Volume 18, Number 1
Students say YESS! to creation care
RJC students Trissy Murphy, left, and Katie Laye craft earth-friendly Christmas gifts during the school’s Youth Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability (YESS!) Summit on Nov. 28.
Vincent Massey Community School Drumming Group from Saskatoon, led by principal Ian Wilson, right, were featured in a workshop entitled ‘Living in rhythm with the earth.’
RJC students Jenae Funk, left, and Mackenzie Nicolle express their hopes for the earth on construction paper leaves, which were later added to a large wall mural.
Students in the “Natural building options” workshop, presented by Jesse Ens of Rosthern, Sask., work together to construct a model timber frame house with cordwood walls.
The YESS! Summit wall mural created by students depicts their hope for restoration and renewal of the earth.
A completed model timber frame house with cordwood walls and a living roof, constructed by students during the YESS! Summit held at Rosthern Junior College on Nov. 28.
They had only 20 minutes to create a skit based on a Bible text and a box of props. It was “creation care” up close and personal for the students and staff at Rosthern Junior College (RJC), who took time from their academic schedules to examine their attitudes and habits affecting the environment.
‘A dream which became true’
Finn Klebe, a Grade 11 student from Germany studying at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, is pictured with Jacob Deng of Wadeng Wings of Hope, an organization committed to helping the rural people of South Sudan.
The staff, students and teachers at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont., had the privilege to welcome Jacob Deng, one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” to speak to us in chapel and in class this fall.
MCC is more than thrift stores to MCI students
Jimmy Juma, centre, coordinator of the African Peacebuilding Institute in South Africa, talks with Mennonite Collegiate Institute students Rebecca Giesbrecht, Karina Letkeman, Renee Peters and Sam Schellenberg during MCC Day at the school on Nov. 21, 2013.
Taking learning beyond the regular classroom, Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) invited Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) on Nov. 21, 2013, as guest speakers engaged students in interactive workshops on interfaith dialogue, material resources, an introduction to MCC’s work, and peace in an African context.
Disclaimer to be included in John Howard Yoder books
The board and staff of MennoMedia, the publishing agency for Mennonite Church U.S.A. and MC Canada, has issued a statement regarding the continued publication of John Howard Yoder books in light of ongoing discussion of Yoder’s long-term sexual harassment and abuse.
The statement approved by the board of directors reads:
Dealing with difference
Frederik de Klerk, left, and Nelson Mandela shake hands at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, in January 1992.
I was on Chapter 10 of Alan Paton’s defining South African novel, Cry the Beloved Country, when Nelson Mandela died. The story of the man and the story in the book—published in 1948, the year apartheid became official policy—are versions of the same story.
Saying goodbye to Madiba
Three hours before the memorial service for Nelson Mandela began, people gathered to honour their beloved past-president and peacemaker in a celebratory manner. The gathering included singing, dancing, clapping and shouts of ‘Mandela ,you’re my president!’
Andrew Suderman, left, director of the Anabaptist Network in South Africa, and his daughter Samantha attend a memorial service for Nelson Mandela on Dec. 10, 2013, at the First National Bank Stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg. Seated next to them, from left to right, are: Suderman’s brother, Bryan Moyer Suderman, his son Matthew and wife Julie.
After a lifetime spent struggling for the emancipation and equality of all, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela can finally rest, his long walk at an end. “Madiba,” as he is affectionately known, passed away on Dec. 5, 2013.
Will you sign up to be a ‘FossilFreeMenno’?
Early last month an open letter to the leadership of Mennonite Church Canada was posted on a website called FossilFreeMenno.org, asking individuals to sign it, identify their home congregation and write a short sentence about why they signed.
Spirit attunement
Troy Watson
In my last article, I explained that baptizo (the Greek word for “baptize”) means to merge or saturate something to the point of transforming its essence. One of the oldest documented uses of baptizo is found in an ancient pickling recipe.
The gene pool cards
“In your 50s, you find out what ‘cards’ you got in the gene pool,” I’ve heard it said. In the past year, this truism took on personal meaning. Unusual chest pains sent me to my doctor. The results of an EKG and a subsequent stress test—which I “failed”—revealed that my heart bears an unsurprising family resemblance to the hearts of both my father and my mother.
Everything we need
“Pay now . . . or really pay later.” This recent Winnipeg Free Press headline pointed to the close relationship between investing in education and healthcare for the very young, and the lifelong costs of healthcare, crime prevention and social support required by those who fall through the cracks.
Readers write: Jan. 6, 2014 issue
Daughter of Pembina Place resident disputes ‘quality of care’ comment
Re: “Bethania Group dismisses CEO,” Oct. 14, 2013, page 23.
I read with interest the article outlining steps Bethania and Pembina Place personal care homes will be taking to remedy the Ray Koop incident.
For discussion: 'Sounding the Scriptures'
1. In what setting have you heard someone “sound the Scripture,” telling a Bible story without reading it? How is re-telling a story different from reading it or repeating it from memory? What makes an effective biblical children’s story?
Priority issues for 2014
What will the issues be for Canadians in 2014, my American friend asked me over the Christmas break. A good but difficult question, I said to myself—a query worth sharing with my faith community for the coming year. So here goes:
