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Jaspi, Jehi, Jibu, and Johise sing praise songs to celebrate the anticipated arrival of their cousins who are now living in an African refugee camp. The children have been praying for their relatives for a year, says the children’s father, Deo Namwira. Death threats had forced his wife’s eldest brother and family to flee DR Congo to the protection of a Malawi refugee camp. Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship, Winnipeg, in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee’s refugee sponsorship program, is sponsoring the 11-member family to settle in Manitoba.
Why did they offer? Alfred Neufeld, chair of the coordinating committee for Assembly 15, explains why Paraguay offered to host the next large international gathering of Mennonites in 2009: “We sure did it with mixed feelings, because this is a very big project! But . . . it’s out of gratitude. The international Mennonite community has always been very supportive of Paraguay from the time that Mennonite refugees settled there. . . . And we do it because we think it may have a positive impact on our churches and our public presence and witness.”
—Mennonite World Conference
Too high-profile to be safe: Christian Peacemaker Team’s Iraq team has left the country, at least temporarily. Concerns for safety because of the group’s visibility in the country following the captivity of four CPT workers, as well as the continuing uncertainties about the new government, led to the decision.
—cpt.org
Not the World Cup, but rewarding soccer just the same: “I spent many years of my life running soccer camps,” said Andi Baier, who recently spent several months with TREK (MBMS International) in Berlin. “This one, however, was by far the most challenging and most rewarding of my life. One hundred yards from the church, on a gated paved court, with only one experienced soccer coach (myself) and a language barrier that couldn’t have been more apparent . . . the boys . . . would sit around at the end of the day and talk about the things we said about Jesus. . . . Throughout the week there were numerous connections made between the families and the community of believers here.”
—letter
Second Graham a Bell? Some people predict that Rob Bell, not Graham’s son Franklin, will be the next Billy Graham, according to the Chicago-Sun Times (June 7). Bell is pastor of the nondenominational Mars Hill church in Grandville, Mich., one of America’s fastest-growing churches. Each week, more than 10,000 attend and another 30,000 download the services from the web. Bell, 35, preaches an evangelical message but also encourages social outreach, and is making a series of religious movies called Noomas (from pneuma or “spirit”).
—Christian Century
Keeping infants safe from mosquitos: More than a million pregnant mothers in Tanzania have acquired insecticide-treated nets the past year through a special partnership between the country’s Ministry of Health and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). The nets keep infants safe from the anopheles mosquito, which bites at night and spreads malaria. Malaria claims an African life every 30 seconds – nearly 3,000 a day – rivaling HIV/AIDS. There is no effective vaccine; the best prevention is a mosquito net treated with insecticide.
—MEDA
Making the system work better. Canada’s new justice minister, Vic Toews, expects to leave a legacy of cracking down on crime. In May he introduced bills to strengthen mandatory minimum sentencing for crimes involving firearms and to end the use of house arrests for serious offenses. But, Toews said in a telephone interview, he is “very familiar” with restorative justice models of dealing with crime and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) programs based on this model. He emphasized that the government also supports alternative approaches to crime prevention and help for victims and offenders. Toews said his Christian faith influences what he does. “What you try to do is make the system work better,” he said.
—MCC Canada Communications
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