Canadian Mennonite
Volume 11, No. 11
May 28, 2007
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Mennonite Church Canada
Mennonite Church British Columbia
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Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
From our leaders
Mennonite Church Canada
Prayer requests
Please pray for or rejoice with:
• Lillian and Norm Nicolson, Witness workers in Burkina Faso, who are now in the midst of a busy church visitation schedule as part of their North American ministry. Please also pray for other Witness workers on furlough: Tim and Cindy Buhler (Macau); Gerald and Rie Neufeld (Japan); and Pat and Rad Houmphan (Thailand).
• The new Center for Anabaptist Resources recently launched by the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Chile (UBACH). The centre is located in Santiago, Chile, and coordinator Omar Cortes Gaibur, an MC Canada Witness worker, and UBACH general secretary Freddy Paredes ask for prayers as they give leadership to the program and for the 20 leaders being trained as teaching facilitators.
• Dan Nighswander and Yvonne Snider-Nighswander, MC Canada Witness workers in South Africa, as they celebrate the arrival of their new grandson. Benjamin Paul Rempel Nighswander, was born to parents Heidi (Nighswander) and Stephen on May 8 in Brisbane, Australia.
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Paddlers raise record funds
By the time Paddle-a-thon 2007 ended, some participants were sporting red glows on their skin that they hadn’t begun with. But a little sunburn and some sore muscles were worth it when the totals came in—$48,350 raised for the Camp Squeah summer staff bursary fund.
Eighteen participants navigated along the Fraser River from Hope to Ft. Langley over two days in April in a variety of watercraft. Considering initial high water concerns, the trip went smoothly, and the increased flow of the river helped propel the paddlers along more swiftly than usual, as they managed to cut two hours off their regular pace.
The purpose of the annual Paddle-a-thon is to raise funds to support Camp Squeah’s summer volunteer staff. Many of the staff are college and university students who forego summer employment to volunteer at camp because they believe in the unique ministry of Squeah’s summer program.
“We are extremely grateful to the paddlers, the sponsors who donate food, time and energy, and the donors for so tangibly showing their support to our summer youth leaders,” says camp director Rob Tiessen.
Mennonite Church Alberta
Valaqua readying for summer
On May 12, 34 volunteers from Alberta churches split wood, put docks into the river, built canoe racks, and cleaned up at Camp Valaqua. The annual spring work day prepares the facilities to welcome hundreds of excited children, staff and volunteers for summer residential and out-trip camping experiences.
This year, director Jon Olfert is hoping to have two new activity sites ready for July. A sky swing built on a sturdy frame of telephone poles will treat adventurous campers to a thrilling—and safely harnessed in—ride through the air. A low bouldering wall is planned for the climbing wall area, and will occupy campers as they wait for their turn to be harnessed in and roped up for climbing the big wall.
Some of the summer staff have already arrived at camp and are busy accepting registrations and planning programs. Office assistant Kerry Kroeker and assistant director Kari Enns began their assignments at the beginning of May. Out-trip director Christa Harder, counsellor-in-training director Kristy Letkeman and activities coordinator Amy Goertzen will all begin in June.
The activity coordinator is a new position. It will focus on developing and evaluating camper activities and equipping staff to lead them properly.
The camp is still looking for adult and teen kitchen help for a number of weeks during the summer. Volunteers are also appreciated for some project help, such as bush clearing and minor construction work. To volunteer, call the camp office at 403-637-2510.
Pastoral transitions
Kevin Lim, youth pastor at Calgary Vietnamese Mennonite Church, finished his position at the end of March.
Craig Wiens will be finished his position as associate pastor at First Mennonite, Calgary, on June 30. Wiens has worked at First Mennonite for three years.
Mennonite Church Saskatchewan
Warman grows community veggies
Remember the times when you opened your front door and found an oversized zucchini on your step? And depending on your feelings for this persistently prolific vegetable, you either groaned with dismay or sighed with pleasure.
Warman Mennonite has found a way to give back to those sweet-faced women who probably left that squash at your door. For the second year in a row, people at the church are using a large section of its parking lot to plant a community garden.
“Last year, the bulk of our produce went to seniors in nursing homes,” said Jay Hinds, pastor of Warman Mennonite.
Hinds, who enjoys gardening, came up with the idea as a way to include town members in the life of the church. The garden is maintained by the congregation, and produce is used to bless others.
In the fall, a harvest meal is planned, and this year Hinds hopes the community will join the church for that.
No word yet on how much zucchini members will plant.
Volunteers needed
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Saskatchewan is looking for volunteer staff to help with Festival Sales in the fall. Needed are a coordinator and representatives.
The coordinator position involves promotion, ordering products and managing all Saskatchewan Festival Sales. Hours are flexible and computer skills are important.
Festival representatives work at the 18 different Festival Sales held from mid-October through December and need the ability to tell the stories of Ten Thousand Villages and MCC.
For more information, visit mcc.org/sask.
Mennonite Church Manitoba
Tee off for Camp Koinonia
Camp Koinonia is holding its annual golf tournament at the Winkler Golf Course on June 23. The Camp Koinonia Regional Committee plans this event to raise funds for the ongoing upkeep and development of the camp. Golfers or sponsors should call Ron Hildebrand at 204-837-2313, Bill Thiessen at 204-529-2684, or Matthew Heide at 204-534-2504.
Church transitions
Marla Langelotz, associate pastor at Sargent Ave. Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, was ordained to the ministry on April 29.
Erwin Kroeker, pastor at Springstein Mennonite Church, retired from the ministry this spring and was recognized in a special service followed by a potluck dinner in March. John B. Wiebe, pastor at Sterling Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, will begin pastoral duties at Springstein this summer.
Mennonite Church Eastern Canada
Ramer licensed for hockey ministry
Enough complaining about hockey keeping people from church on Sunday mornings. Jamie Ramer was licensed toward ordination in hockey ministry at Zurich Mennonite Church on May 6.
“Responding to God’s work in me through hockey has sent me back to share the good news with hockey players, taking the church to them, instead of expecting them to come to the church,” says Ramer.
During his teens, Ramer’s faith and hockey were in two different compartments. Finding out that Briercrest (Sask.) Bible College had a Junior B hockey team helped him to bring the two back together. A mission trip by the team to Sweden led him and his teammates to start sharing the gospel with the teams they were playing in the Saskatchewan Junior B league.
Ramer works for Hockey Ministries International (HMI) and raises his own support. His work is focused on finding volunteers to run chapels for local teams. These chapels have grown from two in 2004, to 17 today, with more than 150 players voluntarily attending.
Zurich Mennonite Church supports him with a budget line in its missions budget as well as supplying office space.
“Working with other pastors supports me, encourages accountability, gives visibility, and gives opportunity for prayer,” he reports.
HMI has 25 staff around the world, four of which are in Ontario. One of these—Laurie Boschman—serves in Ottawa and connects to the NHL. Besides the chapels, HMI runs five summer hockey camps in Ontario for boys and girls aged eight to 16. “These are quality hockey camps with spiritual input by Christians on and off the ice,” he says.
Sustaining the Earth
From our leaders
Sustainability has become a buzzword. We hear it all the time. As a farmer, as a Christian, as a caretaker of our God-given resources—land, water, farm, car, home—I wonder if our industrialized North American way of living is sustainable and in harmony with creation.
But wait, is this too much to ask of us? We are simply living in a society where we find ourselves. The effect of the internal combustion engine, for example, is an issue for the larger community to solve, not me, the individual, or even the church. Right?
These issues are big, yet it seems the only way to effect positive change is through the actions of each and every individual, on the one hand, and the science, research and willingness of our larger collective actions of community, congregation and the institutions we support. Certainly for us as Christians, we have long preached stewardship and living simply.
I am reminded as we plant our fields this spring of new life, of new energy and of the ability of the Earth to produce abundantly in spite of the transgressions of modern, industrialized, energy-consuming lifestyles, processes and societies. But God offers a restorative process in nature.
I am reminded of the role humans play in interacting to provide nutritious food, not only by planting, but by working collectively to research, study and learn about the world we inhabit.
This summer at the Mennonite Church Canada assembly in Abbotsford, B.C., from July 3 to 6, delegates will spend discernment time discussing creation care and the following affirmation statement:
“Mennonite Church Canada believes that God longs for the well-being and health of the whole world, for all of creation is bound together and belongs to God, who has created and who preserves all things. Our concern for faithfulness and discipleship should also lead us to care for creation. Mennonite Church Canada believes that God is calling us to commit ourselves to discern the paths of faithfulness to be good stewards of the Earth.”
I invite everyone to be faithful, and be reminded that God does care about how we live and the effect we have on creation. I hope to leave the family farm in better environmental shape than when I first received responsibility for it.
We may not be able to individually solve all of the big problems, but we can support the processes that lead to societal change, and we can each do our part in day-to-day living. It is an honour and a pleasure to till the soil and in some way be the conscience of the land on behalf of society.
Unless otherwise credited, the articles in TheChurches pages were written by Canadian Mennonite’s regional correspondents.