The Messenger Vol. 50 No. 3 March 2012

The Messenger

50 years of instructing the EMC!

Volume 50 No. 3 March 2012

Abortion: are we unaware?

p. 12

Also inside: BICENTENNIAL FEATURE

Keeping Christ in our Christianity p. 6

Creation: God can handle our questions p. 9

Editorials

Has the Bicentennial been mentioned?

I

briefly reported on happenings within the wider EMC prior to giving the sermon at Riverton Gospel Chapel on Jan. 29.

The report was packed with information, but later Frank Gustaw, a retired teacher, said he had expected the EMC Bicentennial would be mentioned. What a glaring oversight on my part!

How could this happen? The national office has been working with the Bicentennial Committee’s event planning for months.

Activities are in process. Notices have been sent, ads are being prepared, and articles are being written. The Bicentennial is frequently on my mind each week—but not at Riverton.

Celebrating the EMC’s 200th anniversary is

Members, delegates, and pastors have key roles to play in celebrating the anniversary.

dependent, in part, on keen observers such as Frank Gustaw. Members, delegates, and pastors have key roles to play in celebrating the anniversary locally and wider.

Within local, regional, and national involvements there will be many times to give Christ glory throughout the EMC’s year of celebration.

Without it, we will miss many opportunities.

All 62 churches from B.C. to Ontario owe each other a debt of love (Romans 13:8). Though our memory fails us at times, the reality doesn’t change.

Yes, our indebtedness to Christ and His Church exceeds even the boundaries of the EMC, Mennonite World Conference, and World Evangelical Alliance. Jesus, however, said those who can be trusted to be faithful in big things show this in their attitude toward small things (Luke 16:10).

Isn’t this reason enough to be thankful for the Kleine Gemeinde turned EMC—a small (kleine) thing indeed?

– Terry M. Smith

••

Happy anniversary, SBC!

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or 75 years an institution has trained teachers, leaders, and members within various Mennonite conferences and is now celebrating during its 2011–2012 academic year. Can you name it?

Actually, three names would be needed: Steinbach Bible School, Steinbach Bible Institute, and Steinbach Bible College (maybe four, Steinbach Bible Academy). The varying names reflect different points in its history.

Though Bible classes to train teachers for Sunday School were held in Steinbach, Man., from 1931 to 1935, it was in 1936 that continuous training began. While Mennonite Brethren ministers were early leaders, the school came to be administered by an interdenominational board and classes were open to members of any Mennonite conference.

In 1960 the EMC proposed to administer the school and change it from “an interdenominational school to a church school.” The board declined, preferring that it “remain an interdenominational school serving all churches.”

2 The Messenger • March 2012

SBC is governed by the EMMC, Chortitzer Mennonite Conference, and EMC—and benefits by having a gifted president from within the MB conference.

Across Canada are many cherished Bible colleges with histories of equal dedication, struggle, and accomplishment within local churches, denominations, and wider. Today, EMCers are no longer isolated and SBC has become one fine choice among many.

What does SBC do that other colleges cannot?

It is a church ministry-centred college that connects students more directly with the denominations it serves. Is there value in this? Yes. Times change, but SBC retains a special role.

Happy Anniversary, SBC! – Terry M. Smith Source: Training Servant Leaders, Jerry Hildebrand (SBC, 1996).

Table of Contents Features

Departments

6

9

Keeping Christ in our Christianity

page

9

2

Editorials

Bicentennial Feature – Barry Plett

3

Pontius’ Puddle

Creation: God can handle our questions!

17 With Our Missionaries

God speaks with authority in Word and Creation – Ray Hill

12 Abortion: are we unaware?

Walking men and women through the horror of abortion – Fiona Thiessen

4 Letters 19 With Our Churches

page

19

22 Weddings 23 Births 25 News 32 In Memory 32 Calendar 33 Shoulder Tapping

Columns 4

page

Writings Shared

Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship (reviewed by Henry Friesen) and Supportive Care in the Congregation and After We’re Gone (reviewed by Ed Barkman)

15 Archives Alcove

On conscientious affirmation and objection – Terry M. Smith

25

page

6

34 Pictures of God

Something to be grasped – Joanna Enns

35 Stewardship Today

An unsung hero of the church – Sherri Grosz

36 Kids’ Corner

The pond – Loreena Thiessen

page

26

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 3

The Messenger Volume 50, No. 3 March 2012

EDITOR TERRY M. Smith

ASSISTANT EDITOR REBECCA Roman

SUBMISSIONS to The Messenger should be sent to messenger@emconf.ca.

The Messenger is the monthly publication of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference. It is available to the general public.

Its purpose is to inform concerning events and activities in the denomination, instruct in godliness and victorious living, inspire to earnestly contend for the faith.

Letters, articles, photos and poems are welcomed.

Unpublished material is not returned except by request.

Views and opinions of writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the position of the Conference or the editors. Advertising and inserts should not be considered to carry editorial endorsement.

The Messenger is published by the EMC Board of Church Ministries, 440 Main St, Steinbach, Man., and is a member of Meetinghouse and Canadian Church Press.

Subscription rates 1 year $24 ($30 U.S., $45 foreign) 2 years $44 ($55 U.S., $85 foreign) 3 years $65 ($82 U.S., $125 foreign) Manitoba residents add 7% PST. Digital only subscriptions: $15 per year.

Single copy price: $2 Subscriptions are voluntary and optional to people within or outside of the EMC. Subscriptions are purchased by the Conference for members and adherents.

Change of address and subscriptions Undelivered copies, change of address and new subscriptions should be addressed to: 440 Main St, Steinbach, MB R5G 1Z5 Phone: 204-326-6401 Fax: 204-326-1613 E-mail: messenger@emconf.ca www.emconference.ca/messenger Second-class postage paid at Steinbach, Manitoba.

ISSN: 0701-3299 Publications Mail Agreement Number: 40017362 We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage for our publishing activities.

Advertising The Messenger does not sell advertising, but provides free space (classified and display) to enhance our Conference, its churches, boards, and ministries; inter-Mennonite agencies and educational institutions; and the wider church. Ads and inquiries should be sent to messenger@emconf.ca.

THE Messenger schedule: NO. 4 – May 2012 issue (copy due April 20)

4 The Messenger • March 2012

Letters Long periods of time unnecessary

Regarding My journey from creationism to the creation (February 2012): The catastrophes, floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes that have taken place in recent memory have only reinforced my belief in the young earth theory.

Catastrophe can be defined as a violent upheaval occurring over a short period of time.

The world-wide geological events such as craters produced by meteorites, sudden shift in the axis of the earth, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Pacific Ring of Fire, Noah’s Flood, and the Ice Age would make long periods of time unnecessary.

The Word of God is the ultimate Law of the Universe. God said, and it was so. Man’s thoughts about the universe (science) run the gamut from sheer speculation to nearly one hundred percent of what is actually true.

There will always be a gap between science and what actually exists (nature).

– Werner Wiebe Steinbach, Man.

Encouraged in my walk with God

I wish to express my gratitude and appreciation for Ray Hill’s most recent contribution [My journey from creationism to the creation, February 2012] to The Messenger. His article encouraged me in my walk with God and handled a sensitive subject with grace and wisdom.

See though Christians cannot always agree, the reality remains that “all truth is God’s truth.” We need not shy away from scientific inquiry nor from respectful dialogue with those with whom we disagree, for “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). I look forward with anticipation to the next edition of The Messenger and part 2 of Ray’s article.

– Scott Koop Calgary, Alta.

Columns • writings shared Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship, ed. Joanna Shenk (Herald Press, 2011), 225 pp. $14.99 USD. ISBN 9780836195583. Reviewed by Henry Friesen (The ConneXion, Arborg, Man.), former member of the EMC Board of Church Ministries.

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idening the Circle is a provocative collection of anecdotal reviews by participants in various intentional communities throughout North America.

The result is a fascinating and wideranging insight into the experience of following Christ in community.

The stories are written with unusual transparency, recounting successes, but not shying away from acknowledging painful disappointments.

The contexts of the communities are varied: racial diversity; issues of economic/social justice (e.g., homelessness); struggles with theological differences. Each community attempts to work out the implications of radical discipleship in the face of their particular challenges.

Several stories from the American south of the 1950s and ’60s are concerned with issues of racial segregation. Participants in a

Columns • writings shared Colorado community experienced repeated incarceration for demonstrating against military establishments.

The language of Empire and alternative vision, employed by several writers, made the allusion to earlier heroes (e.g., writers of our scriptures) impossible to ignore, and convincingly demonstrated that sharp challenges to the status quo will be unavoidable for Christ-followers.

Other reflections were explicit in their critique of the American Dream as incompatible

with authentic participation in the kingdom of God (several writers delineated a noteworthy distinction between charity and justice). Whatever one’s final evaluation regarding the merit of such critique, the integrity of the accounts rooted in the life of people who live the values implicit in the critique makes a receptive reading eminently worthwhile.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in stories of real life experiences of following Christ in community.

Supportive Care in the Congregation, Dean Preheim Bartel, Aldred H. Neufeldt, Paul D. Leichty, Christine J. Guth. (Herald Press, rev. 2011), 100 pp. $8.99. ISBN 9780836195729 and After We’re Gone, Duane Ruth-Heffelbower (Herald Press, 2011), 80 pp. $8.99. ISBN 9780836195651. Reviewed by Ed Barkman (Fort Garry), CEO of EnVision Community Living, “a multi-faceted agency supporting people with intellectual disabilities through residential, day program, and vocational training/employment services in Steinbach and southeastern Manitoba.”

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wenty-five years ago Preheim, Bartel, and Neufeld set out a model of care and support for people with significant intellectual and other disabilities in the church.

That initial work has now been updated.

The model envisions a multi-talented, longterm committed, and caring group of people organized to mobilize the congregation, as well as other community resources for the care and support of the person with a disability.

It recognizes that much of the day to day support needed may be provided by government and other agencies, but also recognizes that being a vital part of a community can best be provided in the context of a compassionate faith community.

While the model proposed may be more ambitious than most congregations will undertake, the challenge presented in 1986 has had an enormous impact on families, churches, agencies and people with disabilities.

One of the most widespread and life-changing effects has been the formation of “support circles.” The support circle, made up of interested and committed friends, takes on the task of regular social contact with the disabled person.

Each person commits to a manageable schedule of contact, but cumulatively the impact is phenomenal; creating a sense of belonging, creating a network of caring friends., providing interesting social and learning opportunities, and providing much needed relief for parents and siblings..

If you’re a pastor, deacon, elder, parent/sibling/friend of a person with a disability, take two hours to read this little book and give yourself the opportunity to be challenged to undertake a journey that could revolutionize the life of someone in your congregation.

A small companion booklet After We’re Gone

by Duane Ruth-Heffelbower is also recommended for parents with a son or daughter with a permanent disability. While local legal/social service systems vary from province to province, this is an excellent “primer” on setting up a longterm legal and financial framework to provide care for the son or daughter even after the parents have passed away.

Being a vital part of a community can best be provided in the context of a compassionate faith community.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 5

Keeping

Christ in our Christianity

by Barry Plett

6 The Messenger • March 2012

For 250 years these early believers, refined by opposition and persecution, focused on the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. But because of the role of Emperor Constantine in bringing Christianity from the margins and establishing it as an institution married to the Empire, the centre of Christianity changed. From emphasizing the resurrected Jesus’ teachings, lifestyle, and transforming power, the Church changed to emphasizing the creeds and outer structures of faith.

A century later the emphasis introduced by Augustine, whom many Calvinists see as the forerunner of the Reformation, may, in fact, have further buried the centrality of Jesus’ life in Christianity. By placing so much emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Church by default underemphasized the life and ministry of Jesus. The Apostles’ Creed, developed during this time, for example, omits the teaching and ministry of Jesus.

For the next thousand years the Church emphasized sacraments and rituals. Many would argue that this lack of focus on the lifestyle of Jesus or the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is what led to the moral decline and loss of holiness in the Medieval Church.

This depravity set the stage for 16th century Reformers Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli and for Radical Reformers as well. The call for sola scriptura (scripture alone) and sola fide (faith alone) were important and necessary corrections. Luther emphasized salvation as primarily receiving eternal life through forgiveness

Prosperity and tension

In 1812, after years of successful farming and numerical expansion in Russia, tension developed in the church over appropriate lifestyle choices. Klaas Reimer eventually gathered enough support to form a separate congregation within the existing colonies. Though we might prefer to look back at the Kleine Gemeinde’s split as a return to focus on Christ, we have to admit that the reasons, from our vantage point, seem quite external.

A struggle of lifestyle

Throughout our short Anabaptist history, the emphasis on Jesus’ lifestyle has made it easy to focus primarily on outward, visible activities.

The tendency then has been to draw up rules and regulations about what activities constitute worldliness, pride, or too much participation with government.

The unofficial list of “do’s and don’ts” of a particular church or pastor have often dominated the content of pulpit sermons in our short history. For the Kleine Gemeinde, large parts of the 20th century have been a struggle to determine what an outward “Jesus lifestyle” should look like.

As we attempt to remain focused on Jesus, and to transplant His concepts and principles here 2,000 years later, we need to acknowledge our limitations and our reliance on the Holy Spirit. While we study scripture and seek to be faithful to the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus, it remains difficult to evaluate ourselves and how well we are doing—it is like a police force doing an internal investigation.

It is always easier to evaluate past issues because we have reference points both prior to 

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NG 2 0 0 Y

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Two influences

and being justified before a holy and demanding God. For Anabaptists, though, this ignored the call to a new way of life.

Through their study of scripture, Anabaptist leaders insisted on going back to Jesus and the first disciples for their frame of reference. They saw the principles Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount as normative for the Christian life.

Though they affirmed the Apostles’ Creed and agreed often with Luther, they preferred to talk about being “born again” or “following after” rather than “justified by faith.” While salvation was by God’s grace, they believed it also called for obedience to Jesus’ lifestyle, which would transform a person’s moral, social and economic life.

AT I

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I

t might be justifiable, from our vantage point looking back on history, to see the Reformation as bringing Christ back into Christianity.

From when Jesus brought his identity into focus by asking, “Who do you say that I am?” to the present, we can observe broad variations and considerable meandering in how the church understood the centrality of Jesus. Within this diversity stands the Anabaptist Church with a distinct, albeit often quiet, voice on the compelling presence of Jesus.

There was little doubt in the Early Church about Jesus’ role as the centre of faith and life.

For those who had the privilege of literally walking alongside Jesus and who observed the explosive Church growth after His ascension, it was hard to miss Jesus as Master of Life.

BR

emc 1812 ~ 2012

For the Kleine Gemeinde, large parts of the 20th century have been a struggle to determine what an outward “Jesus lifestyle” should look like.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 7

A changed world is a result of changing the focus of the world to the One by Whom it consists or is held together.

 and after. Throughout history people react or

respond to the past and seek to correct what they see as an excess or imbalance in theology or emphasis. What we cannot accurately predict is what aspect of Jesus Christ will be the next emphasis or what will be its effect on the Church.

We must admit that, as we try to correct past imbalances, we risk creating excesses or an overemphasis that the next generation will need to correct. But, if people in future generations study the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to work, we have every confidence that God will manage and refine the qualities of His Church.

Keep Jesus central!

We must keep Jesus Christ as the central and compelling person in our faith. We must allow Him to shape our call, community, interpretation of scripture, sacrifice, and mission. If we lose this Christ-centred focus, we lose the Faith itself.

Some people may think that the Faith is mainly about theological propositions: if we can dot our theological t’s and cross our dogmatic i’s, and if we have solid biblical backing for our position, we can sit back smugly waiting for His return.

Or if we just capture that “greater experience,” that feeling close to God, or that filling of the Spirit, we will have reached the summit of Christianity. Or, if we can just get into the right church, with the perfect community of saints who love God and each other, we have arrived spiritually.

Intelligent people often get pulled into a dogmatically-centred faith. Emotional people often get pulled into an experience-centred faith. (P. Andrew Sandlin, Christian Reader).

History, doctrine, experience, and community are essential to the Faith, but they are not the Faith. Jesus Christ Himself is the Faith. This

8 The Messenger • March 2012

is why the New Testament apostles relentlessly preached faith in the crucified, risen Lord and obedience to his teaching as humankind’s only hope.

From this focus on Jesus Christ come changed individuals who live differently within their families, churches, and communities. The combined effect of many changed people will change nations and civilizations; it happened in the first three centuries after Christ and it can happen still today. The worldwide transformation predicted by Old Testament prophets is the result of a worldwide Christ-centredness.

The answer to the world’s evil and sin is not shrewd, glossy evangelistic or political strategies; or more precise, academic theology; or greater Christian emotion and experience.

A changed world is a result of changing the focus of the world to the One by Whom it consists or is held together: “All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:17–18).

Barry Plett, BRS, BEd., is the senior pastor of Blumenort EMC in southern Manitoba. He has also served as a school teacher in Manitoba and (while on a pastoral sabbatical) in Cambodia.

Source: Palmer Becker, What is an Anabaptist Christian? Mennonite Mission Network, 2008.

Part 2 of 2

Creation: God can handle our questions!

by Ray Hill

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hen we look at the Creation account in Scripture, it is important to do so with an open mind—to ask questions, not to be gullible.

I look through the eyes of someone with a scientific background and an inquisitive mind. God speaks with authority both in his Word and in the physical record of Creation (Romans 1:20). Both languages overlap and say the same thing.

An uncomfortable agreement

Does science speak of a specific creation event and time? The answer is a resounding yes. Evidence points to a starting date for the expanding universe of about 12 billion years ago.

The Big Bang agrees with the Bible even in some details. The universe began with a flood of photons (light) according to scientific theory. What is the first thing created by God? Light! (Genesis 1:3).

Dr. Robert Jastrow, a nuclear physicist who worked with NASA and an admitted agnostic, says scientists by their methods have confirmed that the universe was started as an act of creation. He said the scientist “is about to conquer the highest peak” only to be “greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” 

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 9



Genesis 1 causes as much consternation for the unbelieving scientist as does science for the literal creationist. There is an uncomfortable agreement between the Bible and science. I find the situation deliciously ironic.

A look at Gen. 1 and 2 shows the creation account divides into sections: 1:1–2

the introduction

1:3–31 the six days of creation 2:1–3

the Sabbath

2: 4–25 humankind entering God’s rest (shalom) in the Garden 3: 1–24 the fall and judgment The theory of Catastrophism says the Earth was formed but laid waste, accounting for fossils and the apparent long ages in the geologic record. It takes a linear reading of Gen. 1:1–31 and then attempts to fit scientific data with it.

However, Gen. 1:1–2 do not fit into the sequence. Rather than catastrophe, it simply states that God created with the Spirit as the agent without Whom the earth would have been formless.

Does the creation account fit with what the scientific record says? Its flow is strongly confirmed by what God tells us in the geologic record.

However, the answer is not a total yes. The creation order follows well with scientific theory except that the sun, moon and stars are not created till the fourth day, after the plants are created.

Neither science nor the Bible is wrong. A literal, linear understanding of the creation account may not be intended. Gen. 1 may not be intended as a scientific account of creation.

Do the six days need to be literal 24-hour days or is there is another meaning behind “day”? Gen. 2:4 speaks of the “day when God created the heavens and the earth.”

time created by His living Word.

Gen. 2 starts at the beginning and seems like a second creation account. Genesis 1 says plants were made before people, yet in Genesis 2 it looks like God makes man, then the garden.

Do not be disturbed—it is a different part of the story.

Did God form a man much as we would model a figure from “play-clay”? Did He model organs and cells?

Gen. 2:7 says simply that man was formed from the “dust of the ground.” Being a chemist, I would say that we are made from the elements of the Earth. There is nothing in our bodies that is not in dust (Gen. 3:19).

How then did God do it? How long did it take? It doesn’t say.

The point

What is the important point in this passage? It is that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of

Genesis 1 causes as much consternation for the unbelieving scientist as does science for the literal creationist.

The process

Gen. 1, though, leaves me filled with awe at what God outside of

10 The Messenger • March 2012

life and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). God’s spirit in us sustains life and gives us the ability to create as He does.

How long exactly the process took and in what steps are not major concerns. God may have breathed the spirit of life into a lump of clay or into an ape-like creature that had taken eons to evolve from the Earth’s dust.

Scientists who study tools of ancient people say that something happened to humankind about 40,000 years ago. Tools had not changed much over many millennia, but suddenly toolmaking became more creative.

Intelligence seemingly overnight went from barely more than ape-like to that of modern man. It was so sudden that it may have started with one individual. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Study of the human genome sheds light on our ancestry. We share mitochondrial DNA from a woman who lived about 150,000 years ago. Science calls her “Eve” (Gen. 3:20). All males share the Y chromosome DNA of a man from about 60,000 years ago, who is nicknamed “Adam.”

These dates come from the regular rate of mutations in DNA, so they are reasonably reliable. Science agrees with the Bible’s assertion that we have a common ancestor (Acts 17:26), though the dates don’t match.

More questions

In Gen. 2:9 we read that the Garden contained the Tree of Life. Some believe that when Adam and Eve were created, they would live forever. Yet this Tree of Life enables the one who eats of it to live forever (Gen. 3:22).

What is its purpose if they already were to live forever? The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9) raises another issue: it implies that Adam was aware of the presence of good and evil.

The story of Eve’s forming is odd. In Genesis 1:27 humankind is created “male and female.”

God created all the animals male and female to reproduce. He knew Adam’s needs, yet Genesis 2:18 seems to say that only later does God realize Adam’s need for a mate. How can this be?

Perhaps we are missing something. Is the story’s goal to convey the biology of Eve’s making—or to confirm our need for a relationship

that goes beyond procreation?

Such need stems from the Godhead—Father, Son and Spirit in close communion and dependence on each other.

We miss the point if we focus only on the mechanics of creation.

It would be like trying to explain to our children where they came from without starting, “Because Mommy and Daddy love each other....”

Another question: is evil present in the world before Adam sinned? It is, if Satan can fool the man who named the animals (Gen. 3:1–6).

Evil attacks the heart of creation, what God called “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Satan dismantled the relationships between the man and woman and then between the man and his Creator.

Was there death on the Earth before humankind sinned? How did Adam understand the warning, “If you eat of it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17) if he had not already seen it?

A last question: where is Eden? It is described as a real place, a place of Shalom. I don’t know or care about its physical location, but at the end of this age we will be there together again through the blood of Jesus.

These questions are meant simply to encourage an open discussion—like done by Job. God, our Creator and Redeemer revealed through Jesus Christ our Lord, can handle our questions.

Don’t be afraid to ask.

Science agrees with the Bible’s assertion that we have a common ancestor (Acts 17:26), though the dates don’t match.

Ray Hill, BEd., MSc., is a retired senior high school teacher. Since 1987 he has served as the assistant pastor in MacGregor EMC (Man.). He is also a member of the EMC Board of Church Ministries, where he serves on its Education Committee.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 11

Abortion: are we unaware?

by Fiona Thiessen

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he Allies who first came into Germany after the Second World War discovered something shocking and gruesome on that soil. They personally walked through concentration camps. Their trauma must have been severe.

These soldiers must also have been horrified to realize that many ordinary folk were living near these concentration camps. Could they have been unaware of what was going on only a mile away?

As a “lest we forget” exercise, the Allies brought all the civilians living near the camps, through them. Video footage shows these civilians laughing and chatting as they enter the camps. As they leave, they openly weep.

Walking civilians through

As a missionary at the Crisis Pregnancy Centre in Winnipeg’s West End, I gently “walk men and women through” the horror that abortion will surely be for them. Dr. Anne Speckhard has

12 The Messenger • March 2012

done research on post-abortive stress disorder.

Her work shows that 99% of post-abortive women experience emotional trauma.

Rachel called the Centre crying. Her only words were, “I want my baby back.” She had aborted three weeks earlier. Curtis phoned one evening weeping. His girlfriend had just aborted their baby. All he had were heavy sobs. All she had was emptiness. (All names and some details in stories are changed to protect privacy.)

Abortion is secretive

It is ironic that a culturally acceptable and fully funded form of birth control is shrouded in secrecy. No full disclosure.

Janelle went to a clinic for an abortion.

Her instructions were complex. They included locked doors and security. Janelle told me it was weird and creepy.

A friend of mine attempted to see this place.

Security wouldn’t let him. He was barred any information on its whereabouts.

Leanne told me about spending an hour in a setting where abortions were practiced. She told me it was like a “sick farm, going in the wrong direction.” She was there to abort her 23-weekold fetus.

Some would say she was justified. She felt she was. Leanne had been raped and had only recently discovered she’d become pregnant as a result of the rape.

She despised the baby and wanted it gone.

Leanne told me about all the young girls sitting in that waiting room. She was disgusted by them. She felt that her abortion was justified because she had not been careless. Those young girls, she thought, were just using abortion as birth control.

What abortion is

Leanne confidently believed that aborting a baby at 23 weeks because of rape was justified, but abortions due to convenience were not. But what exactly is abortion?

Health Canada has done a remarkable job of creating a culture that shuns smoking. Walk by any discarded package of cigarettes and you are greeted with a repugnant photo. These photos show examples of the damage cigarette smoke does to the human body. No mystery, only brutal facts.

Part of my training to become a counselor at the Crisis Pregnancy Centre involved viewing the damage that abortion does to a fetus.

The images were so disturbing that many times I simply had to close my eyes. I was as equally repulsed and horrified by aborted nine-week fetuses as I was by aborted 23-week fetuses.

Jill phoned our centre in crisis over an unexpected pregnancy. Later that week, she came to see me in person. She told me that our talk on the phone had really encouraged her to carry her baby to term.

Then she shocked me. Jill had felt such an overwhelming urge to abort, and yet such revulsion at all it implied, that she went to YouTube and forced herself to watch an abortion. Jill told me that she needed to “scare herself out of the temptation to abort.”

Pro-Life groups on campuses across Canada are being shut down and shunned. This is in large part because many are bold enough to show pictures of the damage that abortion does to a fetus.

Does language matter?

Killing a baby. Aborting a fetus. Evacuating the contents of the uterus. Three statements. All describe the identical medical procedure.

The first is shocking, the last benign. When I ask clients to tell me what would be the most difficult thing about going through with an abortion, almost all use the shocking language.

They use words like kill, baby, human, my baby. Mariah told me that she believed abortion was killing a human being. She then emphatically told me that no one but her would ever raise her baby (in response to my enquiries about adoption) and that she was going to abort.

Killing a baby. Aborting a fetus. Evacuating the contents of the uterus. Three statements. The first is shocking, the last benign. Almost all clients use the shocking language.

What do Christians believe?

I once assumed that faith in Christ was synonymous with belief that abortion was breaking the sixth commandment. Perhaps it is. Statistically, however, one in six Christian women is post-abortive.

Nadine came to see me pregnant with her third child. Her story was surprisingly similar to mine.

We both conceived our third children without intending to. We were both married and Christian.

The age gaps between our children were the same. My third had just turned one. Nadine’s third would be aborted.

Mike and his girlfriend came for help. He was a Christian and felt abortion was killing a baby. His mom was a Christian, but she told them to get rid of the problem quickly. Mike was pretty hurt and confused by his mom’s counsel.

Anna and her boyfriend were two of those bright, hopefuls: beautiful, talented, ambitious.

Their unexpected pregnancy changed things.

They were both Christians.

Anna’s boyfriend figured if you aborted “quickly enough,” you weren’t killing a baby.

Anna was strong enough to quietly but persistently suggest another way. She nurtured and protected the new life growing within.

Their little girl is crazy cute. Ring shopping and wedding planning have begun. It may not 

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 13

 have ended this way. Research suggests, and our

own experience with post-abortive counseling confirms, most post-abortive relationships do not survive.

What to do

What is the heart of our Father in regards to the least of these? My heartbreak has compelled me to act for justice, for the unborn, for their parents as well, to turn the hearts of mothers and fathers towards their little ones.

Want to help? Take an hour to watch two challenging and informative films on the topic.

Find the 180movie produced by thewayofthemaster. Then, you can go to www.pregnancy. ca, click “brilliant” and observe a film called “the harder truth.” Be warned: it is a disturbing video of an abortion.

Churches need to talk more about this reality and to offer practical assistance to people in order to help them avoid having an abortion.

The EMC Statement of Faith says, “We believe that God created the human race, both

Abortion polls in Canada In a 2012 poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion, 1001 survey participants across Canada were asked, “Thinking about abortion, which one of these statements comes closest to your own point of view?”

• 51% said, “There should be laws which outline when a woman can have an abortion in Canada.”

• 37% said, “There should be no laws on this matter—a woman should have the unrestricted right to have an abortion at any time up to the moment of birth.”

• 12% said, “Not sure.”

In a 2010 poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion, 1022 survey participants across Canada were asked, “Speaking about abortion in Canada, which of the following do you think is true?”

• 41% said, “A woman can have an abortion only during the first three months of her pregnancy, with no other restrictions.”

• 21% said, “A woman can have an abortion at any time during her pregnancy, with no restrictions whatsoever.”

14 The Messenger • March 2012

male and female, in his own image. We believe, therefore, in the sanctity of all human life, regardless of age, ability or stage of development (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7, 16-17; 3:1-24; John 6:44; Romans 3:23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-10)” (Article 4, The Dignity of the Human Race, emphasis added).

If you are a woman or man who has personally experienced an abortion, please do not view these films. Know that God wants to extend grace and forgiveness to you. He loves you. If you would like to work through your grief, finding hope, healing and forgiveness, please call us at 800-665-0570.

• 15% said, “A woman can only have an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy, and only if her life is in danger, if she has been the victim or rape, or if the fetus has serious defects.”

• 13% said, “Not sure.”

• 10% said, “A woman can have an abortion at any time during her pregnancy, but only if her life is in danger, if she has been the victim of rape, or if the fetus has serious defects.”

In a 2011 poll by Environics, 2000 survey participants across Canada were asked, “Thinking generally, do you think abortion should generally be legal or generally illegal during each of the following stages of pregnancy...first three months...second three months...last three months?”

First three months: • 68% said, “Legal.”

• 26% said, “Illegal.”

• 6% said, “Do not know/No answer.”

Second three months: • 33% said, “Legal.”

• 58% said, “Illegal.”

Fiona Thiessen, BSc., and her husband Steve are leaders in Many Rooms Church Community in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

• 9% said, “Do not know/No answer.”

Third three months: • 16% said, “Legal.”

• 77% said, “Illegal.”

• 7% said, “Do not know/No answer.”

In a 2011 poll by Environics, 2000 survey participants across Canada were asked, “In your opinion, at what point in human development should the law protect human life?

Should it be…?”

• 28% said, “At conception.”

• 17% said, “From 2 months on.”

• 17% said, “From 3 months on.”

• 10% said, “From 6 months on.”

• 20% said, “At birth.”

• 9% said, “Do not know/No answer.”

Excerpted from Abortion Polls in Canada: A Compilation by Topic of Opinion Polling in Canada from 2007–2012 produced by Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The full paper can be downloaded at http://files. efc-canada.net/si/Abortion/AbortionPollingPaperFebruary2012.pdf.

Columns • archives alcove

On conscientious affirmation and objection We believe that God has instituted human government. We also believe that this arrangement of government includes two basic functions: directing the interaction of society and serving as God’s agent of wrath or punishment…We should determine all matters concerning the Christian and the state by carefully interpreting the Scriptures with a deep sensitivity to the moral problems involved (EMC Church Practices, The State).

G

overnment is to “commend” those who do good and cause “fear” in those who do not (Romans 13:3). The Schleitheim Confession (1527) says the sword “punishes and puts to death the wicked, and guards and protects the good.”

On “whether a Christian may or should employ the sword against the wicked for the defence and protection of the good, or for the sake of love,” delegates at Schleitheim, Switzerland, diplomatically said no. This decision was historic, pivotal, controversial.

Our Church Practices gives equal space to the order and wrath roles of government, but how is this displayed in our teaching and lifestyles?

First, what is the government’s legitimate role? Government deserves respect, taxes, and obedience for the “sake of conscience” (Romans 13:5–6).

We need, at times, to be conscientious affirmers.

Second, how do we relate to the government’s proper role as “an agent of wrath”?

How ought it to protect people and punish the guilty?

Third, given mixed opinions, how do we effectively educate about church and state, peace and war?

How mixed are opinions? An MCC draft census showed among Mennonite groups in the U.S., “as of December 1, 1944, 45.9 per cent went

to CPS (Civilian Public Service), 14.5 per cent went into noncombatant military service, and 39.6 per cent took regular military service” (Dr. Archie Penner). In Canada, about 4,500 “Mennonite men” enlisted for active duty, while 7,543 chose alternative service (Dr. Ted Regehr) during the Second World War. Sixty years later, the 2005 survey of a sample of EMCers revealed that 55 percent “agreed” to “strongly agreed” that up to and including lethal force could be used to protect a family member.

Thirty-five percent of sampled members and 22 per cent of sampled ministerial members saw “military” service as “appropriate for Christians in our churches.”

Nineteen percent of sampled members and 18 percent of sampled leaders “agreed” to “strongly agreed” that “if Canada had a draft, I would go.”

A majority of ministers (63 percent) and members (68 percent) disagreed that “to be a church member you must accept pacifism” (EMC National Survey Data).

Most EMCers might be full pacifists (COs), but I’d guess one-third are selective pacifists (SCOs). EMCers hold to varying degrees of non-resistance.

The results, as expected, are divided. Some local churches likely teach well, but near silence or repeating assured answers largely geared for like-minded people will not lessen the divide. Common ground cannot be found if not sought.

We are to interpret “Scriptures with a deep sensitivity to the moral problems involved.” However EMCers might view their decisions, the delegates at Schleitheim in 1527 courageously gathered to discuss, decide, and follow.

by Terry M. Smith

Most EMCers might be full pacifists (COs), but I’d guess one-third are selective pacifists (SCOs).

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 15

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN EMC MISSIONS Strategic Response: Christ through us to others

Do you agree that God has called the church to bring the Good News to all people? If so, what is our responsibility?

10:2 — The EMC Missions program has a goal to send out at least 10 new workers in the next 2 years. Much of the ministry has already been taken over by local believers, but so much more still needs to be done.

World Where on earth is the Lord leading you? How can we help you get there?

The EMC Missions program believes that our responsibility as a family of churches is to get on our knees and pray, identify individuals/families, equip them and then send them to the front lines, for the glory of God. Are you ready to be a world changer? Who will your church send?

“

It’s not about giving out the Gospel. Or having a new team of church planters. Our greatest purpose is having the heart of Jesus by bringing glory to the Father, and allowing ourselves to be moved by compassion towards our fellow man. As Paul in Athens was, our hearts should be distressed as we see the confusion, disorder and misplaced worship, and be ready to point to Jesus as the answer.

”

– EMC Church Planting Missionary, Europe

Guadalajara, Mexico Two (2) couples or individuals are needed to expand the Guadalajara Church Planting efforts with a cellgroup approach into new areas of the city. The commitment to this team is a minimum of four years, including on-site language training. For updates and overview of the ministry go to www. teamguadalajara.blogspot.com.

Positions Available: • Relational evangelist • Family/marriage counsellor • Children/youth ministry • School teacher at Lincoln International School (one year)

16 The Messenger • March 2012

?

Bolivia

(Low German Ministry) One (1) couple is needed to increase our efforts in bringing hope and healing to Low Germanspeaking people in Bolivia. This person will be part of the MEM team in Bolivia. The commitment to this team is a minimum of two years.

This is under the new agreement that EMC made with EMMC/EBMC. For updates and overview of the MEM ministry in Bolivia go to www. gomission.ca.

Positions Available: • Ministry centre hosts and relational evangelists in San Jose • Children/youth ministry • Church planters

Talk to your pastor or local missions committee before you contact us at 204-326-6401 or by email at: Gerald Reimer, greimer@emconf.ca Ken Zacharias, kzacharias@emconf.ca Tim Dyck, tdyck@emconf.ca *Internships may be a requirement in certain instances.

With Our Missionaries

Young people, dream godly dreams FORT CHIPEWYAN, ALTA.

I quite agree that our two centuries of sacrificing has been an admirable start, and I am justifiably proud of our EMC record—but we must carry on.

A frightful relaxation is settling into our churches, which should startle us.

In both our own right as Anabaptists, and as part of the larger national body, we have begun well. So wherever necessary, let us draw ourselves back from the brink of irrelevance, reboot with eternal priorities, and finish well!

Annette and I represent two fascinatingly different peoples from within our own settlement. One tribe now has several little churches within it far to the south and east. The other one has no churches within it anywhere.

Looking further toward 12 various language groups between here and the Atlantic Ocean, two have at least one indigenous witness, four have a limited witness, and within six tribes there is none.

First Nations people are indeed reachable, but for us to be effective our commitment must be measured not in weeks, but in decades. There is an openness among younger people that may not be prevalent among older folks. We have a generation crying out to be engaged by Christian young people who possess convictions, a measure of toughness—oh, and Facebook familiarity too.

Our talented field staff, tiny in number, are an absolute joy to care for. However, the demographics speak for themselves: we range in ages from 35 to 80.

I find it impossible to accept that across this innovative land there are

no longer young people of courage and commitment who still read biographies and dream godly dreams. We need alert and good-natured people who will commit to using their spiritual gifts in whatever way and place best suited, to help move a work forward or to prepare new ground.

The North requires young families as well, with parents who will love their children enough to remove them from the trivialities of modern selfabsorption and raise them by an active faith within the sovereign God’s full will. As one who was reared in an intensely cross-cultural environment, I can testify that there rare far worse things for children to experience than the wonders of the created world on one hand and the realities of the spiritual world on the other.

I believe with all of my heart the time has come for several churches or church clusters (“regions” within our EMC), or even whole denominations, to adopt a specific Canadian First Nation group—who are our neighbours

project macedonıa

and countrymen, after all!—and commit to providing them with our best personnel, adequately provided for, until worldviews are transformed, and Christ the Creator is among them loved and adored every Lord’s Day and in between.

– Arlyn van Enns

Arlyn and Ann van Enns (La Crete) serve as field coordinators for Northern Canada Evangelical Mission workers in the Northwest Territory, northern Alberta, and northern B.C. This article is excerpted and edited from a presentation Arlyn gave in Calgary, Alta., at our EMC convention in July 2011.

Destination Mexico 2012 July 2–23, 2012 (three weeks)

The State of Jalisco includes the metropolis of Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, with over seven million inhabitants. The team will work under the leadership of the Ascend intern as well as our missionary team. This short-term mission trip is for individuals who have graduated from grade 12 (18 years old) and older.

The purpose of the trip is to give team members the opportunity to minister and learn, creating a vision and heart for mission. It will also allow the team members to grow in their own discipleship, and serve in the Lord’s work. An additional priority of their time will be to bless the missionaries and their families by meeting their emotional, relational and spiritual needs.

Contact Gerald Reimer at 204-326-6401 or greimer@emconf.ca.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 17

With Our Missionaries

Teaching continues PARAGUAY

On Jan. 20–22, 2012, we came together as workers at the future Hospice Centre in MR Alonso. These days were meant to be a time of companionship and fun, as well as renewing our energy to face the challenges of a new year.

We appreciated the presence of representatives from Principios de Vida (Principles for Life) Foundation who presented a workshop on personal finances.

We continue to depend on your prayers that God will strengthen those of us who work at AMAR, and that all those who enter here will experience the power and love of God. In January 2010, our education coordinator Melanie Dyck Duarte and her husband went to Germany for a year. This year we have the privilege of having her working with us again in the same area.

At the workers’ retreat we gave her an official welcome to the AMAR family. May God bless their lives!

Like last year, on Jan. 30 we spent a beautiful afternoon with the young people who are reaching their fifteenth birthday. We consider it a great privilege to be allowed to celebrate with them and to assure them that God has a wonderful plan for their lives.

The director David Schmidt left a clear message from the Bible to guard their “hearts,” the centre from which everything else in our life flows.

Games, films, food and much fun are what young people from AMAR experienced at an outing in the future Hospice Centre on Jan. 30-31. Nine young people and several volunteers participated in this event that was organized by Dulce Refugio (Sweet Refuge).

During these days they also held special workshops with children in cooking, dental hygiene, carpentry and swimming.

Jon and Elma are volunteers that come to us from the Tres Palmas Colony to serve for a month. We are thankful for the way they have served with dedication.

– Dave Schmidt

Dave and Judy Schmidt (Rosenort) minister to people and families living with HIV/AIDS.

Developing Profitable Christian Business as a Means of Communicating Christ at Home and Globally

Craig Shugart

Presenter: Craig Shugart Winnipeg on Friday, April 13, 12 noon at Smitty’s Restaurant, 150 Meadowood Drive Rosenort on Friday, April 13,, 6 p.m. at C.K. Cafe Blumenort on Saturday, April 14, 8:30 a.m. at Blumenort EMC RSVP to the EM Conference office (204-326-6401 or dpeters@emconf.ca) or Len Barkman (204-355-4854 or lfbarkman@gmail.com).

Meals are provided at each presentation.

18 The Messenger • March 2012

Participate in EMC’s internship program! (one to two years)

The purpose of this program is to give those who sense the call of God to serve in full-time missions a comprehensive understanding of EMC missions work, to prepare for future service, to work alongside career missionaries, and to give them a context in which to develop their gifts in outreach, leadership, intercession, and discipleship.

Ministry assignment Ministries will include: • weekly ministry focus and accountability meetings with missionary team representative, focusing on mentorship and coaching; • assist the missionary team with ministry activities such as outreach, physical work projects, and specific weekly program initiatives; • development of a specific ministry that complements the missionary team’s church-planting efforts; • regular fellowship wtih local believers; • billeting with missionaries and nationals.

Participants We are accepting applications for departure in January 2013. Preference will be given to couples/individuals who have been recommended by their home church.

Contact Gerald Reimer at 204-326-6401 or greimer@emconf.ca.

With Our Churches Abbeydale Christian Fellowship

New year, new beginnings Calgary, Alta. — As 2012 began, Pastor David Funk acknowledged that, “We as a church have been through a tough season the last few years. You know what I’m talking about: the death of several people who were dear to us and whom we miss.

“You’ve watched your pastor and his family wade through both sorrow and deep joy with Rachel, and not just watching us but walking there yourselves for a while, and then only five and a half months ago Rachel’s death, and then being without a pastor so I could take a sabbatical.”

We feel that we as a church are now in an exciting time; a time of new beginnings after the difficult season of which Pastor David Funk spoke.

Benjamin Esau’s worship team Iceberg set the tone by leading us in Everybody Praise the Lord: “I thank the Lord for what He’s done in us / I thank the Lord for His love / I thank the Lord for what He’s gonna do in us....”

Next we sang, “Every move I make / Every breath I take / Every step I take I take in You” and “All things are possible.” How could we not be ready to step into something fresh and exciting?

We are excited that Pastor David is back after a four-month sabbatical.

His energy and passion shone through as he began a series on Ephesians.

He spoke of the seven blessings of Ephesians 1. Pastor David pointed out that Paul wrote “this torrent of praise” while in prison. Paul did not wait to celebrate until everything was fine, which led to the challenge: “There’s no need to wait to celebrate. What God has accomplished for you is reason enough to start now.”

Pastor David Funk spoke of a time of new beginnings after a difficult season.

“There’s no need to wait to celebrate. What God has accomplished for you is reason enough to start now.”

– Pastor David Funk

Chris Hughes, our new associate pastor

The second new beginning is the anticipated arrival of Chris Hughes, our new associate pastor, who will start work on March 1, 2012.

A third is the installation of a new lift, a necessary renovation to accommodate a new project, Community Cupboard. This program will see our church become a sort of local food bank.

Our goal is that people from the community will not only come to pick up much-needed food but, through us, will be introduced to a better life with Jesus.

– Brenda Dick

A lift is being installed to accommodate a new project, Community Cupboard.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 19

With Our Churches Mennville EMC

We are all affected by the fall Mennville, Man.— Roger and Anita Friesen are members of Mennville EMC whose lives changed drastically when an internet tower that he was working on toppled over. Andrew Kalteck, another member and our youth leader, was also injured. (Andrew suffered a lot of broken bones, but is well on the way to a complete recovery. Praise the Lord!)

Roger’s brain injury is an ongoing healing, and you can pray that their family will have patience and find comfort and strength in the God they love and serve. Anita shared this at the family Christmas get together this year, and she consented to share it with our church and conference family: On October 6 Roger was injured in a fall. It was a 35-foot fall when the tower he was working on gave way and fell to the ground. He has acquired a brain injury.

Many times I have been told by medical professionals and by brain injury survivors that the things Roger might say or do is not really him, but rather it is the effects of the injury itself. The brain will heal and with rehabilitation it will rewire itself.

This is a lot of how we all are. We are all injured by the fall and need/ want to be healed/transformed. When we realize and confess our condition and turn to God for help, he instantly puts us on the way to recovery. Not on a waiting list!

The healing and rehabilitation is a long, slow, hard road. But God our Father looks at us and knows that the things we might do and say a lot of times are not really us, but the effects of the fall. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

He knows it takes time and is very 20 The Messenger • March 2012

patient. Often our progress is two steps forward, one step back. And because God never grows tired, his patience never wanes. His love never changes. It is unconditional!

He never leaves us. He never forsakes us, and doesn’t need respite. He sees our pain and hurts with us, but He knows it will not always be this way. He wants us to know that too.

The day is coming when we will be completely healed and transformed with no effects, no reminders of the fall. The only reminder of the fall will be the scars on Jesus’ body. What a day that will be! Healed and whole.

Emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically whole.

This is the “soul” purpose of Jesus coming to earth. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! This Christmas, if the fullness of your stomach amplifies the emptiness in your soul, listen to the Christmas carols and really hear the words: “He comes to make His blessings flow / Far as the curse is found.”

The Lord will never reject anyone who comes to him. At Christmas I celebrate the hope, wholeness and healing only Jesus can offer.

– Submitted by Luella Brandt

•• Braeside EMC

Six families dedicate children

Winnipeg, Man. — Nine children and their parents received the blessing of the congregation at Braeside just prior to Christmas 2011. Pictured are Pastor Kim Stoesz with Blanca and associate pastor Angel Infantes with Christopher Angel; Issa Kamara and Haja Othman with Reuben Wonder Miracle and Jasmine; Thomas and Hertha McLendon with Abigail and Mirabelle; Brett and Kelly Harris with Rocco Jett; Kendall and Sarah Pries with Andrew Mark; Chad and Melanie Gibson with Bailee and Shelby.

– Al Dueck

With Our Churches Pleasant Valley EMC

Pleasant Valley EMC celebrates 50 years!

Rosenort, Man. — The Pleasant Valley Church was filled to capacity on Jan. 1, 2012, as we celebrated 50 years of God’s faithfulness to us. The first service in our church was held on Dec. 31, 1961, with David Eidse as our first pastor.

Ernie Loewen, a former pastor here and a current member of the ministerial, chaired the program.

One celebration included highlights of the 1960s presented by Florence Loewen, of the ’70s by Elwyn Eidse, of the ’80s by Audrey Guenther, of the ’90s by Lynn Rance, and of the 2000s by Ron Peters. The theme running through these reports showed our forebears as great examples of

Reports showed our forebears as great examples of their commitment to serve the Lord, and God’s faithfulness to us throughout the 50 years.

their commitment to serve the Lord, and God’s faithfulness to us throughout the 50 years.

Of the 68 charter members, 26 have passed away, 22 have moved, and 20 still remain active in the church today.

The walls of the church rang with the joyful singing of about 40 former youth choir members as Ken Loewen directed them. The men’s choir also

thrilled us with their songs of praise during the service. Darren Plett, our current pastor, had the devotional.

Everyone was invited for lunch, after which many guests shared memories of their past involvement in our church. A slide presentation brought back many memories of fellowship, service, and fun we have had in the past 50 years.

– Florence Loewen

Baptisms occurred on Jan. 8 and 22, 2012. Those involved were: (back) Jackson Brandt, Parker Stevenson, Mitchell Siemens, Dion Plett, (front) Jennifer Penner, Allison Stevenson, Karen Friesen, and Savannah Brandt.

An ice cream buffet was held as a pastor appreciation event for Darren and Pearl Plett and family.

Ken Loewen led former members of Pleasant Valley’s youth choir.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 21

With Our Churches Pansy Chapel

Parent-child dedication and missionary send-off Pansy, Man. — In early December 2011, right in the midst of the happy Advent season, five couples came forward to dedicate themselves and their little ones to the Lord.

A special part of the service is always to see grandparents come up to join in the prayers, and then the whole congregation stands in support. Together we want to serve the Lord, and raising our youngsters in a godly way is such an important part of that.

January led us to the exciting event of seeing Susie Dyck off on a new venture as a worker with YWAM in New Zealand. The church gathered in her honour on January 15 with a luncheon featuring homemade soups and buns plus an amazing dessert bar. In the process, the church generously raised the money still needed for Susie’s support.

Susie will be a group leader among new students going to YWAM as well as a hands-on mission leader. She left on Jan. 23 and has arrived safely. As a church we are proud of her commitment and wish her well.

– Betty Barkman

Weddings TOEWS – SIEMENS: Michael, son of Nelson and Wanda Toews, and Tiffany, daughter of Merv and Lori Siemens, were married on May 27, 2011. The couple lives in Rosenort, Man. REIMER – PETERS: Marshall, son of Randall and Patricia Reimer, and Alyssa, daugher of Randal and Merrily Peters, were married on July 10, 2011. The couple lives in Winkler, Man. MARTENS – LOEWEN: Derrick, son of Bernie and Dolores Martens, and Corrina, daughter of Dan and Florence Loewen, were married on Sept.

24, 2011. The couple lives in Winnipeg, Man. REMPEL – FRIESEN: Thomas, son of Arlene and Duane Rempel, and Lori, daughter of Jake and Mary Friesen, were married on Oct. 21, 2011. The couple lives in Rosenort, Man.

22 The Messenger • March 2012

Susie Dyck

Parent-child dedication on Dec. 11, 2011: Andy and Martha Funk with Ryan, Wes and Angia Fehr with Kelysha, Jason and Bri-anne Preteau with Odin and Shayera, Steve and Ashley Preteau with Oakley and Skandar, and Ed and Sabrina Giesbrecht with Ella.

•• Morris Fellowship Chapel

Christmas and New Year’s blessings Morris, Man. — The Christmas season has come and gone. Our Sunday School program committee worked hard to make a great presentation of the musical Back to the Manger on December 18, 2011.

On Christmas morning the congregation gathered in the lower auditorium for breakfast, singing and a devotional. That evening some of the congregation helped out at the Morris Legion hall with singing Christmas carols, and later served a delicious turkey meal to more than a hundred people. It is a privilege to be able to serve in the community this way.

The New Year was greeted with the annual chili cook-off and brownie competition. Many of the Fellowship played games that evening after enjoying the supper.

It was a blessing to have a baptism service in our church on January 22,

Our Sunday School program committee worked hard to make a great presentation.

2012. Pastor Vern Martin baptized four young people: Tess Siemens (daughter of Wes and Sherri), Chad Enns (son of Karl and Dianne), James Parkinson (son of Ward and Janine), and Joshua Harder (son of Peter and Ann). The church was well filled with relatives and friends for this special occasion.

Welcome back to Mikyla Janzen who spent a few weeks in Romania working with a team in orphanages.

She gave a report about her work on January 15.

With a new year comes new responsibilities when elections are held.

Hopefully each position will be filled joyfully as we strive to serve the Lord!

– Lorraine Loewen

With Our Churches Steinbach EMC

Faith begins at home Steinbach, Man. — Are you outsourcing the spiritual development of your children to “the professional”? Have you become a taxi driver, dropping kids off at this event and that event?

Many families get one hour a week of spiritual input and at least fifteen hours of TV or video games. The Lord has spoken to several people in our congregation to respond and to get involved in the spiritual formation of our children. As a result, a new ministry, Faith@Home, has been introduced.

Faith@Home is a fresh approach to spiritual development that encourages regular family times at home where the whole family gets together for games, listening to CDs/DVDs, memorizing Scripture and completing sections in their handbooks. Once a month, participants get together for a gym night where they show completed work and enjoy games, skits, puppets, crafts and, of course, a snack.

One family in this program is

Denver and Tammy Klassen and their sons, Tanner and Conner. They decided to join because they understood the value of parents being involved in teaching their children about Jesus.

They put aside time each week for games, listening to and discussing Adventures in Odyssey stories, reading the Bible and memorizing verses.

When asked what difference this program is making in their family, Denver and Tammy answered, “Everyone in our family is working on memorizing Bible verses.

It has been neat to see how motivated the boys have been to memorize their verses and how excited they are to recite them to the listeners at church.

We recite our verses to Tanner and Conner, and the boys enjoy correcting us when we make errors!”

Tanner likes to go to gym night, where they play games like “Kick the

PHOTO: TAMMY KLASSEN

Faith@Home is a fresh approach to spiritual development.

shoe across the gym” and Dodgeball. They also get to go to the store to spend their bucks, and they have a snack. He adds, “I like it when we have ice cream!”

How do they earn Faith@Home bucks, and how can they use them?

Conner says, “We earn one buck for every Bible verse we memorize, when we finish a section in our handbooks, when we go to the gym night, and if we attend a special event at church like Global Connections.

“On my birthday I will receive two bucks. We use our bucks to buy things like toys and candy at the store on gym nights. Mom and Dad can spend theirs on Tim Hortons gift cards.”

The Klassen family looks forward to this scheduled time together every week where they learn about God and memorize Scripture together.

Tammy appreciates the flexibility in the program: “Some weeks are busier than others and then, instead of doing all the activities in one night, we can spread them out throughout the week.”

What happens at home is hugely important, even more important than what happens at church. The Lord is calling us to get involved in the spiritual formation of our families! “Home is where life is making up its mind” (Tim Kimmel).

– Martha Kroeker

Births KLASSEN – to Brian and Ainsley Klassen of La Riviere, Man., a daughter, Cheyenne Aliya, on Jan. 10, 2012.

Faith@Home family night at the Klassen home.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 23

With Our Churches Portage Evangelical Church

Portage la Prairie, Man. — Two young people were baptized on Jan. 22, 2012.

Here is part of their testimonies.

Naomi Kitchen, 12: When I was young I made the commitment to follow Christ because I heard my Dad say it. But I didn’t really understand it till Grade 5. Now I realize that I truly do need God’s forgiveness. I believe that God has forgiven me and that he has received me as his child. I know this because I asked Jesus to be part of my life and to be my Saviour.

I know that my life is different because I am a Christian. I try to show Jesus’ light in everything I do and say.

I have a deep desire to know God better and serve him.

I believe that this is the next step in growing in my relationship with Christ. The Holy Spirit has worked in my life in many ways, such as putting amazing people in my life and leading me to the truth through the scriptures. I heard the story of Christ and I choose to believe it. That is why I am standing before you today.

Andrew Warthe, 18: I was born and raised in a Christian home that was more than a resting place for a group of people. I became a Christian around the age of four. My older brother had accepted the Lord as his personal Saviour and was filled with such a joy afterwards that captured my attention and then my heart.

Around the age of 13 I awoke in the middle of the night with the heart understanding that if I were the only person who walked on the face of the earth Jesus Christ would still have died for me. Salvation became personal.

A few years later I went on a missions trip up to northern Manitoba to a First Nations reserve called Oxford House. There amazing things took 24 The Messenger • March 2012

place. The first that I recall is my desire and ability for leadership. In grade 10 I had a teacher who for some reason inspired me to break out of my shell and become a developing leader in the world around me. I started volunteering in leadership positions in youth and in school as well as other volunteer positions in the community.

I have been on multiple missions trips over the past number Naomi Kitchen is baptized, assisted by her father of years and have been impactChristopher and Pastor Les Kroeker. ed by so many God moments.

The most powerful struggle that I have undergone in conflict with my faith has been the action of baptism. I debated that I should choose to be baptized instead of following a command. I thought that my mind and my heart had to be right so I was not just being legalistic.

Through someone greater than all baptism found me.

1 Corinthians 4:1–2, “So then, men ought to regard us as Andrew Warthe is baptized, assisted by his father servants of Christ an as those entrusted with the secret things Paul and Pastor Les Kroeker. of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” It was while reading this verse that the Holy Spirit shouted deep within my heart, “Baptism.” I had no logic or reason to fight the Holy Spirit; this came from my heart and all other arguments stood no ground against this truth.

Knowing I had to be accountable to someone, I talked to a professor.

I e-mailed Les [Pastor Les Kroeker] when I got back to SBC and after another journey and learning I am here Joey and Andrea Sawatzky were received as today.

– Catherine Epp members on Jan. 22, 2012.

PHOTOS COURTESY CHRIS KITCHEN

Two young people baptized

News

EMC boards hold ‘Visioning Day’ Board and committee members and staff look at EMC’s preferred future STEINBACH, Man. — What will the EMC look like in In terms of demographics, the Conference’s churches 10 years? This was the question posed at the EMC’s All are located mostly in rural areas or small cities and remain Boards Visioning Day held on Feb. 11, 2012. largely homogeneous (diversity is lagging).

About two dozen members of the EMC’s five national Garry Koop, task force member, led in a group time of boards, our Social Concerns Committee, and national staff prayer. Then small groups discussed our “legacy”: what is met from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mennonite Heritage Vilthe EMC’s preferred future? After lunch, the groups shared lage in Steinbach, Man. The setting, Tim Dyck said, was their results. viewed by Ward Parkinson as appropriate: if the EMC There was a second time of prayer, with members scatlacks vision, it will end up as a museum. tered throughout the building, to listen to what God would Moderator Richard Klassen, in an opening devotional, have us do. Small group discussion was again held on what said Paul felt the urgency of preaching the gospel. Likewe heard from each other and from the Lord—to refine wise, Klassen respected the passion that started the EMC, this into key bits of vision. the conviction that saw it relocate to Canada, and the leadAfter the groups shared, Parkinson noted their lists foers who helped the Kleine Gemeinde’s “morphing” into the cused on matters he called “qualitative,” rather than “quanEMC. What is our task, our passion today? he asked. titative.” He highlighted words: growing deeper, outreach, We can be involved in many “good” activities, but what being unencumbered, courageous. “Sign me up!” said Gerwill “light our fire”? he asked. “Our responsibility is to keep ald Reimer, conference youth minister. the Conference attentive to God.” Klassen led in prayer for The task force received permission from those gathguidance. ered to have a team refine what was Ward Parkinson, strategic received and later present a draft for planning task force member, consideration. reported that values meetings Giving thanks for the EMC’s past were held in the EMC’s nine 200 years, Tim Dyck led in closing regions with opportunity for prayer. input from all churches. Six – Terry M. Smith core values emerged: relationships and Christian community, truth, all people, obedience, discipleship, families and youth. The values do not replace our Statement of Faith, nor is the list final, he emphasized.

Where is the Conference at today? The EMC’s membership doubled from 1970 to 2000, but has since plauteaued and declined slightly, reported general secretary Tim Dyck. In the same time period, our national-international budget During a break, Anthony Reimer and Ward Parkinson study the Moderator Richard Klassen: “Our increased from $200,000 to results of a “legacy” exercise. responsibility is to keep the nearly $2 million—and was Conference attentive to God.” met in 2011.

PHOTOS: REBECCA ROMAN

The setting, Tim Dyck said, was viewed by Ward Parkinson as appropriate: if the EMC lacks vision, it will end up as a museum.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 25

News

Students serve in Canada, Belize, and Paraguay SBC MissionX integrates studies and service

PHOTOS COURTESY SBC

STEINBACH, Man.—SBC students recently completed a “Yes, it is true that there are discouraging things that month of service and mission in various locations around happen in the North,” says Jeff Schalla (EFree, Steinbach), the world. Mission Exposure, a four-week module featured “but there is more than a ray of hope breaking through the each January and referred to as clouds. In His perfect timing, MissionX by our students, is a God continues to raise up people highlight of the SBC experience. who are willing to invest in a Over 40 first-year students mission field that is anything but spent four days serving in innerglamorous. city Winnipeg, working in part“Let us continue to pray that nership with organizations such the darkness will lift over Manias the Salvation Army, Siloam toba’s north, and that it will not Mission, Living Bible Explorers, be long before many people join Union Gospel Mission, and Inner us in worshipping our Lord Jesus City Youth Alive.

Christ.”

Many student testimonies tell Rebecca Fehr (Blenheim EMMC) and Tiffany Plett Two groups of third-year (Southland Community church) try their hand at making of people simply needing somestudents left Canada for three bannock with the help of their new northern friends. weeks. Eight students went to one to take the time to listen and care. Students are affected Paraguay with Dr. Ernie Koop, as they take this time and discover the common ground of and another eight to Belize under the guidance of Professhared goals and dreams, as well as examples of hurting in- sor Gord Penner and his wife Laura. Students were bildividuals serving others. leted with host families, experiencing the culture of the country while ministering alongside missionaries and local They left Winnipeg with a new confidence that God is in the inner city, planting seeds and hope. churches.

Thirty-six students traveled north to serve in 10 difStudents visiting both countries tell of generous hospiferent First Nation communities, providing programming tality and the effect of this: “Our hosts gave of everything for children as well as encouragement and help for others. they had to make sure our stay was comfortable, even if it This time of stretching significantly influences our students used their last dollar.” and teaches them to trust the Lord when challenged and They tell of receiving spiritual encouragement from the tested. people they traveled to encourage. Lana Nesby (Morrow Gospel Church), who went to Belize, says, “I will never be the same. By allowing ourselves to take the opportunity given us to immerse ourselves in the culture and lives of the people we were with, we learned much, and we loved much. We were affirmed that we share the same faith, and many times challenged by their dedication and boldness.”

Through MissionX, many students confirm or discover a passion for ministry. Sarah Barkman (Mennville EMC) says “I want to live a lifestyle of ministry and being in Paraguay for three weeks only solidified that desire.”

We praise God for His faithful provision for our students and faculty as they traveled. We thank Him that our students can integrate what they are learning at a practical level through service as they continue their studies. For inStudents Cam Penner (Ridgewood EMC) and Jared Friesen (Coaldale formation on MissionX, visit www.SBCollege.ca.

MB Church) have fun with neighoburhood kids in Winnipeg.

– Iris Bartel, SBC

26 The Messenger • March 2012

News

WINNIPEG, Man. — Mark von Kampen is never quite Mennonite Brethren connections who come regularly to sure where the conversation will lead. As Mennonite chap- the office.” lain at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, he hosts Inter-Mennonite Campus Ministries is a resource for formal and informal gatherings of students in the Interstaff and professors as well as students. Relationship issues, Mennonite Campus Ministry office in the University Cenaddictions, work-related and other stresses are issues not tre throughout the school year. limited to students.

Last semester, a group of students had gathered in his For those seeking help in addressing these issues from a office for casual conversation over lunch, something that faith perspective, von Kampen’s door is always open. Some happens frequently. The conversation turned to the topic are not necessarily from a Mennonite church background, of how to have interfaith dialogue, recalls von Kampen. von Kampen points out.

During the discussion a young Muslim student walked Von Kampen hears from those who are very involved in in who often enjoys the quiet space for her lunch and she their churches and from those who are disenchanted with was invited to join the conversation. A Jewish colleague church. “Some have seen churches go through difficult was passing by the door when he was invited in to share times,” he says. “They shake their heads and don’t know his perspective, too. The discussion about interfaith diawhat to make of it. logue became an interfaith dialogue itself.

“Some continue to go to church sometimes and others Von Kampen, a half-time associate pastor at First Men- not at all,” he said. “I’m glad they come here where we can nonite Church, Winnipeg, has been half-time chaplain at meet one on one, and where we can keep the possibility for the university since 2003 and counts it a privilege to be reconciliation and healing open.” part of these conversations. Through e-mail he keeps in Over the years the problems that emerge have not touch with approximately 100 students, staff and profeschanged that much, observes von Kampen. “The range of sors who are interested in the events, discussions, worship issues—academic stresses, other stresses, lifestyle choicservices and interfaith activities that are planned from his es—is similar,” he says. “But one thing I have observed is office. that more and more students are trying to balance work The Inter-Mennonite chaplaincy program is a joint and studies.” ministry of Mennonite Church Manitoba, the Evangelical “They are not living with their parents, but are on their Mennonite Mission Conference, and the Evangelical Menown and they are stretched, financially and otherwise,” says nonite Conference. the chaplain. “That has been a shift in the last 10 years.

It’s an exciting partnership, according to von Kampen.

Students are working more hours.”

“We recognize that we share a common Lord and Saviour, – Evelyn Rempel Petkau, and we want to live that out as disciples,” he says. “It’s also Canadian Mennonite good stewardship and a witness to the larger world, partnering together in what we couldn’t do on our own.”

Editor’s note: the EMC has two representatives on the “I am blessed by the board that oversees this ministry,” IMCA board and is seeking says von Kampen of the representatives from each of the a third. partner churches. “They are excited about this work and about doing it together.”

The Mennonite BrethMark von Kampen, Mennonite chaplain, assists students and staff at ren Church used to have last fall’s PB Jam (Peanut Butter and Jam) Day, an annual community associate membership, but, service event that the Inter-Mennonite Campus Ministry office at he says, “that hasn’t been the University of Manitoba hosts. Students gather at the University the case for a number of Centre to make sandwiches that are then distributed to boys and years. We lament their absence and would love to have girls clubs across the city and to Winnipeg Harvest. PB Jam Days them. We have students with have resulted in 27,525 sandwiches over the course of 14 years. www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 27

PHOTO: WILLIAM SUNG, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

Inter-Mennonite campus ministry connects and supports students

News

Hope trumps angst in mission leaders’ meeting North America losing children, south growing

28 The Messenger • March 2012

PHOTO: JAMES KRABILL.

Two women, Sara Wenger Shenk and Martini Janz, offered “whole picture” stories of their missionary lives, telling of both beneficial and detrimental aspects of mission practice.

In addition to worship and learning from each other’s experiences, collaborative inter-agency business sessions were held during the week.

– Lynda Hollinger-Janzen, MMN

Aaron Kauffman (Virginia Mennonite Missions), Nelson Okanya (Eastern Mennonite Missions), Tim Dyck (EMC) and Tim Froese (MC Canada) continue CIM discussion over a meal.

•• Morgan Serger new Continental director Continental Mission has promoted Morgan Serger to be its new general director. Morgan will succeed Ferlin Abrahamson, interim general manager since 2010.

Morgan and his wife Krista joined Continental in 2007. In 2009, Morgan became full-time director of Children and Youth Ministries.

Morgan and Krista Serger – Continental Mission

PHOTO COURTESY SERGERS

CHICAGO, Ill. – A mission leader cried out to God to grant desperation to the North American Mennonite Church when more than 60 administrators and scholars from 14 North American mission and service agencies gathered in Chicago for the annual Council of International Anabaptist Ministries, Jan. 16-21, 2012.

“Make us desperate to bear children of God. Give us the desperation of street children jumping into dumpsters to find something to eat,” prayed Nelson Okanya, president of Eastern Mennonite Missions.

Okanya’s plea responded to a meditation by Randy Friesen, of MB Mission, based on the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38, drawing out themes of barrenness, desperation and hope.

The barrenness of North American Anabaptists was illustrated through statistical studies, showing that Anabaptist congregations are losing their children. Matthew Krabill and Jamie Ross, graduate seminary students, reported on the current generation of Anabaptist youths’ inability to articulate their own faith, much less share it with others.

Conrad Kanagy, professor at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, shared results of a survey he led for Eastern Mennonite Missions showing negative growth in Lancaster County churches and exploding expansion in mission-planted churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Most people gathered agreed that this study accurately represented the larger global picture, and grieved the failure of their generations to pass on the message of Jesus as good news within North America. They mourned the complicity of mission with colonialism and imperialism.

Two agency leaders born in Africa – Okanya, and Hippolyto Tshimanga – took a compassionate and forgiving stance, urging council participants to remember that early missionaries never heard of global citizenship and should not be held to today’s standards of awareness.

“We need to heal the memory of missions,” Tshimanga said. “It is a disease among North American Mennonites. The reality is that in Asia and Africa, people have moved on, but in North America we live with the guilt of memory.”

Later, Tshimanga said healing would begin by remembering the whole picture of what mission has been, the good with the negative aspects. An unbiased look at mission must go hand-in-hand with deep study of biblical mission, Tshimanga said.

News

Work with First Nations inspires CMU students WINNIPEG, Man. — When Kelsey Enns started at the North End Family Centre, Winnipeg, Man., he, as a young white man, stood out from everyone else. The drop-in aims to develop healthy interpersonal relationships to combat the gang problem prevalent in the area and serves mostly First Nations people.

Enns, a member of Charleswood Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, worked at the centre for his work placement that is required of every student graduating from Canadian Mennonite University. He chose the centre because of its size and ambitious goal of responding to gangs.

Bethany Abrahamson, a member of Christian Fellowship Church (EMC) in Birch River, Man., was also interested in working with aboriginal people. She spent the summer as program director at Steeprock Bay Bible Camp, north of Swan River, Man. While Abrahamson worked with children, she, too, learned important lessons. She found her work got exhausting by week’s end, the busy job of program director compounded by the high number of kids who were affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Often by Thursday she felt worn out, and realized that she had to delegate more tasks. “That was tough,” she says, “but I think it was probably good for me also just to recognize that I can’t do everything, and I have to let people step in and help me out sometimes.”

Giving [the kids] a chance to see that there are people out there who love God and who love them” makes it worthwhile, says Abrahamson.

Both Abrahamson and Enns believe their work and the programs serve an important purpose.

“Most of [the kids] come from pretty rough reserves, and just giving them a chance to see that there are people out there who love God and who love them” makes it worthwhile, says Abrahamson.

And in some ways the difficult work comes with more rewards than other camps, she says. “It’s exciting because you feel like you’re really making a difference and you’re really somebody different to them than what they’re used to.”

– Emily Loewen Canadian Mennonite

PHOTO COURTESY BETHANY ABRAHAMSON

Summer placements provide fun and life lessons

Bethany Abrahamson (CFC, Birch River) worked at Steeprock Bay Bible Camp, a summer camp designed for First Nations kids like Dori.

••

Dr. Cheryl Pauls is next CMU president WINNIPEG, Man. — Canadian Mennonite University’s board of governors is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Cheryl Pauls, a faculty member, as the university’s second president. Pauls assumes her duties in November, following Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, who retires in June.

Search committee chair Ron Dr. Cheryl Pauls Loeppky said, “In Dr. Cheryl Pauls, we are delighted to present a person who is well qualified academically, well connected with the church, has a clear understanding of the constituency, and a strong passion for the institution and for CMU’s vision and mission.”

“I consider it an honour and joy to accept this position,” says Pauls, who graduated from MBBC and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of British Columbia.

Born and raised in St. Catharines, Ont., Pauls grew up in Grantham MB Church. She has made her home in Manitoba since 1983. She and husband Bryan Harder have two boys. The family attends River East MB Church in Winnipeg.

– CMU www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 29

News

Rosenort EMC youth benefit from Bethany’s Youth Advance HEPBURN, Sask. — Youth Advance ‘YA’ 2012 was held at Bethany College from Feb. 3–5, 2012, and was an overwhelming success. Why? Was it because over 160 youth and youth leaders attended?

“The goals of Bethany’s annual youth advance were to have fun, worship God and see hearts changed,” said Adriana, a YA committee member.

“This year, we believe these goals were accomplished throughout the weekend, whether students were playing dodge ball, worshiping God in a variety of ways, or unpacking what Kevin Snyder said during his sessions,” she said.

“YA was a success because God answers prayer and has the power to change lives.”

Speaker Kevin Snyder summarized Jesus’ example in the Gospel: “John 1: God with us; He is above all things, but came to the lowest rung on the ladder; John 8: Sin puts the ladder on its side and we are all equal; and John 13: Jesus is above, below, with, and wants to be in us.”

“The Gospel is good news that is hard to live out, and you actually cannot keep it to yourself if you really do believe,” he said. “Foot washing points to the cross. It was very powSteven Dueck leads worship during Youth erful living out the humility of the Advance ‘YA’ 2012.

Gospel.”

The weekend was an opportunity for the young people of Bethany College to bless other young people.

“There was so much excitement on campus. It pulled us in for an unforgettable experience!” recounts Pastor Scott Dick (Rosenort EMC), who made the ten-hour trip with a group of 21 to Hepburn, Sask.

It was the first time Rosenort EMC’s youth group came to YA and it was a feat to get everyone’s belongings in the bus, but Scott was up to the challenge. When asked for a highlight, Scott replied, “We were so blessed by the retelling of the Gospel story through drama.”

“The students at Bethany lived out their faith for us throughout the weekend by leading us in worship, serving us, and creating exciting memories with us,” he said.

– Bethany College

30 The Messenger • March 2012

PHOTOS COURTESY BETHANY

A group of 21 travel 10 hours

Steven Dueck, from Rosenort EMC, is pictured with Pastor Scott Dick and other members of Rosenort’s youth group.

l.............................................. l Chaplaincy board member sought

The Board of Church Ministries is looking for one additional person to serve on the Inter Mennonite Chaplaincy Association board (we have two representatives and are allowed a third). This board oversees the Mennonite chaplaincy ministry on the University of Manitoba campus. The board meets four times per year, and its members are asked to keep in touch with our chaplain Mark von Kampen.

With more than 100 EMC students studying at the U of M, the value of this ministry is clear. The chaplaincy ministry is supported by EMC, EMMC, and Mennonite Church Manitoba. Contact Gerald Reimer at 204-326-6401 or greimer@emconf.ca.

l.............................................. l Copies now available free!

To order your copies (mailing extra) contact Rebecca Roman, rroman@emconf.ca or 204-326-6401.

News

Treasurers gather for learning, encouragement ‘Tips and Traps’ were explained WINNIPEG, Man. – Who knew that finance could be so exciting? On Saturday, January 21, 2012, more than 70 people serving as church treasurers or trustees gathered together to expand their understanding of church finances.

Fort Garry EMC in Winnipeg, Man., provided the necessary space for this Treasurer’s Day event. There were representatives from the EMC, EMMC and Chortitzer MC in the audience.

Reinnie Brandt (Blue River Accounting) began the day with a workshop focused on the topic of what it means to be a charity in Canada. His workshop touched on basic principles of being a charity, and moved into a discussion of benevolence policies, a relevant topic in churches today.

Rick Braun-Janzen of the Mennonite Foundation of Canada was the second workshop presenter. His topic was Tips and Traps for Money Coming into the Church. Did you know that there are times when the church should say “no” to a donation? Rick explained this and other relevant topics related to receipting.

Allister Penner (MNP Chartered Accountants) rounded out the morning, providing updated information on payroll issues for the church. Recent changes to CPP and CRD were introduced and explained.

Tim Dyck, executive secretary to the EMC Board of Trustees, was originally planned to be the after lunch workshop presenter. Tim was going to explain some of the benefits offered by the EM Conference.

However, because of a snow storm in Chicago, Tim’s flight was cancelled and he was not able to be at the meeting. Instead, the three morning presenters gathered for an impromptu panel discussion.

There was a lively question and answer time, which seemed to be appreciated by those attending.

The workshops were captured on video and we hope to be able to provide the presentations in this form soon. If you were not able to attend and would like a copy of the presentations, please contact Diana Peters at the EM Conference office.

– EMC

Did you know that there are times when the church should say “no” to a donation?

Mark your calendars for SBC’s 2nd Annual

GOLF

TOURNAMENT June 5, 2012

www.SBCollege.ca

SBC HOMECOMING JUNE 9, 2012 BBQ Supper under the tent, Inflatable Bouncer for the Kids, a great chance to reconnect with faculty and classmates Call 1.800.230.8478 to Register

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 31

In Memory

Albert K. Friesen

1921–2011 Albert K. Friesen, loving husband to Elisabeth, and our dad, grandpa, and great-grandpa, passed away on Monday, June 6, 2011, at Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach, Man., after a brief illness. He was 89 years old.

Dad was born on July 25, 1921, in Kleefeld, Man., to Jacob W. and Maria Friesen. He had 12 siblings.

He is survived by his wife of almost 51 years, Elisabeth, and nine children, Wilbert (Hilda), Florence, Dennis (Louella), Elda (Roger Borse), Leona (Mike Kroeker), Ray (Ula), Corinne (Rick Loewen), Louise (Peter Dueck), and Jim (Rhonda).

He is also survived by grandchildren Dale and Char, Patrick and Trudy, Mo and Karen, Kerri and Sheldon, Joelle and Aaron, Andrew, Shannon and Grant, Mike and Marina, Andrea, David, Joel and Heather, Derek and Issa, Donovan and Crystal, Chad and Gabrielle, Benjamin, Jessica, Erik, Emma, Matthew, Laura, and Sarah; and by great-grandchildren Jared, Jesse, Lukas, Levi, Kirsten, Hannah, Adriana, Cameron, Adam, Jareth, Nicole, Jason, Leyton, Alfie, Ron, and Elise.

He is also survived by six siblings and numerous in-laws. Dad was predeceased by his first wife Annie (Dueck), one infant son, one daughter-in-law, one grandchild, and one great-grandchild.

32 The Messenger • March 2012

Calendar He was a cheesemaker in Kleefeld, a carpenter at various times between jobs, a manager at Kleefeld Coop and Blumenort Coop, manager of Granny’s Poultry Plant (Blumenort), and a clerk at A.K. Penner and Sons and at C.T. Loewen and Sons.

Dad was a man who loved life and lived it to the fullest. He was generous, compassionate, and someone who was always interested in people and their stories. His interests included singing hymns, playing harmonica, gardening, playing games such as crokinole and Othello, watching hockey, and enjoying coffee and pie with his multitude of friends.

He was deeply devoted to his Lord and Saviour, whom he strove to follow faithfully in life. His greatest love was his dear wife and family. He was a constant and faithful visitor in mom’s Rest Haven room in the past two years, being her comfort and stay.

He was baptized at age 18 in 1939 at Kleefeld Kleine Gemeinde (now EMC). Dad served the church and the denomination as a song leader, as a deacon, and by serving on many committees. He was also a long-time member of the Rest Haven board, and he also served on the Eden Foundation board.

He was verbal and affectionate in expressing his love; his hugs were frequent and heart-felt. Dad’s greatest desire was that all near and dear to him would come to follow Christ in life and be able to join the family circle in heaven.

While we are shocked at his sudden passing, we are grateful he did not suffer long. We are blessed with many good memories, which we will cherish.

We will miss you in so many ways, Dad. His funeral service was held on Friday, June 10, 2011, at the Steinbach Evangelical Mennonite Church with interment at Kleefeld EMC cemetery.

– His Family

Manitoba Apr. 29 Spring concert for Eden Foundation Winkler Community Male Choir and Eastman Male Choir, 7: 30 p.m.

Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church

July 6 EMC Ministerial meeting Providence University College 204-326-6401, www.emconference.ca

July 7 EMC Conference Council meeting Bicentennial activities in the afternoon Providence University College 204-326-6401, www.emconference.ca

July 6–8 EMC Bicentennial Convention Providence University College 204-326-6401, www.emconference.ca

The 18th Annual

EMC

PROJECT BUILDERS

Golf Classic

June 14, 2012 Steinbach Fly-In Golf Course To register, contact Ruth Penner: 204-255-8062 or rrpenner@shaw.ca by May 18, 2012.

Details available at www.emconference.ca (under events).

Shoulder Tapping Pastoral positions Ridgewood EMC is looking for a full-time senior pastor to begin August 1, 2012. This multi-generational family oriented rural church is located northeast of Steinbach, Man., with over 200 in attendance on Sunday mornings.

As the spiritual overseer, the senior pastor is the shepherd and guardian of the congregation. This ministry is accomplished by studying and teaching, praying and preaching, and visiting and visioning on the basis of the Word.

Ridgewood EMC members strive to be a people that minister to the whole family, worshipping God together, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in love, responding to needs around, and cultivating a culture of Biblical discipleship, prayer and fellowship—all for the glory of God. Applications along with a cover letter should be sent to Stan Hamm, stan.hamm@prov.ca, or Stan Hamm, Box 140, Blumenort, MB R0A 0C0.

Rosenort EMC, in southern Manitoba, seeks a senior pastor. REMC is a multi-generational church of about 250 members with strong family connections.

Church related-programs are highly valued and we have an active youth program. Our church’s strengths include serving others, generosity, encouragement, and music.

The senior pastor is to preach sermons that inspire, challenge and convict, emphasizing the spiritual development of members. The pastor will promote local evangelism and missions by equipping members.

He will work collaboratively with our ministerial

and oversee our leader-in-training program. The pastor is a servant leader who views the Bible as the inspired and true Word of God. He will have a deep personal faith, value family highly, be a warm and loving person, not fear to reveal struggles as an ordinary human being, be a compassionate and godly man.

To apply or get information, contact Arlin Scharfenberg, ascharfenberg@xplornet.ca; 204-7466154; Box 106, R. R. 1 Morris, MB R0G 1K0.

La Crete Christian Fellowship Church (EMC) seeks a full-time associate pastor.

La Crete, located in NW Alberta, offers rural lifestyle and a progressive outlook. The town offers a range of family-oriented amenities and is a great place to raise a family.

LCCF’s service to God is based on the core values of a commitment to worship, discipleship, teaching of God’s Word, and reaching our community and world with life-changing Good News. We are a vibrant church of approximately 500 regular attendees who desire to spread the Word through a variety of ministries designed to help us fulfill the church’s mission.

The associate pastor will provide direction to our care giving and out-reach ministries as well as work closely with the pastoral team to strengthen the parishioners’ personal connection and commitment to Jesus Christ.

The applicant should be committed to a personal Christian faith, a disciple of Jesus Christ, a willing and teachable leader, and a person whose love for the Lord is reflected in their ability to work well with others.

If the Holy Spirit seems to be inviting you to pursue this further, please contact Isaac Dyck at 780926-9455, idyck@mmiab.ca, or www.lccfc.ca.

Other opportunities

The EMC Church Planting Task Force with the Board of Leadership and Outreach is beginning the process of calling a Canadian Church Planting Coordinator.

Job description and qualifications can be found at www.emconference.ca/serve.

To speak to someone about this role, contact the search committee: Peter Dueck (204364-2442 or peter.dueck@vidir.com), Stephanie Unger (204-779-2888 or sunger@shaw.ca), or Randy Fehr (519-773-9021 or tpmconglomorate@gmail.com).

Resumes can be submitted to CPC Search Committee, 440 Main St, Steinbach, MB R5G 1Z5 or to any search committee member.

MCC Ontario invites applications for the position of human resources coordinator Kitchener, Ont. Qualifications include: excellent interpersonal and relational skills, proficiency in administration, ability to work collegially in a team environment, previous MCC service experience preferred, education and/ or experience in human resources work strongly preferred.

This position requires a person with a commitment to Christian faith, active church membership and non-violent peacemaking. Please send cover letter and resume to Cath Woolner at cathw@mennonitecc.on.ca by March 13, 2012. Starting date: May 6, 2012. Complete job description available at mcc. org/serve/positions/employment.

Horsemanship instructor and summer barn staff needed for Christian camp operating summer

programs for underprivileged kids. Also needed are summer staff members: counselors, kitchen staff, maintenance, nurse, secretary and program directors. The camp is located near Edmonton, Alta. Email bright.wood@hopemission.com or website: www. brightwoodranchcamps.com. Police checks are needed.

Steinbach Bible College invites applications for position of faculty in biblical studies and a related ministry focus. The candidate will teach and provide direction for mentoring women at the college.

Applicants will be committed to fully integrating classroom learning and church ministry, as well as supporting the mission, core values, lifestyle expectations and statement of faith of the college.

A fuller position description can be viewed at www.sbcollege.ca/content/employment-at-sbc.

Review of applications will begin March 1, 2012 and will continue until the position is filled. Only candidates for interviews will be contacted. The position starts August 1, 2012 with salary based on qualifications and experience.

Applications should be made by sending a resume with a cover letter, and three references submitted to: Dr. Terry Hiebert, Academic Dean, Steinbach Bible College, 50 PTH 12 N, Steinbach MB R5G 1T4, or thiebert@sbcollege.ca.

Camp Cedarwood, with Youth for Christ, seeks a fulltime director of operations.

The year-round camp facilitates ministry retreats, youth group events, and outdoor educational experiences in our 31,450 sq. ft. lodge and 35 acres of forest and lake front property. Our site and facilities are located 90 minutes northwest of Winnipeg, Man., in the pristine Canadian Shield territory.

The director is responsible for the management of maintenance, hosting, kitchen and office staff. They will work with supervisors in each area to coach and develop staff professionally while providing a solid level of spiritual care and accountability.

We are looking for a person with strong leadership abilities, ministry experience, a high standard of excellence, and a strong love for people.

If you feel God calling you into this position of ministry leadership, please contact Brennan Cattani, director, 204-669-4205 or brennan@yfcwinnipeg.ca.

The Messenger does not sell advertising, but provides free space (classified and display) to enhance our Conference, its churches, boards and ministries; interMennonite agencies and educational institutions; and the wider church. Ads are not to be for monetary benefit. To place an ad, e-mail messenger@emconf.ca or call 204-326-6401 and ask for Rebecca Roman.

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 33

Columns • pictures of god

Something to be grasped

I

by Joanna Enns

n Toronto, I am immersed in a rights-based culture. Newspapers and conversations are filled with stories of people demanding rights, abusing rights, comparing rights and tolerating rights. Law school only exacerbates this.

Although I am a strong advocate of social justice and defending the rights of the oppressed, I have a hard time dealing with people who seem to demand rights for the sake of rights.

This semester we have been studying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in my Constitutional Law class. The Charter protects the diversity of beliefs, lifestyles and expressions in Canada, including freedom of religion and conscience.

Our class discussions on freedom of religion forced me to confront my role as a Christian in law school and in Canadian society.

I have always kept “the state” at arms length because of the strong Mennonite teaching on the separation of church and state. I keep my public interaction as strictly “secular” as possible to avoid offending others. I naturally accommodate others’ preferences rather than asserting my rights or perspectives.

It is against this backdrop that I entered the freedom of religion debate in class a few weeks ago.

ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

How should we respond when our rights as citizens or as Christians come into conflict with other people or the state?

34 The Messenger • March 2012

The cases we studied dealt with situations where religious beliefs or practices came into direct conflict with other minority rights or state laws.

In these cases, I was more taken aback by the power granted to certain religious minorities than by the triumph of secular ideologies or state law over religious preferences. The battle cry of equality and tolerance became a mantra on all sides of these conflicts.

I struggled to reconcile my personal suppression of overt Christianity in the public sphere with my theoretical power to assert my religious beliefs under the Charter. Whether triggered by my Mennonite upbringing, my personality or my faith, the overpowering power of rights made me uncomfortable and sent me back to the Gospel.

Philippians 2 revealed one source of my discomfort and a key for finding my way in a rights culture: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.”

Jesus came to earth with authority and power as an equal with God. His true nature was not recognized or appreciated by society, yet he did not assert this right.

Similarly, as Christians, we have been given sonship, forgiveness, freedom and equality. As Canadians, we have been given freedom of religion and conscience. So how should we respond when our rights as citizens or as Christians come into conflict with other people or the state?

Jesus “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” He neither gave up nor denied his status and his rights, but he subjected them to his calling on earth.

Although I am far from clarity on all the nuances of being a Christian in Canada, this passage challenged me to live confidently in my true identity, while accepting limitations to some practical freedoms. Although I may need to defend or assert my rights in some situations, these assertions themselves should not be grasping at rights or equality, but should assist my servant mandate.

Columns • stewardship today

An unsung hero of the church

M TO.CO KPHO

Other church members may be surprised when a family leaves a church, but the treasurer often had clues long before their departure.

Treasurers may also be surprised or disappointed to discover that otherwise “active” members are not financially involved in the congregation.

Your church can support your treasurer by ensuring that he or she has access to the training and information needed to do the job well.

ISTOC

W

hen was the last time you prayed for your treasurer or thanked them for their work? Your treasurer is a key person in church operations and carries a great deal of responsibility for the finances and legal status of the church.

Treasurers must issue correct charitable receipts on behalf of the church. Issuing receipts for donations made by cash, cheque or direct deposit is reasonably straightforward, but there are other situations where the rules may be unknown or mistakes can be made. For example, could a church issue a charitable receipt instead of paying a contractor?

Your church relies on the treasurer to follow the law. Each charity in Canada must file a Registered Charity Information Return, also known as a T3010, within six months of the charity’s fiscal year end.

In 2011, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) revoked the charitable status for 757 charities that didn’t file their paperwork on time (or couldn’t prove they had sent it). Of those charities, 194 identified themselves as religious.

Losing charitable status means a church cannot accept donations and cannot issue charitable receipts. A church that has lost charitable status may spend many months or years working to meet CRA’s re-registration requirements and may need to hire accountants or lawyers to assist their treasurer.

Treasurers experience the heart of the church in a way that no one else can. “Wallets are the last thing to enter the church and the first to leave,” one treasurer told me.

A change in spiritual condition is often reflected with a change in that person’s giving to their church. Treasurers are often alone with the knowledge that a person’s giving pattern has changed, but are discouraged from sharing any information with the pastor or elder.

by Sherri Grosz

Your treasurer is a key person in church operations and carries a great deal of responsibility for the finances and legal status of the church.

Church leadership can create a team to assist the treasurer with the workload. This provides protection for the treasurer against accusations of theft or fraud and ensures that there are trained volunteers available to help shoulder the task.

Some churches have hired a bookkeeper to complete many of the day-to-day tasks and thus reduce the workload for the treasurer.

Remember to include your treasurer in your prayers and to offer a word of encouragement as he or she offers gifts of time and skill to further the work of the Lord and your congregation.

Sherri Grosz is a stewardship consultant at the Kitchener, Ont., office of Mennonite Foundation of Canada (MFC). For stewardship education and estate and charitable gift planning, contact your nearest MFC office or visit Mennofoundation.ca.

Discover the Difference!

Steinbach Bible College

Discovery Days 2012 March 29-30

5:oo pm Mar. 29- Noon Mar. 30

Free for students Grade 11 & up

800-230-8478 email: info@SBCollege.ca visit www.SBCollege.ca

www.emconference.ca/messenger • The Messenger 35

Columns • kids’ corner

The pond

by Loreena Thiessen

The Mallard duck and the Canada goose come to lay their eggs near the pond so the new ducklings and goslings can quickly find water.

36 The Messenger • March 2012

DESIGNPICS.COM

A

s the spring sun warms the earth the snow turns to puddles and the frozen pond comes to life.

A pond is different from a lake. The lake you may visit in the summer time can still be very cold; you swim in it all the same.

It’s cold because it’s deep. A pond is shallow. Sunlight reaches right to its muddy bottom.

Sunlight is needed for the pond plants to grow. Some grow entirely underwater, their roots stuck in the mud floor of the pond. Others reach up and poke their stems through the pond’s surface.

Some, like the water lily, float on top of the pond. All of the living things in the pond depend on each other. One is needed by the others.

A pond has different kinds of living things.

Crayfish crawl over its mud floor. There are small trout, goldfish, and minnows. These are food for turtles, raccoons, and diving birds.

There are eggs in the pond too. The eggs wait through the cold winter for the weather to warm up to hatch. These are mosquito eggs and dragonfly eggs.

Mosquito eggs need warm and rainy weather to hatch; if it’s too dry and hot they wait for a better time. When the dragonfly hatches it leaves the pond and spends the rest of its days flying over dry land. It eats the mosquito.

Frogs eggs hatch too. The raccoon that lives near the pond eats frogs and fish. Ducks eat tadpoles.

Many different birds come to the pond to eat.

Some are visitors just looking for food, like the kingfisher, the black grebe, and the great blue heron. They eat fish.

The Mallard duck and the Canada goose come to lay their eggs near the pond so the new ducklings and goslings can quickly find water; they eat insects and pond plants. And they are safer on the water.

All of these need the pond. Some are food for others. Each one has its place. God takes care of them all.

Read Matthew 6:25–28.

Activity: Pond Riddle I am brown and bumpy.

I eat insects.

I live in ponds.

I have a sticky tongue.

I am a _______.

I once was a ____________.

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