding redemptive peace in Revelation
The idea that Christ will return someday “riding on a horse, galloping through town and lopping off heads, is a blatant misreading of what is going on here,” writes Jeremy Duncan about the book of Revelation. He argues that this final book of the New Testament must be read through the lens of Jesus as portrayed in the gospels.
Myanmar church growing, though half its members displaced
Amos Chin, left, and two Mennonite colleagues baptize young people in rural Myanmar. (Photo courtesy Amos Chin)
Amos Chin (second from left)—a Mennonite leader in Myanmar—with (left to right) Jeanette Hanson, Norm Dyck, David Martin, and Jehu Lian meet in Myanmar in 2019. (Photo courtesy of Norm Dyck)
Roughly half the members of the Bible Missionary Church (BMC), a Mennonite denomination in Myanmar, are now displaced. An estimated 415 families, or 2,000 people, have fled to the jungle or elsewhere in the vicinity of the border with India to escape escalating civil unrest.
Mennonite Brethren leaders remove section of book
Looking back, looking forward
Danforth Mennonite Church congregants from the 1990s to the present are pictured at the church’s 115th-anniversary celebration in late June.
Bonnie Wright, Tessa Rose and Ed Ford, foreground left to right, lead the congregation out of the sanctuary during the Danforth Mennonite Church’s 115th-anniversary celebrations.
Danforth Mennonite Church is a small, urban congregation on the Danforth in Toronto. In late June, we met in person and virtually to celebrate 115 years as a congregation.
Connections, cleanup and construction in Japan
Volunteers at the TAFMC clear out overgrown shrubbery from the church property on a recent workday. (Photo courtesy of Gerald Neufeld)
Gerald and Rie Neufeld, who left Canada for Japan last year, are taking an active part in the life of Japanese churches while still relating to their Surrey, B.C., congregation, where Gerald previously pastored.
MCC Alberta encourages refugee sponsorship
Jackie Karau (third from the left, front row) recently presented an information session on refugee sponsorship to a group from Foothills Mennonite Church, in Calgary. (Photo by Orlando Vasquez)
“I have learned that there is an overwhelming amount of need and suffering in this world.
Music builds bridges to Africa
Heidi Epp leads a workshop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo about peace and conflict transformation.
Heidi Epp rehearses a duet with a student in DRC for a concert held in June.
Heidi Epp says farewell to the Peace Foundation team in DRC after spending two weeks training leaders and sharing resources on music and peace.
A chance connection on social media led Heidi Epp, a music teacher from B.C., to travel to Africa this summer to teach music and peace and conflict transformation.
Biking and hiking raise funds for Alberta organizations
Cyclists (left to right) Ernie Engbrecht, Edgar Dueck, Dave Neufeldt, Doug Wiebe, Ken Esau, Zachary Wirzba and Ron Esau raised $10,000 for MCC on July 15. (Photo by Annie Dyck)
The annual Hike-a-thon for Camp Valaqua involved walking the north end of Jumpingpound Ridge on June 11. (Photo by Jon Olfert)
This summer, Alberta supporters of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Camp Valaqua got physical to raise funds.
Emmaus House concludes decade of intentional community living
Susan and Rod Reynar founded Emmaus House, an intentional community for university students in Winnipeg. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Fifty-six different people lived at Emmaus House over its eight years of operation. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Rod and Susan Reynar made a huge life change in 2014 when they moved from Alberta to Manitoba and started Emmaus House, an intentional community for university students in Winnipeg. This spring, they said goodbye to their last group of students and closed their doors.
Saskatchewan churches celebrate marriage and refugee sponsorship
Three couples from Osler Mennonite Church, Garry and Jean Harms (left), Dick and Kathy Braun and Diana and Ben Buhler were married by the same person 50 years ago. (Photo by Adeline Cox)
Special celebrations were held at two congregations in Saskatchewan this summer.
Missionary to Argentina dies
Frieda and Delbert Erb retired in Argentina more than 20 years ago. (Mennonite Board of Missions file photo)
Delbert Erb, who served God in Argentina for more than seven decades, died June 14, in Buenos Aires. “He decided that his heart and ashes would remain in Choele Choel, [Argentina],” said Rafael Stábile, pastor of the Mennonite church where Delbert and his wife Frieda Schellenberg Erb were members.
