Volume 19, Number 9
An urgent search for water in Mozambique
Doga Jose washes clothes with water drawn from the well drilled in 2014 in Ndoro, Caia District. (Photo: Matthew Sawatzky, for Mennonite Central Committee)
Patches of green dot the landscape surrounding the sand dam at Matambo. The dam supplies families with fresh water for irrigation, for washing and for animals. (Photo: Matthew Sawatzky, for Mennonite Central Committee)
Lydia Pensar of Mozambique waters her garden by flinging water from a jug. Sand dams result in not only water, but also food. Built in 2013, the dam supplies 54 families with fresh water for irrigation and other uses. (Photo: Matthew Sawatzky, for Mennonite Central Committee)
Six men grasp the long metal handle of the drill and walk slowly in a circle. They lean into the task, using body weight to drive the shaft of the drill into the dry soil of Mozambique’s Caia District.
The practical side of discernment
“Discernment” has been a much-used word and concept in interpreting the Bible over the past number of years. Mainly we have defined it as a working tool to determine what God in the person of Jesus would have us do about difficult issues facing us in the 21st century.
Mennonite me
My grandmother’s church is, like all Old Order Mennonite churches, plain. The white walls are bare. There are no stained-glass windows, no gilded altars and no images of saints or martyrs. Pews of hard, blonde oak sit in tight rows on worn linoleum.
Readers write: April 27, 2015 issue
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Bible’s answers were ‘cut and dried’?
While I haven’t got any answers, I have been reading with interest the articles and letters about sexuality issues in Canadian Mennonite. All seem to be written with a biblical base by Spirit-led Christians but with widely differing and sometimes polar oppo-site points of view.
A unique synergy
“Yep, I have to get an annual membership.” That customer comment reflects growing excitement over CommonWord, the new resource venture of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), launched in January.
What kind of God do you believe in?
On a lovely summer day while walking down the street, a young woman approached me and politely asked if she could show me a magic trick. Given a host of cues, I assumed she would lead into a conversation on Christian faith.
Developing our generosity skills
An early sign of spring in southern Ontario is seeing sports teams move their practices outside. The sight of children and youth in colourful uniforms on the soccer pitch is a sure sign that May is here. I am actively involved in our local soccer club and both my children have played for years. I have enjoyed watching youngsters develop their skills over time.
Moving thinward (Pt. 3)
One of the many fascinating events to occur in the Book of Exodus is God “leaving” the mountain of God (Mount Sinai) to travel with the Hebrews to the Promised Land in a portable sanctuary called the tabernacle.
God is at work in the church in China
George and Tobia Veith, left and centre, visit with Denise Epp following one of the Veiths’ presentations on the church in China held at Rosthern Mennonite Church recently. (Photo by Donna Schulz)
A carving underscores the fact that the church in China is in God’s hands, say missionaries George and Tobia Veith. (Photo by Donna Schulz)
“This is about what God’s doing,” said George Veith. “We want all the glory to go to God.”
Welcome to Canada . . . because of Jesus
A sign greets Syrian refugees at Edmonton International Airport, where approximately 60 Mennonites and Muslims were gathered to welcome them to their new home on March 31. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
Mennonites and Muslims await the arrival of Syrian refugees at Edmonton International Airport on March 31. Mennonite Central Committee Alberta and the Islamic Family Social Services Association are partnering to bring Syrian refugees to Alberta. (Photo by Donita Wiebe-Neufeld)
Elizabeth Wall, left, Jacob Wiebe-Neufeld, Tim Wiebe-Neufeld, Yehea Al Jamal, Mohamed Al Jamal, Nahed Al Jamal, Heba Al Hafar, Darian Wiebe-Neufeld, Donita Wiebe-Neufeld, present a bowl of fruit and a card to the family to welcome them to Canada. (Photo by Saffa Abu-Sheikhan)
Ahmad Al-Jamal, his wife Ghada, and their three young children were visibly excited as they waited at Edmonton International Airport on the evening of March 31, 2015.
Ethical businesses make good money
One of the products available at Fresh From the Farm. (Photo by Will Braun)
Jacqui Schmucker at the alternative grocery store she and her husband Tim run in Toronto. (Photo by Will Braun)
If you want Tamworth heritage bacon or Golden Guernsey milk, Jacqui Schmucker can provide them. If you want maple syrup from a horse-and-buggy farm or honey from a black-bumper Mennonite farm, she’s got that too. If you want to know who grew your food, where and how, she can do that too, with an energetic smile to boot.
Seeking peace in Iraqi Kurdistan
Kathy Moorhead Thiessen, centre, with a group of workshop participants in Suleimani, Northern Iraq. (Photo courtesy of Kathy Moorhead Thiessen)
Refugee camps around the city of Suleimani in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq have become pressure cookers of cultural and religious tension. Thousands of people displaced by Syria’s civil war and the violence of Islamic State (IS) are living shoulder to shoulder, unable to return to their homes.
Cookbook reflects old-style Menno cooking
In the 1940s, Mary Emma Showalter began a cookbook project, collecting old Mennonite recipes that were handwritten in notebooks because she feared that soon the notebooks would be discarded. As Mennonites began moving beyond their home communities during the Second World War, they were learning to cook new foods and were less apt to use the old recipes learned from home.
Listening to the characters’ voices
Author Carrie Snyder chats with the evening’s moderator Rob Zacharias before her reading at the 2014-15 New Mennonite/s Writing series at Conrad Grebel University College on March 4. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)
John Siebert had two things to say to Carrie Snyder as she finished her readings from her latest book, Girl Runner, at Conrad Grebel University College on March 4.
Further east of Edensville
Maurice Martin signs a copy of I’m so Glad for Sunday . . . When I can go to Church.
Spurred by requests from his thoroughly modern children to tell them stories of his growing-up years in the Ontario Swiss Mennonite homeland of Waterloo County, Maurice Martin, a retired pastor and area church worker, wrote One Mile East of Edensville and self-published it in 2013. His home on the farm was “the centre of innocence,” as he remembers it.
‘Interaction/Isolation’
The WhizBang Shufflers returned to Mennofolk after first performing at the event in 2005. From left: Donald Willms, Luke Enns, Curtis Wiebe and Rick Unger. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Clockwise from bottom right: Jodi Plenert, Charlie Enns, Brent Retzlaff, Brandon Bertram, Thomas Krause and Clare Schellenberg organized Mennofolk 2015. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
‘Mennofag,’ a mixed media piece by Jordan Weber, depicts the artist’s struggle to come to terms with his homosexuality. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Well Sister, a folk group fronted by Jaymie Friesen, pictured, was one of three musical acts that performed at Mennofolk 2015. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Jaymie Friesen and Davis Plett of Well Sister perform at Mennofolk 2015. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
‘Living in the Fast Lane,’ an acrylic painting by Danielle Fontaine Koslowsky. Twenty visual artists ranging in age from 18 to 55 displayed artwork at Mennofolk 2015. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
‘To a Mad Farmer’s Manifesto,’ a linocut by Laura Tait. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
‘First Fruits,’ a watercolour painting by Mary Anne Isaak. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
‘First Fruits 2/First Fruits Too,’ a watercolour painting by Mary Anne Isaak. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
Luke Enns and Curtis Wiebe of the WhizBang Shufflers perform at Mennofolk 2015. (Photo by Aaron Epp)
When Jordan Weber began making visual art four years ago, he wanted a new way to express himself.
“I never expected my art to be on display for anybody to see,” the 24-year-old said. “It’s super exciting that people have been coming up to me and saying they like my work.”
Living in limbo
Diana, Luis, and Jacobo Mata. (Photo courtesy of Luis Mata)
A poster from the campaign. (Photo courtesy of Luis Mata)
Hundreds of families in Canada live in limbo, not sure if they’ll ever be granted permanent resident status.
Countercultural mountain music
For Quiet in the Land, music is meant to be participatory and community-building, an approach that was shaped by the duo’s Mennonite upbringing. (Photo by Meg Harder)
Dan Root and Laura Dyck grew up in the mountains of Pennsylvania, which has influenced the themes in their music. (Photo by Meg Harder)
Quiet in the Land released their debut EP, Songs to Set These Hills on Fire, last year. (Photo by Meg Harder)
Dan Root and Laura Dyck quickly became friends after they met in the fall of 2009 and realized how much they had in common. Both were living in the Conrad Grebel University College residence in Waterloo, Ont.; both were studying international development at the University of Waterloo; and both had a deep love of folk music.
What’s your ‘money personality’?
“Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” That’s from the Bible (Amos 3:3, New Living Translation). It was my parents’ wedding text when they were married 65 years ago. It’s a verse in the middle of a punishment text and I’ve always wondered how they came up with that.
