Singing to Ukraine
February 23, 2022, was a relatively ordinary day on our planet. Until 10:30 p.m. Ontario time—early morning of February 24 where Nataliia Kurhan lives—when I heard a reporter announce breathlessly, “Missiles are being fired; the invasion has begun.” I saw streaks descending behind the reporter on the screen and heard the sound of rockets. In…
Uncommon global access
The fact that Mennonites are spread throughout much of the world provides the global Anabaptist community with rare access to on-the-ground, first-person comment from both hotspots and forgotten corners of the globe. Sometimes we make good use of this access, sometimes we do not. In this issue—the first of three digital-only issues this summer—we hear…
Children taken from Ukrainian families
Parents in Molochansk, Ukraine, awoke one morning in May to a message from Russian authorities: “Dear parents: Evacuation has been announced at the school. Today, arrive at the school building with documents for the child and a minimum of things for a couple of weeks.” The Mennonite Centre in Ukraine relayed this news to its…
Mennonites respond to recent military spending
From Dirk Willems loving his enemy in 1569 to Colombian Mennonites building peace today, Anabaptists have offered a bold peace witness. But being a peace church is complicated. Anabaptists got violent in Münster in the 1500s, they mounted armed self-defence units (Selbstschutz) in Ukraine in the early 1900s, many enlisted in World War II and…
MCC supplies arrive for displaced Ukrainians
Before the fighting escalated in Ukraine this year, Nadiya O.* and her husband lived near the city of Uman, Ukraine. Together, they grew a vegetable garden and kept bees, selling their honey to make some extra cash. But shortly after the conflict worsened, her husband died from a heart attack. Then Russian military…
Loss that cannot be counted
As millions of civilians continue to flee the devastation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, organizations like MCC partner UMAN (Charitable Foundation Uman Help Center) are working to support those who have left everything they know behind. UMAN operates in the Ukrainian city of Uman, about 200 kilometres from the capital of Kyiv. Due…
Is violence the best response to Putin?
Given Vladimir Putin’s ruthless aggression, and the obvious limits of sanctions, and the brutal suffering of Ukrainians, is there room to question military response to Russia? What is the role of a peace church in this scenario? Are we still, effectively, a peace church? Much of the talk and action in Canadian church circles has…
‘Evening for Ukraine’ raises $220,000
A fundraising dinner to help people affected by the current war in Ukraine began with a man who had vivid memories of leaving Ukraine as a five-year-old in the mid-1940s. The man phoned Gerd Bartel, a well-known member of Peace Mennonite Church in Richmond, with the simple question, “What can we do to help people…
Making comforters for Ukraine refugees a community effort
Niagara United Mennonite Church called its congregants and neighbourhood community together to tie comforters in the church basement on March 26. Advertisements in the local newspapers and in church bulletins invited anyone interested to gather for the morning. Emily Fieguth worked together with the church’s Women in Service volunteers to set up 10 quilting frames…
Mend our beating heart
My grandfather, Harry Giesbrecht, referred to the country, language and people of Ukraine as his “beating heart.” The many trips back “home” breathed life into his aging lungs. The cool water of the Dnieper, the pothole-riddled roads near Lichtenau, Molochansk and Nikopol, and the patriotic anthems transformed my 80-year-old grandfather into a young man. During…
