People & events

Bill C-6, An Act of Respecting Assisted Human Reproduction and Related Research, became law in Canada Mar. 29. The law, which Health Canada says is one of the most comprehensive legislative frameworks in the world regarding assisted human reproduction, prohibits human cloning and activities such as payment to egg and sperm donors.

—Health Canada

A warehouse for Mennonite Central Committee Canada will be rented in Plum Coulee, Man. instead of being built at the Winnipeg headquarters, at least for 2 years. This will allow MCC to test the logistics and economics of a different location. Renting space in Plum Coulee is about equal to what the additional property tax in Winnipeg would cost. A national warehouse is needed to streamline and ship material aid resources from the provinces.

—MCC Canada

Operation Mobilization has a new executive director for Canada. Harvey Thiessen of Port Colborne, Ont., a native of Winkler, Man. and graduate of Providence College, joined OM in 1984 and served on ships in several countries. He has been associate director for Canada the past 6 years. He replaces outgoing director Gord Abraham.

—OM

A new cookbook that encourages eating locally produced foods in season will be produced by Mennonite Central Committee and Herald Press. Following in the tradition of More-with-Less and Extending the Table tradition, it will feature simple, nutritious and delicious dishes, with contemporary twists like pesto and tofu. Recipes can be submitted at morewithless.org or by calling 888-563-4676.

—MCC News

The search for French-speaking church planters has reached into Europe. Patrice Nagant, director of the MB initiative Rendez-Vous Montreal, together with his wife Cindy, and Youth Mission International’s Phil Serez are currently visiting France and Switzerland to present the vision of outreach in Quebec and invite youth into short-term missions in Montreal. Their itinerary includes Bible schools at Bienenberg and Vaux-sur-seine, youth conferences and French Mennonite churches.

—Nagant letter

An essay calling for a consistent pro-life position was the winner in the Public Policy Essay and Speech Contest for high school students sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee’s US Washington office. The $500 prize winner, Kelly Shenk of Goshen, Ind., wrote that a “comprehensive pro-life” philosophy “supports human life in all situations.” This “can be directly applied to abortion,” she said. Between 1973 and 2000, 39 million legal abortions took place in the US, “more than 30 times higher than the number of soldiers killed in all US wars.”

—MCC News

As fragile calm settles on Haiti, Mennonite Central Committee is providing relief kits, canned meat and financial assistance to those who have been displaced in the recent political upheaval. Besides the practical help, the aid reminds Haitians their plight is not forgotten. Members of Miami’s five Haitian Mennonite churches fear for family members still living in Haiti. Although immigrants to Miami also struggle, they prefer it to the danger and poverty faced in Haiti.

—MCC News

After a weekend learning about global food issues, youth attending the annual Peace It Together conference at Canadian Mennonite University, Mar. 10–12, decided to do something about it. The 227 high school students collected $1,000 for food relief in North Korea. They heard speaker Dave Worth of Akron share stories from more than 30 years coordinating aid with Mennonite Central Committee. Workshops included a food tour of Winnipeg, refugee simulation, and talks on the “Slow Food Movement.”

—CMU News

Trinity Western University has embarked on its largest fundraising campaign in the school’s history. The goal of the first phase is to raise $16 million for building needs and scholarships; goals over the next 8 years may top $80 million. Enrollment has grown to over 3,500 this year. TWU’s ACTS Seminaries consist of a six-denomination consortium including Mennonite Brethren.

—TWU

Providence College, Otterburne, Man. will offer a Communications and Media degree, beginning Sept. 2004, to prepare Christian students to work in a variety of media. The only program of its kind in western Canada, it will combine hands-on training in media production as well as traditional liberal arts courses. Program coordinator is Richard Osicki, who has extensive media background as well as a degree in theology.

—Providence College

Church planting is the focus of a new training track at ACTS Seminaries. The Church Planting Leadership (CPL) Track is a 5-course, 10-month program; students will have to be approved by the CPL coordinating committee. Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary is one of six seminaries in the ACTS consortium at Trinity Western University.

—ChristianWeek

Religious groups and the medical establishment are competing for dollars in the American government’s $15-billion, 5-year Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. But faith-based ministries like Samaritan’s Purse, Salvation Army and Campus Crusade are losing, they say, in spite of evidence that behaviour-based prevention is far more effective than the “current paradigm of AIDS prevention” based on risk reduction, primarily through condom use. Uganda’s “ABC” campaign, which stresses abstinence before marriage, faithfulness afterwards, and condom use to select groups like prostitutes, has seen HIV rates drop from over 30 percent to 6 percent.

—Evangelical Press News

Two books of portions of the Bible in the Samogho language were recently dedicated in Saraba, Burkina Faso. Donna and Loren Entz, sponsored by Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and Mennonite Mission Network, have been working, translating, and building relationships in the Muslim community there since the 1970s. This is the area where MBMSI missionaries (with AIMM) Carol and Phil Bergen have worked and hope to return to.

—AIMM

The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is “deadly poison in the garb of candy,” says Peter Flint, a Dead Sea Scrolls and biblical studies scholar. It purports to be based on facts and creates the impression New Testament claims about Christ are a “fabrication.” Others besides Flint are fighting back: Ward Gasque, president of Pacific Institute of Theological Studies, has developed a seminar to teach churches about the book’s misleading claims; several evangelical publishers are releasing books that refute the novel.

—ChristianWeek

Inspired by the gathering of African women theologians at Africa 2003, a Colombian woman, Alix Lozano, and a Mexican woman, Ofelia García, are beginning an inventory of Latin American women with theological training, current theological students and women leaders in the church. The next step will be regional or national gatherings of the women, and then a representatives’ meeting in 2005.

—Mennonite World Conference