Archive for July 2019
EMU graduates urged to be “moved to action by gratitude”
Eastern Mennonite University’s 2019 graduating class received a final assignment at the start of their commencement ceremony: “Raise your hand if this describes you,” said retiring psychology professor Judy Mullet, listing lengths of time in which students may have finished their degrees. At “Thirty-two years?” she raised her own hand. In her address, Mullet…
Read MoreCommunity Mennonite Church is no stranger to MDS
For many years, Community Mennonite Church has participated in recovery missions of Mennonite Disaster Service. These occasions included the memorable storms of Hurricane Andrew, the effects of flooding in New Orleans, and the extreme flash floods of Greenbrier County in West Virginia. Various persons like Terry Burkhalter spent two months in California as crew leader…
Read MoreWatch video of MDS Partnership Home Project at Assembly
Credit: Video shot and edited by Terry Burkhalter and shown at Virginia Mennonite Conference Assembly, July 19, 2019. VMC member congregations are invited to donate toward the Partnership Home Project. This project is $70,000, however, FEMA has already provided $30,000. VMC congregations are being invited to hold a special offering to raise $40,000. Please consider…
Read MoreMennonite Disaster Service: Where faith meets action
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is a volunteer network through which various constituencies of the Anabaptist church can respond to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. While our main focus is on clean up, repair, and rebuilding homes, this activity becomes a means of touching lives and helping people regain faith and…
Read MoreVolunteering as a spiritual discipline
I believe the virtues of volunteering one’s efforts on behalf of another are deeply embedded in our spirit. Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was good.” God designed us for relationship with God and with each other. Intrinsic to our biological, relational and spiritual nature is the desire to…
Read MoreTwo reflections from the SENT 2019 Conference
Reflection by Clyde G. Kratz I had the privilege of traveling to Denver with a number of church planters in Virginia Mennonite Conference, April 26-28, 2019. Mennonite Mission Network planned and hosted the event for church planters at the Beloved Community Mennonite Church, an intercultural church plant in Mountain States Mennonite Conference. Because Virginia Mennonite…
Read MorePutting hands and feet to what we believe through MDS
Springdale Mennonite Church “strives to be a growing community of believers that inspires engagement by all, cultivates discipleship, and shares God’s reconciling love and healing with our neighbors and our world.” This is our vision statement that we adopted in 2016. We are attempting to put our words into action through involvement with Mennonite Disaster…
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