There’s a gift in every day
Erv and Marian Wiens, both 82, have been married for 60 years. Raised in the Mennonite Brethren Church, they worked with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Kenya, Zambia, and Ontario. Erv also pastored in Breslau, Ontario; Windsor, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; and in South Korea, before serving as an interim pastor in several congregations. Marian’s first…
Never forgotten or forsaken
When I was five years old, two forces shook my world to its core. Before this, I had a loving family, a good school and a beautiful country. But that year, 1960, thousands of Ethiopian troops invaded my country of Eritrea. A dark cloud of fear hung over the land and the people. People spoke…
A slow, simple obedience
My introduction to Anabaptism began with fire. Let me explain. I grew up in a Presbyterian household, but when I went off to the University of Toronto, a roommate introduced me to the Living More With Less book and its companion, the More-with-Less Cookbook. To say I devoured them would be an understatement. In fact, a new world…
Hillsboro Resolution
In 1974, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) approved a resolution that encouraged each Mennonite household in North America to “examine its lifestyle” and adopt a goal to “reduce consumption and expenditures by 10 percent.” It came to be known as the Hillsboro Resolution, as the meeting in question took place in Hillsboro, Kansas. Five years after…
Public and protests pressure decision-makers in the war against Gaza
Following community pressure, in early July, the University of Waterloo (UW) in Waterloo, Ontario, dropped all legal charges against a group of students and concerned community members who were calling on the university to divest of any company that supports Israel as the war against Gaza continues. Occupy UW is part of a significant movement…
MCC executive directors respond to concerns of former workers
The following opinion piece is an additional response by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) to serious concerns raised in our “Involuntary” article (July 2024) as well as in the online petition and open letter referenced in that article and posted online by a group of seven former MCC workers. – Eds. As the executive directors of…