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Praising in painful times
Yukari Kaga, a pastor from Japan, admitted Peter’s praise in his letter to the early church seems “a little strange to me.”
Peter wrote this letter (1 Peter) in such a cruel situation, Kaga said during evening worship July 22, 2015, at Mennonite World Conference Assembly in Harrisburg, Va.
“I have a question, she said. “How can we praise the Lord in such a painful situation?”
First thoughts of a first-time Mennonite World Conference participant
Many people have gathered here in Harrisburg, Pa. Many more, I think, than I have been a part of in worship. Being a part of many people gathering, of many people singing can be a moving experience. We place many bodies in rhythm and so can gain a momentum impossible as individuals. As a description this momentum of course is neither positive nor negative.
Speakers share doubts from their settings, journeys
During Wednesday morning worship time, Deborah, from Indonesia, leads the international music ensemble in the singing of "Nyanyikanlah" (Sing to God a New Song), with gestures typical of worship in her country. The crowd in the big arena joined in with the singing and the movements. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)
Three speakers—one each from Kenya, Canada and Ethiopia—shared stories of doubt in their local contexts at Mennonite World Conference’s (MWC) morning worship on July 22, 2015.
Mennonites & Brethren in Christ to lament drone warfare
Participants in Mennonite World Conference Assembly, a global gathering of Mennonites and other related Anabaptist groups in Harrisburg, Pa., will be invited to assemble for prayer, lament and witness focusing on the terror inflicted by weaponized drones on the people of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Palestine, and Lebanon.
MWC PA 2015 opens with celebration, call for walking together
The 16th Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assembly opened July 21, 2015, in Harrisburg, Pa., with a parade of Mennonites from across the globe, with confession of past treatment of Native Americans in Pennsylvania, with music and with calls for walking with God together.
First ever Anabaptist World Cup set for PA 2015
The first ever Anabaptist World Cup will be played on the afternoons of July 22, 23, 24, and 25, 2015, as an optional recreational event during PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly.
The matches will take place at Logan Field, a community soccer field near Dillsburg, Pa., about a 25-minute drive from the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, where PA 2015 will be held.
International music ensemble to lead music at PA 2015
A 19-member international ensemble of singers and instrumentalists will lead the morning and evening worship each day at PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly to be held in Harrisburg at the Farm Show complex July 21-26, 2015.
Trauma healing in Nigeria
Musa* grew up in a close-knit family that did not change even as they became adults. The siblings looked out for each other and their parents. When Boko Haram insurgent activity increased in 2014, the family became concerned for the welfare of their parents and tried to get them to move to a safer place.
Classic restorative justice book re-issued
Changing Lenses: Restorative Justice for Our Times, by Howard Zehr, remains the go-to text in the restorative justice field, even twenty-five years after it was first published. Herald Press launched an updated edition in June 2015.
Lassana Kanneh is healing
In 1999, along with more than 20,000 Liberian children, 11-year-old Lassana became a soldier. He was kidnapped and forced to use drugs and alcohol, destroy property, and kill in the Second Liberian Civil War from 1999 to 2003.
Canadian Christians call for action on climate change
Bike to GROW tops $100K entering Ontario
As they biked across the Manitoba border into northern Ontario, Mary Fehr and Sarah French had extra power pushing their pedals.
Past MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) interns Fehr and French are on a four-month bike ride across Canada, called Bike to GROW, to raise $150,000 for MEDA’s GROW (Greater Rural Opportunities for Women) project in Ghana.
They can’t keep up
Commitment to faith puts farmers at risk
Mennonite Christians in the village of Sidi, Burkina Faso, at a meeting in May 2015. These farmers risk losing access to their land and to their place within the village community because of their faith. They refuse to provide chiefs with items designated for sacrifice to the spirits of the land. (Photo by Siaka Traoré)
In the village of Sidi, Burkina Faso, a group of Mennonite Christians risk losing access to the land they farm and to their place within the village community, because of their faith. They refuse to provide chiefs with items designated for sacrifice to the spirits of the land.
Engaging women’s voices
Kim Penner (left) and Allison Murray planned and facilitated a symposium, “Engaging Women’s Voices on Church, Theology and Mission,” sponsored by Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, with support from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.
After a full morning of “food for thought,” the diverse group of participants enjoy a fine feast of Indian foods and stimulating conversation about the ways in which their concept of the church’s mission had been expanded. (Photo by Michele Rizoli)
John Rempel, retiring director of Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre enjoys food and conversation with Ajeng Chrissaningrum who presented a paper, “Hard pressed but not crushed,” which was about her research with Javanese Christian women from Indonesia. (Photo by Kim Penner)
Abigail Lofte presents a paper on “Rethinking Humanity’s Relationship with the Earth and its Implications for the Church’s Mission in Light of the Resurrection” as respondent, Henry Paetkau, area church minister for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and symposium moderator Kim Penner listen. (Photo taken by Susan K. Harrison)
Several women in post-graduate theological studies at Toronto School of Theology (TST) challenged the 20 women and men who gathered on a Saturday in early May with new ways of thinking about church, theology and mission. The symposium was sponsored by Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre and supported by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC).
Nepali churches respond to quake victims
A group of Nepali Anabaptist fellowships is reaching out to communities affected by the April and May 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, with a goal of assisting 2,000 families. The group is known as Binay Church Council.
Saskatchewan Valley Auction celebrates 35 years
It was raining hard, but nobody was unhappy as they pulled into Walter and Peggy Wiebe’s farmyard near Osler, Sask. on June 20, 2015, for the 35th annual Saskatchewan Valley Auction for Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
“It’s a million dollar rain,” said Bill Wiebe, one of the Auction’s organizers as he watched the rain fall from the shelter of the auction tent.
Cross-cultural experiences lead to growth in faith and skills
Opportunities to fill leadership responsibilities in a local church enrich Yoweri Murungi’s year-long cross-cultural service assignment in Lusaka, Zambia. His many new experiences include leading praise and worship services, Bible study classes and youth ministries at the Chilenje Brethren in Christ church in Lusaka.
Europeans support peace ministry in the Philippines
The city of Dresden, including the Dresden Frauenkirche, was destroyed in WWII. (Photo by Gise Löwe 1958, used by permission of Creative Commons License 3.0)
A heartfelt desire for peace and reconciliation inspired church-goers in Europe to make a gift to PeaceBuilders Community Inc. (PBCI), a ministry in the Philippines. The gift came from donations made at a commemoration event in Dresden, Germany.
Kidnapped in Ukraine
When war broke out in eastern Ukraine, Vlad Makhovskiy decided he could not just sit at home and watch what was happening. He would help. What he did not know was that this choice would eventually lead to his kidnapping.
Exploring how the church welcomes autistic persons
How can the church be more autism-friendly? This is the question that has kept me thinking for some time. In my 19-year “career” as the mother of an autistic son, I have seen the many challenges autistic people face, in society at large but also in specific settings such as school and church.
CMU appoints faculty in music, biology and conflict resolution
Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) announced three new faculty appointments.
Rachel Krause and Matthew Pauls will join CMU’s main campus faculty as assistant professor of biology and assistant professor of music, respectively. Jobb Arnold will join the faculty of Menno Simons College (MSC), a college of CMU, as assistant professor of conflict resolution studies.
Grebel hires faculty for PACS and global music
Conrad Grebel University College announced the hiring of Jennifer Ball as Assistant Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) and Maisie Sum as Assistant Professor of Music, both in tenure track positions commencing July 1, 2015.
By tractor, truck, foot—supplies reach rural Nepal
With some extra manpower, the tractor pulls a wagon full of relief supplies up a gravel hill in the Okhaldhunga district of Nepal. Through MCC’s partner, Group of Helping Hands, 300 families received enough food for three weeks, shelter materials, blankets, soap and cooking supplies. (MCC photo/Durga Sunchiuri)
Burnamay Khatri, 28, mother of three children, received food from MCC through one of its local partners, Group of Helping Hands, in Okhaldhunga district, Nepal. Khatri's home was destroyed after the earthquake. (MCC photo/Durga Sunchiuri)
After a truck carried MCC supplies as far as it would go, Ragani villagers from Okhaldhunga district carried them home, over steep and rugged terrain. (MCC Photo/Durga Sunchiuri)
Anita Lama, 71, (right), and her family received food and sleeping mats from MCC through one of its Nepal partners, Rural Institution for Community Development. Because the earthquake destroyed two of the family’s houses, they have been living under tarps. Before they received sleeping mats, they were sleeping on a plastic sheet on the ground. (MCC photo/Binod Deshar)
Using tractors and people power to haul supplies where trucks could not go, Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) partner organizations finished an initial distribution of emergency supplies to Nepal earthquake survivors on Tuesday, May 12—the same day a second major earthquake rattled the country.