by Loreena Thiessen
Green is the colour of summer. Look around. You will see green everywhere. Look up into the trees, a canopy, or cover of leaves shades you from the hot sun. Look down at the green grass soft and cool under your feet. Look at the garden filled with growing green vegetables, and each growing flower that has lush green leaves accompanying it. Plants and flowers need green leaves in order to live.
By Gerald Reimer
Our conference is engaged in numerous Canadian church planting initiatives among recent immigrants. For many of us, we are already fourth or fifth generation immigrants, pointing back to the late 19th century when our ancestors arrived. Continue reading The Great and Creative Commission
Central Asia—We love the Evangelical Mennonite Conference! We value the connections we have made over the years in the EMC. We appreciate the staff and the leaders and the members from so many different backgrounds. And so, when we started the process of moving into a new ministry overseas, we knew we wanted to keep connected with the EMC. Continue reading Why Associate as an Associate?
By Kevin Wiebe
We have all experienced it. We trusted someone, believed in them, and made ourselves vulnerable in some way to their choices—and they let us down. This, of course, is painful. When it happens enough times, or when the pain is severe enough, it causes us to question whether we can even continue having this relationship. Continue reading When Trust Was Broken
By Janice Imrie
CREIGHTON, Sask.—At NFC, we had some additional surprises this year, beyond the pandemic. We have battled water, seepage and sewer back-up in our basement for numerous years. These chronic problems led to the inward bulging of two walls in our basement. We had come to our wits end. Continue reading NFC Releases Building to Northern Growing Abilities
by Andrew Dyck
In truth, we are all on this particular journey, though it seems she is further along than my family and I anticipated. Or hoped. As cancer wreaks its havoc unseen, she is confined to bed, where she has spent the last three months. It is appropriate to call this time bittersweet, as shock of her terminal diagnosis has been accompanied by rich time together during her final days. I treasure all the conversations with my mother, holding onto them as unexpected gifts never again to be taken for granted. We have talked about deep matters of faith, memories of a life lived together, poked fun at my dad’s expense and bemoaned the Winnipeg Jets’ leaky team defense. Big things, small things, and everything in between. Continue reading My Mom is Dying
There’s a small window through which we see life
True for everyone, truer still for her
It’s passing by, picking up speed, slowing to a stop
Stillness is mandatory, restlessness inevitable
Despite it all, love shines through
From the space of her bed she sees it, feels it
In the way the birds flitter outside her window
The way their song reaches through the glass,
muffled and persistent
The Valentine’s and cards and declarations of love
that hang from the slats of the blinds
Her family, constant and present with a cup of water,
a kind word, a gentle hug
Her steadfast companion, staying true to his vows,
in sickness and health
It’s present in the petals of the flowers coming in a
constant parade of changing colours
In every bite of food brought to lighten the load
and fortify the body and soul for the journey to come
How everyone comes together,
even when physically, they can’t
The window through which we see life is small
True for everyone, truer still for her
But somehow, love shines through
By Tim Dyck
This winter marks the two-year anniversary of Brenda’s initial bout with cancer. Throughout 2018, she endured an operation, chemotherapy and radiation on the road to her recovery. Yet recently, we have learned that her cancer has returned, and there is no curative treatment available. She is now at home, in palliative care, and is restricted to her bed because the cancer has already damaged her spine. We (her family) are blessed to have her home from the hospital, but we recognize that her immediate future is one of more sickness, more hardship, separation, and eventually death. Continue reading Can We Be Thankful?
By Erica Fehr, GT Editor
This weekend—this year—isn’t a time for emotional detachment. It’s been a year of death, of separation and profound misunderstandings. And now it’s the Easter weekend—a time of death, of separation and profound misunderstandings.
We’re right to grieve.
In spite of the hope we have—and we do have such incredible hope—it’s right to grieve.
In this issue we are sharing a little bit of what members of our staff are facing. Continue reading We are right to grieve
