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La Linea, a poor community scattered along a rail line in El Salvador, is benefiting from a number of community projects initiated and funded by Mennonite Central Committee. La Linea gets few services from the municipality of San Martin because most residents there are considered to be squatters on the railroad company’s land. Driven off their own land during the country’s 12-year civil war, Salvadorians drifted into La Linea after the peace accords were signed in 1992. The projects – organized and carried out by the residents themselves – included building retaining walls, creating a drainage system, laying stone to reinforce dirt roads and refurbishing a community building that is used by community and church groups and serves as a medical clinic. Except for a small sum paid to a Baptist church leader who served as treasurer, all of the workers were unpaid volunteers. Such cooperation is a breakthrough in a community often divided into rural church groups and warring gangs. – Mennonite Central Committee
Four Ukrainian scholars received scholarships in September to assist their research into the history of Mennonites in Czarist Russia and the Soviet Union. Ury Beresten, a graduate student at Dnepropetrovsk State University, Marina Romanyuk, a graduate student at Zaporozhye State University, and Nicholas Krylov, a professor at the Pedagogical University of Melitopol were the first three winners of the Mennonite Studies Grants for Research and Publication in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Natasha Ostasheva, a professor at Dnepropetrovsk State University, was awarded the initial George K. Epp Doctoral Research Grant. The grant program is a joint venture of Mennonite Central Committee and various Mennonite agencies and research centres in North America, including the Center for MB Studies in Fresno, Calif. A group of North American Mennonite historians, under the leadership of Peter Klassen, a professor at California State University, assessed the research proposals of Russian and Ukrainian applicants. – Center For MB Studies – Fresno
Human Life International has compiled over 2,000 cases of pro-abortion violence in Canada, the US and Puerto Rico in which people have been attacked with guns, cars, acid, hypodermic syringes and baseball bats. The report includes 55 murders committed by those supporting abortion. For instance, pro-abortion activist Eileen Orstein Janezic murdered pro-life minister and radio talk show host Jerry Simon in Alabama in 1993; abortionist Alicia Ruiz Hanna was convicted in 1994 of killing client Angela Sanchez and stuffing her body into a car trunk; and Alfred E. Smith was convicted in 1998 of killing his girlfriend Deena Moody because she refused to abort their child. The report finds that “pro-abortion violence” exceeds “pro-life violence” 314 to 6. In cases involving murder, manslaughter, infanticide, attempted murder, kidnapping, torture and rape, the ratio is 121 to 25; and in cases involving assault, sex crimes, reckless endangerment and violation of civil rights, the ratio is 651 to 112. The full report is available on Human Life International’s Web site at www.hli.org/issues/violence/clowesViolence.html. – Voice For Life
The divorce rate in the US more than doubled between the 1960s and the late 1970s, but has been declining for the past 20 years. The chance of divorce is highest during the third year of marriage at just over 8%, and declines rapidly thereafter. Around the world, the divorce rate varies. Russia has the highest rate with 65% of marriages ending in divorce, while Italy’s rate is the lowest at 12%. The rate in Sweden is 64%, Finland 56%, Britain 53%, the US 49%, Canada 45%, France and Germany 41%, Israel 26%, Greece 18%, and Spain 17%. In the US, the average duration of first marriages ending in divorce is eight years; the duration of second marriages is six years. The average total household wealth of married couples aged 51-61 is $132,200 US, while the total for divorced couples per household of the same age group is $33,700, and the total for widowed people is $42,300. A recent Time/CNN poll of 1,278 adult Americans found that 33% agreed that for the children’s sake, parents should stay together even if their marriage isn’t working, while 62% disagreed. In 1981 21% agreed that married couples should stay together for the sake of the children, and 71% disagreed. – Time
The 1998 average income of Canadian families from earnings, investments and private pensions was $55,224, up from $54,508 in 1989, according to Statistics Canada. Its annual report divided the number of Canadian families and unattached individuals who receive income into five equal groups, each representing 20% of the total number of families. Among the 8.3 million Canadian families, the top fifth increased its average income by 9%, from $114,178 to $124,681 (in constant 1998 dollars) – increasing its portion of total income from 41.9% to 43.2%. Upper-middle income families increased by 1% from $67,790 to $68,505. Middle income families dropped 4%, from $48,776 to $46,835. Lower-middle income families dropped 13%, from $31,427 to $27,486. The biggest drop was in the fifth group, whose average income dropped 17%, from $10,388 to $8,627; its portion of total family income fell from 3.8% in 1989 to 3.1% in 1998. – Maclean’s
Kathleen Anzenavs of Vancouver is the recipient of the 2000 Canadian-Japanese Mennonite Scholarship. She received $1,500 to help complete her M.A. in anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Her thesis is on the Vancouver Japanese Language School, examining the reclamation of ethnicity and ethnic history among second and third-generation Japanese-Canadians in the Vancouver area and the role the language school played in this process. The Canadian-Japanese Mennonite Scholarship was created in 1985 by Mennonite Central Committee Canada as a tangible expression of regret for injustices suffered by Japanese-Canadians during World War II. It is administered by MCC and the National Association of Japanese Canadians, and supports research which will help protect minority rights. – MCC Canada
In response to mounting violence in Palestine, Mennonite Central Committee in October decided to provide $54,000 for the purchase of surgical equipment, medicines and medical supplies for the area. This is in addition to $30,000 of emergency medical relief assistance that already had been distributed through MCC partner organizations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the first month of unrest in the region, about 130 people were killed, most of them Palestinians, and thousands injured. MCC workers James and LeAnn Friesen left Gaza after Israeli helicopters fired on the city Oct. 13, but returned a few days later. A Palestinian Christian told the Friesens that it means a lot that they have remained in Gaza when so many foreigners have left. Ed Nyce, an MCC peace development worker, has continued to stay in Bethlehem throughout the clashes. MCC is committed to supporting sustainable development for Palestinians and to encouraging a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis. – MCC
Fifteen per cent of those recently polled in the US approve of marriages between two males – up from 10% in 1996 – and 16% approve of marriages between two females – up from 11% in 1996. The poll of 1,010 adults found that 57% disapprove of gay marriages, down from 64% in 1996, while 55% disapprove of lesbian marriages, down from 63% in 1996. Roughly 25% don’t have strong opinions on the issue, unchanged from 1996; 2-4% refused to comment in 1996 and 2000. – Christianity Today
SEMILLA, the Latin American Anabaptist seminary, dedicated a new campus Oct. 15. Over 350 students, pastors, teachers and lay leaders were present from Mennonite churches in Central and North America. Amzie Yoder, former president of SEMILLA, gave the dedication address, followed by a commencement service for 10 graduating students. James Sauder, SEMILLA’s founder, gave the commencement address. SEMILLA was founded in 1982 to train pastors and church leaders using a distance education model. Previously, the seminary library and offices were located in a different building from classrooms and guest quarters. The new building combines these in a larger facility, including a courtyard and cafeteria. Mennonite Central Committee made a major contribution to the building project. – MCC
Mennonite Savings and Credit Union (MSCU) donated nearly $19,000 to 74 Ontario churches and church-related organizations, including Mennonite Central Committee, this fall. These donations come from MSCU’s “Church Builder” term deposits. For each dollar invested in these term deposits, MSCU pledges an additional 0.5% annual return to the church or church-related organization of the investor’s choice. In the last three years, Church Builder deposit investments have resulted in donations of nearly $54,000. MSCU serves members of Mennonite, Amish, and Brethren in Christ churches in Ontario. – Mennonite Savings and Credit Union
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Last modified December 11, 2000.
© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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