 A Postcard and a Prayer | |
| Mennonite Women USA | June 2010
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 "A commitment to nonviolence requires a spirituality of seeing the other with dignity, equality, and God's redeeming love.
"In the same way Jesus did, we must speak and live out the good news of the kin-dom within our homes. We need to feel that the Spirit of God is among us to proclaim healing, restoration,
and peace in our families."
-Elizabeth Soto Albrecht from Seek Peace and Pursue It: Women, Faith and Family Care, 2010 Mennonite Women USA and Mennonite Women Canada Bible study guide
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Heavenly Voices performs women's stories
Heavenly Voices shares the stories of Mennonite Women of
Color across the Mennonite Church from Alabama
to Montana, from Philadelphia
to Los Angeles. These women's stories were collected during
the Mennonite Women of Color Oral History Project conducted from 2000 to 2006
by Pat McFarlane, associate professor of communication at Goshen
College, and Linda Christophel, school
social worker in Michigan.
 McFarlane has interwoven these extraordinary stories of
ordinary women, shedding light on God's faithfulness and work in their lives. A
cast of actors from Goshen,
Indiana directed by Angela Noah
will perform these stories. All of the actors are members of Mennonite
churches.
Vernell Briddell, Chambersburg,
Pa., (pictured) shared her story
for Heavenly Voices. She says:"When I shared my story with Pat, it gave me
the opportunity to see God's hand all through my life. If we remember what God has done in the past,
it helps us in the present."
All are welcome to attend these performances free of charge:
July
9, 6:30 p.m. Marion Mennonite Church,
Chambersburg, PA
July 10, 7:00 p.m. James Street Mennonite Church, Lancaster, PA
July 11, 7:00 p.m. Oxford Circle Mennonite, Philadelphia, PA
July 14, 7:00 p.m., Living Water Mennonite, Chicago, IL
July 16 and 17, 7:30 p.m., Umble Center, Goshen College, Goshen, IN
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Coming in timbrel
"My job
was to collect data from targeted people, such as poor girls, sex workers,
street people, and poor families. The objective was to understand what was
going on in reality about human trafficking," explains Ta My Ngan (pictured right), Vietnamese
human trafficking research assistant.
 "Changing
our buying habits, supporting efforts already in place, and joining forces with
others in pressuring for legislative reform are concrete ways we can help,"
declares Karen Lehman (pictured left), Mennonite Women USA board treasurer as she answers the
question about what we as individual women can do about human trafficking.
Read
these stories and more in the July/August issue of timbrel: women in
conversation together with God. The focus of this issue is "Human Trafficking,"
the second largest income-producing crime in the world.
The
Sister Question for the September/October issue which will focus on
Disabilities and the Church is
How does my church affirm those with disabilities?
Send
responses to Patty by August 1.
To subscribe to timbrel, send $15 for one year or $13 per
person for a group of 10 or more to Mennonite Women USA, 722 N Main St., Newton, KS 67114.
You can also e-mail or call 800-794-5101, ext. 34396. We'll start your
subscription and send you a bill.
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2010 Women's Bible study guide
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Seek
Peace and Pursue It: Women, Faith, and Family Care, by Elizabeth Soto
Albrecht, Lancaster, Pennsylvania is now available from Faith
& Life. Elizabeth writes:"I am enchanted with Jesus' message of peace. I am a pacifist at heart, and my desire is to inspire Mennonite women to carry out God's message of peace - starting in our homes."
Women's
groups and churches that financially support Mennonite Women USA, and have
requested a sample guide, will receive their complimentary copy in the next
few weeks.
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Seek
Peace and Pursue It has 12 lessons and a closing worship service and is ideal
for use by women's groups or for a Sunday school quarter. Thoughtful
questions also make this guide helpful for individual devotions and
journaling. Developed by Mennonite Women USA and Canadian Women in Mission, the guide is
published by Faith & Life. Copies can be purchased for $8.29 plus $2
postage by calling Mennonite Publishing Network at 800-245-7894 or order online from Faith and Life Publishing.
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"Free to serve"
by Janet Trevino-Elizarrarraz
The Mennonite, June 2010
"Esther
Vazquez has served as pastor in the Mennonite church for more than 12 years.
If we left it at that and assumed that her story is similar to that of
any other Mennonite pastor, we would not only fail to understand the unique
gifts she gives us today but what Mennonite Church USA can and maybe will look like in the future.
"Esther is a fourth-generation Mexican-American living and serving in and around
Dallas. With
Pentecostal roots in her family, her father-in-law decided to plant a General Conference Mennonite
Church congregation,
which she joined. This is a perfect example of the hybrid found in the Latina
Mennonite church: holding space for Pentecostal beliefs and experiences yet
sharing the name Mennonite as part of its identity." Read more.
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Women's group seeks to become more culturally diverse
by Brian Paff
Mennonite Weekly Review, June 7, 2010
 "When people of different cultures
come together, it is like a bouquet of flowers. The blossoms might have been
harvested from different gardens and come in varying shades, shapes and sizes.
This is how Sandra Martinez-Montes of Grand
Prairie, Texas described
a gathering of Mennonite women. 'Together in our diversity, we glorify God,'
she said. Pictured left
to right: Karen Andres, Violeta Ajquejay, and Naomi Unruh.
"Mennonite Women USA, a group of Mennonite Church USA, addressed issues of cultural diversity during its Women in Conversation retreats April 9-11 at Laurelville Church Center, Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and April 30-May 2 at Cross Wind Conference in Hesston, Kansas." Read more.
Women in Conversation retreats are
jointly sponsored by Mennonite Women USA
and Laurelville Church Center.
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Barriers to Women in
Leadership examined
by
Mennonite Church USA
staff Mennonite Weekly Review,
May 24, 2010
Members
of MC USA's
Women in Leadership Audit steering committee presented their findings in two
workshop sessions at the Women In Conversation: Living a Life of Gratitude
retreat April 30-May 2 in Hesston. Pictured are Joanna Shenk, chair of the Leadership Audit, Hilary Scarsela, a steering
committee member and participant
Lori Acosta.
"The challenges are serious and often more
subtle than the assertion that women shouldn't lead in the church," said Hilary
Scarsella.
"Workshop
participants - women beginning, in the middle of and concluding their service
in the church, as well as women not interested in holding positions of
leadership - raised the need for female mentors." Read more.
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The Kitchen Table
by Lorraine
Eby Franklin Conference Sister Care Coordinator Burning Bush, June 2010
"How would
you respond if asked, 'Tell me about your father?' I'm sure many thoughts and feelings rise to
the surface, some pleasant and some maybe not so pleasant. Our description of
our dad is our perception based on what we remember.
"Males and females each bring to parenting the
differences that together provide a balance in the nurturing of children. We
often associate mothers with daughters and perhaps overlook the importance of
dads in the lives of women." Read more.
Used by permission of the Burning Bush, Franklin Conference newsletter.
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 Mennonite Women USA invites persons to share financially to support this
ministry. Individuals are invited to give in honor of, or in remembrance of, a
significant woman in their lives. We
recognize that each gift honors or remembers a relationship. Gifts
given by:
Nadine Peters in
memory of Pansy Janzen. Rebecca Buller in
memory of Alice Peters. Joan Nikkel in
memory of Dora Reimer. Jeanne Heyerly in
memory of Lilly Berkey. Vida Jean Grove in
memory of Elizabeth Grove. Irma Bowman in
memory of Beth Bowman Moser. Lois Friesen in
memory of Lottie Weaver. Lois Friesen in
memory of Trude Friesen. Justina Neufeld in
memory of Anna Sawatzky Neufeld. Genny
Schwartzentruber in memory of Helen D Leichty. Naomi Bontrager in
memory of Ruth Hartman. Mary Alice Lehman in
memory of Mabel Long. Doris North in
memory of Evie Hertzler. Pam Risser in memory
of Vera Kuhns. Renetta Kroeker in
memory of her mother. Marilyn Eigsti in
memory of Jean Eigsti. Esther Helmuth in
memory of Fern Helmuth. Geneva Shetler in memory of Kate Paterson. Judith Walter in
memory of Emma Jean Zimmerman. Kathryn Yoder in
memory of Annabelle Yoder. Gifts
given by:
Rachel Varona in honor
of Ruth Albrecht. Rachel Varona in honor
of Helen Miller. Naomi Lederach in honor
of Nona Kauffman. Jenna Liechty Martin
in honor of Goldie Lambright. Jenna Liechty Martin
in honor of Doris Liechty. Ruby Brenneman in
honor of Faith Carpenter. Patricia Hray in
honor of Vera Witmer.
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Give to Mennonite Women USA
 Your
gifts make Mennonite Women USA's ministry possible.
Contribute on-line Make a pledge on our website.
Or mail it to the office at Mennonite
Women USA,
722 N. Main St., Newton, KS 67114-1819.
Please
consider this ministry in your giving. Gifts are tax deductible.
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A Prayer for the Journey
By Patti Nefzger Bethlehem Mennonite Church, Bloomfield, Montana
Jehovah
Jireh,
You are
the one who provides all we need.
You have created this world we live in
and made it not only livable,
but bursting with delightfulness.
Vivid
spring green grass,
warm lion-gold cats,
endless awe-inspiring sunsets of orange and purple and pink and blue.
Thank You
for gifting us with eyes that can see these beauties.
Wind moaning through tall evergreens,
mourning doves cooing,
new kittens squeaking hungrily.
Thank You
for creating us with ears to hear.
Freshly
plowed earth,
spring-flavored air,
last year's leaves turning to mulch.
Thank You
for putting a sense of smell into us.
Good coffee,
fresh bread,
cold milk,
bursting sweet oranges.
Thank You
for the wonderful sense of taste.
Gritty soil,
soft breeze on my face,
silky soft dog under my hands,
muscles tired from good labor.
Thank You
for making us able to feel.
Lord our
Provider,
we praise You for these delights.
The world is saturated with Your presence,
reminding us that we are under Your constant watch and care.
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A Postcard & a Prayer is compiled by Mennonite Women USA staff Rhoda Keener, Patricia Burdette, Berni Kaufman, and Lois Loflin. |
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Know of others who would like to receive "A Postcard & a Prayer" e-mails from Mennonite Women USA? Have them send name, address, and e-mail Berni. | |
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