Tireless worker remembered  08.31.2010

WINNIPEG, MB—Family and friends are celebrating the life of Peter Kroeker, a former mayor of Winkler and long-time supporter of economic development projects, particularly in India and Africa.

Kroeker spent his early years on the farm, taking part in a variety of church and community activities, including three terms as Winkler's mayor. In 1968, he returned to school and completed a PhD in Cultural Anthropology followed by one year of French language training in Brussels. He then served for four years in the Congo on a wide range of agricultural projects.

Upon returning to Winnipeg, he continued to work on economic development projects with Mennonite Brethren Mission and Services. Kroeker died June 5, just shy of his 87th birthday.
(Winnipeg Free Press, Mennonite Mission Health Association Checkup)

Pro-lifer released  08.31.2010

NANAIMO, BC—A passionate pro-life advocate was released from an Ontario women's prison in mid-August, after four months of incarceration. Mary Wagner, 37, was found not guilty of a mischief charge leveled at her for trying to converse with people entering and leaving an abortion clinic in Toronto. After charging her, police offered to release her if she would sign a promise to stay away from the clinic, an offer the judge repeated. Wagner refused both and went to jail instead.

While behind bars Wagner says she became close to a small circle of inmates, teaching them to pray the Rosary, lauds and vespers. It was the pro-lifer's second time in jail. She was locked up for six months in 1999-2000 on a half-dozen mischief charges for witnessing to clients in front of what she calls "a killing centre."
(The B.C. Catholic)

Outstanding alumni honoured  08.31.2010

WINNIPEG, MB—Sarah Buhler, Harold Jantz, Karen Heidebrecht Thiessen and A. James Reimer are the 2010 recipients of Canadian Mennonite University's Alumni Blazer Awards. Established in 2007, the awards honour alumni who embody CMU's values and mission of service, leadership and reconciliation in church and society through all that they do.

Buhler has been heavily involved in the legal community, and was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Clinical Law at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law. Jantz, founder of ChristianWeek, is a long-time editor, writer and churchman. Heidebrecht Thiessen has been involved in pastoral ministry for 20 years, becoming the first female Mennonite Brethren lead pastor in North America. Reimer, a teacher, writer, and researcher, served at the University of Waterloo and Conrad Grebel University College, helping establish its graduate program in theology.
(The Blazer)

Beans, beans, beans  08.31.2010

FLORADALE, ON—For the past 25 years volunteers at Floradale Mennonite Church have picked corn and beans, grown on a nearby farm. They package and deliver the vegetables to House of Friendship, an organization that provides emergency food and shelter and other programs for low-income persons. This year, organizers planned to scale down, and planted fewer beans. However, a bumper crop put a kibosh on that plan—two pickings netted 51 bushels of yellow and green legumes. The beans are picked in the evening and cut and prepared for freezing the following morning at the church, where volunteers make use of a commercial vegetable steamer.
(Canadian Mennonite)

New leadership for NAIM  08.24.2010

DELTA, BC—Clyde Cowan is the new interim executive director for North America Indigenous Ministries (NAIM) following the resignation of Bill Tartar. Cowan has worked with NAIM in various capacities over the past 35 years. He has also worked with Interdev and co-founded COMIX35, a Christian comics ministry. Tartar, who served as NAIM's executive director since 2004, and his wife Deborah will return to India where Tartar was born and grew up, to serve at a boarding school there. (www.naim.ca)

Back on solid ground  08.24.2010

ABBOTSFORD, BC—After more than two years of labour-intensive renovations following the collapse of its floor during a music concert, Central Heights Church has reopened its main sanctuary. The floor collapsed April 25, 2008 during a Starfield concert, hurtling more than 40 people into the church's basement. Repairs cost more than $200,000 and took longer than expected as engineers and officials tried to determine the cause of the collapse. The church continued to meet in a smaller worship centre, but had to introduce four weekend services to accommodate the congregation of just over 1,000.

Although a proposed class action suit has been withdrawn, around a dozen people injured in the accident are pursuing individual suits against the church, the B.C. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and concert promoters Unite Productions. (B.C. Christian News, MB Herald)

Children's Fund celebrates 50  08.24.2010

MARKHAM, ON—Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) celebrates its 50th anniversary in September. J. Calvitt Clarke, an American Presbyterian minister disheartened by the 10 to 15 million children orphaned as a result of the second Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945), founded the organization, originally named the China Children's Fund, in 1938. Clarke pioneered the idea of allowing donors to support a specific child. The Canadian chapter opened in 1960, when the organization was assisting more than 36,000 children in 50 countries. Today CCF and CCFC are active all over the world in a variety of relief and development capacities. (www.ccfcanada.ca)

Thrifty shopping thrives  08.24.2010

ABBOTSFORD, BC—It's good news for thrifty shoppers in B.C. Many people are upset about the province's recent introduction of the HST—a sales tax that combines the GST and PST into one, raising the price of some items. However, that's not the case in thrift shops such as those operated by Mennonite Central Committee.

Prior to the introduction of the HST, "non-profit thrift shops were required to charge PST on everything except clothing, shoes and a few other miscellaneous items. We did not have to charge GST," says Doug Willms, MCC BC Provincial Thrift Shop Coordinator. "With the introduction of the HST, the PST is essentially eliminated and we no longer have to charge tax on anything. Essentially it means that our customers will save seven per cent on their purchases—that's pretty huge." (BC Mennonite Central Committee)

Homeless lacking health care  08.24.2010

TORONTO, ON—A study by a Toronto doctor finds that one in six of the city's homeless say they need care for a medical condition and haven't been able to get it. Homeless women with dependent children have almost twice as much trouble getting to see a doctor as mothers generally do in Toronto, while 32 per cent of the city's homeless don't have a regular doctor, compared to just nine per cent of the general population. Dr. Stephen Hwang of the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael's Hospital published his study in the August edition of the American Journal of Public Health. Hwang says churches should be part of the solution—helping those on the streets overcome obstacles so they can learn to help themselves.

An estimated 5,000 people a night are homeless in Toronto. (The Catholic Register)

Native leader honoured  08.04.2010

SYDNEY, NS—Terry LeBlanc is the 2010 recipient of the E.H. Johnson Award for contribution to Christian mission. LeBlanc is the executive director of My People International, a holistic, training-focused ministry program with and for Native North Americans, and founder and chair of the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies. He received the award during the annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Past recipients of the E. H. Johnson Award include Elias Chacour, Archbishop of the Melkite Church and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. (Presbyterian Record)

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