|  | |
Previous | Next
 |
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
|
or by e-mail to mbherald@mbconf.ca. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.) |
Ministry option
The Feb. 8 issue gave good insight on youth culture and the challenges that face church youth groups.
My husband and I are volunteer youth sponsors at Newton Community Fellowship church. We are “50-plus empty-nesters” who spend every Friday night with a great bunch of kids who enrich our lives in many ways. I challenge other “older folks” who are young at heart to open their lives, homes, fridges, wallets and hearts to the youth in their church and community. The rewards are fantastic, lasting and eternal.
We enjoyed NYC’O2 in Calgary with our youth group, who made significant decisions in their Christian lives while attending the conference. The 16-hour bus ride was worth it!
Ed and Vi Siemens,
Newton, Man.
Web site used
I am the staff person for MCC B.C.’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse program. I want to thank the MB Herald for printing a brief blurb about our educational web site some time after we launched the site in May. After the notice appeared in your publication, we received several calls and e-mails from pastors and individuals (locally and from other provinces) to whom we were able to provide assistance. Many expressed gratitude and relief that this resource is available. People are very encouraged when the church is proactive and helpful around these issues rather than silent, which can communicate that we are pretending the issues are not there.
Elsie Wiebe,
Abbotsford, B.C.
Today’s “Lord’s Supper”
I am finding the articles “What we believe” both definitive of my beliefs and a focal point for discussion. Upon reading “Article 9 – The Lord’s Supper” (Feb. 8), I felt rather inspired. What would our Lord do if He chose to walk this earth a second time in the same body as 2000 years ago? How would He institute a “Lord’s Supper” fellowship meal that would be current? Pretzels (no leaven) might be substituted for the bread, and the wine might be replaced with diet cola. This “meal” could replace the regular coffee, decaf, juice, tea, fruit platz and cakes in our care groups. It is a form of fellowship meal that our young people have already institutionalized.
Hildegard Thiessen,
Abbotsford, B.C.
Scripture basis would be better
I read with interest and some concern Jim Coggins’s excellent, detailed report on the Spiritual Warfare Study Conference (published Jan. 25). No doubt, the participants at that conference had remarkable experiences to share and significant contributions to make. The draft document of the Findings Committee is well summarized. I can easily agree with it.
But I missed an extensive, detailed study of the biblical accounts, reports and teaching on this matter. That would have been a more solid and direction-giving start than convictions based on observation and experiences, in spite of the value they have. Contrary to the opinion of one or more of the speakers at the conference, the Bible says a lot about demonic powers and activities. Besides reports and teaching about spiritual warfare in the Old Testament and the letters of the New Testament (especially Ephesians 6:10-18), we have accounts of the destructive effects of demonic powers in the Gospels and book of Acts – 23 references (12 of them parallel ones) in the Gospels and five in Acts. They give a lot of light, understanding and orientation in the whole matter.
I hope that the Board of Faith and Life, when dealing with this matter, will start with the biblical teaching. Let’s pray for them when they take up this task.
Peter Huebert,
Abbotsford, B.C.
Real courage
Re “It’s more than the absence of fear” (Jan. 11): I can see Dave Jackson understands and would likely agree with what I believe to be the real meaning of courage (in Patsy Clairmont’s Sportin’ a ’tude): “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”
Cecile Corbiere,
Kincaid, Sask
Dying as a believer
As I glanced at the Jan. 11 cover, the title “Dying with dignity” hit me like a ton of bricks. Since I had recently lost my husband Henry, I felt repulsed at the word, and yet I knew I would take courage and read the articles and poems. The poem that touched me most was “Cancer, be not proud”.
The oncologists had no treatment to suggest for my husband’s type of cancer. He was diagnosed nine months before the Lord took him home. For those months, he literally faced death each day. Mercifully, he did not suffer severe pain and was able to remain quite active, playing golf, serving as a driver for cancer patients, attending care group meetings, etc. Since both of us had followed the Lord for many years as we had been taught, and as a result of our prayers and those of many family members and friends, my husband showed us how to die as a believer. Although always hoping and praying for that miracle, he became anxious to use his remaining time to serve the God he loved. He felt he needed to publicly share his faith with his golfing buddies and arranged a complimentary luncheon at the club house, announcing it as a “Celebration of Life”. Twelve friends listened as he shared his belief in God. As the cancer began to spread more rapidly, he freely spoke of his deteriorating condition, describing it as a plane preparing to land.
A quote from a well-known author sometimes came to my mind as I reflected on year 2001: “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times” as we shared deeply on every level. Some quotes that were frequently in his prayers: “While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by” and “Behold the bondslave of the Lord. Be it done to me according to Your Word.” He also expressed that he didn’t want to become cynical, and his prayer included, “As You heal my spirit, You can heal my body, but if I must choose, then heal my spirit.”
My tears still flow freely, and I miss him terribly, but he finished his course. I often reminded him that God could hardly wait to welcome him with “Well done, thou faithful servant. Enter. . . . ”
I am sorrowing, yet rejoicing.
Hedy Funk,
Abbotsford, B.C.
Another side of the picture
I respond to Melanie Simmons’s “Seeing with different eyes” (Jan. 25). It pains me to see one of the lands that I love so much being portrayed in such an unfavourable light. I grew up in Afghanistan and India and have visited Pakistan several times. I lived in Asia for 14 years. I learned much about hope and the celebration of life from the people in those countries. It saddens me when misunderstanding causes people to misrepresent those beautiful, courageous, loyal people.
Unhappily, Simmons had a negative experience in Pakistan, which seems to have coloured her view of the entire country and the entire people. I believe this incident could have been avoided with more cultural sensitivity and wisdom. When I was in Pakistan, I did not find it a “harsh, harsh land” or a “land without much joy and happiness”. My experience was that the people of Pakistan were always ready to smile. On one of my trips, I attended an engagement party. What a celebration! North Americans can learn from the beautiful hospitality I experienced there.
I have had negative experiences in Canada similar to Simmons’s experience in Pakistan. There are men in every country who treat women shamefully. I agree that the people of Pakistan need the Lord, but I also believe that the people of North America need the Lord just as much.
Betty-Anne Siebert,
Winnipeg, Man.
The Bible is clear
Re “Remembering” (Letters, Jan. 11): David inquired of the Lord, and God ordered him to revenge himself on the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:19-25). I was born in Switzerland (a neutral country since 1798). We have compulsory army service. In a vote taken Dec. 2, 2001, the Swiss people voted to keep a strong ready army, with 78% in favour. Many Russian Mennonites suffered much in war and revolution – abuse, plundering, even death – because the aggressors knew they had no weapons. In 1939, if Switzerland had not had a million (1/6 of the population) in uniform, Hitler would have surely taken us with the rest of Europe. Shedding aggressors’ blood is not innocent blood. We must defend ourselves today against terrorism.
Art Schmid,
Penticton, B.C.
Previous | Next Last modified March 14, 2002.
© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.
|
