Dormitory to create equal opportunity for women
To ensure women receive the education and training they need to help build the body of Christ, Meserete Kristos College, a ministry of the Ethiopian Meserete Kristos Church, is building a women’s dormitory on its main campus in Debre Zeit. Two-thirds of the required $1.37 million has been raised, and a generous Canadian couple are…
The importance of ‘memory institutions’
Here is a question you do not hear every day: When was the last time you visited an archive? Not your email archive, a but a local bricks-and-mortar archive. Many of us don’t really know what a physical archive is, or how it operates, let alone visit one on even a semi-regular basis. Even more…
MDS builds at Silver Lake Mennonite Camp
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Ontario started discussions with Dave Erb, executive director of Silver Lake Mennonite Camp, over a year ago, to explore the possibility of partnering on a “family project.” The goal was to provide a service opportunity for families with younger children in a safe multi-generational setting while building new structures at the…
Accord ends 50 years of war in Colombia
For decades, Colombia has been known for violence, narcotics and instability. But now it is within sight of an historic peace agreement that César García—the Colombian who heads Mennonite World Conference, which is based in the country—says mirrors notions of restorative justice valued by many Anabaptists. After nearly four years of talks, the Colombian government…
‘Our children need to know’
“It’s really cool to see white people here today,” said Cheyenne Fineday. The first nation teenager was speaking at the 140th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6 on Aug. 23, 2016. Held at Stoney Knoll, 76 kilometres north of Saskatoon, the celebration included both indigenous and settler peoples. The 1876 treaty granted the Young…
‘An easy way to profess faith’
In Waterloo Region, “Herrle’s” brings to mind sweet corn, melons, gelato—and blood. Yes, blood. Herrle’s Country Farm Market in St. Agatha has been well-known since 1988 as a “go-to” place for fresh produce and baked goods. Less-well-known, though, is that Trevor Herrle-Braun, the store’s operations manager and a member with his family of Shantz Mennonite…
Glick family experiences ‘risk and adventure’
A new memoir by Albertans Isaac “Ike” Glick and Mildred “Millie” Alger Glick, Risk and Adventure: Community Development in Northern Alberta (1955-1970), highlights the work of Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) participants in Canada from 1955 to 1970. An estimated one-third of approximately 100 people involved in the program were graduates of Eastern Mennonite College (EMC)…
Passion for worship leads to work on new hymnal
For Anneli Loepp Thiessen, singing in church is just as much about listening as it is about making sounds. “In a culture that is increasingly busy and full of excess noise, church can be a space for quiet listening in a way that’s countercultural,” she says. “We can do that through our music.” This past…
It’s not easy being global
For much of my life, I’ve called myself a global citizen. Until recently, though, I had no idea how naïve saying this actually was. A global citizen is someone who identifies him- or herself as part of an emerging world community, and who is committed to building this community’s values and practices. My parents were…
