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Letters to the editor
Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to:
Letters, MB Herald
3-169 Riverton Ave.
Winnipeg, Man. R2L 2E5
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or by e-mail to mbherald@mbconf.ca. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.) |
Books need to be read
Myron Penner’s “The Magic of Harry Potter” gave an informed, balanced view of the popular children’s books. Jim Coggins’ “Another View” seemed to be simply filler. I would have had more respect for another view if that view had been researched at least half-heartedly, but Coggins has not even read the books. Instead, he based his article on what he has heard and read about the books. He cannot write properly about Rowling’s books until he has read and thought about them.
Stephen Kent,
Edmonton, Alta.
More issues that need to be addressed
I am a student at MB Biblical Seminary, and one of my classes required a term project on the topic of human sexuality. I decided to compile information on several issues that pertain to sexuality and our response to them as Christians. In your periodical, over the past seven years, I was able to find extensive coverage on abortion, adoption, HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, infertility and sexual abuse. I commend you for your extensive work on these issues that affect so many people, helping us to think from a biblical standpoint.
There were two areas that I did not find coverage on and am curious to know if you will be addressing them in the near future: 1. pornography (including the Internet) and 2. pastoral sexual boundaries and the temptations pastors face.
Cam Rowland,
Fresno, Calif.
We last addressed pornography in a major way in the Nov. 16, 1984 issue. We have addressed pastoral stress from several aspects (March 6/92, Feb. 9/96, May 30/97, June 13/97), we have addressed temptation in general (Dec. 18/98), but we have not specifically addressed the issue of pastoral sexual boundaries and temptations. Thank you for the suggestions. Ed.
Grace rather than judgement
The introductory statement of Dave Hubert’s letter (Dec. 1) misrepresents the message of John Redekop’s article (Sept. 22). John does not question Stockwell Day’s Christianity. It is not for us to take God’s place and judge the salvation of someone else. David was a “man after God’s own heart” and yet committed adultery with Bathsheba and sent Uriah to his death. Wouldn’t we have condemned him? We as grace-receivers are called to be grace-givers but are seen in our world as a condemning people. Let us live overflowing with grace to others as we have received so much of it from our Father.
Michael Froese,
Winnipeg, Man.
Thanks
I received a copy of the MB Herald in the mail. I don’t know who sent it to me, but thank you ever so much. It was so cool to get the “news” from home again, just like I used to at home. I flipped straight to the births section to read all the names and then read the rest cover to cover a couple of times.
Stephanie Fast,
Brake Bible School,
Germany
Each fall, the MB Herald asks local MB churches to send us the names and addresses of students who are studying away from home (in Canada or elsewhere). These students are then added to the mailing list for the duration of the school year. Ed.
Centre needed
I appreciated “Discipleship and mission training centre launched” (Nov. 17). There is a definite need for a training centre in missions as well as a retreat centre for mission leaders in need of refreshment, prayer and encouragement.
We are living in a post-Christian society with very little emphasis on evangelism. Many teach God’s love, but the gospel is not clearly taught. The Bible teaches repentance and salvation as a prerequisite to eternal life (John 3:3). Calling out, discipling and preparing a new generation of missionaries for the global harvest is needed and urgent. A place of rest and renewal for those working on the front lines of ministry will encourage many to “finish the course with joy” (Acts 20:24).
Lydia Dyck,
Steinbach, Man.
Christian charity needed
In a press release (Aug. 11), Jakob Funk characterizes Mennonites in Mexico, as follows: “Weak ethics result in widespread immorality and spiritual confusion.” Anyone with even a passing knowledge of these communities knows that these insinuations are simply incorrect.
For example, Funk states that “more than 100 Mennonite men and women are in prison for drug dealing. A member of the Kleine Gemeinde prison visitation program in Chihuahua stated he could count only three inmates of Mennonite background in prison in the state, only one of whom was a member of a Mennonite church.
In this way, one could deal with each of the incorrect statements Funk makes. Funk claims that his observations are based on “four ministry tours to Mexico during the past five years”. If so, Funk must have limited his experiences to the marginal 1% of his target population.
In a letter (Dec. 1), Alf Poetker, board chair of Family Life Network, defends the statements made in the earlier press release, stating my letter of response (Oct. 20) was incorrect, as Funk “was invited to Mexico by the Mexican church leadership”. Poetker’s defence itself is misleading. If Funk was invited, this invitation presumably came from the “Schpikja Konferenz”, which has been attempting to turn individuals away from the traditional, more Gospel-centric churches such as the Old Colony, Reinländer, Sommerfelder and Kleine Gemeinde. Their efforts over several decades (and $100,000, which could have been better used to feed starving Tara Humara Indians in the Copper Canyon) have resulted in the creation of three marginal groups with several hundred members in total.
Presumably, Funk is describing circumstances in the “Schpikja Konference”, but that is no excuse to malign the remaining 99% of the Mexican Mennonite community.
Neo-colonial missionary endeavours always find some individual or group to issue an invitation. It reflects negatively on Funk’s organization that they made these poor people pay to have someone travel all the way to Mexico; if the circumstances really are as bad as they claim, they could at least have paid for it themselves.
I am saddened that Poetker chose to defend the unfair characterization of the Mexican Mennonite community. I hoped that he would have apologized, retracted the press release and committed his organization to working together with all Christians in the Cuauthemoc area in a peaceful, respectful manner. If this were to happen, Poetker and his organization would learn much about genuine Christian charity and brotherly love.
Like all Christian communities, the Mennonite churches in Mexico have many problems and challenges. These are not helped by untruthful stereotyping.
Delbert Plett,
Steinbach, Man.
Previous | Next Last modified January 30, 2001.
© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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