I was first introduced to the sonnets of John Milton in college. One in particular, no. 19, “On His Blindness,” has stuck with me. In it, Milton reflects on the question of his value to God as a writer now that he is going blind. He ends by observing that a king with thousands of servants rushing about doing his bidding is equally served by others who stand by, waiting.

When historians tell of our ancestors’ arrival from Russia, they also never fail to mention two other creatures: ravenous crop-destroying grasshoppers, and hordes of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. These insects added insult to injury during years of drought, poor crops, and other struggles. It seems that life for our newly-Canadian forebears could be a hungry, itchy one. Being a people of the land was not always an easy task.

It was probably the most pickles I had seen in my life. Whole dishes, in fact, were dedicated to containing vast quantities of the canned cucumbers. This was one of my first experiences with an Anabaptist congregation outside of the Sunday morning service: a funeral for a beloved member of the church.

During the early hours of December 20, 2025, a fire was reported at the sanctuary of Island Gospel Fellowship (IGF), Burns Lake, B.C. By the time volunteers from the Fire and Rescue team arrived, the church sanctuary was completely engulfed in flames.

♪What does Sabbath look like for you? I need to confess that I have not modelled Sabbath well to the next generation. Growing up, Sabbath meant not doing work—no yard work, no cleaning, no changing the oil.

Have you heard this preacher tic? “I know we’ve all heard this story many times before but let me tell you about David and Goliath....” Why do we preachers say this so often?

My (nonexistent) artistic career came to a definitive end at Bible camp. Each summer, my friends and I would carefully select the skills we wanted to participate in during our fun-filled week. The craft option was always the most desirable choice, in our juvenile estimation.

On November 22, 2025, EMC delegates, staff and guests gathered at the Kleefeld EMC for the fall Conference Council meeting. A big thank you to pastor Greg Klassen and his team for hosting the meetings this year. There was a lot of fellowshipping around good food and the atmosphere was welcoming.

On Friday, November 21, Kleefeld, Manitoba, was filled with a spirit of faith as one hundred pastors, ministers, and ministry volunteers gathered for the annual in-person Ministerial Day. The staff and volunteers from Kleefeld EMC worked diligently to make this year’s gathering memorable.

♪It was the last day of my children’s first week of school. Every morning, I walk with them to school and cry on the way back because I’ve discovered that crying warms your eyes, and you need all the warmth you can get when you’re walking in minus-forty degrees. That morning, I dropped the children off as usual and began the walk home. The tears came again, but this time they were not for warmth.

We continue to be blessed here at Prairie Rose. We have many long-time members and attendees in our congregation, and this contributes to a close, family atmosphere. We have welcomed a few new families and individuals into our midst in the last year or two which is encouraging.

We can behold the beauty of the mosaic that the Creator has crafted: people from Syria with their hijabs and accents rooted in their mother tongue (Kurdish), talking with people from Ukraine, searching in English for a common point to understand each other. At another table, we see someone from Kenya laughing during a chat with some Canadians and Brazilians.