Mennonites in Ecuador reach out as their country struggles
In August, Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador (ICAME) published a statement calling for prayers amid escalating violence in the country. Alexandra Meneses, who coordinates the Women’s Group and the Discipleship and Liturgy Group at ICAME, explained that the call for prayers and peace followed the assassination of Ecuador’s former leading presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio,…
Missionary to Argentina dies
Delbert Erb, who served God in Argentina for more than seven decades, died June 14, in Buenos Aires. “He decided that his heart and ashes would remain in Choele Choel, [Argentina],” said Rafael Stábile, pastor of the Mennonite church where Delbert and his wife Frieda Schellenberg Erb were members. Beginning his ministry in 1951, when…
Church planter-entrepreneur leaves rich legacy in France
Robert Witmer, who served in France from 1956 to 1984 with the Mennonite Board of Missions (MBM), helped to plant the Châtenay-Malabry church in Paris and was instrumental in opening doors for people with disabilities. He died on Dec. 2, 2021. Robert “Bob” Witmer helped bring life to the vision of the church as a…
Fire destroys church and five homes in Iquitos, Peru
The night of Aug. 29, a fire raged through a Mennonite church building and five neighbouring wooden houses on Isla Iquitos, Peru, a small island near the main island where the city of Iquitos is located. Neighbours attributed that the fire was likely caused by a candle that the caretaker of the church had left…