While “deeply shaken” by the terror caused by IS (Islamic State) militias in Iraq and Syria, “we believe that the situation does not render pacifist convictions obsolete,” declared the faculty of the Theological Seminary Bienenberg in a mid-September statement.
The Drayton Riders cycled in the Ride for Refuge, which raised almost $20,000. Back row (l to r): Pauline Weiland, Ange Dewar, Nicole Lienhart, Ron Weber, Luke Hiller. Front row (l to r): Travis Wiens and Jason Martin. Missing from photo: Joel Hiller. (Photo provided by MC Canada)
Henry Krause (l) and Willard Metzger (r) joined 54 other riders across Canada for Mennonite Church Canada’s Ride for Refuge. (Photo provided by MC Canada)
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.
The MHC Gallery exhibit, IDENTIDAD/IDENTITY features three artists with roots in South America. From L to R: Gabriela Agüero (Argentina), Lucy Riquelme (Chile), and Fanny Gómez de Correa (Colombia) stand in front of Riquelme’s mixed media painting, Mapuche’s Kultrún. (Credit: Ray Dirks)
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.
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.
The Nigeria Brethren church headquarters property has been overtaken by Boko Haram extremist insurgents. The news was shared in the early hours of October 29, in an e-mail from the staff liaison of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), who wrote:
Liz Klassen felt the need to correct the rumour going around among the seniors that the play Cracked made fun of folk with dementia. Klassen, executive director of the Nithview Community in New Hamburg, operated by Tri-County Mennonite Homes, notes that the name of the play comes from Leonard Cohen’s 1992 song "Anthem" from his album The Future:
A collection of resources for conversations about sexuality is emerging from work of the faculty of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS).
Next year’s MWC Assembly will feature exuberant singing by people from around the world. (Credit: Merle Good)
In less than a year from now, our sisters and brothers from around the world, and from across North America, will be coming to Harrisburg to worship and fellowship with us. PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly, will be held at the Farm Show Complex, July 21-26, 2015.
Babu Ayindo (standing, center) and Doreen Ruto, both Kenyan graduates of EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, co-facilitated the summertime training of USAID employees in South Sudan’s capital city, Juba, along with CJP staff. (Photo courtesy of Elaine Zook Barge)
Nearly 100 people in South Sudan, all employees of the U.S. government, recently benefited from intensive trauma awareness and resilience trainings facilitated by Eastern Mennonite University.
Author and disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada (Photo courtesy of Joni Eareckson Tada)
It has been heartbreaking these last few days to hear the story of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old, beautiful young woman diagnosed with a glioblastoma brain tumor and given only a few months to live. The saddest part of the story for me, however, is not her prognosis, but her decision to end her life prematurely on Nov. 1 through physician-assisted suicide.
