Jan 30, 2015

Women Walking Together in Faith - January 2015 - "Looking back on a most incredible journey"

Princess Gloria 

In our latest Canadian Mennonite article
you will be introduced to our wonderful friend and Sister in Christ who has become an integral part of our MCBC Women’s Ministry retreat weekends. 

Over the past four years, "Princess Gloria” has brought loads of enthusiasm, fabulous ideas and endless laughter to our retreats & committee meetings! We have had many ( in her words), “Goose-y Moments/Aha/God Moments” together, as she shared her gifts among us, by helping to create meaningful events with opportunities to learn, have fun, or just relax; always with the intent of encouraging  women to return again the following year, bringing friends or family members with them. Her presence has been, and continues to be, an incredible blessing!  




So, here's a big shout-out of thanks from All of us 
that enjoy our MCBC Women's Retreat weekends! 

Waltrude Gortzen – MCBC Women’s Ministry. 

P.S. And... if you are curious as to why "Princess Gloria"? 
It's really quite simple - she is the daughter of our King of Kings and therefore a Princess! 
Are you a princess, yet?

Jan 29, 2015

WEBSITE UPDATE

Great news!!!  Our new website  http://women.mennonitechurch.ca/ is up and running. For the past year and a half we have been working together with Grant Klassen at Mennonite Church Canada for a new look with more information available.  As of yesterday all of our old information has been transferred.  Some newer sections are still being worked on and hopefully bit by bit we will have it completed.  So go and have a look and please be patient while we continue to update!




Jan 26, 2015

Nathan and Taryn Dirks

A recent email from Mennonite Church Canada shared some information from the blog of Nathan and Taryn Dirks.  As Witness workers in Botswana they are recipients of our Pennies and Prayer Legacy Fund.

As we look at our fiscal year ending January 31, 2015 we anticipate a shortfall and continually strive to do more with less.  Nathan and Taryn’s perspective on the ‘Numbers Game’ describes the difference that generous donors from across Canada are making.  Here are a few excepts:

  • 38 – Prison inmates who completed the year long “Bible Timeline Series” and received certificates of completion
  • 5 – Youth from Mennonite Ministries Bible studies who were ordained as preachers
  • 55 – Bibles gifted to serious students of scripture who had no Bible of their own
  • 6,000+ – Number of chocolate chip cookies baked by Taryn for Bible studies
  • 5 – Usual length, in hours, of Friday night Bible studies
  • 258 – Christmas gift bags packaged and delivered to First Offenders Prison in Gaborone, enough for every inmate in the prison and every guard on duty
  • 40 – Length of time, in years, that Mennonites and African Indigenous Churches in Botswana have been partnering together as of 2014
You can read more on the Dirks’ blog. Theirs is just one of many impact stories of the work we do together as a national church in 25 countries around the world and in Canada.


Jan 19, 2015

Barkman's latest newsletter

I'm a little late with posting this latest newsletter (December 2014) from Darnell and Christina Barkman, serving with Mennonite Church Canada in the Philippines. It came with the Christmas card below. The Barkman's are recipients of our Pennies and Prayers Legacy Fund. Their newsletter can be found HERE

Jan 17, 2015

Update on Activities/Projects/Programs

Greetings from Mennonite Women Canada:

Now that we are a couple of weeks into the New Year it's time to let you know about what's happening in the various projects and programs we support through our Opportunities for Giving. This includes the Pennies and Prayer Legacy Fund (PPLF), Spiritual Growth Assistance Fund (SGAF), International Ministries, Short-term Ministries and our Publications and Communications.

I'm planning to do separate posts for the projects/programs listed above and hope to do one a week until they are all covered.

We'll also let you know about women's activities that happen across Canada in our five geographic areas: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Eastern Canada.

Website Update:  Together with the Communications Department at Mennonite Church Canada we have been working on a fresh new look for Mennonite Women Canada's website.  It will be ready to be released in the next month or so. Some parts of it will likely need a bit more work but we are excited to be this far in the process. The links in this post are to the old website and I believe will switch over seamlessly to the new website once it is up and running. I will post an announcement here when we reach that point.

Thanks for visiting our blog and please leave a comment, suggestion or question below.

On behalf of the executive,
Liz Koop, President



Jan 3, 2015

NEW YEAR'S PRAYER OF HOPE

Lord, we stand at the door of this New Year,
thankful for the year behind us,
a gift through which we’ve lived and moved.
At this timely threshold,
with our feet poised to walk into 2015,
we turn to you with our prayer of hope.

Hope springs eternal when we walk with you.
Help us walk this year with you.
We hope that this will be a year filled
with joy, with love, with laughter,
a year filled with plenty and abundance,
with purpose and fulfillment.

But if the year brings hard times and hurt,
pain and sorrow, tears and trials,
we know that your care and comfort
will console us month by month.
Grace us with forgiving spirits.

As a community help us walk
with the happy and the sorrowful,
holding their stories tenderly.

We hope for peace in our time,
for an end to wild war music.

We long to hear the sound of governments
listening to their people,
heeding their pleas for justice.

We long to hear the sound of the children of the world
cheering together because peace has been declared,
and they do not have to fear anymore.

We hope for healing for our beloved earth,
for harmony and balance where we have caused
disharmony and unbalance.

This year, Lord, help us to feel in our bones
the beauty of this life, this world;
its sounds and sights and smells and tastes,
the lavishness of being
which you give us in seconds and minutes
and hours and days and weeks and months.

Move in us, have your way with us,
so that on the last day of the year
we can say, wholeheartedly,
this year has been a gift
through which we’ve lived and moved
as followers of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Copyright Carol Penner