By Janie Beck Kreider This is part three of four in a series featuring Mennonites working with immigrants. Projects featured in this series received grants from a special offering received at Mennonite Church USA’s 2013 convention in Phoenix toward the DREAMer Fund. These projects were chosen as grant recipients because they have a strong history of working with immigrants in their communities, especially with undocumented individuals and families who suffer from inhumane conditions in detention centers and unjust treatment in working environments. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me... read more →
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Kate Wentland teaches at China's national seminary in Nanjing, serving under Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Partners in China. Her home church is Peace Mennonite Fellowship in Claremont, California. She graduated from Fresno Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary, and writes a food blog with recipes and food travel stories at: http://keitopotato.wordpress.com/ I was nurtured with stories of sacrifice from my early years – my clan came out of the Russian experience. I thought, as a Mennonite, I might know a few key things about sacrifice, but I found living, learning and teaching in China that I was only a... read more →
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Catherine Thiel Lee is a member and serves her congregation at Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship. She is a chaplain at University of North Carolina Hospitals. Catherine has a Master of Divinity degree from Regent College and worked with refugee claimants in Vancouver, British Columbia. She lives, plays, reads, and lovingly tends a scrappy garden in Chapel Hill with her husband, Michael, and two sons. Open Our Mouths Open our eyes to see the misery you see Open our ears to hear the cries you hear Open our hearts to weep where you are weeping Open our lives to love with... read more →
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Sarah Jackson is the founder and director of Casa de Paz (House of Peace), a house for undocumented immigrants and their families in Aurora, Colorado. Jackson also founded Volleyball Latino, a bilingual league whose proceeds fund her hospitality work. This is part two of four in a series featuring Mennonites working with immigrants. Projects featured in this series received grants from a special offering received at Mennonite Church USA’s 2013 convention in Phoenix toward the DREAMer Fund. These projects were chosen as grant recipients because they have a strong history of working with immigrants in their communities, especially with undocumented individuals... read more →
By Janie Beck Kreider This is part one of four in a series featuring Mennonites working with immigrants. Projects featured in this series received grants from a special offering received at Mennonite Church USA’s 2013 convention in Phoenix toward the DREAMer Fund. These projects were chosen as grant recipients because they have a strong history of working with immigrants in their communities, especially with undocumented individuals and families who suffer from inhumane conditions in detention centers and unjust treatment in working environments. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me... read more →
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Melissa Florer-Bixler is licensed for ministry in Virginia Mennonite Conference, although she currently serves the people of Duke Memorial UMC in Durham, North Carolina as Minister of Nurture. She parents three small children with her husband, Jacob. They worship as a family at Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship. Melissa is active in a group working to found a new L’Arche community in Durham. It was difficult way to start my first sermon. Walking to the pulpit just as the sermon hymn ended, I saw Adam out of the corner of my eye. His hands were outstretched as he took shaky steps... read more →
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Alyssa Rodriguez attends First Mennonite Church in Iowa City, Iowa and works as a Family Support Worker for marginalized populations while also learning the ins-and-outs of motherhood with her beloved daughter, Zulema. As I reflect on celebrating my first Mother’s Day as a mom soon, I must make one hard admission. I did not always celebrate earning the title, “mother.” I imagined carrying that title ... years from now. And there was so much to do before that moment. While I was making baby registries, occasionally browsing baby name apps on my smartphone and avoiding the pink aisle as I... read more →
By Steve Pavey LUMPKIN, Ga. (Mennonite Church USA)—On the morning of April 9, 2015, five immigrants-rights activists went to court in Lumpkin, Ga., facing up to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. At the culmination of the Nov. 22, 2014, Shut Down Stewart vigil, Kevin Caron, Maureen Fitzsimons, Anton Flores-Maisonet, Rebecca Kanner and... read more →
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Rachel Lesher lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, Ben, a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill. They attend Chapel Hill Mennonite Church. Originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she is a graduate of Messiah College and Palmer Seminary of Eastern University. Rachel works as a research analyst at Duke University and is a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters. “The priesthood of all believers … means that in the community of saints, God has constructed his body such that we are all priests to one another. Priesthood of all believers has more to do with the believer’s service than with an... read more →
By Liza Heavener (Franconia Mennonite Conference/Mennonite Church USA)—This year marks 50 years since “Bloody Sunday,” an event that gripped the nation and continues to remind us of the injustices faced by Black Americans in Alabama and across the South. On the 50th anniversary, I returned to Selma, Ala., to bear witness to this historic event. This year was my sixth journey to Selma, with each trip bringing fresh pain, restored hope and reminders of the power of reconciliation. It was on this trip that I was moved by something Congressman John... read more →
By Janie Beck Kreider (Mennonite Church USA)—“Seed bombs” (or “green grenades”) are little balls of seeds and soil, the “weapons” of guerrilla gardeners around the world whose mission is to introduce life into neglected or hard-to-reach plots of earth. Under the right circumstances, seed bombs can produce something beautiful or useful, like a geranium or tomato plant. West Zion Mennonite Church, Moundridge, Kan., has adopted this idea as a spiritual metaphor, in which the gospel (seed) is mixed with lots of prayer (compost), and watered by the Holy Spirit. West Zion members are learning how to share their faith with... read more →
By Yvonne Platts (Franconia Mennonite Conference/Mennonite Church USA) This year marks the 50th anniversary of three significant events in the Civil Rights movement in the United States: The Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting laws and practices; the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, part of the movement of rights for African-Americans; and “Bloody Sunday,” when marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the Alabama River and were attacked by police with billy clubs and tear gas when they refused to turn... read more →
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Kristen Shelly Matthews is one class away from completing a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from DeVry University. She works as the office manager of GTECH Strategies, a nonprofit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2010, Kristen graduated from Bluffton University with a degree in Sociology. Kristen grew up in Rochester, New York. She and her husband, Devon, attend Pittsburgh Mennonite Church. I am not a person who likes risks. I was surprised then to find I myself – a fresh college graduate and newlywed – in a new city, lacking adequate income or any solid plan for the future. How... read more →
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Cara Rufenacht is a website designer and photographer living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She started her own business in 2013 after working for several years in non-profit communications. Cara grew up in Archbold, Ohio and graduated from Bluffton University. She is married to Joseph Delphia, a teacher and ceramic artist. Cara and Joe attend Pittsburgh Mennonite Church. During a visioning exercise at the Pittsburgh Mennonite Church fall retreat I sat with fellow members and discussed our hopes for our church. We sought to answer in three words or less, “What is PMC’s purpose, and how will we make it happen?” Answers... read more →
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Joshua Paul Smith recently graduated with an M.A. in Theological Studies from Central Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas. He and his spouse Alyssa attend Rainbow Mennonite Church in Kansas City, Kansas, and enjoys baking bread, gardening, discussing theology, writing book reviews, and teaching the occasional New Testament bible study. Joshua blogs at joshuapaulsmith.wordpress.com. Good Friday is my favorite Christian holy day. When I was a child growing up in a little liturgical United Methodist church in rural southeast Missouri, the United Methodist Women’s group hosted an annual Good Friday breakfast for the whole community. They brought in boxes of hot cross... read more →