A COMMUNITY TRAGEDY IMPACTS CONSTITUENCY CONGREGATION
Pray for the community of Smith Alberta, for Bethany Christian Church, a congregation of the Northwest Mennonite Conference, and its pastoral couple, Joe & Cathy Mrak as they and the congregation minister to a community in the midst of a most tragic situation. Early on Sunday, July 26th, four members of one family died in a multiple murder-suicide on a farm near Smith, Alberta; a grandfather shot and killed his wife, daughter and granddaughter before killing himself. The complexity of events that led up to this may never be fully understood. Nevertheless, says Pastor Mrak, "Smith is a close, very tight community. Its (all) pretty hard for us." Smith is a small hamlet near Slave Lake, about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton.
The granddaughter, nine year-old Misty, was actively involved at Bethany Christian Church. Furthermore, Joe Mrak drives a school bus and Misty and her twelve year-old brother Dustin were among the children who were on his bus. Pastor Mrak was with Misty's father when police broke the news of the four deaths to him.
The August 1st funeral, conducted for the three female victims by Pastor Mrak, was held at Bethany Christian Church. The Grandfather's family held a separate funeral for him in another Alberta community. "It was a trying week", says Joe Mrak, "But God gave us the strength to get through it. Only God can know what has been accomplished through this." Please pray for:
- The Smith Community as they see the need for Christian compassion and forgiveness in the healing process.
- Terry, the father, and brother Dustin and the good neighbours who have been assisting and walking with them through this dark time.
- The children of the community, especially Misty's classmates, as they return to school for grief management counseling. "There seems to be a fear that grandpa could come and shoot them in their sleep too", writes Joe.
- Pastor Joe Mrak and Bethany Christian Church, as they continue to minister God's comfort and healing to a hurting community. Pray that wholeness will be restored to the community and individuals.
For more information about this tragic event, see the stories in the July 27 and August 3 issues of the Edmonton Journal - www.edmontonjournal.com.
THE LOSS OF A HOME THROUGH FIRE
Pray for John & Justina Wiebe, MAX Canada members, whose mobile home near Taber, Alberta burnt to the ground on July 23. They lost everything. Although John and Justina live alone, their daughter was home at the time of the fire. John and Justina are members of the Sommerfeld Church in Alberta. Such events are always traumatic. We give thanks however for the support of a caring faith community which quickly organized a supportive grocery shower for the Wiebes on the 27th to begin replenishing what they have lost. John and Justina expressed their thanksgiving to Don Reddekopp, their broker. "We are very thankful to God for all the wonderful support we have had from our church and community. Lots of people have brought food and clothing and invited us to their homes for meals." Let's give thanks for the wholeness restoring activities that are occurring even while the Wiebes remain temporarily "homeless", living in rented quarters.
MOTHER-IN-LAW FACES CANCER TREATMENT
Fifty-nine year old Suzanne Bursey, the mother-in-law of Pam Riehl Bursey, an underwriter at MAX Canada, was experiencing shoulder and chest pain for several months. Tests revealed a large grapefruit size mass in her left lung which is currently not operable because of its size and because it is intertwined with a main artery. A small portion of this mass has also lodged in her brain. Lung cancer has been confirmed. Suzanne will be undergoing Chemo therapy at Owen Sound hospital and Radiation treatment at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener to try and shrink the mass, so surgery can occur in the near future. Suzanne and her husband Anthony Varriano live in Hanover, Ontario. Pray that Suzanne will have strength to successfully get through the aggressive Chemo and radiation and have the opportunity for surgery in the near future. Pray also for the family as they walk with Suzanne during this very stressful and uncertain time.
CELEBRATING THE GIFT OF SERVICE
Many MAX members and friends may not be aware that MAX, as part of its benefit plan, provides its staff with up to five paid days annually to do volunteer service work. Pam Miller, an employee at the Kidron, Ohio office gratefully used that time recently to serve at Camp Luz, a Christian camp, owned by the Ohio Mennonite Camp Association, tucked into the gently rolling hills of rural, Wayne County, Ohio. This is a special place for Pam and her husband Travis, and she describes the experience best in her own words:
"Many people may not consider spending a week with 55 boys age 9-12 as a week of rejuvenation, and physically, I can tell you it is exhausting. However, it is spiritually uplifting to see these boys and their teenage counselors playing, working, and praising God. Travis and I have a heart for the boys that come to boys camp, and many of today's counselors are kids he had as campers years ago. Many of these boys and counselors are added to our prayer list as "adopted boys". The child from this year was Matthew. Matthew comes from a separated home, and his father wants nothing to do with him right now. This has raised a lot of anger issues in this young boy. He needed special attention throughout the week, but we had several staff members we could call on to help out as needed. If you can join Travis and me in praying, not only for the campers that come to Camp Luz, but also for the camp itself, it would be greatly appreciated."
As we celebrate the Millers' spirit of service, offering wholeness to children, we expand Pam's prayer request for the thousands of staff and campers involved in church related Christian camps across our constituency this summer. UPDATESTina Dyck (See June 18 & July 21 Support Network Emails) As reported in our recent emails, 30 year old Tina is valiantly struggling with a terminal malignant brain tumour, first diagnosed in 2006. She underwent a second surgery on July 27 to remove as much of the re-enlarged tumour as possible. In an email update of July 29, husband Peter Dyck reported that Tina came through the five hour surgery well. The next steps are to find out if the tumour has changed to a more aggressive form and determine the further treatments she will need to undergo. These are trying times for this family. Their faith and courage are admirable. They very much rely on the prayers of a supportive community. In his email Peter writes, "I would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your strong and faithful prayers. My friends, please do not give up with your prayers as we still have a long way to go." Thank you for your continued prayers on Tina's behalf. HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR TRAUMA VICTIMS
A pastor recently called to inquire about literature resources available to assist families who have gone through the traumatic loss of a fire. The call prompted us to do some research. We recommend two very helpful websites, particularly for situations where children are involved. Thanks for your prompting and assistance, Ruth. 1. www.nctsnet.org The National Child Trauma Stress Network has some excellent resources relating to various disaster types under the heading "Trauma Types" and then "Natural Disasters". 2. www.reliablereconstruction.com The Reliable Reconstruction site Resource Centre has two excellent articles we recommend; "Helping Children Recover from Fire Trauma" and "Coping with Reminders after Losing Your Home". If you are you aware of anyone struggling with such a loss, feel free to refer them to these resources. Are you aware of other such resources? Please let us know so we can better assist our MAX members and broader constituency. |
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How can you assist the MAX Support Network Ministries?
- Insuring with MAX. Remember, Mutual Aid Ministries is supported by an annual tithe from the insurance operations.
- Encourage others of like mind to place their insurance (home, farm, church and business) with MAX. Remember, the more successful MAX insurance operations become, the more effective Mutual Aid Ministries can be.
- Share a story or prayer request with the MAX Support Network Ministries for consideration in an upcoming email. Remember, we must have people's permission to use their stories. Send stories or prayer requests to supportnetwork@maxwholeness.com.
- Make a contribution to the MAX Canada Share Fund, Inc. or the MAX Share Fund, Inc. Call 877-770-7729, ext. 202 (Canada) or 877-971-6300 (U.S.) for more details.
- Be informed about MAX. Click on the following link to view "Barnraising is Back": http://www.maxwholeness.com/barnraising & "The MAX Financial Cycle" http://www.maxwholeness.com/fin_cycle/MAX_cycle.html. You can also access and share this information by visiting our website www.maxwholeness.com or www.maxcanada.org. We welcome your feedback.
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We thank you for your support and commitment to the MAX Support Network Ministry and the other Mutual Aid Ministries programs. Please let us know of others who would like to join the Support Network Ministry email distribution list by sending their email address, with their permission of course, to supportnetwork@maxwholeness.com.
Sincerely, |
The MAX Mutual Aid Ministries Team
Carl Litwiller, Nelson Scheifele, Lloyd Miller |
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Creating and Sustaining