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‘Africa is for babies’

“Africa is for babies.” That’s what Andrew and Karen Suderman, our Mennonite Church Canada colleagues in South Africa, assured us before we first left for Botswana in 2013.

Churches of all stripes call for freedom of religion

Representatives of every stream of global Christianity met in Tirana, Albania, Nov. 1 to 5, 2015, for a consultation on Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together, convened by the Global Christian Forum.

Hearing God in indigenous voices

“If you want to love someone, you need to know their story; if you want to know someone, you need to learn their story,” Steve Heinrichs, Mennonite Church Canada’s director of indigenous relations, told participants at this year’s Peace it Together conference at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) earlier this month, as he and his daughter Abby shared about settler colonialism and the importanc

Nigerian church leaders rely on the Bible and prayer

When Obed and Phena Dashan told students and faculty at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) how they feel God’s love surrounding them in spite of facing death every day in their ministry in Nigeria, the community gathered around them to pray while they also honored them for the faithful ministry.

MC Canada national office lays off five

Mennonite Church Canada laid off five staff members on Nov. 28, 2015, as part of the cost-saving restructuring efforts that fall under the banner of the Future Directions Task Force.

MC Canada accelerates proposed changes

Mennonite Church Canada has begun to implement changes proposed by the Future Directions Task Force (FDTF) insofar as foresight allows, as a result of pressing financial necessity.

Old Order Mennonite groups in Ontario are growing

Locations of Old Order Mennonite groups in Ontario. (Map courtesy of Amsey Martin)

There has been remarkable growth in the number of Old Order Mennonite meetinghouses in Ontario in the last 50 years. They have been spreading farther afield, especially in the last 20 years.

Matt Epp supports Coffee for Peace effort with visit, concert

International recording artist and world traveller Matt Epp is performing at a benefit concert to support a unique peacebuilding venture in the Philippines.

Mennonites in France pray for Muslims

None of Mennonite Mission Network’s five international workers was hurt in the November 13, 2015, bombings in Paris, although each one has been affected by them.

The workers located in France working in and near Paris are Janie and Neal Blough, Brad and Brenna Steury Graber, and Linda Oyer.

CFB calls for Canada’s leadership in climate change and farming

As world leaders, including Canada’s new prime minister, meet in Paris November 30 to December 11, 2015, to conclude a major new climate change agreement, their main focus will be on cutting greenhouse gas emissions—a good thing. But the plight of many of the world’s 1.5 billion small-scale farmers should also be addressed there.

Mennonite shares insights on climate change with government leaders

Willard Metzger will attend the United Nations Framework Climate Change Conference, Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, 2015, in Paris, France, on behalf of The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), where he serves as a vice-president. Metzger is Mennonite Church Canada’s executive director.

Three church-related views on refugees

Three high profile Mennonite-connected politicians expressed their views this week on how to handle the 25,000 Syrian refugees newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to resettle in Canada by the end of 2015.

Pax reunion celebrates MCC service experiences

Stories of how their life journeys were shaped by voluntary service filled the room at a reunion of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) service workers who were part of the Pax program.

Peacebuilding thrives amidst Burundi unrest

As political unrest brings increased violence in Burundi, partners of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) continue building on two decades of peacebuilding to encourage peace.

Being part of the global church

Congregating junior youth in small-town Saskatchewan may seem like a counter-intuitive way for them to discover their part in the global church body, but that’s what the purpose of this year’s Saskatchewan Mennonite Youth Organization (SMYO) junior high retreat was.

Philpott named new Health Minister

Jane Philpott, a member of the Community Mennonite Church in Stouffville, Ont., and the chief of family medicine at Markham-Stouffville Hospital, was named today to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal cabinet as his new health minister.

Selfies: This generation’s cigarette

Cellphones are this generation’s cigarette. That was one analysis provided by Jerry Holsopple and Linford Stutzman to students participating in an October Living and Learning Forum at Eastern Mennonite University.

Winnipeg churches throw wedding party for Syrian refugee couple

When Brian Darweesh and Reem Younes got married, they were living as refugees in Lebanon. They left their homes in Syria, fleeing violence and a threat on Darweesh’s life. At their wedding there was no white dress and no party. Just a civil ceremony in a foreign country.

Bethany Mennonite reaches half-century milestone

Kaleigh Van Egmond paints the face of Ellery Sawatzky at the celebration of Bethany United Mennonite Church’s 50th anniversary. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Pastor Herb Sawatzky is pictured with his son Colton at Bethany United Mennonite Church’s 50th anniversary. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Nella Cameron, Marie Lepp and Anne Penner look at photos recounting Bethany United Mennonite Church’s history at its 50th anniversary celebration. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

Bill and Irene Goertz tell stories about the founding of Bethany United Mennonite Church at the congregation’s 50th-anniversary celebrations. (Photo by Dave Rogalsky)

The way Bill Goertz remembers it, every time it seemed that the building plan for Bethany Mennonite Church was settled, Victor Dyck would come to yet another caffeine-fuelled Founders Committee meeting and say, “Maybe we can do a little more.”

Parkview Home celebrates 50 years of service

George Reesor, front row right, a local historian and Parkview Home board member in the 1980s, spoke at the 50th anniversary celebration and observed: ‘The Parkview of today could not have been conceived or planned in its entirety back in the 1960s. Rather, each added project has been built upon vision, experience and expertise gained from earlier endeavours.’ His wife Anna is seated beside him. (Parkview Home photo)

The Parkview auditorium was filled on Sept. 27, 2015, as residents, past and present board members, and community supporters gathered to celebrate 50 years of service to the community by Parkview Home.

Arnaud Mennonite Church youth group members Meagan Schlorff, left; Cole Holdrick, second from left; Liam Thiessen, third from right; and Adrian Thiessen, right, are pictured with youth leader Ewald Boschmann, third from left and Art Enns, the farmer who donated the land, to celebrate a successful harvest that raised $12,600 for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. (Canadian Foodgrains Bank photo)

In the Bible, there’s a well-known story about Jesus miraculously feeding five thousand with only a few loaves and fish.