The author, Bryan Butler (center) sits down to a delicious fish fry with Jose (Chepe) Vasquez (left), chair of the local co-op, and Manuel Tobara, general manager of the local housing program.
Yesterday afternoon Manuel, Chepe and I were invited to a very special lunch in El Cipres. About nine months ago we regained possession of some property that was to be used for helping poor families.
It has been six months since I first suggested the refugee history of Mennonites bore certain similarities to other refugee stories of the present, including the much-maligned Tamil refugees who sought refuge in our country this past summer. (See ‘Let them stay.’)
“The changes in our life spill over into the lives of others,” said Lynne Ball as she and her husband Gord (left) share photos and memories of their visit to Swaziland with their family members, Lauren and Keith Hubley (center), and Sibusisu Ndzimandze of Swaziland (right). (MCC Photo/Gladys Terichow)
It was a reunion of friends when Sibusiso Ndzimandze, a peace educator from Swaziland, stayed in the home of Gord and Lynne Ball during a recent 10-day visit to Ontario.
Susan Schultz Huxman
Susan Schultz Huxman, director of the Elliott School of Comunication at Wichita (Kansas) State University, has been named the seventh president of Conrad Grebel University College. She begins her duties July 1, 2011, following the completion of Dr. Henry Paetkau’s term as the sixth president at the end of June, according to the board of governors making the announcement at a March 10 meeting.
The WDP Committee in Chile sees the theme question, "How Many Loaves Have You?", as an invitation to enter a process that draws us into the Bible, into the context of Chile, and into the real situations of our lives and communities. This year's Bible studies come from 1 Kings 17: 8-16 and Mark 6: 30-44.
The potent symbol of bread will take pride of place this week
A women's literacy class, one of many sponsored by MCC in Malaway in upper (southern) Egypt and run by the Coptic Orthodox Church there.
“Our workers are trickling back,” report Mennonite Central Committee workers Tom and Judith Snowdon from their office in Cairo. “The airport is operating very efficiently and is not over-crowded. We have had some problems getting our workers back from Europe because of strikes there!”
World Vision's Jeff Wright: "We need to take this seriously."
On a recent family trip to Africa, spotting locals wearing
T-shirts and baseball caps bearing American brands or slogans became something of a parlor game -- a way to pass long hours in the Land Rover driving from place to place.
Dining hall at Silver Lake
Embers from a large stone fireplace found their way under the floor of the Silver Lake Mennonite Camp dining hall.
Len Rempel
Len Rempel has been appointed the new director of finance and administration for Mennonite World Conference, replacing Karen Martin Schiedel. Effective March 14, he will work out of MWC’s North American office in Kitchener.
Anabaptists from the southern countries of South America worship at their 14th biennial gathering, held in San Bernardino, Paraguay, January 26–30. Photo by Tim Froese.
“Effective Pastoral Models” was the focus of the 14thbiennial meeting of Latin America’s Southern Cone Anabaptist Mennonite Congress in San Bernardino, Paraguay, January 26 to 30.
Trends in church membership in the United States remain stable, with churches that have grown in recent years showing continued growth and those with declining memberships experiencing continued drops, according to an annual publication that tracks church membership.
Judith and Tom Snowdon
What happens next in Cairo is entirely up to the Egyptian people, MCC workers Tom and Judith Snowdon told
Wes Epp has chaired the Drake growing project committee since its inception in 1998.
Drake, Saskatchewan, a small prairie village south of the number one, is home to about 200 people. While small in size, the community has made
Israeli occupation authorities on Feb. 3 bulldozed Palestinian land in occupied Jerusalem's town of Issawiye and destroyed a water well, eyewitnesses reported.
A coalition of U.S. church bodies is calling on the Obama administration not to block a proposed United Nations Security Council resolution seeking an end to construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
John Wray, a 2010 alumnus of Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont., won the 2010 C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest with a speech titled “Seeing the Human in the Human.” (Conrad Grebel University College photo/Karl Juhlke)
John Wray believes he knows what it will take for peace to rule in everyday life, all over the world.
The only catch is that we’ve all got an assignment.
Long queues in Cairo have been common over the past few days outside bakeries selling subsidized bread, supermarkets and vegetable sellers. --Photo by Adam Makary/Al Jazeera English
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has moved its international workers out of Egypt because of the ongoing civil unrest there.
The animals will range in age from calves to springing heifers, and from grades to deep pedigreed purebreds
The 30th annual Heifer Relief sale sponsored by Ontario Mennonite Relief Sale Inc. will take place at
--from Seeking Community website
Returning recently from a "seeking community tour," Paul Born, director of Tamarack Community here, says that "being in the southern US, in the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, provided a powerful reminder about the role of this movement in history, its global implications, and how it affects ongoing work for social justice."
Jenna Grubaugh performs in the 2010 Goshen College spring mainstage play "Tartuffe" with fellow student Sam Jones (right). (Photo by Emily Miller/Goshen College Public Relations Office)
Goshen College graduated senior Jenna Grubaugh, a theater major from Vancouver, British Columbia, placed in the top 10 percent of the almost 400 actors nominated in the American College Theater Festival (ACTF) Region III held at Michigan State University in early January.
House band musicians Willem Moolenbeck (sax) and Dave Tompson (guitar) anchored the singing during the 2011 Epicurean Hootenanny
John Bergen (l) with Bob Janzen at the 2011 Epicurean Hootenanny
Betsy Petker, principle at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, enjoys her dessert.
Buffet dinner at the 2011 Epicurean Hootenanny
Daniel Lichti, bass-baritone, sings Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
House band musicians Jeff Cowell (drums), Willem Moolenbeck (sax), Jeff Laughton (base), Tom Cummings (Vibraphone), and John Wiebe (guitar) anchored the singing.
John Bergen in avid conversation with his sister-in-law Ilene Bergen
The Rockways belt out “9 to 5”, made famous by Dolly Parton.
Scott Brubacher-Zehr, pastor at John Bergen’s church – Rockway Mennnonite - enjoys appetizers.
Wearing strings of beads reminiscent of Mardi Gras in New Orleans 220 people were transported to Mississippi
Elizabeth three years ago
Canada's oldest living person, Winkler's Elizabeth Buhler, has died just two weeks shy of her 112th birthday. “Liese” (as she was known to family) passed away Sunday night, Jan. 23, at the Salem Home in Winkler. Her daughters had already begun planning a small birthday party in the nursing home for the centenarian.
Stoltzfus died March 10, 2010
A video clip and book about the life of Gene Stoltzfus, co-founder of Christian Peacemakers, has been created at the direction of his widow, Dorothy Friesen of Fort Frances, Ont. Stoltzfus died unexpectedly last March at the age of 69, after taking his daily bike ride.
Donald Kraybill
Donald Kraybill, Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow in the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, Pa., will give the 2011 Sawatsky Lecture at Conrad Grebel University College on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Palmer Becker will teach a course on Pastoral Care and Counselling at Bethlehem Bible College; his wife, Ardys, joins him later as librarian.
Though Jae Young Lee doesn’t think the recent North Korean shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island will lead to full-scale war, as Peace Program Coordinator for the Korea Anabaptist Center (KAC) he is alarmed by what is happening in both North and South Korea.
Elizabeth Soto
Jack Suderman, recently retired general secretary of MC Canada, was one of six persons named by the new nominee for moderator-elect of Mennonite Church USA, Elizabeth Soto, who gave her opportunities to develop her leadership skills.
