Neighbouring as a spiritual practice
♪Inspiring practices of faith based on the first commandment are mainstream in our discipleship process, but inspiring practices of faith that focus on the second command can be a little tricky.
God is infinitely happy: Do you mind?
♪An infinitely happy God is good news to a world in pain. God has no baggage. Nothing triggers him. He is always in the best imaginable space to hear our prayers and enter our pain.
Prepositions in faith
♪Do you remember learning about “above,” “beyond,” “in,” “of,” and the other approximately 150 prepositions that belong in the English language?
SBC celebrates its 2000th graduate!
To graduate from Steinbach Bible College is already a high honour, but when it was announced that I was SBC’s 2000th graduate, it left me speechless. SBC has been training servant leaders for almost 90 years, and I have the honour of being the 2000th graduate that SBC is sending back out into the community to love Jesus, serve the church, and engage the world.
100 years of Mennonite World Conference— 500 years of Anabaptism
I mused that if Mennonites are a small toe [in the body of Christ], maybe the EMC are just one hair on that little toe!
The Messenger wins three CCCA awards
The Messenger receives a first, second and third place win for the Canadian Christian Communicators Association awards for work published in 2024.
Roseisle celebrates pastor’s ordination and more
So much to celebrate in Roseisle: Ordination for Pastor Fernando, a growing Sunday school program and everything God is doing in our midst!
Region 1 leaders refreshed, renewed during retreat
The distance between Region 1 churches has always been a challenge. Recently we have met somewhat centrally in the Best Western Plus in the beautiful “Gateway to the Rockies” town of Hinton, Alta.
Conscription threat looms, but God’s faithfulness stands stronger
A year ago in April, fear was lurking in Achokia. As OGC’s Civil War raged into its fourth year, disturbing news was filtering up to the remote mountaintops of Achokia.
Forgiveness in Christ transcends tribal tensions in East Africa
Breaking a cycle of revenge through training and example, these church planting teams are multiplying in East Africa.
Language differences no barrier to assisting Paraguayan church
A five-person work team from Canada together with national workers experienced with brick construction worked on a church ministry building despite the language barrier.
Let the little children come
I grew up with Bible camp songs, VBS crafts, and youth group nights filled with laughter, learning, and late-night snacks but in Peru, children’s ministry is still emerging.
Early Anabaptist strategy for security in missions
♪Early Anabaptists, highly committed to missions despite the danger, employed security measures similar to our own.
What does it mean to be aligned?
♪One of the tasks when I began my job here at the EMC office was to examine our external partnership: which were beneficial and which should change.
Citizens of heaven
♪Peace is your portion. Grace is your gift. Love is your language. Son or daughter is your identity. Heaven is your home. You are a citizen of heaven!
Ancient, continuous, and meaningful
♪As I struggled socially and intellectually in the church and with faith, I felt there was some other category that might better anchor me.
Art of imperfection
I gave up trying to make it look “correct,” fiddled with it a little longer to try and make it look intentionally impressionistic and—failing at that, too—walked away from the easel, defeated.
What do we mean when we ask about our value?
♪Extrinsic value matters because we want our life and work to mean something. We want influence and respect, and to have the capacity to do things we consider important. But this kind of value often conflicts with our intrinsic value—the worth we have just because we are human, made in God’s image.