Let’s go on an adventure!
Every year Mennonite Church Alberta offers education bursaries to students who attend a regional-church congregation who have successfully enrolled in a Mennonite or Anabaptist post-secondary institution. In 2019, Claire Dueck, a member of Lethbridge Mennonite Church, was one of eight recipients. Dueck, 18, just completed her first year at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C.,…
A journey from fundamentalism to freedom
Donna Dinsmore never felt she fit into church life. “I wanted to serve in the church and I loved God, but I didn’t feel called to work with small children and I didn’t make casseroles,” she says. “Becoming an adult single woman in the church was difficult. I was a third-class citizen. Women were treated…
AMBS trains Sudanese-Canadian to make a difference
Thousands of miles from their homeland, a group of about 30 South Sudanese women gathers on Tuesdays in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Meeting in each other’s homes, they pray for their war-torn country and its people, share about their lives and study the Bible together. Rebecca Riek, who came to Canada from South Sudan 16 years ago,…
‘God can help me every day’
Wes Neepin, a long-time member of Grace Mennonite Church in Prince Albert, has been through some tough times in his 86 years, and God has been there with him. Born in Gillam, Man. (1,065 kilometres north of Winnipeg), Neepin is the oldest of six children. His father died when Neepin was 12. Three sisters attended…
A biblical call—to justice and peacebuilding
Jessica Reesor Rempel enjoys bringing people together and helping them find meaning. She recalls an incident just before Christmas a few years ago, when she was thinking about going into ministry. She was home with her siblings and their partners on the family farm in Markham, Ont., and everyone was about to go for a…
From Mexican Quaker to Canadian Mennonite
Ask Andrea De Avila when she first wanted to become a pastor and her answer is simple: “I didn’t.” While studying at Hesston College in Kansas, and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, Va., De Avila became involved with Mennonite Church U.S.A. As part of her biblical studies at EMU, she participated in the Ministry…
Prodigal pastor
Seventy-four-year-old George Ediger rushed out of church during the final song and caught up with the newcomer in the parking lot before the big young visitor with the shaved head and biker beard could escape in the maroon hot rod that stood out among the grey and beige sedans. That gesture of welcome, although not…
Called to be a part of the church
Whenever she tells her faith story, Carrie Lehn always mentions her paternal grandmother, who, she says, is a key example of gentleness and love. She always has other people on her radar, Lehn says, writing them letters or cards, bringing them dessert or giving them thoughtful gifts. “She thinks about those little things that other…
Letting Christ abide, from Saskatchewan to Gambia
Tending to the grapes she grows in the house she lives in provides Terri Lynn Paulson with a very tangible way of considering John 15, a chapter of the Bible she has been reflecting on in recent months. It begins: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every…
Outside his comfort zone
Six months into his first pastoral job, Moses Falco feels very inadequate. “Am I really cut out for this?” and “Do I have the skills to be in this position?” are questions he has discussed with members of the church council and deacons. Although he feels inadequate, Falco—who is the sole pastor at Sterling Mennonite…
