Touring the province, touring the church
Louise Sawatsky has boarded the bus for Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s Touring Mission Fest every year the event has been offered. For the 92-year-old from Saskatoon’s First Mennonite Church, the annual tours are worthwhile and enjoyable. Begun in 2005 under the auspices of MC Saskatchewan’s Ministries Commission, Touring Mission Fest was initially seen as a way…
‘A community event’
Weather was again the main story at the annual Camp Squeah paddle-a-thon held on April 18 and 19, but this time—unlike some years—for all the right reasons. Sunny skies, warm weather, little wind and no major mishaps meant that the 31 paddlers who finished their two-day sojourn down the Fraser River arrived energized and in…
MCC pre-sale fundraiser exceeds expectations
“I thought if we could do $3,000 to $4,000, that would be what we’ve done in the past. When I was off by $10,000, I was elated.” These words came from Gordon Baergen, a member of Holyrood Mennonite Church in Edmonton who helped to organize a May 21 pre-sale fundraiser in preparation for Mennonite Central…
A partner for healing, help and freedom
“And when you send a slave out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty-handed. Provide liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were a slave…
Concert held for Nepali earthquake survivors
Members of the Mennonite community and other citizens of Abbotsford, B.C., raised more than $25,000 in a benefit concert at Emmanuel Mennonite Church on May 17 to aid survivors of the earthquakes that ravaged Nepal in April and May. Vanj Thiessen, who, with her husband Ernie, had served with Mennonite Central Committee in Nepal in…
A generous legacy
The late Isaac Andres and his wife Mary are sharing their passionate faith and generosity in a legacy that continues to inspire and nurture new generations of Mennonites. As a young man, Isaac could afford to attend Bible school for only one year due to a lack of funds, but he longed to ensure that…
Mennonites extend influence via media
Steven Carpenter’s new book, Mennonites and Media: Mentioned in It, Maligned by It and Makers of It, offers a summary of both the ways Mennonites have been portrayed in popular media and the ways they have used it in North America to convey distinctive Mennonite insights. While not exhaustive, the book provides a representative study…
New Christian music festival focuses on justice
Organizers of Canada’s newest festival of music, faith and social justice hope that the Skylight Festival will invigorate a generation of socially conscious Christians. The first Skylight Festival will take place this summer in Paris, Ont., from July 31 to Aug. 2. It’s patterned after the Greenbelt Festival in England that draws more than 20,000…
Lessons learned at L’Abri
When Tasha Janzen thinks back to her time in Switzerland last year, learning the importance of life balance is one of the biggest things that sticks out for her. The Abbotsford, B.C., resident travelled to Huémoz, a small village surrounded by the Swiss Alps, in May 2014. She spent two weeks living at the Swiss…
Home Depot and a dog named Flash
Home Depot and a golden lab: these two things are important parts of Megen Olfert’s life. Olfert, 31, of Saskatoon, has paraplegic high spastic cerebral palsy. The condition keeps her brain from telling her muscles what to do, and all her limbs are affected. According to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, spasticity affects how people move…
