Coaldale, Alta.
Photo: Judy Dyck, MCC Canada
thrift store coordinator, speaks at the 30th anniversary gathering
in Coaldale. Photo by David Moll
Mennonite Central Committee thrift store workers from across Canada
recently marked the 30th anniversary of the MCC thrift store movement
by paying tribute to past accomplishments, and looking to the
future.
About 150 volunteers, managers and board members met here April
25-26 for the national Thrift Workshop, held every four years.
"We wanted to demonstrate respect for the past accomplishments
of this grass-roots movement, while equipping present workers
with the necessary tools to compete in a second-hand marketplace
that has many new non-profit and for-profit entries," explained
Judy Dyck, MCC Canada's national thrift store coordinator.
Thirty years ago, a group of women began the first thrift shop
in Altona, Manitoba (see April 22, page 27). Four women who were on the planning team for the first
store attended this anniversary meeting. They received a standing
ovation from conference attendees.
Meanwhile, a new program of "branding identity" was
launched at this workshop. A stylized shopping bag around the
MCC logo will become the new visual identity for MCC thrift shops
in North America. The logo will be used on all signs, shopping
bags, letterhead and advertising.
Wendy McClelland, MCC B.C. thrift shop coordinator, was the key-note
speaker at the event. McClelland previously owned a business consulting
firm in Abbotsford.
A seminar on safety and security gave information on product safety
according to Health Canada guidelines and tips on preventing loss
of products from the local police chief. It helped workers understand
their rights and obligations. A seminar called "Fresh spaces,
fresh places" provided guidelines on renovations and building
projects.
The Western Coffee House was an evening of fun and celebration,
featuring a barbershop quartet, violinist, a trumpet trio and
a mouth organ duo. At the intermission a quartet of anniversary
cakes, complete with sparklers, was wheeled out to a chorus of
"Happy anniversary."
The 54 thrift stores in Canada forwarded $4.2 million to MCC this
past year.
-MCC Canada release
Winnipeg, Man.
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank
has announced that donations totalled $6.1 million for its year
ending March 31.
"This is the third highest level of donations in the 19-year
history of the Foodgrains Bank," said Jim Cornelius, executive
director. "We continue to be blessed with the strong support
of grassroots Canadians." The Foodgrains Bank is made up
of 13 member churches, including Mennonite.
Donations were $200,000 more than last year, and cash donations
of $3.3 million were up 15 percent. Actual tonnage of grain was
down 15 percent from the previous year due to drought and poor
harvest weather, but prices and types of crops donated were of
a higher value.
Last year, the Foodgrains Bank supplied 32,436 tonnes of food
to people in 26 countries. The Canadian International Development
Agency provided $16 million in matching funds.
"We had major programs in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, India and
North Korea last year.... Afghanistan faced drought and conflict,
Ethiopia had poor crops, our India response was related to chronic
poverty and the North Korean response is as a result of economic
collapse," Cornelius said.
This spring, the Foodgrains Bank is shipping 7,000 tonnes of Canadian
wheat flour to North Korea. It will provide food for three million
pregnant or nursing mothers and children. ADM Milling Company
is milling the flour in its Calgary and Medicine Hat mills. The
vessel is scheduled to leave Vancouver on May 24 to arrive in
North Korea in late June.
Foodgrains Bank is also supplying iron and vitamin A supplements
as the flour will be made into fortified biscuits and noodles
prior to distribution.
The Catholic Relief Agency, Caritas, and staff affiliated with
the Foodgrains Bank in North Korea will plan and monitor the food
distribution.
-From Foodgrains Bank release
War on terror major
setback to missions
The United States' war on terrorism could set missions back 1,000 years, Tony Campolo told the North Carolina Baptist Men's Conference in March. Campolo, a sociologist and well-known Baptist speaker, said it has become dangerous to quote Jesus in church since September 11. "I'm not sure we want to hear of a Jesus who says, 'Blessed are the peacemakers....'" The war against terrorism is like trying to get rid of malaria by killing mosquitoes, he said. "You get rid of malaria by destroying the swamps in which the malaria mosquitoes are bred. There's a swamp out there called poverty and injustice." Campolo described himself as a "pro-Israel evangelical," but spoke against injustices against Palestinians. "When they send tanks into the West Bank and level 70 houses in retaliation to some madman setting off a bomb in Tel-Aviv, they're using Hitler-like tactics.... God loves the Palestinians every bit as much as he loves the Jews." Campolo also spoke out against the U.S. government's "faith-based" social programs. Putting government together with church programs "is like mixing ice cream with horse manure. It's not going to hurt the manure but it's going to raise havoc with the ice cream."
-From reports
World Youth Day
official Ontario event
World Youth Day, a Roman Catholic event scheduled for Toronto July 18-28, will be the largest international conference ever held in Canada. The province of Ontario is an official sponsor. Up to half a million delegates from 150 countries, along with 3,500 media representatives, will join Pope John Paul II in a celebration of their faith. The Ontario government has a web site (www.wydontario.com) to highlight "how an event of this magnitude presents enormous opportunities for Ontario," according to its release. Delegates will travel across the province as part of the event's "Days in the Dioceses" program. World Youth Day was created in 1984 by the pope.
Winnipeg, Man.
Photo:
Matt Love (right), youth ministries coordinator in Alberta, recalls
his "worst scar" story for the Youth Ministry Council.
Seated are, from left: Jodi and Jim Ostland from South Central-Western
District Conference (MC USA) and Anne Campion.
The importance of congregations
and parents in encouraging youth to consider ministry and service
cannot be underestimated.
That's one conviction youth leaders shared at a Youth Ministry
Council gathering here May 1-4. Thirty-three area conference youth
ministers and staff from across Canada and the United States gathered
at Canadian Mennonite University to look at youth leadership and
nurture, post-secondary education, and calls to service in the
Mennonite Church.
The event was led by Anne Campion (Director of Youth Ministries
for Mennonite Church Canada), and Steve Ropp (Minister of Youth
for MC USA). Schools, service ministries, and the youth publishing
arm of Mennonite Publishing House were represented.
"We heard stories of parents really getting on the case of
youth ministers or voluntary service staff for encouraging their
son or daughter to do a year of service before going on to college,"
Ropp reported. "We're also aware that youth aren't being
encouraged to get into the ministry for a variety of reasons,
and our lack of numbers in both of these programs are reflecting
that."
The importance of youth resources from Mennonite Publishing House
also surfaced. Fast Lane and Generation Why Bible study series
will not be putting out any more new materials, and it is time
to start brainstorming about what comes next in youth curriculum.
A new baptism resource by Michelle Hershberger and April Yamasaki
is in process.
YouthGuide, a youth leader's resource, has been discontinued,
while With magazine will be expanded to include an on-line curriculum
resource called "With the Lesson" and retreats called
"With Weekends."
Dan Nighswander, general secretary of MC Canada, and Justina Heese,
executive secretary of Christian Formation for MC Canada, used
hula hoops to illustrate structural elements of Mennonite Church
Canada. Anna Rehan, MC Saskatchewan youth minister, reported on
youth participation at the MC Canada assembly in Saskatoon this
summer.
Beginning in 2003, Canadian youth assemblies will become bi-annual
gatherings; every fourth year U.S. and Canadian youth will meet
in a joint convention, along with the adults.
While participants address the issues, they also spent time providing
support for each other.
The Youth Ministry Council "broadens our perspectives and
enables us to look at our own settings with new eyes," said
Anne Campion. "It also challenges us all in the church to
listen for God's dream for us and to be willing to answer the
call wherever it might be-ministry, service, seeking God in all
vocations!"
-MC Canada release
Bogotá, Colombia
Photo: Gaviria
Many horrendous acts are committed when a
country is at war, especially when it is a so-called "dirty
war" like the one Colombia is enduring. Recently, someone
loaded explosives onto the back of a donkey and hired two kids
to lead the donkey toward a police station. Then they blew up
the donkey with a remote control trigger, killing several people,
including one of the children. The other child was severely maimed.
In another violent act, an executed farmer was put back into his
booby-trapped vehicle to bait the police. When they tried to deactivate
the bomb, it exploded and killed them. One of the bomb experts
had deactivated 350 bombs in his career. These are demonic actions.
The apostle Paul writes that where sin abounds, grace increases
all the more.
Another story revolves around the governor of Antioquia, a state
which has been particularly hard hit by both para-military and
revolutionary groups. On April 23, Guillermo Gaviria began the
"March of nonviolence" into the heart of FARC (Armed
Revolutionary Forces of Colombia) territory.
By Sunday evening the group had grown to over a thousand people
before it was stopped by the FARC. Television cameras recorded
the FARC soldiers leading the governor and other marchers away,
supposedly for discussions. That evening, all were released except
for the governor and a former defence minister who was also on
the march. The two of them have not been heard from since.
The following day, Gaviria's wife read a letter he had written
prior to the march in which he proclaimed his belief in nonviolence
as the only means to resolve Colombia's crisis. He said he has
studied the life and writings of Martin Luther King and Mahatma
Gandhi and believes that nonviolence is the most powerful force
available to Colombians.
He asked that if he were kidnapped or killed there would be no
military action taken; he had gone as far as to name his replacement
to carry on the responsibilities of his government.
Colombians have good reason to be suspicious of their politicians
and so many suspect some ulterior motive behind this governor's
action. I have not been able to learn much about Guillermo Gaviria,
but on the surface, at least, it is one of the most Christ-like
actions that we have witnessed in Colombia. A powerful governor,
as a protest against the violence, emptied himself of his status
and military protection and gave himself up, convinced that the
battle cannot be won with counter violence.
The "March of nonviolence" was to culminate in an international
congress on nonviolence the following week in Medellín,
with the governor as host. The congress was to continue in spite
of the kidnapping.
We invite you to pray that actions of courage and faith will not
fall on deaf ears but that they will take hold and overcome the
powers of darkness.
-Rudy and Helen Baergen
The writers are Mennonite
Church Canada Witness workers in Bogotá. They sent this
story just before coming to Canada to spend the month of May with
ailing parents.
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