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Long-time Canadian Mennonite University supporter Margaret Fast (l) presents gifts of appreciation to Walter Bergen, Mel Reimer and Eleanor Chornoboy for their storytelling roles in the “Power of One” evening held in Winnipeg on Oct. 20. The event, put on by CMU, featured the stories of Manitoba Mennonites Johann H. Enns, Johann Wiebe and Anna Thiessen. The event raised over $72,000 towards the construction of CMU’s new student life wing.
Photo by Conrad Stoesz |
A large crowd gathered at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Man. on Sunday, Oct. 21 to witness the official opening of the new windmill. The previous mill, built in 1972, was destroyed by fire on Oct. 22, 2000. After the opening, everyone was invited for Faspa (afternoon meal), which included bread made with flour ground at the new windmill.
Murrayville Community Church in Langley, B.C. moved to a larger facility, H.D. Stafford Secondary School, on Sept. 16. The congregation has enjoyed a sustained period of growth for the past several years. The new location allows for growth, the ability to meet together for one worship service and an opportunity to impact a new community with the message of Jesus.
Shirley Hiebert of Steinbach, Man. is this year’s recipient of the Canadian Japanese Mennonite Scholarship, worth $1500. Hiebert is working on a doctoral dissertation which focuses on pregnant First Nations women in the remote community of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, near Nelson House in northern Manitoba. A 30-year-old federal government policy states that women in isolated communities must travel to a local urban centre in order to give birth. Hiebert hopes her research will enable First Nations women to have a choice, including midwifery, as to how they would like to give birth. She says this policy creates hardship by forcing the expectant mothers to leave their families for several weeks. The Canadian Japanese Mennonite Scholarship was created in 1985 by Mennonite Central Committee Canada as an expression of regret for injustices suffered by Japanese–Canadians during World War II. Jointly sponsored by MCC and the National Association of Japanese Canadians, it is intended to assist research which will help protect minority and human rights in Canada. – Menonite Central Committee Canada
57.4% of Canadians believe in life after death and 32.3% do not, according to a Leger Marketing poll of 1504 Canadians taken Sept. 18–23. The remaining respondents did not know or refused to answer. In answers to other questions, 6.3% said they had seen a ghost, 5.8% an angel and 4.4% a witch; 57.1% (68% of women and 45.6% of men) believe in angels, 31.5% in aliens and 30.2% in ghosts. It is believed that the events of Sept. 11 may have influenced the outlook of some respondents. – Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Ottawa Citizen
Eight foreign aid workers held captive in Afghanistan were freed during an anti-Taliban uprising and airlifted to safety Nov. 15 by US military helicopters. The two American, two Australian and four German workers of the German-based Shelter Now International appeared to be in good condition. They were to be tried for promoting Christianity among Muslims. Also, 16 Afghan workers detained along with the foreigners were freed. Taliban Supreme Court judges had indefinitely postponed the aid workers’ trial since they were charged Aug. 3, saying they feared their anger over US air strikes could hamper their ability to make a fair ruling. – National Post
“Imagine Tomorrow” is the name of a $10 million fundraising campaign for a new campus for Steinbach (Man.) Bible College and Steinbach Christian High School launched on Sept. 23. Funds for the new campus will come from the sale of the current campus and from donations. Steinbach Bible College is supported by three denominations, Evangelical Mennonite Conference, Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference and Chortitzer Mennonite Conference. – The Messenger
MCC News photo by Nancy Troyer |
A quilt named “New York City at Night” was auctioned off at the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale on Sept. 22, raising $12,000 US for Mennonite Central Committee. The buyer, Shipshewana Auctions, then donated the quilted wall hanging to New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Shipshewana paid $9000 for the quilt, and a group of other bidders who had had the original idea to send the quilt to Guiliani decided to contribute $3000 even though their bid had been unsuccessful. The quilt was created by a woman in Goshen, Ind. – MCC
The Vatican says new DNA tests reinforce traditional claims that a skeleton buried in a lead coffin in Padua, Italy is that of Luke, a disciple of Jesus. The DNA tests revealed that the skeleton is that of a man of Mediterranean descent, most likely from Antioch, the region where tradition says Luke was born. Radiocarbon dating of the skeleton shows that the man died sometime during the first through fifth centuries. The lead coffin containing the skeleton has been in Padua since the 12th century and was last displayed in 1562. Scientific study into the claims that the skeleton was that of Luke began in 1998. – Evangelical Press News Service
Mark Bailey was inaugurated as president of Dallas Theological Seminary Oct 19. He succeeds Chuck Swindoll, who has assumed the position of chancellor. It is only the fourth time in its 77-year existence that the world’s second largest interdenominational seminary has changed leaders. – EPNS
North America will be the focus of the Mennonite World Conference’s World Fellowship Sunday on Jan. 27, 2002. The theme will be “Walking in unity in the light of God”. Materials for this day of prayer and worship will be circulated to Anabaptist churches worldwide. The materials will include scriptural texts, songs, stories, a call to worship, prayers of intercession, litanies, sermon ideas, a benediction and a drawing of a candle, which can be used on a bulletin cover. The focus of World Fellowship Sunday rotates from continent to continent each year. In 2001, Anabaptist churches in Asia were featured with the theme “Unity in diversity”. – Mennonite World Conference
Leaders of the Evangelical Christian Baptist Church of Ukraine have set an optimistic goal to have 1200 churches in Crimea, one for every town. Until three years ago, Ukraine had only 43 churches, but over the past three years 70 house churches have been started in Crimea. The Crimean peninsula has a population of 2.4 million. – World Pulse
24% of China’s 1160 ordained clergy are women. Over half of current Bible school and seminary students and a third of the teachers are women. – WP
The Cycling Connection of Abbotsford, B.C. coordinated three cyclathons in 2001 that raised $37,000 for 21 Christian not-for-profit agencies. All funds raised by the cyclists go directly to the agencies they choose. Plans are being made to hold five cyclathons in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in 2002. – The Cycling Connection
At a congress of evangelical churches in the Philippines Sept. 18–21, church leaders set a goal to plant 20,000 new viable churches by the end of 2005 and 30,000 more by the end of 2010 thus doubling the current total of 50,000. They also set a goal that 13% of Filipinos would identify themselves as evangelical by 2005 and 20% by the end of 2010. In 1975, there were only 5000 evangelical churches in the Philippines; church leaders at that time set a goal to plant 45,000 in 25 years. That goal was met. – Church Planting Canada
In the fall 2001 issue of Health Ethics Today, Dick Sobsey, director of JP Das Developmental Disabilities Centre at the University of Alberta, asserts that an increase in the number of children killed by their parents since 1994 can be linked to publicity surrounding Tracy Latimer’s death in 1993. Her father Robert was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his 12-year-old, disabled daughter, but many people have defended Latimer, saying the killing was justified. Sobsey suggests that starting in 1994, the year of Latimer’s first trial, about 20 more children were killed each year by their parents. Figures from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics suggest that between 1994 and 1998, the number of children under 12 murdered by their parents increased by 45% to represent 7.1% of all homicides. Comparatively, from 1974 to 1983, the average was only 4.9% of all homicides, and the percentage had declined between 1983 and 1993. Slightly different Royal Canadian Mounted Police figures indicate an average of 31.75 children were killed by their parents each year between 1990 and 1993, but from 1994 to 1998 the average number jumped to 49, a 54.3% increase, while the overall homicide rate fell 14.5%. Sobsey says the highest number of such murders occurred in 1997, which was also the year in which the largest number of articles supporting Latimer were published. By comparison, in the US, where the Latimer case received little publicity, the homicide rate for parents killing their children, as well as the overall homicide rate, fell steadily during the 1990s. – National Report
Nationalism has been growing in Japan since the death of wartime Emperor Hirohito and the enthronement of Emperor Akihito in 1990, reports the World Evangelical Fellowship. In 1999, Japanese lawmakers passed a bill that recognizes the Kimigayo anthem honouring the emperor’s rule and the Hinomaru flag honouring the sun goddess and emperor of the sun. Local governments have tightened demands for teachers and students to participate in flag and anthem ceremonies. Teachers who refuse to cooperate have suffered pay cuts, been transferred to remote locations or fired. The lines between the state and the Shinto religion have been blurred. Only 0.8% of the Japanese population is Christian. – WP
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Last modified November 30, 2001.
© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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