MWR : Articles : Dec. 15, 2008

Last updated December 10.

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Articles : Dec. 15, 2008

Mission festival shines brightly

While the economy was giving people a reason to avoid asking for money, First Mennonite Church of Berne, Ind., set an ambitious goal for its weeklong mission festival.

A final proclamation of joy to the world

Each Advent we begin a new liturgical year, with its telling of stories familiar and new. We embark again upon a series of re-enactments, beginning with Christ’s first coming, God’s incarnation in the form of a child.

Evangelist reaches marginalized women

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Pastor Kim Huong’s voice is rough. She is only beginning to be able to speak again after five years because of a medical problem in her throat. Yet Huong is a true evangelist. It is difficult to imagine her keeping silent.
Ordination a vote of love for imperfect church

HESSTON, Kan. — The day Michele Hershberger was ordained was far from the beginning of her 20-year ministry as a youth pastor, Bible professor, speaker and author.

Winter’s promise: the coming light

In Texas the sun is always bright, always warm and always present. At least that’s how I chose to remember my home state during my first Chicago winter.

Mission in prison

I commend Gabe Schlabach for his article on offenders coming out of prisons. I am a job specialist with the Kansas Department of Corrections working with a re-entry program in Sedgwick County, Kan. I drive 40 miles at least three times a week to El Dorado Correctional Facility. I prepare inmates for release to the community through facilitating job classes, teaching a new way of thinking, money management and a class on release and reintegration. Some inmates have been locked up for up to 25 years.

Radio ministry founder, women in leadership pioneer dies in Virginia

Ruth Brunk Stoltzfus, who broke new ground in media and ministry, died Dec. 2 at the age of 93 at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Va.
Lancaster leaders praise Vietnamese endurance of persecution

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Nguyen Quang Trung remembers previous years when he invited a handful of Mennonite believers into his home to celebrate Christmas.
Symposium examines evangelical, Anabaptist perspectives

ROSEDALE, Ohio — John D. Roth sees two impulses for renewal in the church today: the growing interest among young people in the Emergent movement, and the move in many churches toward more expressive worship.
Congo church overcomes conflict among leadership

KINSHASA, Congo — Pascal Kulungu spoke jubilantly during a worship service Nov. 26 at the Christian University of Kinshasa.