“One hundred years ago, we responded to crisis in Ukraine,” says MCC U.S. Executive Director Ann Graber Hershberger. “A century later, we find ourselves walking alongside the people of Ukraine in crisis once again. They are pleading for our prayer and support — and a reminder they have not been forgotten during this time.”
Monthly Archives
February 2022
Most pastors and ministry leaders are passionate about their mission. While this is a good thing, in the presence of persistent pressures and a never-ending to-do list, care for oneself often falls to the wayside. You have the same human limitations as everyone else. Make eating well, exercising and connecting with those you love a priority.
Because we worship the Prince of Peace and are called to be Peacemakers, we care deeply about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Because we are called to identify with Christian brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and to love our Ukrainian neighbours there, we are called to pray. And finally, because violence often escalates to draw in more nations and particularly impact the vulnerable and disadvantaged, we believe this is an urgent moment for Christians the world over to pray.
I struggle to hear God’s voice sometimes, do you? Perhaps it’s because I don’t slow down long enough, or I am distracted by other things, or maybe I am hearing it but choose not to acknowledge it.
What I know depends upon who I know. But knowing another person (as you may have experienced with a friend or spouse) is never simple. Humans change. They grow. They’re inconsistent. And their knowing—however trustworthy they may be—is, like mine, subject to the limits of human sin, bias and finiteness. Leaving it all like a web: beautiful, delicate and tenuous.
I wonder if God would judge our culture as being any better or worse than the one of Jesus’ time? I wonder if Paul would determine the church of his time to be better or worse than the church of 2022? I wonder if the plan God revealed in Christ Jesus 2000 some years ago – a gospel narrative couched in humility – has any less impact and transformative power today?
We are a little over 500 years since the last reformation. Could it be that God is again at work through the power of his Spirit, breaking through our outer shell to reveal a new work to be done? If this is the case, then what is this new work?
“I ask that CCMBC consider participating in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2023 and beyond.” – Rick Block, Saskatoon, SK.
The story Elmer Thiessen writes is a vivid reminder of how challenging it can be to be an outspoken Christian academic in a secular setting. Essentially it had to do with the desire to integrate his Christian faith with his academic work.
As part of the Anabaptist community in Canada, along with other Mennonite Conferences, we ask our MB churches to consider sponsoring an Afghan Christian family.