MWR : Articles : Aug. 18, 2008

Last updated November 24.

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Articles : Aug. 18, 2008

When Christians forgive Christians

Forgiveness is complicated enough when one person tries to forgive another who has wronged him or her. It is even more complex when whole groups of people ask forgiveness for wrongs they did not personally commit.

Ugandan speaks for abducted children

AKRON, Pa. — Angelina Atyam speaks from experience when describing the human toll of the long-running conflict in northern Uganda: her daughter, Charlotte, was abducted at the age of 14 and held captive for nearly eight years by a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Photos tell story of Old Colony in Texas

NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — Laura Camden has been fascinated by Amish and Mennonites from a young age. Her journalistic curiosity led her into a particular kind of Mennonite world.
Stitching the world together

CONSTANTINE, Mich. — The Florence Church of the Brethren-Mennonite congregation is stitching the world together, one quilt at a time.

Goshen ASL prof interprets for Obama

GOSHEN, Ind. — When Sen. Barack Obama came to Concord High School in Elkhart for a presidential campaign town hall meeting Aug. 6, thousands of people wanted to hear his every word.

With new attitudes, Middle East peace is possible

American Christians need changed attitudes about the Holy Land. After visiting with Israeli and Palestinian people and groups from Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities working for nonviolence, I am confident a Middle East peace is possible, if only the people living there are allowed to work toward reconciliation.

Living prayerfully

Prayer is the engine that powers effective living. Start by breathing deeply. Turn your thoughts God-ward. Be nourished by quietness. Prayer is the universal conscious effort to commune with the divine. (Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson says that as he grows older he uses fewer and fewer words in prayer.)

Relations often go untended

With an emphasis on becoming more mission-focused, Mennonites are moving away from a distinct separation between the roles of pastors and church members. We are rediscovering mutual ministry as modeled by the early church.

Bold belief: an invisible God

When it came to issues of religion, the ancient Hebrew people were at a distinct disadvantage. Others had gods they could see and touch. Those gods were present and always available.

Church-speaking in tongues

Next time you’re bored from one too many conference reports, try playing a round of Conference Speak. This new game, invented by my friend David Charles, is better than Sudoku.

Beyond cherishing treasure

Minnesota megachurch pastor Greg Boyd told a group of Mennonite Church USA leaders this spring to “cherish your treasure.” Boyd, the author of Myth of a Christian Nation, has been mingling among Anabaptists and our theology.

A moving summer

If two Depression-era children grow up, marry and have four children of their own and hundreds of students, many of them “foreign,” what happens after their 55 years together?