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Syrian refugees: A sponsorship story

Hanan Talabeh’s family arrived as refugees from Syria, they were met at the airport by Talebeh and her daughter Nada. From left Hanadi, Lara, Nada, Sara and Jaafar. (Photo courtesy of Hanan Talabeh)

It’s easy to hear the smile in Hanan Talabeh’s voice. Even over the phone it’s obvious she’s thrilled—months after her family arrived from Syria. Talabeh’s sister-in-law, along with her three children, landed at the Ottawa airport on July 22, 2015, one year before they expected an answer on their refugee application.

More-with-Less: Changing the world, one recipe at a time

More-with-Less Cookbook author Doris Longacre and her daughter Cara Sue prepare a garden vegetable and ground beef dish by the Chinese stir-fry method at a seminar. (Mennonite Central Committee photo by Ernie Klassen)

Rachel Marie Stone will manage the 40th anniversary revision of the beloved More-with-Less Cookbook. (Photo by Lisa Beth Anderson)

With one simple idea, a movement was born. As the classic cookbook of thrift and Christian compassion, the More-with-Less Cookbook has given generations of cooks healthy basic recipes that are gentle on the budget and mindful of those who are hungry.

Quilt evokes memories of comfort and connections

A very special quilt hung at the rear of the church on Jan. 25, 2015, as Dutch Mennonites from the province of Friesland gathered in Drachten to celebrate World Brotherhood Day.

Christian community rallies to help displaced Nigerians

Local Christians have distributed food in this encampment of displaced people in Yola, where many unidentified children are living with no parents. The EYN staff liaison provided this photo with the prayer, "Lord have mercy." (Credit: Church of the Brethren Newsline)

Muslims and Christians are fleeing Maiduguri, a large city in northeastern Nigeria, looking for safer places after Boko Haram insurgents attacked the area over the weekend, and the Nigerian army responded, reports EYN staff liaison Markus Gamache.

Youth invited to apply for MDS Summer Youth Program

MDS Summer Youth Program volunteers work at a project in Jamestown, Colorado, in 2014. (MDS photo)

Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is accepting applications for its 2015 Summer Youth program (SYP), which features three unique service opportunity locations in the U.S. and Canada. The application deadline is Feb. 13, 2015.

Psychiatrist researches mental illness among Amish

Dr. Abram Hostetter has studied the incidence of mental illness in the Old Order Amish population compared to the general population. He has been involved with the project known in the field as the “Amish Study” since it began in 1976. (Photo by Jon Styer)

A decades-long study of genetics and psychiatric illness–in which Dr. Abram Hostetter has played a prominent role–continues to yield new clues about the causes of bipolar disorder and guide the search for new treatments.

Piece by piece

Girls play a game by throwing balls through a hole. MCC partner House of Light and Hope specializes in support for Syrian girls, including tutoring, activities and counseling. (Photo: Silas Crews)

A smiling girl passes handfuls of water between two buckets surrounded by children in a summer camp. This camp offers some normalcy for refugee children, helps young Syrians learn the English skills required for education in Lebanon and brings together children of different backgrounds. (Photo: Silas Crews)

In Beirut, Ahmad and other Syrian refugees buy groceries with vouchers provided through an MCC project. (Photo: Silas Crews)

Rabi Allam, left, and Wisam Raad of MCC partner Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training deliver MCC relief kits, which are packed in useful plastic buckets, to Syrian refugees and Lebanese families in need. Since the Syrian crisis began, MCC has provided nearly 18,000 relief kits, 101,000 comforters and blankets and 64,528 hygiene kits in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. (Photo: Silas Crews)

Dyala Naoush, with son Khaled, received a pregnant goat from an MCC partner in a project to lessen tension between struggling host communities and the newly arrived Syrian refugees. (Photo: Silas Crews)

Because of safety concerns, full names are not used for some Syrian refugees in this article, and some names have been changed.

The garden courtyard in the center of Ahmad and Nisreen’s house in Syria opened to the sky, allowing the laughter of their children and other family members and smoke from the barbeque to waft into the neighborhood.

Mennonite pastor severely beaten

After an attack on Jan. 18, 2015, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang suffered a fractured nose and serious internal injuries. (Photo courtesy of Mennonite Church Canada)

Nguyen Hong Quang, leader of the unregistered Vietnam Evangelical Mennonite Church (formerly referred to as the Mennonite Church in Vietnam), was severely beaten on his way to worship Sunday evening, Jan. 18, 2015.

‘A tremendous source of blessing’

Ben and Patti Wiebe (Mennonite Church Canada photo)

Last June, Shekhar Singh, president of Union Biblical Seminary (UBS) in Pune, India, contacted Mennonite Church Canada to ask whether Ben and Patti Wiebe of Beamsville, Ont., could again spend some time at the seminary as visiting faculty, something they have been doing for the past 20 years through a series of MC Canada short-term ministry assignments.