Spark Women's Retreat Kit

MennoMedia has launched a women’s “retreat kit” about creativity, 
planned from material in the recent women’s Bible study guide, 
Spark: Igniting Your God-Given Creativity.

The retreat is designed for women to take time away and gather with others to dwell in God’s word and worship together. The retreat will help women discover God as the original creator and the joys of being created in God’s good image—all while nurturing their own creative spirits.

The Spark retreat kit includes Bible studies that unpack four stories of God’s creative spirit at work; a creative guide with ideas to help women take the study even deeper; a participant guide for each woman to write in and make personal connections while taking time for reflection throughout the retreat.

A director’s guide leads retreat facilitators through the steps of planning and leading the Spark retreat including usual logistics of location, schedule, number of days, meals, and the like.

The retreat kit is intended to be comprehensive with easy-to-follow directions, equipping women on a leadership team to lead the retreat themselves, and helpful for team building for women’s groups of all sizes and ages.

The content for this retreat kit was sponsored jointly by Mennonite Women USA, Mennonite Women Canada, and MennoMedia. More information available at www.mennomedia.org/sparkretreat.

Place your order from the Kitchener office through 

Craig Anderson at 1-800-631-6535 or 519-747-5722. 

You can also order on line through MennoMedia.  

SPARK - 2015 Bible Study Guide

Nurture your spirit with this dynamic, 12-session women's Bible Study Guide. Spark thoughtfully takes you deep into the Bible, and unpacks stories of God’s creative spirit at work. Starting with the story of creation, author April Yamasaki helps you discover anew the joys of being made in the image of God, and encourages you to foster your own creativity as a divine gift.

Each session artfully brings biblical texts to life, encouraging you to uncover, develop, and embrace the gift of your own creativity. These easy-to-use sessions helps you connect with God—the source of our creativity. Topics focus on God as the original creator and artist in the creation story, Scripture as art in the poetry of the Psalms, the Holy Spirit as God’s creative power, and multiplying the creative gift, among others. 

The study concludes with a creative celebration of worship. All sessions and the worship guide are in one convenient guide, making this the perfect resource for women’s groups, Sunday school, or individual reading and inspiration.

Rediscover the joys of being created in God’s image 

and nurture your own creative spirit!

Our annual Bible Study Guide is a joint project of MW Canada, MW USA and MennoMedia. 

In July MW Canada sent a complementary copy to each MC Canada affiliated congregation.  Check with your pastor, church administrator or women's rep/coordinator to see if it has arrived!    

To order additional copies please order from the Kitchener office through Craig Anderson at 1-800-631-6535 or 519-747-5722 You can also order on line through MennoMedia.  

Congratulations, Nathan and Taryn Dirks

Earlier  this summer Nathan and Taryn, our Pennies and Prayer Legacy Fund recipients, were on home leave from their ministry work in Botswana and shared some of their experiences in a number of churches.  I was pleased to have a chat with them the morning they spoke at my church, Vineland United Mennonite. Their excitement about their calling to serve was very evident and we wish them all the best as they are now back at home in Botswana with their new baby, Malaki.

Women walking together in faith - July 2015 - "Hope is a gift friends can give each other"

In the July 6, 2015 issue of the Canadian Mennonite, Kate Janzen, our AB rep, wrote a piece entitled 'Hope is a gift friends can give each other'. Kate asks, "What do Martha Stewart and Yvonne Johnson have in common? They both spent time in prison. ..... Johnson grew up marginalized from childhood onwards. After having gone from one prison to another for 19 years, she continues to live in poverty. However, she is trying to recreate a life for herself and her grandchildren by sharing her life experiences and helping others to benefit from the insights she gained."  To read the whole article click on this link.

Yvonne Johnson (second from left) with friends Mary Stacey,
Kate Janzen and Jeannette Thiessen who support Johnson
in working to become self-sufficient.

Women walking together in faith - May 2015 - "Burning bush moment leads to refugee children singing"

Every second month our executive members take a turn writing/finding someone to write an article for our page in the Canadian Mennonite magazine called "Women walking together in faith". In the May 11, 2015 issue Naomi Unger from Rabbit Lake, SK wrote about how congregations from Alliance, Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, Lutheran, Mennonite and Seventh Day Adventists in Rosthern, SK worked together in 2007 to bring refugees to Rosthern. Naomi writes "Now there are four families of Karen ethnic background from Myanmar who call Rosthern their home, including eight adults and 23 children." Read the whole article here. 

Karen children, refugees from Myanmar, sing at a
Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan event last fall.

MWC 2015 - Day 5

A work in progress!

Sad to say, we had no footprints left to add to the quilt/banner.  As I was packing up a woman came by very disappointed that she and her friend couldn't add a footprint so I wrote down her information and when I got home added two additional footprints as well as three more rows of squares and a black border.  

I am very grateful for having had this opportunity to meet so many women and men from countries around the world - - speaking so many different languages yet all connected to each other by a common confession of faith and focus on discipleship, community, service and peace.  What an amazing and inspiring week it was!

It was a privilege and joy to share with these fellow Anabaptist Christians about Mennonite Women Canada.  My hope is that the completed banner will be a symbol of our walking together with God, overcoming our differences in culture, language,  and styles of worship to bring praise, honour and glory to God in all we do.