We are all created wonderful
Health work first brought Mennonites to Taiwan in 1948 through Mennonite Central Committee’s relief work, but there was also local interest in starting a church. The Mennonite presence in Taiwan today—the Fellowship of Mennonite Churches in Taiwan—has its roots in both health and church planting. New Dawn Educare Center is part of that legacy. This…
Nourishing body, mind and spirit
The spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced Canadians to learn to cope with forced isolation, loss of work and social events, and an uncertain future. For a church community accustomed to weekly worship services and small group gatherings, learning how to maintain a sense of community and foster wellness among members presents an…
National Council of Persons with Lived Experience appoints new chair
Ken Reddig of Pinawa, Man., has been appointed as the new chair of the National Council of Persons with Lived Experience and its representative to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) national board of directors. Reddig is a former housing worker with the North Eastman Regional Health Authority and past director of the Eden Foundation,…
Who is my neighbour?
The language is stark: crisis, epidemic, tragedy. The facts are startling. According to a Government of Canada website, opioid-related overdose has become the No. 1 cause of death for people under 50. In 2016, there were 3,017 such deaths in Canada; in 2017, there were 4,034; and in the first nine months of 2018, there…
‘I am getting help now’
“Close your eyes and imagine you are walking to your garden,” says Saint-Hilaire Olissaint, a community mental-health worker. His calm, soothing voice carries over the din of the nearby street market and the curious chatter of the children watching nearby. “You open the gate and see the plantain leaves glistening with dew. The trees are…
Holding out the Christ-light
“We can all have good mental health. It is about having a sense of purpose, strong relationships, feeling connected to our communities, knowing who we are, coping with stress and enjoying life,” says a statement by the Canadian Mental Health Association. Statistics indicate that each year 6.7 million Canadians—one in five people—experience some form of…
When it’s hard to go to church
“I love my church. It is very important to me, but you won’t be seeing me on Sunday morning as often,” Cara Baergen told her congregation in a sermon preached at Edmonton’s First Mennonite Church this spring. Consciously choosing to speak from a music stand away from the pulpit, she candidly named hard experiences, health issues…
Avoiding avoidance
Do you ever find yourself starting something and not completing it? If so, then you’re familiar with avoidance behaviours. Avoidance is the set of things we do to distract ourselves from the current task—the one that really needs doing. Perhaps your form of avoidance is cleaning your room, going out with friends, looking at social…
‘Acceptance without exception’
“And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him” (I Samuel 16:23). David would play his harp, and Saul would feel better. David would mediate the spirit of…
Suicide isn’t painless
No one saw it coming. Not family, not friends, not anyone at the university he attended. On March 23, 2018, after babysitting his nieces and nephews, 18-year-old Nicholas (Nick) Penner Brandt returned to the apartment he shared with an older brother and twin sister, drank poison and died. In one horrible instant, the entire Brandt…
