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In the book Today’s Martyrs, statistician David Barrett estimates that about 165,000 Christians will die for their faith in 2001. Barrett also says that over 43 million Christians have been martyred since the crucifixion of Jesus 2000 years ago. Today’s Martyrs is published by Idea News Agency and the German publishing house Schulte and Gerth. – Evangelical Press News Service
After a year of delays, 11,000 Mennonite Central Committee relief buckets are now being distributed in Venezuela. The buckets, filled with non-perishable items such as soap, towels and toothbrushes, were assembled for Venezuelans affected by December 1999 mudslides. The shipments arrived in Venezuela by May 2000. However, because mudslides had damaged Venezuela’s major port, ships were diverted to a smaller port that was inadequate to handle the traffic. Hundreds of shipping containers, including MCC’s, piled up. Port authorities and custom agents had little experience dealing with imported relief materials, as Venezuela had not had a major disaster in 20 years. As well, delays occurred as the local government went through seven elections over the past two years. Due to the slow process, the containers had to be moved from the wharf to warehouses, which then began charging storage fees. The Venezuelan government eventually confiscated MCC’s six shipping containers and 400 others, declaring them “abandoned”. Officials finally turned the containers over to MCC’s partner organization, the Evangelical Council of Venezuela, on May 24, 2001. The buckets were unloaded the same day. Anabaptist churches, Evangelical Council of Venezuela and Action by Churches Together are distributing the buckets. In addition to the relief buckets, MCC had contributed funds to Venezuelan churches for purchasing local supplies. Local church members assembled 600 relief kit buckets, which were distributed earlier. – Mennonite Central Committee
Rebuilding projects in El Salvador sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee are progressing rapidly thanks to community cooperation and constituency support. Two major earthquakes rocked the country, on Jan. 13 and on Feb. 13. MCC initially committed $615,400 to the earthquake response, most of which was to go to building 200–300 homes. By the end of April 2001, MCC had received $1,125,013 for El Salvador earthquake-related projects. MCC now plans to build over 400 homes and continues to explore options for future projects. MCC is building houses through four partner agencies, including Baptist Mission Church in La Linea, a squatter community on the outskirts of San Martin. Work and Learn teams from North America helped in building the first 12 houses in La Linea in May. The houses are built of earthquake-resistant concrete and steel in a design that may be copied in other projects. Teams from Belize, Guatemala and Mexico are also working on the projects. One Work and Learn team will be organized from Altona, Man., where a “Build a Village” campaign organized by Ray Loewen has earned $240,000, enough money to build 80 homes. Salvadoran families receiving houses assist with construction and in some cases assume a small portion of the costs. MCC also organized a trip for some Salvadorans to Honduras so that they could learn about rebuilding projects there following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. In addition, 6,200 MCC relief buckets, along with MCC canned pork, are being distributed in communities where MCC partners work. MCC may also contribute $400,000 through Canadian Foodgrains Bank for a $1.18 million work project initiated by Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. Spiritual and emotional needs of local communities are being addressed by Salvadoran partner agencies. – MCC
Ninety Hispanic Mennonite and Brethren in Christ pastors, leaders and workers attended a conference on domestic abuse held at Mennonite Central Committee’s headquarters in Akron, Pa., May 18–20. Sponsored by MCC US Women’s Concerns, the conference was held in Spanish. Participants, about equal numbers of men and women, came from 12 states, Puerto Rico and two Canadian provinces, and represented homelands throughout South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Keynote speaker Carolyn Holderread Heggen, a psychologist and therapist from Corvallis, Ore., noted that misinterpreted biblical teachings have been used to perpetuate the notion among men and women that domestic violence is acceptable, Christian behaviour. She said that Christians should look to Jesus as the model for the treatment of women, children and other marginalized people. Heggen is the author of Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes and Churches, a book that is now being translated into Spanish. – MCC
Menno Simons College in Winnipeg held its eighth convocation service June 2 at the University of Winnipeg; this year’s 51 graduates are the largest graduating class to date. President George Richert, who retired this June, spoke on the growth of the College since 1992 when he joined the faculty. Now part of Canadian Mennonite University, Menno Simons College had 683 students taking courses in conflict resolution studies and international development studies during the past academic year. During the ceremony, Dean Peachey was installed as the new president of the College. – Canadian Mennonite University
Paul Chamberlain will begin serving as director of the Institute for Christian Apologetics, a new program offered by Trinity Western University (ACTS seminaries division) in Langley, B.C., on July 1. Designed for counsellors, youth workers, pastors and those seeking to become skilled communicators of their faith, the two-year master’s program will begin in fall. The institute will offer day courses as well as one-week and weekend courses. Graduates of the program will earn a Master of Arts in Christian Studies degree in contemporary apologetics. Chamberlain is a well-respected lecturer who has appeared on radio and TV programs across North America. He has publicly debated professors and professionals, including Canadian MP Svend Robinson and Faye Girsh, president of the Hemlock Society USA, the largest right-to-die organization in the US. Chamberlain, formerly a professor at TWU and most recently Canadian executive director of Ravi Zacharias Ministries International, is the author of Can We Be Good Without God (InterVarsity Press, 1996) and Final Wishes: A Cautionary Tale About Death, Dignity, and Physician-Assisted Suicide (InterVarsity Press, 2000). – Trinity Western University
Youth at Wahgoshig First Nation in northeastern Ontario are making their own photo storybook, thanks to an idea from Waterloo-based photographer Carl Hiebert. Sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, Wahgoshig First Nation, the Ontario Arts Council and Hiebert, the group will be responsible for taking the photos, writing the captions, choosing the best ones and putting them together to form the book. Hiebert, who learned about the idea in Kenya last year, said he feels it is important that the group be allowed to tell their own stories. Hiebert passed the idea on to MCC, and he was invited to work with MCC Saskatchewan on a smaller photo project with youth at the Indian Metis Friendship Centre in North Battleford last fall. Selected photos were shown at the Chapel Gallery in North Battleford in January. For the past seven years, MCC Ontario has worked in the moderately isolated community of about 140 people, near Timmins. Hiebert visited the community in March to teach technical and artistic techniques. About 30 participants between ages six and 16, as well as some adults, shot multiple rolls of film. Hiebert donated the cameras. The Ontario Arts Council provided a $10,000 grant. The 50-page book will be published by fall. A selection of the photos is available at www.mcc.org/gallery. – MCC Canada
A 10-person Mennonite delegation from Quebec and Democratic Republic of Congo visited France and Switzerland Apr. 1–11 to develop an international francophone network under the auspices of Mennonite World Conference. Robert Dagenais and his wife Rita Fréchette-Dagenais were two of the three delegates from Quebec. Dagenais is pastor of the Mennonite Brethren church in Ste-Therese. Fréchette-Dagenais is a member of Femmes en Action (Women in Action) MCC Quebec. The group visited Mennonite church offices, institutions and local congregations in Switzerland and France, including the MWC office in Strasbourg. French-speaking members make up 17% (about 200,000 members) of the global Anabaptist membership of 1.2 million. The largest number of francophone Mennonites are in Congo (185,000); there are smaller numbers in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo and other French-speaking African countries. French-speaking Anabaptists, with assistance from MWC and Mennonite Central Committee offices in Europe and Congo, have been working at building the francophone network since 1997. The April visit to Europe by the Quebec-Congo delegation helped move this dialogue ahead. The immediate goals of the francophone Mennonite network are to organize a francophone Mennonite gathering in August 2003 prior to the 14th MWC Assembly; to create a list of teachers who could work with the various Mennonite institutions in Europe, Canada and Congo; to create Web pages on the MWC Web site which will help members find French-language teaching resources; and to promote the delegation’s visit through articles, reports and speaking in local churches. – Mennonite World Conference
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Last modified August 22, 2001.
© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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