MEDA software goes bananas
If you buy a bunch of fair trade or organic bananas, you may get a product with a hidden stamp from Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). MEDA has helped co-operatives in Peru to streamline their certification procedures to maintain the rigorous requirements of fair trade and organic distributors, and thus gain a premium price. One…
A clear statement about stuttering
It is a hard thing to live with as much fear as Albert (Colin Firth) harbours. But it is especially difficult when you are a royal. For Prince Albert, later to become Great Britain’s King George VI, the familiar fears of authority figures, childhood bullies and judgmental crowds are made all the worse by his…
More than making a profit
Paul Tiessen answers the phone with a breathless rush of words. It’s 8:30 on a Wednesday morning and already he’s running to keep up. Tiessen, 56, owns Action Office Interiors, an office supply store in Saskatoon that puts Staples to shame. It’s where people go to shop when they want quality that will last. That’s…
‘A light in the darkness’
On the weekend of Sept. 25-26, 2010, the Kingcome River raged through the remote First Nation community of Kingcome. Floodwaters forced lifelong residents of the Pacific coastal village to flee from their homes with only a few minutes notice. As the waters quickly rose, villagers gathered at the school and waited to be airlifted out…
Plowing the way for peace
A public stand for peace, peace between believers and peace with their neighbours all came to the fore during the Mennonite Church Saskatchewan annual delegate sessions last month in North Battleford. Since Saskatchewan Mennonites have been involved with public acts of peace, the Ad hoc Committee on Peace and Justice took the opportunity in its…
Rediscovering Mary
After two days of singing, discussing, pondering images and praying last month, questions continued to swirl around Mary, the mother of Jesus, and what she might mean for Mennonites and Anabaptists today. The “My Soul Rejoices in God, my Saviour: Mary in Anabaptist Dress” Conference at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary brought together approximately 100 pastors,…
Humble labour, profound obscurity
Charles de Foucauld was humble. You don’t often hear people described that way. Humility is a fading art. In our age, Christian organizations shout their good works from rooftops, many Christian leaders seek all the attention they can get, philanthropy glorifies ostentatious wealth, and more Christians seek self-fulfillment than self-denial. All this makes the story…
Relax
I was handed a paper that I shoved in my pocket unread. But, later, the title caught my attention as I was about to drop it in recycling: “Relax.” That word thrust me back to a “Teen-dom” ruled by mullets and neon, where “relax” was used to call people back from hysterics because of some…
Some ‘last things’
With 34 years of ministry, including almost nine years as conference minister for Mennonite Church Alberta, behind me, I am poignantly reminded that each public event is my last, having announced retirement for this summer. At our Alberta annual meeting last month, I reflected on both the energizing and challenging times. It has not been…
