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The rule of ayni: reciprocal relationship
In Kichwa, there is a word, ayni, that describes the rule and practice of interdependence. “One does not exist unless the community exists,” says Julian Guamán. In the Kichwa worldview, that community includes all of creation, not just humans. Ayni dictates that as members of the community, humans have a responsibility to be in reciprocal…
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Universally appealing core values
Meet Hiro Katano of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan Member of the Faith & Life Commission. How do you serve MWC? I have been a General Council member, representing Nihon Menonaito Kirisuto Kyokai Kyogikai (Japan Mennonite Christian Church Conference), since 2016. I serve MWC by connecting it with my church conference through correspondence, information, translation and…
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Courier 2023 / 38.3
Inspiration and reflection Perspectives Country Profile Resources General Secretary Word from the editor Partake in this global communion What a joy to be together! This issue of Courier features Renewal 2023. Three years after it was first planned, this special event took place in British Columbia. Renewal is a series of events to remember the birth of the…
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Renewal: the core of the gospel
Over the past 100 years, the world has changed immensely and at the same time, not so very much, says Henk Stenvers; both then and now, there is nationalism and polarization in church and society, and even war in Ukraine. As we prepare to mark 100 years of MWC and 500 years of Anabaptism in…
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Lessons enter through different doors
After last summer, you can’t deny it. It’s here. It was the driest year in France and it’s been like that for several years. So you can see people are becoming more aware of climate change. Now it is beginning to affect them. And yet there is still so much more to talk about.
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Mennonite faith through history
The history of Mennonites in France goes back to the beginnings of Anabaptist history. There were Anabaptists in Strasbourg by around 1526. They were quickly forced to operate clandestinely, but an Anabaptist presence would continue in Alsace throughout the 16th century.
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Equipping our church to care for creation
Colombia Now Israel, what does the Lord your God desire from you? … love him, serve him with all your heart and in all your life, and observe his commands… You see, What does it mean to worship God and to walk in his ways while keeping in mind that “the heavens and the earth…
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Love in a time of climate change
Indonesia I cannot forget the high tide flooding of 23-25 May 2022. As pastor of GKMI Sidodadi in Semarang in Central Java province, Indonesia, I still recount the anxieties and panic of the community. Our church building is just 10 minutes’ walk from Tanjung Mas Seaport from where the flood came. Seawater ran down…
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Is this climate change?
Canada Early in January I took my kids to our local indoor ice rink to skate. The place was packed, and people were frustrated. All-tosoon we were shooed off the ice to make way for an afternoon hockey game. The one-hour public skate was clearly not enough to meet the community’s need. It wasn’t until…
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Gospelling with creation care at heart
Climate anxiety may be a new term coined in the Global North, but it is not a new experience for communities that depend on rain-fed subsistence farming. I first joined the adults in my family in worrying about the weather when I was 8 years old.
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Living More with Less
Given the reality of climate change and the crises caused by it in recent years, such a statement surprised me. Climate issues have become another issue of political polarization in our societies. Amid fear and guilt, arguing about facts and fake news, is it possible to find hope and healing for a divided world? Can…
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Courier 2023 / 38.2
Inspiration and reflection Perspectives Country profile Resources General Secretary Word from the editor In crisis, a community of hope More with Less is the title of a Mennonite-famous cookbook. Home economist and former MCC service worker Doris Longacre Janzen crafted this countercultural cookbook in the 1970s. It exemplifies Mennonite ideals of simplicity and takes inspiration from…
