People & events

Registration is now open for northern Saskatchewan’s only multiple-sport summer athletics program, Bethany Sports Camp (BSC). Top-level instruction in soccer, basketball and volleyball, for beginners to elite athletes, all built on Bethany College’s Christian values, will be offered.

—Bethany College

Muslims in Middle Eastern countries have been flocking to see Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ. Although many are attracted because of its reported anti-Semitism, missionaries in the region say that viewers are being surprised by the message of Christ’s love for His enemies and that there is increased interest in the gospel.

—World Pulse

North Korea remains at the top of the list of countries where Christians are most persecuted. Open Doors USA’s annual ranking also retains Saudi Arabia as second on the list, followed by Laos, the Central Highlands of Vietnam, and Iran. According to reports, the church in North Korea is growing in spite of severe isolation and repression.

—Evangelical Press News

Left off the shelves: Regent College Bookstore in Vancouver, one of the largest Christian bookstores in Canada, has refused to stock the latest book in the popular “Left Behind” fiction series, saying it “promotes a dangerous worldview that exacerbates global tensions.” In the series, Americans play a major role in bringing about a cataclysm that destroys non-Christians.

—Mennonite Weekly Review

Canadian Pentecostal Seminary has joined the consortium of denominational seminaries that make up the Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS) at Trinity Western University (TWU), Langley, B.C. Begun in 1988 with 3 partners, ACTS has grown to more than 500 students. The new addition broadens the church base to over 2500 churches and six denominations across Canada.

—TWU release

“Think small”: that’s the advice missiologist Jonathan Bonk gave the 65-member Eastern Mennonite Missions board meeting recently. Westerners tend to think organizationally, he said, but Jesus practiced a “missiology of interruptions” and related to specific people. “If Jesus had time only for big plans, what would have happened to the blind man, the child, the Samaritan woman?”

—Mennonite Weekly Review

The number of cans of meat has broken the half-million mark for the first time since the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) portable meat canner went on the road in 1946. The October 2003 to April 2004 canning season yielded 504,174 cans of turkey, beef, pork and broth, an increase of 47,268 over last season. Other facts:

• Meat canned by weight: 389,973 kilos
• Canning crew members: 4
• Volunteers: thousands
• Locations visited: 34 (in 13 states and 2 provinces)

People benefited per can: 5 to 10 people impacted by war, disaster and poverty in countries like Bosnia, North Korea, Haiti and Ukraine.

—MCC

Calgary now has a second MCC thrift store. Located at 3223 – 17 Avenue SE, the new store is one of more than 50 such Mennonite Central Committee outlets across Canada. Besides its low-priced “treasures,” the store has a prayer request box set up by Intercessors Anonymous, a group of people praying for others’ needs. The money raised supports MCC programs.

—City Light News

Seven new education programs are underway in Mennonite Central Committee’s Global Family program. They range from vocational training for deaf young people in Brazil, to scholarships for girls in a Somali coastal town, to an orphanage operated by a Syrian church. Sponsors are also needed for projects in Nepal, Palestine and the Philippines. To become a sponsor call 888-622-6337 or see mcc.org.

—MCC

A search committee has been formed to find a replacement for Ron Mathies, Executive Director of Mennonite Central Committee, who has announced his retirement as of June 2005. The six-member committee is seeking input and inviting prayer from the constituent church denominations and agencies as a job description is drafted and candidates are considered.

—MCC

280 kilograms of medical supplies, at a cost of $13,000 Cdn., were carried into North Korea by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFB) representatives in response to the deadly April 22 train blast in North Pyongan province that killed more than 150 people and injured more than 1,000. MCC has been providing relief to North Korea, including school and newborn kits, and canned meat, since 1996. A shipment of 8,298 metric tonnes of Canadian wheat from CFB has also arrived in Korea.

—MCC, CFB

The theology of atonement was the subject of the first London Mennonite Theology Forum March 4–5, attended by 26 European Anabaptists. Interest in atonement theology has been provoked by J. Denny Weaver’s book The Nonviolent Atonement. Weaver was one of the presenters at the gathering, which was sponsored by the London Mennonite Centre directed by Vic Thiessen.

—Canadian Mennonite

The recent decision of a Moscow court to ban activities of the city’s Jehovah’s Witnesses has stirred objections from defenders of religious freedom. Although not yet legal because it is being appealed, the ruling has already created difficulties for the group. Spokesperson Christian Presber said the developments are a “litmus test” for how religious freedom is progressing in a country.

—Compass

Volunteers are needed and currently being scheduled for Mennonite Disaster Service projects in Virginia (2003 Hurricane Isabel), Tennessee (May 2003 tornado); California (2003 wildfire). More information at mds.mennonite.net. Canadians should call MDS in Winnipeg for border crossing assistance, 866-261-1274.

—MDS

We won’t accept your money: Anglican archbishops in Africa delivered a stinging rebuke to the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), saying they will reject funds from any diocese that recognizes gay clergy. They called ECUSA to repent and comply with Anglican doctrine or be disciplined. Last year ECUSA approved the consecration as bishop of V. Gene Robinson, who lives in a homosexual relationship.

—Evangelical Press News

Students at Catskill Bruderhof School in Elka Park, N.Y. learned to knit so they could help victims of the Bam, Iran earthquake. The 7th and 8th graders knit “furiously” on squares at the beginning and end of every morning while their teacher reads aloud to them. The squares are then stitched together into blankets Mennonite Central Committee delivers to Bam. The 25 students also learned “writing business letters” through soliciting wool donations from yarn companies.

—MCC