News & Stories

Dona Park painted a mural at a school in Cambodia during her term with MCC. (Photos courtesy of Dona Park)

For Dona Park, making art is the equivalent of eating, sleeping and breathing. She does it every day because she needs to. The 24-year-old attended Goshen (Ind.) College, from... Read More
June 19, 2019 | People | Rachel Bergen

A shopper admires the wares of Irene Harms at the artisan market, new to this year’s MCC Saskatchewan Relief Sale and Auction. (Photos by Donna Schulz)

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Saskatchewan hosted its 49th annual relief sale and auction at Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park on June 7 and 8. An estimated 750 people took in a... Read More
June 18, 2019 | Web First | Donna Schulz

Francesco Zuba, coordinator of the Association for Assistance to Orphan Children, stands in front of the damaged preschool in the Munhava neighbourhood of Beira, Mozambique. (Photo by Paul Shetler Fast)

Two broken chalkboards thrown by the 190-kilometre-per-hour winds of Cyclone Idai bake in the sun on what remains of the crumpled tin roof of one neighbourhood’s only preschool... Read More
June 18, 2019 | Web First | Paul Shetler Fast

David Martin, executive minister of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, speaks about confronting ministerial sexual misconduct. (Photo courtesy of Darryl Neustaedter Barg)

In the midst of the #MeToo movement, in which those in positions of power are being called to account for sexual abuse, a conference hosted by four Manitoba Mennonite... Read More
June 17, 2019 | Web First | Rachel Bergen

More than 5,400 people volunteered with MDS last year. (Facebook.com/MennoniteDisasterService)

The folks who volunteer with Mennonite Disaster Service are “gettin’ it done.” We recently published a photo essay featuring Canadian Mennonites who are volunteering with MDS in... Read More
June 7, 2019 | Web First | Aaron Epp

Kuri is singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Scott Currie. (Photo by Rachel Pick)

Almost two years after he started recording it, Kuri has released his new album. Titled No Village , the 10-song collection came out today via Nevado Records. No Village is the... Read More
June 7, 2019 | Web First | Aaron Epp

Over coffee and Turkish sweets at The Mennonite Story in St. Jacobs, Jim Loepp Thiessen, left, has an animated conversation with Faruk Ekinci and Mustafa Ustan while Mustafa Jr. listens in. These Turkish Muslims were interested to learn that many Mennonites also came to Canada as refugees. (Photo by Barb Draper)

On April 30, several Muslim families from Waterloo Region toured The Mennonite Story in St. Jacobs, in order to understand more about Mennonites. Leon Kehl of Floradale Mennonite... Read More
June 5, 2019 | News | Barb Draper

Mary Funk stands in the community garden at Jubilee Mennonite Church’s Community Roots Resource Centre. (Photo by Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe)

“If an alien ship were to come take our church away, would anyone notice?” This is the question that members of Jubilee Mennonite Church asked themselves more than a decade ago... Read More
June 5, 2019 | News | Nicolien Klassen-Wiebe

The Flourishing Congregations Institute’s Joel Thiessen, holding the microphone, speaks at Columbia Bible College on May 4. The seminar was sponsored by the Mennonite Faith and Learning Society in conjunction with Columbia Bible College. (Photo by Amy Rinner Waddell)

Key factors surrounding flourishing congregations in Canada, and how congregations can thrive and grow in an age of diminishing importance of the church in society, were the... Read More
June 5, 2019 | News | Amy Rinner Waddell

Charles Olfert, with white cane, participates in a simulation exercise as part of the Rick Hansen Accessibility Certification Program. Pictured with Olfert is classmate Cal Schuler and his service dog, Sierra. (ABE Factor, Inc. photo by Samantha Proulx)

Charles Olfert is enthusiastic about creating buildings that meet their users’ needs. A principal architect with AODBT Architecture + Interior Design, he recently applied that... Read More
June 5, 2019 | News | Donna Schulz

People from different cultural and religious backgrounds enjoy food and conversation around tables at the Iftar meal hosted by Breslau Mennonite Church on May 14. (Photo by Janet Bauman)

On May 14, Breslau Mennonite Church hosted an iftar meal after sunset, marking the end of the daily fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, a season of fasting, prayer... Read More
June 5, 2019 | People | Janet Bauman

Since opening in 2016, Aurora House has provided housing for 14 people and several babies. (aurorahouse.ca photo)

“When God has a plan,” says Christine Langschmidt, “it just happens, despite us.” Langschmidt is director and chair of Aurora House, which provides community-based housing for... Read More
June 5, 2019 | News | Joelle Kidd

Rockway Mennonite Collegiate students, from left to right, Ramtha Lensung, Jennifer Dawthleipar, Naomi Joy and Rachel Weber visit after a church service at the Kitchener, Ont., Chin Christian Church on April 28. (Photo courtesy of Marlys Neufeldt)

Every year, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate in Kitchener, Ont., facilitates worship services at churches in the area, to build bridges between the school and its constituency. This... Read More
June 5, 2019 | People | Rachel Bergen

Thang Dinh, owner of Calsask Granite in Saskatoon, cites gratitude to the Mennonites who sponsored him 40 years ago as one of the reasons he likes to give back to his community. (Photo by Donna Schulz)

“We’ve experienced a lot of humbling stories,” says Phyllis Roth of her participation in the Saskatchewan Valley Hospital home-building project, but one story in particular stands... Read More
June 5, 2019 | People | Donna Schulz

Jan Carrie Steven, centre, and her husband Laur, right pose with their pastor, David Brubacher, during a 2016 Ride for Refuge event. (Photo courtesy of Jan Carrie Steven)

Type the words “Mennonite vegans” into your search engine and you likely won’t come up with much. But being a Mennonite vegan is very doable, whether you are culturally Mennonite... Read More
June 5, 2019 | People | Jan Carrie Steven

(Photo by Barb Draper)

Vegan cooking can be as easy or challenging as you want to make it. I’m a “10-minute—five ingredient” kind of gal so here is a crockpot bean recipe that takes minutes to make. If... Read More
June 5, 2019 | People | Jan Stevens
It’s the morning of May 10 at about 11 a.m., and in the large meeting room of the St. Clair O’Connor Community in Toronto there are about 10 residents examining a myriad of... Read More
June 5, 2019 | Focus on Seniors | Carolyn Murray

Bill and Ena Van Dam take a walk on the Menno Place campus. (Menno Place photo by Karen Baillie)

When Bill and Ena married, it was the obvious next step for two best friends. Working together as teachers, they saw their love blossom. After retirement, Bill and Ena headed to... Read More
June 5, 2019 | Focus on Seniors | Sharon Simpson

Nithview housekeepers Donna, Judy, Debbie and Wendy have fun as they make every day matter for Nithview residents. (Nithview Community photo)

Santa Claus came to Nithview Community one Christmas Day. This may not seem like a big deal since Santa goes to lots of places at Christmas. But this Santa did not fit the usual... Read More
June 5, 2019 | Focus on Seniors |

Lacey MacKenzie works as the activities coordinator at Bethany Manor’s personal-care home in Saskatoon. (Photo courtesy of Lacey MacKenzie)

For Lacey MacKenzie, working with seniors is a faith calling. The 33-year-old attends Osler Mennonite Church in Saskatchewan and has worked as the activities coordinator for... Read More
June 5, 2019 | Focus on Seniors | Rachel Bergen

Walter Paetkau cuts the cake celebrating the release of his book 'It Takes Raindrops to Fill a Lake' at the Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford. (The Abbotsford News photo by Dale Klippenstein)

More than 50 years ago, Walter Paetkau founded Abbotsford Community Services (ACS), an umbrella organization bringing various local service organizations under one roof. From... Read More
June 4, 2019 | Web First | Amy Rinner Waddell

Refuge de Paix, an Hispanic congregation in Quebec, provides a safe place for all. (Refuge de Paix photo)

Lucy Roca bundled herself up warmly and made her way through the blustery streets of Sherbrooke, Que., on the way to Refuge de Paix early one Sunday morning. It was the kind of... Read More
June 4, 2019 | Web First | Lisa Williams

Cellist and composer Cris Derksen grew up in northern Alberta. (Photo courtesy of CrisDerksen.Virb.com)

The bio on Cris Derksen’s website says it well: The “Juno-nominated and classically trained cellist and composer braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical... Read More
May 31, 2019 | Web First | Aaron Epp

Six young adults stand in front of the Mennonite Voluntary Service unit in Washington, D.C. last year. (Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/MennoniteMission.MVS)

Kansas was not an exotic place to hold annual orientations for Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS). Yet when MVS was a shared U.S.-Canada program, Brad Reimer and Miles Reimer, two... Read More
May 30, 2019 | Web First | Laurie Oswald Robinson

The 2019 graduating class of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary: (front, left to right) Renee Epp Reimer of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Dustin Finch of Jonesboro, Arkansas; Margaret De Jong of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; Tesfaye D. Robelle of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia; Benjamin Isaak-Krauss of Bammental, Germany; (middle, left to right) Yukino Ohyama of Sapporo, Hokkaido, and Tokyo, Japan; Suzanne Engle Ford of Fort Collins, Colorado; Peter Digitale Anderson, originally from Bremen, Indiana; Naún Lucoer Cerrato of Goshen, Indiana; Nel Warkentin of Elkhart; (back, left to right) Grant S. Miller of Danvers, Illinois; Brian Miller O’Leary of Goshen; Pratik Bagh of Kutela-Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India; James Longley of Sydney, Australia; Scott Micheal Litwiller of Delavan, Illinois. (Not pictured: Jeremiah Buhler of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; Barbara Krehbiel Gehring of Manhattan, Kansas; Sungbin Kim of Seoul, Kyunggi, South Korea; Anne Perkins Munley of Mundelein, Illinois; and Joel Ray Schroeder of Newton, Kansas.) (AMBS photo by Steve Echols)

GOSHEN, Indiana — Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) celebrated the achievements of 20 graduates earlier this month at its 73rd commencement service. The graduating... Read More
May 27, 2019 | Web First | Marlys Weaver-Stoesz and Annette Brill Bergstresser

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