MWR : Articles : Aug. 4, 2008

Last updated July 23.

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Articles : Aug. 4, 2008

Relevance key to restructuring

In a time when U.S. Christians generally don’t value denominations like they used to, it makes sense for Mennonite Church USA to consider reorganizing for more effective ministry.

MEDA helps farmers till ancestral soil

WATERLOO, Ont. — Forgiveness and farming are coming together in a new Ukraine project of Mennonite Economic Development Associates.
Nazareth Village interest highest ever

NAZARETH, Israel — Two thousand years ago in Galilee, Nathanael demanded of Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip’s reply: “Come and see” (John 2:46).
Play seeks to ensure Anabaptists remember martyr

For many Anabaptists, the story of Dirk Willems is as familiar as that of the Good Samaritan. Others have not heard of him.

Source of donations raises ethical questions

Church is big business these days — quite literally, in some cases. In recent years Mennonite institutions have benefited from millions of dollars that come, ultimately, from a huge pharmaceutical company.

Israeli settlers attack children, CPT members

AT-TUWANI, West Bank — At least three Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian children and two Christian Peacemaker Teams members July 27 as they walked to their village of Tuba.
Mennonite Brethren put evangelism first

HILLSBORO, Kan. — The Mennonite Brethren, born as a revival movement in South Russia in 1860, want to keep a laser-sharp focus on evangelism today.
MCC launches $2-million Iraq humanitarian response

WINNIPEG, Man. — Mennonite Central Committee is launching a $2-million humanitarian crisis response in Iraq.

Powerful words

Eighty-year-old Benjamin Forenz was a lawyer in the Nuremburg (Germany) trials after World War II, trials that insisted that Nazi leaders take responsibility for their actions. Reflecting on his experience in that courtroom, Forenz says that a first step in waging war is to dehumanize “the enemy,” to make the enemy “kill-able.” And that’s the job of words.

College’s racial integration

In December of 1967, Bethel College students stepped into a first for their campus. A dance was held for young women and men, not square or folk dancing, but the kind of couples-oriented dancing usually prohibited by Mennonite communities at the time. George Rogers, an African-American student from Chicago, was there and remembers black and white students dancing together.