Involuntary: Terminated MCC workers call for accountability and change
♪ “I still use it,” Anicka Fast says of the brownish knitted potholder she received at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) orientation in Akron, Pennsylvania, in 2009. Fast and her husband John Clarke were en route to their first MCC assignment at the time.
A journey through GriefShare
♪ Dwylla Zacharias’s life was upended in a moment. It was early 2021. She, husband Jared, and their four children had recently returned from the mission field of Hungary and were sorting out how to report to supporting churches despite pandemic restrictions.
Reading through the Bible in under 100 days!
♪ You may think this is a bit of an exaggeration—but let me assure you, reading through the Bible in under 100 days was seriously fun! Trust me, I was just as surprised as you might be. Let me take you through my adventure.
Building bridges of grace
♪ It is a privilege to speak at this EMC conference. I am not a Mennonite, but most of my best friends are, and my ancestors were Scottish, so I am cheap. I once said to my wife, “You are only getting one cup of tea from a teabag; you can do better.” So, I am an honorary Mennonite. Better yet, I am with brothers and sisters who love and serve Jesus.
Together with the world
♪ … the Roman empire had perfected the art of conquest. They controlled the vast majority of the known and civilized world, and no nation or group posed any serious threat to their authority. Rome clung to power through military might, rigid bureaucracy, and good old-fashioned fear. But Jesus was subversive; he taught differently on what true power looked like. Instead of power to conquer and dominate, Christ spoke and modelled power to submit and serve.
Intentional acts of compassion
♪ In the last few months, over 90 EMC youth leaders attended one of the Youth Worker Community (YWC) Conferences (sixty-plus in Winnipeg and thirty-plus in Calgary). There were many great workshops on a variety of themes which gave attendees a lot to think about and process: helping students discover and grow spiritual discipline, how to lead teenagers to Christ, managing small groups and making the most of events and experiences, among others.
Predestination is a challenging topic for Christians
♪ In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul reminded the Ephesians that God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4 NET here and throughout). As if his point wasn’t clear enough, Paul in the very next verse adds, “He [God] did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5). This is far from the only time Paul mentions predestination. In Romans 8:29 Paul talks about those who are “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
Testimony: The prodigal returns
♪ GORDON UTZ WAS one of those guys who, like me, got into a little trouble in high school. Tall, handsome, hilarious and a good hockey player—I’m talking about me, of course (just kidding!). I’m talking about my classmate, Gord. Recently his brother Stan said, “You gotta talk to Gord; you won’t believe his story.” So, I did. As we spoke, it was like we pushed rewind and were back in grade 10.
Remembering Gil Reimer
GILBERT A. REIMER was born in Steinbach on March 31, 1938, to Benjamin L. and Elizabeth Reimer. After visiting his brother Cliff and Diana Reimer, missionaries in Panama under Gospel Missionary Union (now Avant), he applied to GMU to serve in Panama.
Spiritual Direction: The New Ancient Practice
Spiritual direction is a safe place to explore questions and concerns about life with God, including the practice of discernment regarding life’s decisions.
Car Seats, Gluten & Opinionated Bloggers
Never ha the law fallen so hard on me as in motherhood. Never was I more aware that my best wasn’t good enough. If parenting doesn’t drive you to your knees, you’re doing it wrong.
‘In Remembrance of, ME’
The bread and cup. The Lord’s Supper. Communion. It’s an invitation to pause and remember. As we hold the bread and cup in our hands, we remember your life, Jesus, coming to earth as a vulnerable baby who learned to feed himself, to walk, to talk, to cooperate with your parents out of obedience to your Heavenly Father.
Marketplace Ministry
Genesis 2:15 records work as it was meant to be—getting into the soil, dirt under the fingernails, and tending to the animals, all with satisfaction and joy. God, as part of his good and perfect plan for his creation, tasked Adam to “cultivate and tend” the Garden of Eden. Eve was given as a companion and partner in this calling. How glorious! But then comes Genesis 3—the fall—with its resultant “weeds and thistles” and “hard labour.” Work perfectly designed had become work pretty disfigured. Now it seems that creation itself militates against us in our calling to “tend.” And yet, the calling and blessing of work has not changed.
Conference Council: Delegates focus discussion on ‘Four White Pills’ for ministry
Conference Council delegates gathered on November 25, 2023, in a hybrid meeting. While 22 participated on Zoom from various locations across Canada, 92 met in person at Blumenort Community Church (BCC) in Blumenort, Man.
The Four White Pills — Discussion summary.
Discussion summary about “The Four White Pills” — Kid’s Ministry, Men’s Ministry, Biblical Integration, and Genuine Experience.
EMC Ministerial Discusses “WHO’S IN?”
“Who’s IN?” was the provocative title of the EMC Ministerial meeting held on November 24, 2023. The 79 ministerial members assembled at Pansy Chapel spent the day discussing four variations of that question.
Passing The Baton: How faith get passed to the next generation… or not.
I grew up in Winnipeg until I was sixteen years old. I begin with two brief stories of this formative period that are illustrative of the themes we will explore at the 2024 Leadership Conference to be held at Steinbach Bible College on March 15–16.
Cataclysms and Christmas Cheer
The salvation God provides in Jesus (whose name means Deliverer) is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, but it is not the final chapter of this great story nor is it the first. In Noah’s flood, much earlier in the biblical timeline, we see another powerful account of divine intervention to save.
When the future ain’t what it used to be
Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra once stated, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” When we are young, the world is before us, and the possibilities seem endless. Then, one day, we wake up on what seems to be a normal day, and we realize that most of life is now behind us and the future just ain’t what it used to be.
An unforgettable Christmas
The most unforgettable Christmas for me and my family was Christmas of 1972. Just two and a half months earlier, Hilda and I with our two young sons had made the 5,000-mile trip from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, to the fascinating Republic of Nicaragua, our new home and mission field. We had just settled into a unique house in Jinotepe and were trying hard to befriend our neighbours and learn to communicate in Spanish.