Mennonite Church Canada Assembly and the People's Summit

The Mennonite Church Canada Assembly and the People's Summit was encouraging, challenging, informative. It was in Winnipeg - July 7-10. After the Canadian business meeting, a North American gathering for fellowship and learning took place. The major themes included "Care for God's Creation", and the unveiling of the results of "The Pastor Trends Survey".

There are 6 photos below that represent these priorities: worship, work, fellowship, fun, the future and teaching.

Next year the adult assembly will be in Saskatoon from June 5-7. The youth assembly will be in Caronport, SK from July 6-10. And remember the great opportunity to go to Paraguay for the Mennonite World Conference, July 14-19, 2009.

The Sunshine Coast Route

Okay, so this is the story of another motorcycle ride.

Diane and I took a short 4 - day vacation this past weekend (August 8-11). We went on our motorcycle to the Sunshine Coast, then crossed the ferry from Powell River to Comox, taking the Oceanside Route all the way down to Victoria. We actually have no motorcycle pictures, but I'm including the view of one of our B & B's and the view from another B & B.

I remember the winding road from Pender Harbour to the Earl's Cove ferry from a car trip some years ago. I got a headache; but I also said that this would be an amazing trip on a motorcycle, and so it was. The weather was great. I would encourage anyone to make this trek in mid-summer. Riding between the mountains and the ocean takes your breath away.

MCBC Motorcycle Ride

Wow!! What a great time. 20 bikes and 23 riders went on a tour around the backroads of the Lower Mainland on Saturday, July 26th. Seven bikes with eight riders left from the Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, parking lot at 8:00 am. It was very cool to pull into the Columbia Bible College parking lot to see a row of 13 motorcycles awaiting our arrival.

After a word of prayer, we were on our way, riding down to Huntingdon Road and then following the back roads along the south side of the Fraser Valley. We went through Yarrow, and stopped at Cultus Lake for ice cream. After Cultus, we continued on backroads around the east side of Chilliwack and crossed over the #1 Highway on Annis Road. It was neat to come right up to the foot of the mountains on several occasions and then turn to continue our trek. We went through Rosedale and ended up at the Wildcat Cafe for lunch - just on the north side of Minter Garden (great food, by-the-way).

After lunch we went through Agassiz and up to Harrison Hot Springs. We skirted around the bottom of Harrison Lake and stopped up at Sasquatch Provincial Park to enjoy the beauty and cool off a bit.

Then we were led by Len and Cheryl Dyck, of Cedar Valley Mennonite Church in Mission, on some more amazing back roads - taking Sylvester Road and riding to their church from the north side. Cheryl had a snack prepared for us. The Vancouver riders said goodbye to the the Valley riders at Cedar Valley. We continued on back to Vancouver - for the most part on Dewdney Trunk Road - going up to Stave Lake and following the Barnet Highway around the north side of Burnaby Mountain. Our last leg of the journey included a view of Burrard Inlet. Once we hit Boundary Road, we stopped to bid farewell to each other and headed in our separate ways, returning to our homes around 5:30 pm.

It was a great time of meeting folks from a number of different MCBC congregations from around the Lower Mainland. We plan to do another ride next summer - maybe to the Island.

Pray for Zimbabwe

Deborah Froese, Interim PrayerNet Coordinator, sent this urgent prayer concern last week. Since then the opposition leader has withdrawn due to escalating violence against his supporters. Inspite of no opposition, the election is still apparently going ahead today. Please pray.

Dear Friends and fellow pray-ers,

Since the last issue of PrayerNet was distributed, Mennonite Church Canada and the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) have issued an urgent call for intercessory prayer on behalf of Zimbabweans as they face a tense run-off election on June 27. (MWC 2006 statistics count over 33,000 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ members in Zimbabwe.) MC Canada Witness workers Dan Nighswander and Yvonne Snider-Nighswander will be in Zimbabwe as deacons for the MWC community for two weeks surrounding the election period. For your convenience, we have attached a PDF copy of this request that has been formatted to include in your church bulletin.



Urgent call to Intercession

Please note June 26 and 27 on your calendar. Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and Mennonite Church Canada are calling for prayer and fasting on those dates to support Zimbabweans as they face a tense run-off election on June 27.

Dan Nighswander and Yvonne Snider-Nighswander, MC Canada Witness workers in South Africa, have been blessed by MC Canada to serve as deacons of the MWC community during that time. They will provide encouragement to Bishop Ndlovu, MWC president-elect and leader of the Brethren in Christ Church in Zimbabwe (BICCZ), Bishop Ndlovu’s family, pastors and others under stress.

Dan and Yvonne have specifically asked for prayers for wisdom during this time of uncertainty. Please also pray:
– that God will intervene in a visible way to end the violence and suffering that have afflicted Zimbabwe;
– that the churches of Zimbabwe will be signs of God’s love and justice in the midst of this struggle;
– that those who have been intimidated will be able to exercise their right to vote without further threat;
– that election monitors will be permitted to play a credible role to assure integrity and lack of violence at polling stations;
– that the government in power will allow honest results to be reported;
– that, whatever the election results, the government in power will agree to come to the table with opposition political leaders, military and security forces, and church and civil society organizations to map out a workable path for the future of the country;
– that African and United Nations leaders will play a strong and clear role in pressing for the above outcomes.

Mennonite World Conference is a communion (Koinonia) of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness.

A Motorcycle Ride

Well, I have been talking about pulling together an MCBC motorcycle ride for some time. I guess I better come through with it. I am setting the day for July 26th. I am now looking for bikers. Please call me or email me if you are going to participate.

This is what I am thinking. A group could start in the Vancouver area (say from the Peace Mennonite Church parking lot in Richmond). We could take some back roads to Abbotsford and join a Valley group (say at the CBC parking lot). From there we would take some nice back roads along the south side of the Valley, going around Chilliwack and continuing on back roads and crossing the bridge to Agassiz. We could then work our way back on the No. 7 highway. We would work out some good places to stop for coffee breaks and lunch.

All bikers who can do highway speed are welcome - cruisers, sport bikes, touring bikes or any kind of bike you may have.


I'll throw in a couple pictures of mine (a Yamaha V-Star 650). When you reply include a picture of your bike. I can post it too.

Photos from the Palestine-Israel Learning Tour

I have been very busy since the last posting. I have had lots of thoughts about blogs to write, but other priorities have kept crowding them out. I have had several requests to post some photos from my trip to Palestine and Israel, so I will do that.

While there was much learning to do, walking into the Garden Tomb area, and then having the empty tomb appear before my eyes, was the highlight of my trip. I am posting 3 photos: one from a distance (my first sighting), one close up and one inside (showing the actual place where it is believed that the body of Jesus lay.)
















Our time up in Galilee was amazing. I echo many others who have said this line, but it is true, "I will never read my Bible the same again." By this I mean that being in the places where Jesus was gives a context for the things he said and did.

I have a whole new appreciation of Capernaum. I hadn't noted that Jesus loved being there so much. This is likely because it was the place where Peter lived.













To see the ruins of the synagogue in Capernaum and of Peter's house was amazing. Then to go back to the Bible and read texts from these places was very cool; for example, Luke 4:31-44















There is much, much more to be said, but I will just leave you with one image of the current dynamics of the relationship of the people of Palestine and Israel. It is the wall. I could not believe that in this day of international awareness, a 30 foot wall was being built to divide two peoples. I, along with many Palestinians and Jews, pray that there may be a way to reconcile these peoples so that they may co-exist in this land in peace.

Happy Mother's Day

This is wishing all mothers a blessed day. May those who are close to you make your day special.

Some of you may recall that my mother had a brain aneurism on December 26th. She had emergency surgery and has since gone through much hospital care and therapy. She has improved much and we are very thankful, but she is now in a nursing home. She first went to a nursing home in a neighbouring town, but as of yesterday, our prayers were answered. She was moved to the Rosthern Mennonite Nursing Home. She is now in her home town where Dad, her sisters and brothers, neighbours and church friends can easily visit her. She also knows many others who are resident there. There is an assisted living facility, called Pineview, attached and her sister is living there. In fact, Dad is on a short list for getting into Pineview. It seems as though Dad may be able to get a room there within the next month. In Mom and Dad's situation, this is truly the best case scenario. The wonderful thing is that they have not fought any of this, but accepted the realities of their situation. In fact, yesterday when I was speaking with my Dad, he suggested that this may be his last year of driving, and was imagining people with whom he might get rides to church. Remember that he is 90.

Just a brief word on my trip to Palestine-Israel. People have asked what the highlight of the trip was. While the whole trip was a highlight, and everything we did left a powerful impact, I have three things I would lift out. Remember, this trip was a learning tour sponsored and hosted by MCC (Mennonite Central Committee), so it was an opportunity to see the holy sites, but also to see the realities of life in that region. The first highlight was seeing the empty tomb - the place where we believe Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. Second was the incredible hospitality of the Palestinian people in the West Bank, especially in Bethlehem. Third was a very hopeful sign in the midst of tragedy, and for this I quote one of my fellow travellers, Donita Wiebe-Neufeld, who wrote this as part of her response to an article in the Calgary Herald regarding the 60th anniversary of the formation of the state of Israel (May 14th, 2008). "The most moving, and hopeful meeting we had was with the Parents Circle. www.parentscircle.org This group is made up of bereaved families supporting peace, reconciliation, and tolerance. Aisha is a Muslim woman who lost her brother to an Israeli attack. Robi is a secular Jew, who lost her son, a soldier, when he was shot by a Palestinian sniper. Together, the women speak to groups about their losses and the understanding that violence does not solve problems, but good relationships might. Unfortunately, the increasing segregation of the two peoples is making it almost impossible for them to see each other and to spread their humanizing message."