People & events

The one woman among six Mennonite church workers imprisoned in Vietnam has been hospitalized with a “mental disease,” according to prison officials. Le Thi Hong Lien, 21, was arrested June 30 and sentenced Nov. 12 to 12 months in prison. She had been a zealous church worker, specializing in teaching the Bible to small children. Her parents believe she was abused and beaten in prison.

—Compass

The only Mennonite in the U.S. House of Representatives, Jerry Moran, was elected to a fifth term Nov. 2. After 8 years in the Kansas state senate, Moran, a Republican, was elected to the House in 1996. A group from Moran’s Mennonite Brethren congregation has prayed for him each week since he was elected. “My beliefs definitely play a significant role in how I do my job,” he says.

—Mennonite Weekly Review

alternativeservice.ca, a website about conscientious objectors developed by the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg, received the Association for Manitoba Archives’ 2004 Outstanding Achievement Award. The 780-page website explores the roles of some 10,000 people who did alternative service during World War II. The award’s citation praised the website’s “solid integrity” and “significant contribution to Canadian history and culture.”

—Association for Manitoba Archives

A great-grandson of Mennonites who escaped the Soviet Union in 1928, Seth Amstutz, is planning to establish a farm in Ukraine that will help Ukrainian church leaders. The idea came from Lee Grismore, who saw students being turned away and faculty struggling to buy supplies when he taught at the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary. Profits from the 5,000 acre farm near Berdychiv will be used to support evangelical Ukrainian seminaries.

—Mennonite Weekly Review

An American company has received government approval to market microchips implantable under the skin, called Verichips, for identification purposes in the U.S. Applied Digital Solutions says the chip has medical, security and financial applications and will eventually be marketed worldwide. The technology has raised fears about potential abuses and debate over its “moral dilemmas.”

—ChristianWeek

A new crackdown against Chinese Christians appears underway, even as the government publicly professes willingness to liberalize religious policies. Arrests and raids in China during September and October included the arrest of evangelical leader Chai Zhuohua for his roles in house church leadership and literature distribution. In August, the regime issued three internal directives calling for much tighter control of religion.

—Compass

The new Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) became operational Sept. 22 to Oct. 7. Representatives of 4 African Mennonite conferences and 3 North American Mennonite conferences/agencies met in Burkina Faso, then South Africa and Botswana to organize and take responsibility for mission activities in 5 African countries. The International Central Council chose Siaka Traore of Burkina Faso as its first chair.

—AIMM

The 15th anniversary of Menno Simons College was celebrated at a Canadian Mennonite University banquet Oct. 23. The CMU college, affiliated with the University of Winnipeg, began with 3 students; now 1200 take international development and conflict resolution courses. The banquet also featured an announcement that the new student housing will be named the Katherine Friesen Apartments in honour of patrons David and Katherine Friesen.

—CMU

The Broader Horizons Institute, a school for students with mental handicaps (who often have physical handicaps as well) started by Mennonite Central Committee workers in Atbara, Sudan, 30 years ago, currently helps 165 students. Some, like Mohamed Jamaa, 10 (above) arrive unable to speak or walk but learn these skills with the help of teachers and therapists. The school has classrooms, playgrounds, workshops and a working farm.

—MCC News

44 high school students from across Canada and the U.S. attended one of three Ministry Quest retreats at MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Cal. this fall, exploring God’s call on their lives. Each one is now in a mentoring relationship with a leader in their congregation and taking the time to shadow their pastor. See ministryquest.com for more information.

—release

Billy Graham, 86, preached in Los Angeles Nov. 18, in what organizers said would be his next to last crusade, exactly 55 years after his first crusade ended in the city. The 1949 event under a pitched tent and over a sawdust floor was scheduled for 3 weeks but was extended to 8 weeks as word about the young evangelist spread. Although Los Angeles has changed dramatically, Graham said his message was still the same.

—Evangelical Press News

Large numbers of Amish, who traditionally avoid involvement in politics, registered to vote in this year’s U.S. election, according to officials in several Ohio and Pennsylvania townships. Although they are pacifists and many disagree with the war in Iraq, the majority of Amish voters chose Bush over Kerry because of issues like abortion and gay marriage. Bush specifically courted their support by twice visiting Lancaster County, Pa.

—Evangelical Press News

On Oct. 6, 12 combines and 20 grain trucks converged at the C.C. Toews farm near Linden, Alta. to harvest 310 acres of wheat for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The entire field was harvested and trucked in 2 hours and 45 minutes and yielded 18,600 bushels.

C.C. and Anna Toews fled Russia in 1924. In 1929 they entered into a farming partnership with C.W. Toews (no relation). They, and their farm, became known for their generosity and hospitality. Shortly before he died, C.C. Toews explained his philosophy of giving this way: “After losing everything in Russia we decided not ever to hoard material goods or be motivated by getting wealthy. Having seen famine I always felt guilty walking by a wheat-full granary in January while there were hungry people in the world. Taking Jesus’ words ‘I was hungry and you fed me’ literally made emptying the granary the only answer. Even if it meant borrowing for seed grain in the spring.”

In that spirit, the Toews descendants made the land available for the grain drive. Canadian Foodgrains Bank is operated by 13 church organizations, including Mennonite Central Committee.

—from report by Jack Dueck