New Master of Peace and Conflict Studies degree will equip visionary leaders
Kitchener resident Patty Dorsey was at a crossroads in life. After raising five children and working with mentally challenged individuals for twenty years, Dorsey needed a change in direction. At the encouragement of her husband, she returned to school as a student in Social Development Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS). Dorsey felt like…
Muslim and Mennonite women enjoy study and friendship
On a warm summer evening in Winnipeg there is lots of laughter, picture-taking, and food—it’s very much a typical “girls’ night out.” But this party is unique as more than half the women are Shia Muslims from Iran and they’re celebrating the end of an intense week of the study of Christianity. They’re also celebrating…
Erin Brandenburg plays at Toronto’s Summer Works
The theatre was dim. A projection screen showed an animated scene of a farm yard by night. The wind rippled through the trees and grass. Clouds blew across the moon. Crickets chirped in the background as the low voices of the patrons sounded like the voices of farm dwellers on the porch in the cooling…
‘Her friendship is in our hearts’
“Friendship is a jewel in life. Delphine Martin knew how to polish that jewel,” said Melba Tanner, a fellow family therapist at the memorial services of her friend held at Waterloo North Mennonite Church Sept. 9. Delphine, age 78, died Sept. 5 after battling Parkinson’s disease and cancer. “Delphine’s delicious sense of humour (usually delivered…
Taking his ‘fight for peace’ to the international stage
“Our people have to walk 50 miles to buy an aspirin and pregnant mothers have to walk 100 miles for pre-natal and medical care in birthing,” Bishop Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) told reporters and students here at Emmanuel College as part of a tour to raise international awareness of…
Edmonton thrift store grand opening
Even with a 50-percent-off deal store-wide, Edmonton’s Mennonite Central Committee Thrift store had record sales at its official grand opening. On an average day 60 customers walk through the door and spend about $550.00. On Sept. 15, 211 customers left $1,965.00 at the till. Operating in North Edmonton since 2003, the store moved to its…
Long pastorate provides stability in mobile congregation
Pierre Trudeau was Canadian prime minister for the first time. Jimmy Carter was president of the United States and Leonid Brezhnev of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Gasoline sold for under 50 cents a litre and the Canadian Constitution had not been repatriated when Don and Dorothy Friesen moved to Ottawa so he could…
When we’re not busy
We often greet each other with a question like, “Keeping busy?” For many of us the answer is yes, and we may add a summary of our current tasks or activities to the one who greeted us. Or we may mentally review the kinds of things that are keeping us busy. As we do so,…
Spirit sent!
Sailboats seemed so idyllic—until I went sailing. I discovered that what looked peaceful from a distance was physically vigorous. It involved constant alertness, team work, and careful attention to the instructions of my friend. Only then could we align the sails of our boat with the powerful prairie wind and experience the exhilaration of being…
