Fire temporarily shuts down furniture thrift store
A recent fire forced the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Furniture Thrift Store in Winnipeg to temporarily close its doors due to smoke and water damage. A vacant house beside the shop went up in flames on May 11, just after 1 a.m., with the cause of the fire still under investigation. Laurie Goetz, store manager,…
Project explores legacy of 1920s trauma on Mennonite women
Nearly 100 years have passed since 21,000 Mennonites fled disease, starvation and violence in some of the same areas now experiencing war in Ukraine. Many came to Southern Manitoba, and their trauma quietly came with them. In the last year, I took a sabbatical from my work as a counselling therapist at Brandon University in…
Books and borscht at Mennonite Museum
A serving of soup, with book discussion for dessert, are on the menu every Thursday in May and June as part of the Books and Borscht series at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C. “Over the past few years, we have had a number of authors publish books connected to the Mennonite story,…
A struggle for blessing
When 19-year-old Anita Shevchuk found herself in the streets of downtown Toronto in the summer of 2022, she held onto her faith in God and her then-husband’s promise that everything would be okay. They had flown to Toronto and converted their savings from pesos to Canadian dollars, which gave them little more than $800. To…
Congolese churches build a new future
Ever since survivors of brutal fighting in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo fled to the city of Kikwit in 2017, the Mennonite Brethren Church has been ministering to them with faith and action. The survivors came with burns, wounds from machetes, and babies about to be born. They were exhausted from…
Soup enterprise invites new partners
A simple job creation project that started with two women’s concern for a young church member is now seeking new church partners to expand beyond its four current locations. It started with Amanda, a 13-year-old who loved to play with kids and volunteer in the church nursery. She was loyal, punctual and reliable. She also…
MC Canada launches Emissions Reduction Grant
Mennonite Church Canada will provide grants to congregations that wish to upgrade their facilities in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Grants will cover 50 percent of project costs, to a maximum of $6,000. Eligible projects include upgrades to insulation, lighting, windows or doors, as well as energy efficient heating, cooling and appliances. Installation of…
Three cheers for us
Canadian Mennonite received seven awards from the Canadian Christian Communicators Association in May. Troy Watson received first place in the Column category for Life in the Postmodern Shift. In the Editorial category, retired editor Virginia Hostetler received second for “Two things not up for debate.” Yael, a Grade 7 student from Calgary, won third in…
