MWR : Articles : Jan. 7, 2008

Last updated November 24.

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Articles : Jan. 7, 2008

Considering a life lived for others

Four days before Christmas, a woman I went to high school with was killed in an automobile accident in the West African country of Mali. Though I did not know her as an adult, I had heard from others about some of the work she had been doing with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control — some of the most important work I can imagine someone being called to do in this age of AIDS and looming global pandemics. Her death, an untimely caprice of fate and happenstance that befell her family in the season of joy and celebration, has caused me to ponder what any of us does with this one and only life we have.

Fellowship plants churches in Vietnam, Cambodia

WINNIPEG, Man. — In 10 years and with only nine member congregations, the North American Vietnamese Mennonite Fellowship has helped to plant more than 200 churches in Vietnam and make inroads in neighboring Cambodia.

Zimbabwe churches help distribute MCC aid

AKRON, Pa. — Mennonite Central Committee is helping Zimbabwe’s Brethren in Christ Church distribute seeds to farmers struggling with drought and economic turmoil.

Inspired to pray

One night when I was a child, I had trouble sleeping. The next day I asked my mother what she did when she couldn’t sleep, and her answer surprised me. “I pray,” she responded. More than once her guidance has prompted me to pray, especially in the middle of the night.

Our church’s birthday party

The holidays seem to stretch longer every year as the popularity of pre- and post-Christmas celebrations like Kwanzaa and Three Kings Day grows. I’m excited because my holidays can extend all the way to the end of January, culminating in an Anabaptist birthday bash on Jan. 27.