Due to negative stigma, many Christians distance themselves from the title “fundamentalist,” and I cannot blame them given the current cultural perception. Yet are we right to so readily abandon this designation? While I may have distanced myself from adopting this title given the modern-day interpretation and definition, I am also wary of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.

The past number of years have seen significant staff changes in the EMC office. One of the consistent staff members for the past 19 years was Erica Fehr. Erica retired at the end of November. Also announcing his resignation is Peter Doerksen. Peter has filled the role of western ambassador for the last few years.

Readers respond to the Sept/Oct 2025 issue, and to the ‘appeal’ series in The Messenger.

♪When resolutions and goals can feel rigid and restrictive, with a pass or fail element to them, there’s a pull toward the freedom to be found in a one-word theme to guide the coming year. While I haven’t chosen a word for the year, “abide” recurs as a theme for this issue.

“As a believer, and an image bearer of God,” Nita says, “my goal in my imaginings is that the life-giving nature, the truth and beauty of God would be made manifest in my work.” Nita’s imagination expresses itself through stained glass.

In an era of loneliness and isolation, one of the gifts we can give is to listen well to others, asking follow-up questions and giving them even more opportunity to be heard.

I am rarely guided by God in decisions the way others report being directed. God never told me to become a pastor, marry my spouse, or go to school. God certainly never told me to live in Winnipeg. God is rarely my spiritual GPS.

♪ “God is omnipotent. All-powerful, mighty and strong. Unstoppable all the day long.” I listened on repeat during the 20-minute drive, the truth forming a firm foundation for me to place my disordered thoughts. The day was hard, but God’s competent control and care over all things was firmly secure.

The Steinbach Bible College (SBC) board asked the faculty to review our college’s 1966 Statement of Faith and rewrite the wording based on what our four supporting conferences saw as the core of our testimony together.

On the evening of the 50th anniversary celebration of Radio ZP-30, La Voz del Chaco Paraguayo, in Filadelfia, Paraguay, an older lady, a regular listener, travelled from near the Argentine border, to present the station’s director Egon Doerksen with a personal gift of honey.

On Sunday, September 28, it was a pleasure to have a group from Adult & Teen Challenge come to serve us. We enjoyed testimonies from a few of them. It was so wonderful to hear about the way their lives have been changed, and they gave reports about how their lives have been saved.

It has been over six months since the Kola EMC church sent a team of 14 participants to Guadalajara, Mexico, to serve with Israel and Sandra Chavez Plett. What was intended to be a youth trip turned into a multi-generational service team age 12 to 50-plus.