Volume 16, Number 10
MWC church provides aid following tribal dispute
Elderly Kenyan men are among those who receive blankets as part of a relief effort under the auspices of the Kenya Mennonite Church following ethnic clashes in eastern Kenya earlier this year.
In the aftermath of recent border clashes between Luo and Kalenjin ethnic tribes in eastern Kenya, Kenya Mennonite Church is helping to provide aid to displaced persons and participating in peace initiatives.
The beautiful feet of those who bring good news
Muriel Bechtel, left, retiring area church minister, is greeted by Linda Brnjas, assistant moderator and pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church, near Elmira, during Mennonite Church Eastern Canada’s 25th annual church gathering.
On the cusp of its 25th year, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada returned to the place it had its inaugural gathering:
Joining the Doxology
Taking a bow after Theatre of the Beat’s Gadfly: Sam Steiner Dodges the Draft are John Wideman, left, who starred as Sam Steiner; Sam Steiner himself; his wife Sue Clemmer Steiner; and Kim Walker, who played Sue Clemmer.
Those who had the opportunity to see Gadfly: Sam Steiner Dodges the Draft will recall that this drama—based on the 1960s lives of Sam Steiner and Sue Clemmer—ends with the cast singing the Doxology. “Sam” joined in part way through the hymn. Some observers thought this an abrupt ending, and wondered how a draft dodger, alienated from his church of birth, returned to faith.
Draft dodger Doxology
Kim Walker (as Sue Clemmer), left, John Wideman (as Sam Steiner), and other Goshen College students played by Rebecca Steiner and Ben Wert work on the college’s student paper in Theatre of the Beat’s Gadfly: Sam Steiner Dodges the Draft.
gad·fly - [gad-flahy]
1. any of various flies, as a stable fly or warble fly, that bite or annoy domestic animals.
Unveil your heart
Rohina Malik plays a veiled Muslim woman in her one-woman show, Unveiled, performed at Conrad Grebel University College on March 30.
Rohina Malik was 14 when her family moved from London, England, to Chicago. It was there that she lived through—and continues to live through—the misunderstandings about Muslims, veiled Muslim women in particular.
Investing in environmental and social responsibility
James Redekop is pictured in one of SunSelect’s environmentally friendly greenhouses in Delta, B.C.
SunSelect Produce Inc., a family-owned vegetable producer with Mennonite roots, owns more than 28 hectares of greenhouses in Aldergrove and Delta, which they use to grow more than 9.5 million kilograms of vegetables each year.
Earth Day tent revival
An Earth Day tent revival at Memorial Park in front of Winnipeg’s Legislative Building attracted around 350 people of all ages, with 200 participating in a walk to the event. Brother Aiden John (aka Aiden Enns) delivered a sermon on the theme of a ‘consumption sabbath’ and an altar call.
‘As we forgive those who trespass against us’
Mark Bauman of St. Jacobs Mennonite Church, Ont., removes mouldy wood and materials before rebuilding a floor in an Attawapiskat First Nation home this spring.
Mark Bauman’s eyes still tear up when he recalls worshipping at the St. Francois-Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Attawapiskat. Most of the service in the First Nation community, located on the western shore of James Bay in northwestern Ontario, was in Cree, but the Lord’s Prayer was repeated in English.
Looking at life differently now
Derek Janzen, a Grade 12 student at MCI, Gretna, Man., plays with young children at Hope Community Centre in Kenya.
MCI student Sarah Martens looks at life differently now after her visit to Hope Community Centre in rural Kenya, where she got to play around with orphaned and abandoned children like Rebecca during a spring break trip.
“You can watch a thousand World Vision commercials and still not fully understand what life is like for some,” says Emily Hildebrand, one of 12 students from Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI), Gretna, Man., who spent her spring break living and working with the children of Hope Community Centre in Kenya.
The R’s beneath a radical sabbath
I was asked to preach on Earth Day. If I was a typical Mennonite minister, I would start with a few statistics, cite high levels of consumption, touch on some exotic form of injustice that doesn’t implicate us too directly. I’d gently exhort that we’re called to care for creation, be good stewards and drink fair-trade coffee, and then I’d offer a rote prayer for courage and wisdom.
No longer, but not yet
I was engaged for four months before the big day. Engagement is an interval in time determined by things that are no longer and things that are not yet. The engaged are not really single, but not yet spouse. My experience of engagement was of a time in between. It involved longing (hey, I’m a guy and I was longing). It involved work (and a wedding takes a lot of it . . .
75 years of church
So what does it mean to be the church in one place for 75 years? Actually we’re the church in many places, yet we are all under one umbrella. Sometimes we call Mennonite Church British Columbia a conference, sometimes an area church, sometimes even a denomination, but how about a network?
Readers write
‘African’ titles misleading
For discussion
1. What are some ways that parenting today is similar to, and different from, earlier generations? Were yesterday’s parents also “scared and overwhelmed”? Do today’s parents tend to hover too much? What role should cell phones play in parenting? Are our children too closely programmed? To what degree is materialism a threat to our families?
Parenting resources for parents and churches
Parenting resources at the Mennonite Church Canada Resource Centre are available to borrow or purchase. Visit online www.mennonitechurch.ca/tiny/183
From MennoMedia
It takes a church to raise a child
Parents of students at MEI Schools in Abbotsford, B.C., attend one of Dave Currie’s ‘i-Parent’ sessions, that are billed as ‘formatting the next generation.’
Gordon Neufeld, a developmental and clinical psychologist, autographs his book, Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers, which he co-authored with Gabor Mate, M.D.
Are my children going to be okay?” This is the overriding concern that Kathy Giesbrecht, associate director of leadership ministries for Mennonite Church Manitoba, hears and senses from parents. Parents are scared and overwhelmed, and there is no manual for them to keep in their back pocket.
Are we an endangered species?
Are our Mennonite institutions an endangered species? Are they headed for extinction in this post-Christian era when the emphasis seems to be more on “spiritual” than “religious”?
