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One hundred years ago, the first of 21,000 Mennonites who left the former Soviet Union boarded a train in Quebec City for new lives across Canada. On July 6, some of their descendants, along with others, will replicate that journey. Over 120 people have signed up for all or parts of, “Memories of Migration: Russlaender Tour 100,” a three-stage train trip from Quebec City to Abbotsford, B.C.

Cathy Abbott remembers the preacher’s phrase that got her to consider taking a big step toward providing shelter for refugees arriving in Canada.

It was 2015 and Canadians were learning about the Syrian refugee crisis. The conflict had pushed millions of people to camps in neighbouring countries, with millions more displaced internally.

There was no magic lamp or genie involved when MaryLou Driedger made her wish, just a felt tip marker and a famous pond.

To the sounds of much laughter, along with moments of sadness, the Rosthern Junior College (RJC) class of 1960 met in Saskatoon on May 18-19 to mark 63 years since graduation. Given that students generally complete high school at age 18, most of us at the reunion had reached the age of 81. More than one walker and cane were noted.

Art Koop was cleaning up after teaching his last class of the day when the emergency alert blared from his cell phone. The message called for an immediate, mandatory evacuation. A wildfire threatened Edson, Alberta, the community where Koop lives and works. The sky was an eerie orange colour and thick with smoke.

A recent fire forced the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Furniture Thrift Store in Winnipeg to temporarily close its doors due to smoke and water damage. A vacant house beside the shop went up in flames on May 11, just after 1 a.m., with the cause of the fire still under investigation.

A serving of soup, with book discussion for dessert, are on the menu every Thursday in May and June as part of the Books and Borscht series at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C.

Ever since survivors of brutal fighting in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo fled to the city of Kikwit in 2017, the Mennonite Brethren Church has been ministering to them with faith and action.

Mennonite Church Canada will provide grants to congregations that wish to upgrade their facilities in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Grants will cover 50 percent of project costs, to a maximum of $6,000.

Ernie Regehr—a prominent Canadian voice on disarmament and peacebuilding for over 40 years—shared his unique analysis of the Ukraine conflict at Grace Mennonite Church in St. Catharines, Ontario on May 6.

Regehr co-founded Project Peacemakers in 1976 and currently serves as a research fellow at Conrad Grebel University College. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003.

Decolonization, interfaith dialogue, intersectionality—these terms can feel heady and intimidating, but Suzanne Gross says they can all happen through the well-practiced Mennonite art of hospitality.