Short stuff

Photo: Pierre Beauvillier

Vanderhoof residents were still struggling with high water along the Nechako River in June, as other B.C. communities were sighing with relief that their flood threat had passed. Pastor Hugo Reimer of Nechako Community Church says some Vanderhoof families were flooded out and others were put on alert, but the waters were kept at bay and the church didn’t need to swing into official relief action. Instead, church members helped fill sandbags. “We did a lot of sandbagging. It pulled the community together,” he said.

“The contents of this box can be explosive!” That was the warning on collection boxes used by kids from Winkler (Man.) MB Church for a giving project called Kids 4 Kids, which raised money to send children in developing countries to camp. The project, sponsored by Children’s Camps International, emphasized how big an impact the money could have on others. “In a culture of me first, the values of giving and generosity need to be fostered,” said Sally Brodland, pastor of children’s ministry. The kids tracked their progress by placing stick people on foyer windows (pictured below) and eventually raised more than $1,025, enough to send 205 children to camp.

Photo: Virginia Lepp

Levy Madjibe, Mennonite Central Committee’s West Africa co-representative, provides a sack of staple food items to 6-year-old Ester Nana as part of MCC’s Global Family program in Burkina Faso.

Connie Packer, a polio survivor since 1953, and her husband Gordon arrive at the MCC relief sale in Coaldale, Alta., after riding from Lethbridge in the relief sale bike-a-thon. Some 30 riders, travelling routes of 13.5, 45, and 90 km raised more than $9,000.

Mennonite Brethren churches from German-speaking Europe met in Dresden, Germany, May 25–28, for a Pentecost conference. It was the group’s 33rd gathering since 1960 and the first in a former East bloc region. About 650 people from more than 30 different churches met for worship and leisure activities.

—Evangelisch-mennonitsiche Freikirche release

The Word Guild held its annual awards gala, June 13, in Waterloo, Ont., to honour Canadian writers and editors who are Christian. Les Stobbe, founding editor of the Mennonite Observer, the first English periodical published by the Canadian MB church, won the Partnership Award for exceptional support and encouragement of Christian writers. For a complete list of winners, see thewordguild.com.

“A brilliant account of the homesteading experience and a masterpiece in the tradition of prairie story telling,” Rudy Wiebe’s memoir, Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest, won the 2007 Grant MacEwan Author’s Award for Alberta authors.

—Canadian Church Press

Canadian Mennonite University was number one among Canadian universities in sustainable commuting in the Go for Green national commuter challenge, June 3–9. Altogether, 34 percent of CMU’s employees participated in the challenge, which aims to increase awareness of the benefits of walking, cycling, taking transit, carpooling, or tele-working instead of driving alone to get to work.

—CMU release

Chris Stevens, pastor of The Gathering, Ottawa, and Marshall Zacharias, head of Avante Records, the music division of Family Life Network, are finalists in the 35 Under 35 national recognition project, which aims to profile, celebrate, and encourage young Canadian Christian leaders who are serving God and their communities in diverse and critical contexts. See 35under35.ca for more information.

The Catholics and Anglicans have joined the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which now represents almost all Canadian Christian denominations. The Winnipeg-based ecumenical organization seeks to end hunger in developing countries.

—release

Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada defeated a measure that would have allowed same-sex blessings in the church. Although lay and clergy delegates voted in favour of the resolution during a General Synod meeting June 24 in Winnipeg, approval of all three bodies was necessary for the motion to pass.

—Anglican Journal

The German Mennonite Peace Committee awarded its 2007 Michael Sattler Peace Prize to the “Tent of Nations – People Building Bridges” project in Palestine. The committee gave the prize in recognition of the creative and non violent solutions that the Nassars, a Christian Palestinian family, use in their struggle against encroaching illegal colonization.

—MWC release

“I write realistic stories about people in tough situations who have problems and conflicts that are not easily resolved – not romances where everything ends nicely. But I think the Christian faith is pretty useless if it can’t face the realistic things that happen to us in the world.”

—Rudy Wiebe, after being presented with the Tarr Award for outstanding career contribution to Christian writing

Nearly 1,100 U.S. Mennonite Brethren high school students and sponsors attended the annual youth convention, Mar. 31–Apr. 3 in Anaheim, Cal. Unlike past events, the convention was held in an urban centre and offered hands-on ministry experiences. “While numbers were down, the outcomes were up,” said co-chair Tim Neufeld.

—Christian Leader

It’s a gloomy forecast: Retiring American baby boomers will contribute fewer dollars to the church than their parents. That’s what participants learned at a conference sponsored by Mennonite Church USA. The findings, synthesized from an extensive body of research, are the result of several factors including low retirement savings, rising medical costs, projected funding shortfalls for Social Security and Medicare, and longer life spans.

—MCUSA release

College graduates are less likely to abandon their religious beliefs or curb church attendance than those who never attended college, according to a recent study in the Journal of Social Forces. Although postsecondary education is often seen as the enemy of faith, “religion and spirituality are becoming more accepted in higher education, both in intellectual circles and in campus life,” said study author Jeremy Uecker.

—University of Texas release

The Mennonite Central Committee thrift shop network celebrated its 35th anniversary in June. More than 3 decades ago, an afternoon tea party in Altona, Man. marked the beginning of the movement that has raised more than $100 million for MCC. There, founders Selma Loewen, Linie Friesen, Sara Stoesz, and Susan Giesbrecht discussed the idea of giving local families easy access to good quality, low-cost clothing and household items, and donating the proceeds to MCC. “This is so overwhelming – to think that our dream has grown to this,” said Loewen.

—MCC release

Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died June 14 at age 87 after being in frail health since 1995. “Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team,” said Billy. Mrs. Graham was buried in a simple plywood coffin made by an inmate in Louisiana’s Angola prison.

—EP News, Associated Press