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Proudfoot family portrait of 2018: (left to right) Annora Proudfoot, Robert Proudfoot, Valerie Proudfoot (nee Braun) and Alicia Proudfoot. (Photo by Alicia Proudfoot)
A couch harp, created by Alicia Proudfoot, on display at the Hernandez Art Gallery in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Alicia Proudfoot)
Many individuals dream of writing a book, but it’s not often that an entire family writes a book together. Three generations of artists from the Proudfoot family compiled a book of short stories, essays, paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints and poetry. It was published in February 2019 by Friesen Press.
Madelaine Kioke, a Cree artisan, demonstrates hand-stitching on a moccasin while sharing from her family story during “A mile in my moccasins” workshop, sponsored by MCC Ontario’s Indigenous Neighbours program. (Photo by Janet Bauman)
(Photo by Janet Bauman)
Madelaine Kioke was born in the woods near Attawapiskat, in the James Bay region of northern Ontario, where her parents hunted and trapped. She lived out on the land until she was nine years old, learning to hunt and fish, and set traps and snares with her father. At age six, when her mother first gave her a sewing needle, her love for making moccasins began.
Eric Berg works on the floor, pinning together the top, batting and lining of a blanket. (Photo by Marlies Berg)
Eric Berg, a member of the St. Catharines (Ont.) United Mennonite Church, has been making blankets and donating them to MCC for a number of years. It all started years ago when he was helping his wife Marlies, an avid sewer and quilter, cut out squares. When he was cutting faster than she could sew and the squares were piling up, he started sewing them together.
Palmer Becker, left, presents a Mandarin version of his Anabaptist Essentials book to Yin Hongtao and Zhang Shaojie. (Photo by Myrrl Byler)
Youth worship in a Chinese church. (Photo by Myrrl Byler)
Tobia Veith, centre in blue top with scarf, teaches a group of Chinese women. (Photo courtesy of Tobia Veith)
The Poovong family moved to Thailand five years ago. (Photo by Tom Poovong)
The Friends of Grace Church Association opens its new office in Khon Kaen, Thailand. (Photo by Tom Poovong)
Mennonite Church South Korea members prepare for a peace march held last April. (Photo by Bock Ki Kim)
Editors of the newly formed Peace Journal are pictured in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Bock Ki Kim)
Posters advertises the Peace Chain movement in South Korea. (Photo by Bock Ki Kim)
‘Our teams at PeaceBuiders Community, Inc., and [Coffee for Peace] are being led, spiritually, to work with leaders of Indigenous Peoples [in the Philippines] . . . .This spiritual perspective of partnership governs the inclusive development strategies we practise in the field,’ say Dann and Joji Pantoja, left. (Photo courtesy of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc.)
Why are we doing international ministry? As I engage with people in many regional churches I often get this question. It is my favourite question. Don’t ask unless you are prepared for my long answer, but I can also point you to the answers of others for a shorter version.
Greg Wiens assembles glasses on a trip to the West Bank with MCC in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Global Vision 2020 and Multiply)
A man in Zimbabwe was able to go from being legally blind to seeing well enough to pass a driving eye exam with the help of Global Vision 2020. (Photo courtesy of Global Vision 2020 and Multiply)
Greg Wiens makes a pair of glasses right on the spot for Manitoba correspondent Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe, to demonstrate how the process worked. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Greg Wiens is the faith-based outreach coordinator for Global Vision 2020. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Mennonite farmers travel to Malawi with Greg Wiens as part of the joint project between MCC and Multiply. (Photo courtesy of Global Vision 2020 and Multiply)
Refugees in Malawi who are trained and certified to be eyeglasses distributors carry out vision tests. (Photo courtesy of Global Vision 2020 and Multiply)
Adjust the dial. Pick a colour. Pop, snap. A new pair of glasses is ready to wear in five minutes.
Mikaela Heidebrecht, left, Barb Heidebrecht and Lori Pauls have opened Willow ’n Wool, a shop in Airdrie, Alta., that sells yarn, pottery and accessories. (Photo by Lori Pauls)
Mikaela Heidebrecht, Sheryl Grasmeyer, Carol Bartel and Barb Heidebrecht knit and chat at Willow ’n Wool in Airdrie, Alta. Community members are invited to the shop every Wednesday evening and Friday morning for just such activities. (Photo by Lori Pauls)
The interior of Willow ’n Wool shop in Airdrie, Alta. (Photo by Lori Pauls)
Potter Lori Pauls at the wheel at the Willow ’n Wool shop in Airdrie, Alta. (Photo by Lori Pauls)
Many people dream of having a business but it never comes to pass.
Barb Heidebrecht of Bergthal Mennonite Church in Didsbury, Alta., wondered if it was just a pipe dream as her daughter Mikaela Heidebrecht and daughter-in-law, Lori Pauls talked about how bored they were and how they should open a store together.
The adventurous canoe trip of Kyle Penner and Patti Enns is one of the 17 stories in the book. (Photo by Ashley Penner)
Patti Enns drew by hand 18 delicately detailed maps for the book.
Who goes canoeing with their Mother-in-Law?
Kyle Penner’s December wasn’t filled with just Christmas preparations, but with a multitude of book launches.
A group known as the "Mom Squad" is volunteering its time typing resources that have been selected for the new worship and song collection. (Image by Bartek Zakrzewski/Pixabay)
When some of the individuals working on the forthcoming Voices Together hymnal needed help with a big task, they called their moms.
(Photo by Barb Draper)
The pie crust in this photo was made with spelt flour. (Photo by Leona Dueck Penner)
Rob Penner and Rielle Goulet eagerly await the Penner family Christmas Eve tradition of tourtière in 2011. (Photo courtesy of Leona Dueck Penner)
Celebration is necessary for survival. It renews the spirit and recreates hope. It nourishes and strengthens both giver and receiver, and it helps to lighten the crosses in our daily lives.
A few people linger to talk to Kirk Dunn, left, and to examine his ‘Stitched Glass’ knitted artwork after his performance of The Knitting Pilgrim at Floradale Mennonite Church on Oct. 26. (Photo by Barb Draper)
The audience was absolutely amazed when Kirk Dunn finally revealed his “Stitched Glass” knitted panels at the end of his one-man show, The Knitting Pilgrim, held at Floradale Mennonite Church on Oct. 26. The performance described his 15-year knitting pilgrimage of making three panels in the style of stained-glass windows representing the three Abrahamic faiths.
‘Frenzy and Envy,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘The Myth of Lusotropicalism,’ 2012. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘7:12 PM (Good Morning),’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘Dazed and Confused,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘Between Flux,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘The Sigh,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘Facade Ponderings,’ 2013. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘A Sleepy Backwater,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘Stone Skyline,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
‘Mainland Calling,’ 2019. (Photo by Michael Veith)
Michael Veith’s photo exhibit on Macau, Expiring City, was held in Winnipeg’s Forth Café from Nov. 1 to 7. (Photo by Matthew Veith)
Michael Veith grew up across the world in Macau, where his parents were Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers. This November, seven years after moving to Canada, he launched a photo exhibit featuring the city where he was raised.
The so-called ‘Keeling Curve,’ which indicates concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ice over time, fascinates Henry Regier, who sees links between temperature and carbon in its various forms. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography chart [creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0])
On a spring morning in 1970, Henry Regier walked out of the residence assigned to guest lecturers at the University of Wisconsin and turned east. Student riots related to the Vietnam War had broken out on campus, and the night before National Guards with bayonets had deployed tear gas.
Norm Dyck, right, the new MC Eastern Canada mission minister, presents Brian Bauman with a tribute T-shirt as part of retirement celebrations for Bauman held at the regional church’s fourth annual Mission Festival at First Mennonite Church in Kitchener on Oct 26. (Photo by Mollee Moua)
People from the Chin Christian Fellowship share a cultural dance at this year’s Mission Festival on Oct 26. (Photo by Mollee Moua)
Women from the First Mennonite Church Hispanic congregation share a Colombian cultural dance at this year’s fourth annual Mission Festival on Oct 26. (Photo by Mollee Moua)
People from Meheret Evangelical Church in Kitchener sing at the fourth annual Mission Festival on Oct 26. (Photo by Mollee Moua)
“Jesus Christ is present here. Alleluia!” sang enthusiastic worshippers in many languages to begin the fourth annual Mennonite Church Eastern Canada multicultural Mission Festival, held on Oct. 26 at First Mennonite Church in Kitchener.
Nancy Frey, left, is pictured teaching at the Benin Bible Institute in Cotonou, Benin. (Photo courtesy of Nancy Frey and Bruce Yoder)
Nancy Frey remembers as a young child seeing a bird flying by and telling her mother, “Someday I am going to be like that bird and fly away.”
She did just that, spending a year in France after graduating from high school. That was only the beginning of a ministry career that has spanned two decades, most of it spent in West Africa.
‘Created in His Image’ by Valerie Wiebe.
‘A Coat of Many Colours’ by Valerie Wiebe.
‘Down in the Valley’ by Valerie Wiebe.
Painted for MC Canada’s Assembly 2016, ‘Called Out’ by Valerie Wiebe depicts the church (the tiny black marks representing the people of God) leaving the church building and walking toward the setting sun.
Her parents called her Dynamite. Although she didn’t care for the nickname when she was a child, Valerie Wiebe has come to appreciate its layers of meaning.
The oldest and the youngest participants in the Shekinah Bike-Paddle-Hike-a-thon both rode walking bikes. Irvin Driedger, 84, poses with Finnegan Fast, 3, and his mom Sarah Unrau. (Photo by Jeff Olfert)
Irvin Driedger, left, stands with the paddlers in the Shekinah Bike-Paddle-Hike-a-thon after they had all reached their destination. (Photo by Jeff Olfert)
Cyclists line up behind Irvin Driedger, centre, on yellow walking bike, at the start of the Shekinah Bike-Paddle-Hike-a-thon. )Photo by Jeff Olfert)
The small group of cyclists cheered as Irvin Driedger set off on his walking bike, kicking off the 2019 Shekinah Bike-paddle-hike-a-thon. His participation was inspiring on many levels.
Eight years ago, he suffered a massive stroke. He could only move his eyes and one foot. The doctor told Irvin’s wife Donna that he likely wouldn’t survive.
Son Richard, left is pictured with his parents Dave and Helen Wall at the awards ceremony in Virgil in August. (Photo by Randy Klaassen)
Dave Wall, who was an active member of Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines and an ardent supporter of Silver Lake Mennonite Camp fundraising dinners, was honoured by his local community for the many roles he played there and for his enduring legacy.
César Garcia, general secretary of Mennonite World Conference is pictured in his Kitchener, Ont., office, where he has been working for the past seven months. (Photo by Janet Bauman)
For César Garcia, general secretary of Mennonite World Conference (MWC), relocating to office space in Kitchener has “been a blessing.” He shares the office with four staff, some of the 40 people who work and volunteer for MWC around the world. MWC shares space at 50 Kent Avenue with staff from a variety of other Anabaptist related organizations.
TOOLS coordinator Pete Olsen sits next to the ‘Homeless Jesus’ statue. (Photo courtesy of Pete Olsen)
A group of TOOLS participants talk with a homeless person at Yonge Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. (Photo courtesy of Pete Olsen)
In 2013, the first cast of Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz’s “Homeless Jesus” was installed. The bronze statue, which depicts the Christ figure as a person sleeping on a park bench, was offered to two churches before being installed at Regis College at the University of Toronto.
Johnny Wideman and Kimberlee Walker are members of Theatre of the Beat and co-facilitators of the restorative-justice drama program. (Photo courtesy of Kimberlee Walker)
Ontario’s Theatre of the Beat has a mandate of staging change and creating conversations around social justice issues, but that’s also happening in communities beyond the Mennonite enclaves the company brings its plays to.
Ly Vang holds the MCC school kit bag she received as a teenager in a refugee camp in Thailand. ‘If the person who made this is still alive,’ she says, ‘I would like to say thank you.’ (Photo by Janet Bauman)
Ly Vang was 16 and stuck in a refugee camp in Thailand with a pair of shoes and two sets of clothes. She was lonely and sad. She struggled with suicidal thoughts.
“What is the meaning of living like this?” she complained to God. “Being dead would be better.”
Jon Lebold, Beth Hovius and Bob Lebold agree that continuing the legacy of their mother and grandmother at MCC has been a blessing. (MCC photo by Shoua Vang)
Laverne and Elaine Lebold, pictured in 2018. (Photo courtesy of the Lebold family)
Jon and Beth now continue Grandma Lebold's legacy at 50 Kent Avenue. (MCC photo/Ken Ogasawara)
Bob Lebold made his first donation to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) when he was about 10 years old. It was Christmas, sometime in the late 1960s, when he tagged along to the MCC centre in Kitchener with his mom Elaine, who was the material aid supervisor. His task was to help sort and bale clothing to be shipped overseas.
North American delegates to GYS 2015 are pictured from left to right: Chris Brnjas of Canada, Rianna Isaak-Krauss, Andrea De Avila, Larissa Swartz and Trent Voth. (MWC photo by Emily Ralph Servant)
A small group discussion with GYS delegates and participants in 2009. The conversation includes Kristina Toews of Canada, second from left, and others from North America, Europe and Asia. (MWC photo by Liesa Unger)
Are you over 18 years old with a love for your regional, nationwide and global Mennonite church?
Mennonite Church Canada is seeking representatives from each of the five regional churches to represent their respective communities at the next Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Global Youth Summit (GYS) in Salatiga, Indonesia, in 2021.
Patricia Erb received an honorary doctorate in June from Vancouver Island University for her social justice and development work. (Photo courtesy of Patricia Erb)
“I’ve had many teachers, most of them children,” says Patricia Erb. “The best ones.”
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