Preserving the voices of the past
“This is our collective memory,” says Conrad Stoesz, gesturing to a long hallway filled with row upon row of shelves, packed with files and boxes. Stoesz is the archivist at the Mennonite Heritage Archives (MHA), located on the campus of Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg. The “collective memory” stored in this archive is made…
Strengthening faith and soccer skills
When Sigifredo Godoy talks about living out his faith, he’s talking sweat and strategy—the commitment, knowledge and skills that shaped him as a professional soccer player. That’s what he’s now passing on to young men from some of the most violent areas of his home city, Cali, Colombia. “I’ve always thought that if God gives…
‘Let no walls divide’
Right before winter reading break, 30 university students from across Canada gathered in Ottawa to learn about the current conflict in Palestine and Israel at a seminar hosted by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada Ottawa Office. From Feb. 15–17, students attending “Palestine and Israel: Let no walls divide” explored issues of advocacy, peace and…
What if you were ‘forced to flee’?
People in your country are angry at the government. They gather to protest peacefully, and the government responds by opening fire on the protesters. The occasional bomb goes off and people are fighting in the streets. Soon, it’s not safe for you to leave the house and go to work. When food is available, it’s…
‘The Lord has been my guide through life’
Esther Patkau would likely not have considered herself a remarkable woman, yet she lived a remarkable life. Born on Aug. 23, 1927, near Hanley, Sask., she knew at the tender age of four that she wanted to be a missionary. She never wavered from that goal. After elementary school, she took high school courses by…
The ordinary lives of ordinary Mennonites
Seven Points on Earth, Paul Plett’s documentary about Mennonite farmers around the world, premiered at Winnipeg’s Real to Reel Film Festival on Feb. 21, 2018. The hour-long film tells the story of seven Mennonite farming families in seven different countries: Canada (Manitoba), United States (Iowa), The Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Bolivia and Russia (Siberia). Plett followed…
From Goshen to Peru and back again
Born in Portland, Ore., and raised in Goshen, Ind., singer-songwriter Sadie Gustafson-Zook is currently pursuing a master’s degree in jazz voice at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass. Last summer, she released I’m Not Here, her first album of original material. The 23-year-old wrote a handful of the album’s eight songs during a study-service…
Words worth considering
Although many brave young people have spoken up in the aftermath of last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., to advocate for tighter gun regulations in the U.S., it’s words spoken by a man in his 40s that I keep coming back to. On Ash Wednesday, Christian podcaster and author Mike McHargue (a.k.a. Science Mike)…
JoinMen for a better world
In recent months there has been unprecedented exposure of sexually predatory men in high places, as well as unprecedented violence perpetrated by solitary men with little or no regard for human life. Whether acting out of a sense of entitlement to use women, children or other men as objects for self-gratification and demonstration of power,…
