“My members are rapists, kidnappers, murders and fraudsters—all washed by the blood of Jesus our Lord,” says Pastor Ignacio Chamorro Ramírez. Chamorro is director of an integrated... Read More
News & Stories
Inmates in Asuncion’s infamous Tacumbú Prison participate in La Libertad Church, a ministry of the Mennoniten Brüder Gemeinde Concordia in Paraguay. (Photo courtesy of Ignacio Chamorro Ramirez)
August 16, 2018 | Web First | Karla Braun
MEDA distributes Talking Book devices to share information related to agriculture, gender, nutrition, finance, buyers and suppliers, and other matters that affect Ghanaian farmers. (Photo by Christian Kuder)
Teaching technical information to people who are mostly not literate can pose serious challenges. But if use of books isn’t helpful, Talking Books can get the message across. The... Read More
August 16, 2018 | Web First |
In a cooperative effort, Mennonites at the 2018 European Mennonite Conference packed relief kits for Mennonite Central Committee. (Photo by Claude Nardin)
“We can’t keep our story. We must share.” That is the message Danang Kristiawan brought home after attending the European Mennonite Conference (known by its German acronym MERK),... Read More
August 16, 2018 | Web First |
Cheryl and Mike Nimz have been Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers in the United Kingdom for five years. After itinerating in Canada for two-and-a-half months, they have returned to Birmingham, England, to continue their assignment. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
Mike and Cheryl Nimz: United Kingdom Mike and Cheryl Nimz do not fit typical missionary scenarios, but neither does their mission field conform to stereotypes. As Mennonite Church... Read More
August 13, 2018 | Web First | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Steve Heinrichs and supporters gather for prayer outside the courthouse in Vancouver during his two-day trial on Aug. 7 and 8, 2018. (Photo by Brad Leitch)
Steve Heinrichs was found guilty of criminal and civil contempt of court in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver on Aug. 8, 2018, and was sentenced to seven days in... Read More
August 10, 2018 | Web First | Amy Rinner Waddell
Members and participants from First Mennonite Church, Kitchener, Ont., pose in front of the memorial wall the congregation has dedicated to the remembrance of loved ones who died at a distance. (Photo by Tom Yoder Neufeld)
Death brings to the fore the cost of having left home. For many at First Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Canada is a home away from home. When death strikes, they cannot be... Read More
August 7, 2018 | Web First | Rebecca Yoder Neufeld
The plaque accompanying the painting reads: ‘“Congregation” by Tom Neufeld, pastor of TUMC, 1976-1979. Presented to CMU by members of Thompson [Man.] United Mennonite Church.’
What do you get when you start a Mennonite church in the middle of nowhere? A community that is still going strong more than 50 years later, even after the church itself has... Read More
August 7, 2018 | Web First | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
Anna Dyck, front row centre, was ordained on Sept. 6, 1953, at North Star Mennonite Church in Drake, Sask. Seated beside Dyck are her mother, Suzanna Dyck, and J. J. Thiessen. Standing, from left to right: H. S. Bartel; Paul Schroeder, North Star Mennonite pastor at the time; and Hans Dyck. (Photo courtesy of Grace MacDougall)
At a time when a woman’s sphere of influence was limited to hearth and home, Anna Dyck was making a difference. Dyck spent nearly 40 years of her life as a missionary in Japan... Read More
August 7, 2018 | Web First | Donna Schulz
Eight people respond to the question: “If you could give your 18-year-old self some advice, what would you say?”
At the age of 18, most young people are making the transition from high school to whatever comes next. It’s a formative time with many possibilities. So Canadian Mennonite asked... Read More
August 7, 2018 | Web First | Aaron Epp
Etch Your Own Stone is the follow-up to Sparky and the Plugs’ 2016 eponymous debut album. (Photo by Judith Schulz)
How will people remember you when you die? That’s the question at the heart of “Stone Cutter,” one of the key tracks on Etch Your Own Stone , the new album from Saskatoon... Read More
August 7, 2018 | Web First | Aaron Epp
A memorial to the victims of the July 22, 2018, shooting that killed two and injured 13 on Danforth Ave. in Toronto, Ont. (Photo by Lauren Kong)
Oh God of Love, Maker of human neighbours and neighbourhoods, Hear our prayer from the Danforth, for the Danforth. Hear our cry of anguish and disorientation; Our sidewalk cafes... Read More
July 30, 2018 | Web First | Tim Reimer
Women artists produce angels from shards of glass at the Art and Culture Centre in Bethlehem, West Bank. Thousands of angels have been produced and sold worldwide. (Photo by Albin Hillert/WCC)
Originally, they were made of pieces of broken glass from the rubble an Israeli tank left behind when it slammed into the gift shop at the International Centre of Bethlehem (ICB)... Read More
July 18, 2018 | Web First | Claus Grue
Pastor Westerne Joseph (facing the camera) sits with members of the Assemblée de la Grâce congregation at Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s annual church gathering April 27 and 28, 2018. Assemblée de la Grâce was accepted as an emerging congregation during the gathering. (Photos by Dave Rogalsky)
Westerne Joseph has been in Canada for ten years. The political situation in Haiti meant that he, his wife and their children had to flee, landing in Canada as refugees. In 2010... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in the Church | Dave Rogalsky
Ibrahim Nseir, pastor of the National Presbyterian Church of Aleppo in Syria, stands at the site where his church building once stood. In 2015 a new building was erected and the church continues to distribute MCC aid, including comforters and kits. (MCC photo by Emily Loewen)
In the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Rev. Ibrahim Nseir stands on the pile of rubble that used to be his church. The building where his congregation once worshipped is now a pile of... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in the World | Emily Loewen
During an Indigenous theological studies symposium, held in Wolfville, N.S., the presenters sang a traditional Christmas hymn in English while drumming. Many of the audience members sang along. (Photo by Kathy Thiessen)
The 20-or-so Mennonites who attended the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS) symposium were humbled by the grace of their hosts who welcomed them... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in the World | Michelle MacDonald and Michaela Pries-Klassen
Board members of the Edmonton Ten Thousand Villages store met on June 27 to decide whether to contribute $100,000 toward a TTV sustainability plan. The board includes (from left) Adrienne Wiebe, Alexandra Ketchum, Robert Proudfoot, Helen Mc Cabe, Kurt Sawatzky, Ghenette Houston, Phyllis Schneider. Not pictured: Kari Morton and Irma Stickland. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
On June 27, 2018, supporters of the Edmonton Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) store voted overwhelmingly to grant its board the authority to gift $100,000 to the TTV program of... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in the World | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Around 70 people gather to listen to a panel of speakers at the Circle of Life Thunderbird House in Winnipeg. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)
Canada has violated the rights of its Indigenous peoples ever since the country was born, from forcing thousands of children into residential schools to disrespecting treaties and... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in the World | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe
When ten floral hanging baskets were stolen from the Communitas Supportive Care Society office, the organization responded by creating flowers using materials that were recycled or repurposed. Through creativity, the negative experience was turned into a positive celebration. (Photo courtesy of Communitas Care Society)
In the early summer the staff at Communitas Supportive Care Society arrived at work to discover that someone had stolen the floral hanging baskets from the front of their office... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in the World | Communitas Supportive Care Society
Melita Penner (left) and her daughter, Denelda Fast, cook at Shekinah each summer. (Photo by Craig Friesen)
Every summer Melita Penner and her daughter, Denelda Fast, spend a week cooking for summer camp at Shekinah Retreat Centre, north of Waldheim, Sask. They’ve been doing it for 15... Read More
July 18, 2018 | God at work in Us | Donna Schulz
The publication, named so brilliantly for a tough, adaptable plant that ... could grow almost anywhere Mennonites could and was an important part of Mennonite diets in hard times, and was characterized as “hardy but a bit sour”—the “perfect symbol of Mennonite culture” did not survive the winter of 2017-18. (Photo by Will Braun)
On the edges of Canadian Mennonitism lies a disproportionately rich literary tradition. Or perhaps it lies just beyond the edges of our community. In either case, despite the... Read More
July 18, 2018 | Artbeat | Will Braun
Participants in a children’s musical celebrate their God-given creative talents. Kim Friesen Wiens conducted In the Image by Mark Burrows while Wesley Berg accompanied. (Photo by Michael Buhr)
At a time when many churches and their choirs are dwindling, music teacher Kim Friesen Wiens created something amazing in Edmonton with the potential to help reverse both trends... Read More
July 18, 2018 | Artbeat | Donita Wiebe-Neufeld
Kaitlyn Janzen (centre) leads the chorus in “O Bless The Lord.” The disciples and chorus used their own names for their characters in RJC’s production. (Photo by Rosthern Junior College)
Every year, as part of homecoming and graduation weekend at Rosthern Junior College, the students present a large-scale musical. This year they performed Godspell by John-Michael... Read More
July 18, 2018 | Artbeat | Rosthern Junior College
I caught this fish with my own hands! (Photo by Sara Wyngaarden)
For the past year, Sara Wyngaarden of Elmira, Ont., has been in India, participating in the Serving and Learning Together program (SALT) of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). This... Read More
July 18, 2018 | Young Voices | Sara Wyngaarden
Larry and Marg Dyck participate in the Grow Hope Niagara project of Canadian Foodgrains Bank. They donate use of the land and farm it with the financial help of urban sponsors. The income generated goes to the hunger relief efforts of Mennonite Central Committee Canada. (Canadian Foodgrains Bank photo)
Fifteen acres of wheat and a good cause—that’s what brought nearly 200 people together in Pembina Crossing, Man., in June 2018. Some drove two hours from Winnipeg, others five... Read More
July 17, 2018 | Web First | Shaylyn McMahon
Small group discussions helped emerging Mennonite theologians reflect on how their studies relate to the church and the world. (Conrad Grebel University College photo)
What surprised me the most at the graduate student conference hosted by the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC) on June 14-16 was the prayer gathering that happened each... Read More
July 17, 2018 | Web First | Hyung Jin (Pablo) Kim Sun