Letter to the Women in our Churches

The following letter was prepared by Shirley Redekop, President of Mennonite Women Canada  and Elsie Rempel, Secretary/Treasurer.

To the women in our churches who gather for fellowship, service and mission,

Blessings for the fall season with its energy and new beginnings, even while our gardens yield their harvest and settle into a season of rest. We hope you have received and are enjoying this year's Bible Study Guide, Live Your Call, Embracing God's Mission. My husband, Peter, a seasoned church leader, is enjoying it for his devotional reading and recently asked me, "Are the other BSGs this good too?" If you haven't received the copy we sent to your church, please check with the BSG contact person or the person who distributes the mail. In my church, I added it to the library after introducing it in sharing time. We hope it brings blessing however it is used. 

The executive of Mennonite Women Canada is looking forward to an additional executive meeting right after the concluding worship of the Special Delegate Assembly of Mennonite Church Canada this October 15. Please pray for us! We will be bringing a resolution to remain under the organizational umbrella of Mennonite Church Canada at the Assembly and will then meet afterwards to see how our planning needs to adjust to changes the nation wide church has decided on. Therefore, you will not be receiving the customary fall issue of our Connections newsletter before then, but will receive a report from us after that.

In the meantime, it has come to my attention that some of the women's groups in our congregations may not have received our 2016 Annual Report Book, Continuing the Call with its Opportunities for Giving Form on page 20. That was certainly not our intent! While there are many structural changes occurring in our nation wide church, ministry needs and many opportunities continue, and the donations of your women's group remain most desired and appreciated. 

As always, we look forward to hearing about what is happening in your area. Mennonite Women Manitoba's Spring Retreat report and the BC Women's Ministry Inspirational Day report are now posted on our blog mennowomencanada.blogspot.com. We hope you will soon see more reports there from across the country.

Elsie Rempel

MWCanada Secretary/Treasurer

Shirley Redekop

MWCanada President

Note:  MW Canada's 2016 Annual Report Book is available on line.  Click here.

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

Tom and Christine Poovong

Mennonite Women Canada supports Mennonite Church Canada workers, Tom and Christine Poovong, in Khon Kaen, Thailand, through their International Ministries Project.   In their October 2014 newsletter Tom and Christine ask for prayer as they strive to build relationships and lead people to become disciples of Christ.  "Pray that the Lord will use us to minister to many people in this community."   

The Poovongs will celebrate the grand opening of Menno Nursery on December 1, 2014.  They write: "It is a ministry to reach out to young family. The ministry includes teaching English, pray for the children, read Bible story to them, and get them ready for preschool.  The Nursery will also help to build relationships with their parents with kindness, love, Joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and faithfulness. We are planning to take in six children from age 1-3 years old to start with. Christine will be the first to lead this ministry so please pray for her that the Lord will give her strength and wisdom, pray that the Lord will bring local worker. This too is part of what we are doing in Thailand is to teach them to become disciple maker and be able to have their own business and do ministry at the same time. It is called “Income Producing Ministry”. Please pray for our grand opening on December 01/2014."

Their full newsletter is available for you to read on our website at Mennonite Church Canada. 

If you would like to donate to this or any of our other projects you can do that on-line.  Please check out our "Opportunities for Giving".    

Mennonite Women Canada - Opportunities for Giving 2014-15

 Early in March each year our executive meets for three days during Mennonite Church Canada's Spring Leadership Assembly in Winnipeg.  After a short devotional each morning we spend a few minutes getting re-acquainted with each other and then it is down to business.  Each of our 5 area church reps shares a report on their past year's activities, including joys as well as challenges.  We discuss our various projects and look at our financial report from the past year.  The budget proposal for the upcoming year is discussed and prepared.   Since Assembly 2012 in Vancouver, MC Canada has gone to holding biennial assemblies.  We have been advised by MC Canada staff that the executive has the legal power to approve the budget in years when there is no Assembly. Financial statements and budget will continue to be generated and distributed on an annual basis. (Report Book 2012, page 20) Our fiscal year runs from February 1 to January 31, so the Opportunities for Giving for 2014-15 was prepared in March 2013 and distributed to churches and women's groups in April.



We have just posted this year's Opportunities for Giving on our web page which is part of MC Canada's web page.  Our full financial report can be found in our 2012 Annual Report Book which was sent to your church/women's group or distributed at your Spring Enrichment/Inspirational Day.  If you would like a copy, please leave a comment requesting it and I will send you an electronic copy.

Our projects have basically remained the same for the past few years but there are always some slight changes. The recipients of our Spiritual Growth Assistance Fund change from year to year.  Our Pennies and Prayer Legacy Fund recipients could potentially change every three years.  
Our International Ministry Project also changes from time to time.  So please check this blog for updates on these projects and/or links to the recipients.

     

More 60th Anniversary Information

Below are a few more posters with some information that you may or may not have known before.

Maybe some of the info will resonate with you and propel you to become involved with your local Women's Ministry in your congregation or community.

Or maybe you would just like to send in a donation towards the ministries that Mennonite Women Canada is already working with.
Just click right  HERE and we would be ever so grateful for your contribution!

I think that the posters below don't need any captions as they pretty much have all the info right on them. 

Ohh... and do you know that you are allowed to leave comments on each and every blog post? Sure would be nice to actually hear from someone/anyone every once in a while. :-)

Blessings to all our friends out there in cyberspace! ! !

Enjoy the beautiful Fall Season!

Mennonites Everywhere!

Have you seen or heard about this series of short videos created by Mennonite Church Canada?  If not you might want to check them out.  Nick Spaling, an NHL hockey player, is featured in the first video.   Zahara Kwaje Ali, from South Sudan and a member at Peace Mennonite Church in Regina, SK shares her story in the second video.

Intended to dispel stereotypes of who Mennonites are and to tell a story along the way, these videos are funded by above budget donations.  Mennonite Women Canada has been approached and asked if we would contribute towards the next video which is in the works. 

This video will feature a third generation Congolese Mennonite woman, Odette Mkole, who has been living, studying and working in Winnipeg for the past few years.  Odette’s great-grandfather was a Mennonite – a fact that surprises a lot of people she meets. She has an amazing story to tell! 

As an executive, we felt this would be a great project to support and are now asking you to consider giving towards it.  We are asking for individual donations as well as donations from your women’s group or church, but request that this be above your regular giving.  We hope to raise most of the money needed by the end of the year.  Please consider supporting this worthwhile project.  Designated donations can be made on-line at our Opportunities for Giving page or by contacting our treasurer Lois Mierau at glmierau@yourlink.ca.  

Opportunites for Giving (2011)

At the annual meeting of Mennonite Women Canada, held this past July in Calgary, a new international project was chosen as one of our 'opportunities for giving'. The Samuelito Day Care Centre in Santa Cruz, Bolivia opened its doors in 2006 to provide a much needed service and also to reach out to the families in one of the city's poorest neighbourhoods. The director is Juneth Vargas, who is an energetic mother of two and a committed Christian dedicated to her work. She oversees a staff of 8 who care for 74 children and give instruction in the areas of health, nutrition, education and faith.

Please click on 'Opportunities for Giving' above to read more about this project. Updates about this project will be posted as they become available.