People & events

MEDA’s annual Business as Calling convention will be held Nov. 3–6 in Whistler, B.C. Under the theme “Create a Better World,” participants will hear culinary health experts Graham and Treena Kerr, speed skater Catriona LeMay Doan, UN Special Envoy Stephen Lewis and businessman Barj Dhahan. The convention is the most visible public activity of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), which has 2500 members in North America and operates programs in ten countries.

—release

Habitat for Humanity has a new CEO, Jonathan Reckford, 42, a business executive turned pastor, following the dismissal of founder Millard Fuller. Reckford, whose salary will be $210,000, is addressing fallout from the recent acrimony between the charity and its founder. He says donations are stronger than ever and that Fuller’s new charity, the Fuller Center for Housing, should not be seen as competition.

—Evangelical Press News

The largest MB church in the U.S. and first to be established in California celebrated its 100th birthday this year. The 1,330-member Reedley (Calif.) Mennonite Brethren Church has received 400 new members in the last seven years. It has founded several ministries and planted several Hispanic churches. The celebration included members signing a covenant to recommit to Christ and the congregation. The senior pastor is Dennis Fast.

—Mennonite Weekly Review

October 9, 2005 has been designated National Porn Sunday by Craig Gross and Mike Foster, the “goofball” creators of and pastors at xxxchurch.com. Thanks to media attention and opportunities to present their message (about porn’s insidiousness and help for getting free of it) at churches like Willow Creek Church and Mars Hill, hundreds of churches are joining on that day to give voice to “America’s dirty little secret.” The xxxchurch website links to tools for restoration, sexual integrity and accountability.

—xxxchurch.com

Million Belete, a former Mennonite World Conference president and leader of the Meserete Kristos Church in Ethiopia, has been elected to the city council of the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. His entry into government politics is seen as a radical departure from the thinking and practice of Mennonites and most evangelical Christians in Ethiopia. Opposition to involvement has softened as the government has become more democratic, however, and Belete encouraged Christians to vote and run for office in the May national elections.

—Mennonite World Conference release

After 33 years in the Philippines, Mennonite Central Committee has closed its program there. Director of MCC’s Central/Southern Asia programs Ed Martin says the “difficult decision” is part of a larger shift of resources in MCC’s international programs; the country has “a vital and experienced sector of nongovernmental organizations.” Since 1977, MCC workers have assisted Filipinos in areas of land rights for minorities, fair treatment of workers, and nonviolent approaches to societal change.

—MCC News

Drought in parts of Zambia has led to serious shortfalls in the harvest of maize, a staple crop. Mennonite Central Committee is working with other members of Canadian Foodgrains Bank to provide funds to purchase 3,600 metric tons of maize from other parts of Zambia to distribute to some 10,600 households, especially orphans, widows, the elderly and people living with HIV/AIDS. It is also shipping 440 metric tons of split peas from Canada.

—MCC News

More than 10,000 people gathered for the funeral of Brother Roger (Schultz), founder of an ecumenical Christian community in Taize, France, who had been stabbed to death by a mentally unstable woman. After a spiritual crisis in his teens, Schultz committed himself to work for peace and reconciliation. His Taize community eventually embraced Protestant and Catholic monks from 30 countries, and draws some 100,000 people each year for prayer and meditation.

—news reports

Christians in Bangladesh are facing fear and outrage after two young men employed by Christian Life Bangladesh, a partner agency of Campus Crusade for Christ, were murdered in their sleep in late July. They had been showing the Jesus film and providing health awareness programs. Another Christian Life Bangladesh worker was killed in 2003.

—Evangelical Press News

Takashi Yamada, “one of the strongest, most creative Anabaptist church leaders that the Mennonite church in Japan has produced,” passed away June 20. He was 80. Yamada served as a Mennonite pastor in southern Japan for nearly 48 years, did evangelism and church planting, and teaching and translation. He also had leadership roles in the Mennonite World Conference. He is survived by his wife and five children; all are actively involved in their father’s church community.

—Mennonite World Conference

MCC is inviting discussion of economic responses to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Two papers by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) staff, working with Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers – “Peacebuilding in Palestine/Israel: A Discussion Paper” and “Frequently Asked Questions: Economic Pressure as a Tool for Establishing a Just Peace in the Palestinian–Israeli Conflict” – are available from MCC. The papers are intended to start a conversation about the role economic pressure might play in promoting security in the region.

—MCC News