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Date confirmed for MCC Manitoba fundraiser
Planting opportunity, rebuilding lives
Dieunold Sterling works on a motor at his motorcycle repair business in Desarmes, Haiti, as his nephew Dumas John watches. The advanced mechanical skills he learned at a vocational school that MCC helped re-energize, allowed Sterling to get an education and develop a business in his hometown without going to overcrowded Port-au-Prince. (MCC photo by Silas Crews)
Planting opportunity, rebuilding lives
In Cabaret, 39 kilometres outside the capital city of Port-au-Prince, breezes flutter the sheer fabric hanging in the doorway of Gladys Joseph’s new home. There’s room in the yard for her children to play. And, for the first time since she was sent to Haiti’s capital city as a child, she has a garden full of corn, beans, manioc and okra.
Linguistic work in Burkina Faso receives international attention
The Sicite people, a small ethnic group in southwestern Burkina Faso, stepped onto the world’s linguistic stage when their language was awarded a coveted place in the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in September 2014.
Top 10 online stories in 2014
Healthcare leaders plan international summit for July 2015
Leaders of Anabaptist/Mennonite healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals will hold a conjoint international meeting during an international leadership summit July 20-21, 2015. The summit will be sponsored by Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite Health Services.
MWC urges prayer for suffering church in Nigeria
For the second time in four months Mennonite World Conference issued an urgent appeal for prayer, this time for the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria – EYN), which is experiencing horrendous violence and persecution by Boko Haram.
MWC seeks vocalists for international ensemble
Mennonite World Conference is seeking gifted vocalists to join the International Vocal Ensemble for the Pennsylvania 2015 Assembly.
Prayer Network launched for PA 2015
Mennonite World Conference is establishing a prayer network, recognizing the importance of prayer as preparations are made for PA 2015, the global Assembly being planned for July 21-26, 2015, in Harrisburg, PA.
‘We’re out of everything’
It’s not just you. The news was been particularly bad last year. Islamic State is gaining ground, while videos of beheadings and other violence circulate online.
Public invited to grand opening of CMU’s Marpeck Commons
Canadian Mennonite University will celebrate the grand opening of Marpeck Commons, CMU’s new library, learning commons, and bridge, on Sat., Nov. 29, 2014.
The public is invited to join CMU staff, faculty, and students at 2299 Grant Ave. for the grand opening celebration from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. An open house is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
MDS volunteers shovel out their neighbours
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers often describe their service as being “the hands and feet of Jesus.” During the weekend of Nov. 21-23, those hands—and backs—were working hard, shovelling the historic snowfall in upstate New York.
World Council of Churches highlights “NoXcuses” anti-violence campaign
‘Come, let us all unite to sing’
Bobby Switzer did not grow up going to church or singing, but he has become passionate about hymns and congregational music since coming to Goshen College four years ago.
When he started the Goshen College Hymn Club in 2012, little did he know that he would end up singing through every verse of all 658 hymns in Hymnal: A Worship Book, in a 30-hour marathon of song.
An open letter to the Mennonite family
We are Richard and Jewel (Wenger) Showalter. As church planters, missionaries, educators, mission administrators, parents and now grandparents, we have walked as part of the Mennonite family throughout our lives.
On the bridge between Mennonite and Catholic shores
The authors participate in the activities of Bridgefolk, “a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's traditions, explore each other's practices, and honor each other's contribution to the mission of Christ's Church” (Bridgefolk website).
Goshen College students to sing for peace in hymn marathon
With the goal of uniting in harmony to bring peace to a troubled world, Goshen College’s Hymn Club will bring together students and community members to sing continuously through every verse of all 658 songs in Hymnal: A Worship Book.
An open letter to my beloved church
I am profoundly reluctant to write this letter because I know there are those it will wound deeply. But I have also come to the conviction that I can no longer hide the light the Lord has lit within me, under a bushel. I want to share with you what the Lord has been telling me and my dear life companion.
Canadian legislation would ban ‘barbaric cultural practices’
Canada is weighing legislation that would ban arranged marriages of minors and make polygamy grounds for deportation.
The “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act,” introduced on November 5 by Chris Alexander, minister of citizenship and immigration, would set 16 as the minimum national age for marriage in Canada.
Thai Anabaptists hear stories of radical forgiveness
Prior to Lek (not his real name) believing in Jesus, ten of his fifteen children died. After he became a Christian, his children stopped dying. People in his village noticed!
Mennonite seminary releases statement on violence against Islamic State
Canadian cyclists raise money for Botswana soccer pitch
On October 4, 56 cyclists and eight teams in six locations across the country took part in Mennonite Church Canada’s Ride for Refuge. Together they raised almost $20,000 in support of a ministry project for youth at risk in Botswana.
New exhibit features South American artists
On Sept. 19, 2014, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights received national attention for its opening in Winnipeg. On the same day, the Mennonite Heritage Centre Art Gallery quietly launched its own exhibit on human rights.
An eerie calm: Iraqi Christians anxiously ponder their future
Afternoon prayer at the St. George Church in the historic Assyrian Christian town of Alqosh in the Nineveh Plain of Iraqi Kurdistan. Locals adhere to the Chaldean Catholic religion. The town was nearly overrun by Islamic fighters earlier this summer, when Peshmerga forces withdrew their forces, abandoning the Christian town. (Credit: Jodi Hilton/RNS)
Basima al-Safar retouches a picture of Jesus on an easel outside her house overlooking the flat Nineveh plains, 30 miles north of Mosul.
The murals she paints tell the story of her people, Christians in Iraq. But with Islamic State militants nearby, she is worried that life in Alqosh and towns like it could soon come to an end.