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Siegfried Janzen, a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) service worker, of Petitcodiac, New Brunswick, (pictured with his wife Margaret) has been recognized with the 2004 Taylor Award by the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Volunteer Association, for 23 years of work in restorative justice and prison ministry. At age 85, he carries on with the prison ministry he began at 62 by leading Bible studies in a correctional centre.
—MCC News
The decision handed down June 13 by the B.C. Court of Appeal in the case of Chris Kempling (disciplined by the College of Teachers because of his writings on homosexuality) “says, in effect, that teachers must stay silent on controversial subjects or risk disciplinary action by their professional association,” according to Janet Epp Buckingham, director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The court said Kempling’s expression is “not deserving of a high level of constitutional protection” because it moved from “reasoned debate into discriminatory rhetoric.”
—EFC release
Kenneth Taylor, founder of Tyndale House Publishers and the man whose Living Bible translation has sold more than 40 million copies, died June 10 at age 88. His paraphrase of Scripture grew out of his rewording Bible passages in simple, conversational language so even the youngest of his 10 children could understand them. He also served as editor of HIS magazine and director of Moody Press in Chicago and wrote children’s books, including The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes.
—ReligionJournal.com
Seven representatives of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) global community participated, along with 650 people from more than 100 countries and diverse faith groups, in the 13th World Council of Churches (WCC) Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, held in Athens in May. Janet Plenert of Winnipeg, representing the Global Mission Fellowship of Anabaptist-related Churches, said she was called on frequently to explain Anabaptist church history, global church growth and what it means to be a historic peace church. The theme of the gathering was healing and reconciliation.
—MWC News
One-time Watergate player and now evangelical leader Chuck Colson was surprised to learn the true identity of Deep Throat, the informant to the Washington Post reporters who broke the Nixon cover-up. But Mark Felt is not a hero, Colson says; Felt breached professional ethics. “I am glad if he got me to go to prison,” Colson said, “That was a good thing for me.” Colson too rationalized illegal behaviour, and learned, “You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth.”
—Evangelical Press News
Abstinence education works. That’s the finding of a report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which is tracking teens over five years. Students in abstinence education programs had an increased awareness of the potential consequences of sexual activity before marriage and less favourable opinions about it, and thought more highly of abstinent behaviours than those not in abstinence programs.
—Evangelical Press News
A Willow Creek Congress held in Stuttgart, Germany earlier this year attracted some 11,000 people, making it the largest Willow Creek Congress to date. “The fascination continues,” stated one reporter about the interest of Germans in the church and movement led by Bill Hybels near Chicago. Those who came experienced “a festival of encouragement.” The Congress theme was leadership; Hybels, Gordon MacDonald, John Ortberg, and Nancy Beach spoke.
—Allianz Spiegel
Chewing gum recently saved the day for the town of Khirban in Sudan. The well’s borehole was damaged almost beyond repair; the water situation was desperate. (Armed militia are driving people from villages by destroying the water supply.) One person had an idea. He purchased $32 Cdn worth of gum and told people to start chewing. The well-chewed gum was collected and became the “rubber” seal to stop the leak. It did not hold for long but the town received new pipes through a Canadian Foodgrains Bank water team soon after.
—Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Photo provided by SAACID |
Residents of the town of Adele, Somalia, received fishing boats at a distribution sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in response to the December 26, 2004 tsunami. The $65,000 Cdn project was carried out by SAACID, a partner organization, and provided boats and fishing equipment to 46 households as well as a month’s supply of food to 100 households.
—MCC News
North Korea continues to need food aid, says Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFB) executive director Jim Cornelius. CFB recently shipped 10,000 (CFB) tonnes of wheat and 1,320 tonnes of soya beans to the country, at a value of $5.3 million. Aimed for those who are most vulnerable, like children and pregnant and nursing mothers, the project will benefit approximately 895,000 people.
—CFB release
Adultery in the church isn’t just a man’s problem, says Nancy Anderson, columnist at Crosswalk.com and author of Avoiding the Greener Grass Syndrome: How to Grow Affair-Proof Hedges Around Your Marriage. She receives between 30 and 40 confessions of adultery from women each month. Marnie Ferree of Bethesda Workshops, a faith-based sexual addiction recovery program, agrees: “Women’s struggle with infidelity and sexual sin is one of the biggest secrets in the church.”
—Evangelical Press News
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