|  | |
Previous | Next People & events
Habitat for Humanity Middle East and Mennonite Central Committee have signed an agreement to work together in Jordan to build affordable houses for low-income families, beginning this fall in Al Himmeh, a village overlooking the Golan Heights. The housing project builds on existing MCC involvement there. Since the early 1980s, MCC has provided grants and loans to people of Al Himmeh, as well as assisting with business initiatives. Recently, MCC helped plant 100,000 olive trees for local families. A revolving loan fund set up by MCC has allowed 34 families to build cement block houses to replace crumbling mud-wall structures. However, MCC funding has been limited, and only a few houses can be built at one time. The new partnership will provide more resources for this community, where most families live below the poverty line. The housing loans will be provided on a not-for-profit basis, with loan recipients paying 3% interest to compensate for inflation and allowing the fund to grow. The local partner committee implementing the Al Himmeh project will also raise funds from local sources to match those contributed by MCC and Habitat for Humanity Middle East. – Mennonite Central Committee
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has announced plans to move its international headquarters to Charlotte, N.C. from Minneapolis, Minn., where it has been operating for over 50 years. The new headquarters will be constructed on a 63-acre site north of the city. The move is expected to take three to five years to complete. Franklin Graham, CEO of the BGEA, at a press conference Nov. 19, said the 63 acres in Charlotte will cost the BGEA about $7.2 million US and the building to be constructed on it will cost roughly $15 million. “This move enables us to have all of our ministries and leadership located in North Carolina . . . with plenty of room for future growth and development,” he said, adding that the organization has been growing 15–20% each year. Franklin is also president of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization based in Boone, N.C. The BGEA employs 632 workers full-time, including 400 in its downtown location in Minneapolis, where space is limited and property costs are high. Many of the current employees will relocate to the Charlotte area. Billy Graham, 83, who was born in Charlotte and has lived all of his life in North Carolina, founded the BGEA in 1950. – Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Evangelical Press News Service
Wilma Derksen, director of the Victims’ Voice program for Mennonite Central Committee Canada, has received a Correctional Service of Canada award recognizing her work in restorative justice. The award, named after Ron Wiebe, former CSC warden of Ferndale and Elbow Lake institutions in British Columbia (see MBH, obituaries, Oct. 8, 1999), was presented in a ceremony Nov. 23 in Kingston, Ont. Derksen, who lives in Winnipeg, became an advocate for victims’ rights after her eldest daughter Candace, 13, disappeared in 1984, sparking one of the largest searches ever in that city for a missing child. The girl’s body was eventually found less than half a kilometre from her home. She had been tied up and left in a shed where she froze to death. Derksen and her husband Cliff struggled with the loss. The killer has never been found. Since then, Derksen has been dedicated to increasing public understanding of the experiences of crime victims and their families. She was recently appointed to the Law Commission of Canada’s Advisory Council, and is a founder and past president of Child Find Manitoba. The award recognizes Canadians who promote communication and healing between people in conflict, including victims and offenders. – Winnipeg Free Press
Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray announced on Oct. 29 that the federal government would pay 70% of the compensation for the abuse suffered by Native children in residential schools. However, representatives of the churches that ran the schools for the government are concerned that if they have to pay a significant portion of the remaining 30%, it could devastate them financially and bankrupt some of their organizations. With 9450 claimants seeking compensation, the eventual cost of the settlements could be close to $1 billion. In B.C., the Anglican Diocese of the Cariboo will be closing Dec. 31; and the Catholic Oblate Order has been seriously affected. Gray says the decision is the result of the failure to reach an agreement between Ottawa and the churches after more than four months of negotiations regarding the division of liabilities and the possibility of capping the amount the churches would have to pay. The government compensation covers only the physical and sexual abuse of those who settle out of court and not cultural abuse. – B.C. Christian News, Christianweek
Hurricane Iris struck southern Belize Oct. 8, leaving 13,000 people homeless and severely damaging banana crops. The Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church plans to rebuild 11 homes and repair 15 additional roofs in four hard-hit communities. Mennonite Central Committee will provide $46,000 to pay for materials as well as meals and some transportation for Belizean work teams doing the rebuilding. The Belize Evangelical Mennonite Churches include English- and Spanish-speaking churches, many of which are clustered around the northern city of Orange Walk. During a post-hurricane visit, church members found the most need in isolated indigenous villages and have donated a 48-foot trailer of food, clothing and other supplies for one village. They are now requesting additional health and school supplies from MCC. MCC is also providing emergency food aid through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for 140,000 farmers in Central America suffering through a drought – $180,000 for Honduras and $58,460 for Nicaragua. It is hoped that rains from Hurricane Michelle that hit the area in early November will result in a good harvest this April. – Mennonite Central Committee
Mennonite Central Committee recently cut back on several international programs because of a funding shortfall, and more reductions may follow if current giving trends continue. The combination of major disasters, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan have put stress on MCC funding. The current economic downturn has also resulted in a shortfall of donations in the US, and the same may happen in Canada. MCC Canada has seen no decrease in donations by late November. In response to the Afghanistan war and refugee crisis, MCC is contributing over $4.49 million toward food aid and relief supplies, with the majority coming from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The call for blankets has nearly depleted MCC’s stock of comforters. MCC contributed over $1.4 million in relief and reconstruction aid following earthquakes in India and El Salvador and over $540,000 for flood relief in Mozambique. MCC and its church partners in Africa are responding to the AIDS crisis in that continent with a multimillion dollar program to provide counselling, medical supplies and orphan care. – MCC
Mennonite Disaster Service has signed a cooperative agreement outlining the intent of several non-government agencies to work together in Canadian disaster response. Guidelines for Cooperation was signed Nov. 15 in Ottawa by representatives of MDS, St. John’s Ambulance, the Canadian Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, and the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee of Canada. Representing MDS was Region V director Gord Friesen. The agreement encourages local offices of the organizations to work together when disasters occur. MDS is a binational organization that provides volunteer labour in response to needs of disaster survivors in Canada and the US. – Mennonite Disaster Service
Joanna Mulvihill of St. John’s Ambulance watches as MDS Region V director Gord Friesen signs the Guidelines for Cooperation at the St. John’s Ambulance headquarters in Ottawa.
MCC news photo by Nathan Koslowsky |
“Evangelism and the Peace Witness of the Church” is an open conference sponsored by Mennonite World Conference and Baptist World Alliance to be held Jan. 7–9, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pa. It is open to peace workers, church and mission leaders and all other interested persons. It builds on conversations begun in 1989 seeking new areas of agreement and cooperation by exploring the theology, history and faith of these two groups. Key papers will define who the Baptists and the Mennonites are at the beginning of the 21st century, the Mennonite focus on peace witness, and the Baptist focus on mission and evangelism. Other topics include each denomination’s historical and contemporary attitude toward the other faith group’s focus, and the relationship between evangelism and peace witness. Mennonite presenters include Larry Miller, MWC executive secretary; Nancy Heisey, MWC president-elect; Judy Zimmerman Herr, MWC Peace Council associate secretary; John A. Lapp, coordinator of the Global Mennonite History project; John Rempel, MCC United Nations liaison; Stanley Green, executive director of Mennonite Mission Network; Myron Augsburger, Eastern Mennonite University president emeritus; and Donald Kraybill, Messiah College professor. – Mennonite World Conference
Previous | Next
Last modified January 9, 2002.
© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.
|
