People and Events

"Making a Difference in the World" is a seminar that will provide information on making wills, giving through life insurance, endowment funds and changes in Canadian tax laws concerning charitable giving. The seminar will be held Apr. 28 in Bakerview MB Church, Abbotsford, B.C., and Apr. 29 in Culloden MB Church, Vancouver. Registration fee is $15 and includes lunch and coffee. To register, phone Bakerview MB Church at 604-859-4611; in Vancouver, call MCC B.C. at 604-857-0011. The seminar is sponsored by Stewardship Ministries of the Canadian MB Conference, B.C. MB Conference, MCC B.C., B.C. Mennonite Historical Society, Mennonite Foundation of Canada, Mennonite Educational Institute, Columbia Bible College and Conference of Mennonites in B.C.--MCC B.C.

The Internet Evangelism Conference is designed to equip Christian ministries and Christians to share the gospel of Jesus Christ on the Internet. Sponsored by the Billy Graham Center, it will be held Apr. 18-20 in the Wyndham Hotel, Itasca, Ill. Workshops include "Chatrooms: Sharing Christ in Cyperspace", "Understanding the Culture: Impacting the Internet", "Tools for Effective Internet Evangelism" and "Y2K: Evangelism Opportunities". Speakers include Buster Soaries, Joseph Stowell and Ron Hutchcraft. The registration fee of $150 US covers all sessions and the closing banquet on Tuesday night. Meals and lodging are extra. For more information or to register on-line, visit www.webevangelism.org or phone 630-752-5162.--BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION

Religious organizations, including churches, make up over 40% of Canada's 75,000 registered charities. An independent panel, led by former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, reviewed accountability practices of charities and released its report Feb. 8. The panel calls for improved accountability, the creation of a new agency responsible for charities and a new definition of "charity". That definition may be expanded to include organizations that focus on issues such as civil rights and the environment. Some Christians fear that may result in the government seeking to replace lost revenue by tightening tax receipting requirements for some existing charities. Charities in Canada take in $90 billion a year.--MCC CANADA

Quotes from the New Testament and the name of Jesus were absent during the memorial service held Sept. 11 for the 229 victims of the Swissair 111 plane crash off Nova Scotia. Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, however, quoted freely from their own scriptures. Carolyn Nicholson, the United Church minister who gave the opening prayer during the service attended by family members of the victims of the Sept. 1 crash, was allegedly told by a government protocol official that there could be no references to anything specifically Christian. Other faiths were not given similar restrictions. In a Jan. 14 letter to Nicholson, Prime Minister Jean Chretien said: "References to Christ and the New Testament were not prohibited by any representative of the Government of Canada, nor were texts of sermons or speeches vetted by any representative of the Government of Canada. Indeed, I wish to assure you that no government official would ever be instructed to or permitted to censor or prohibit religious content in a memorial service." Nicholson thinks an appointee of deputy chief of protocol William R. Bowden, who helped plan the memorial service, instructed her on what she was to do at the service.--CHRISTIANWEEK

The US military budget for 2000 proposed by President Bill Clinton includes a $12 billion US increase. This is in addition to nearly $9 billion that was added to the Pentagon's 1999 budget. Clinton's request is part of a six-year proposal to increase military spending by $112 billion. The US Congress may in fact increase military spending even more than Clinton is proposing. Fear has been expressed that increases in military spending will adversely affect funding of children's education, health and safety needs. The US military spending is 20 times that of the combined defence budgets of Iran ($4.7 billion), North Korea ($2.4 billion), Syria ($1.7 billion), Iraq ($1.3 billion), Libya ($1.3 billion) and Cuba ($0.7 billion). In 1997, the US military budget was $268 billion.--MCC

Peacemaking on the continent of Africa was the focus of a consultation for Mennonite Central Committee workers held in Nairobi, Kenya in December. The consultation considered what the role of expatriate peacemakers in Africa should be. The role of religion in peacemaking emerged as a theme, as MCC works in the midst of Christian and Muslim and traditional beliefs in West and Central Africa. One participant observed that MCC peacemaking must be grounded in Christian values. Another question raised dealt with the length of term required for peace work; three years can be too short, especially when language learning is required. MCC generally seeks to support peace efforts that are grounded in African culture and African institutions. Twelve of MCC's 75 workers in Africa work full-time in peacemaking and conflict resolution.--MCC

Shahila, 5, sits with her doctor, Selma Haddad in the leukemia ward of Al Monsour Pediatric Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi children like Shahila will benefit from leukemia medicines Mennonite Central Committee donated to Iraq's Ministry of Health. The medicines were purchased in 1998 in Jordan to offer a complete two-year treatment for 50 specific leukemia patients. However, as more leukemia drugs are now available, the MCC drugs will be used as supplements for a larger number of patients.--MCC

After the Jan. 24 earthquake in Colombia, Mennonite Central Committee responded to a request for emergency and long-term relief from MENCOLDES, a Colombian Mennonite service organization. MCC is sending $77,000 for the purchase of food, water, medical supplies, generators and radios. MENCOLDES reported that as many as 2,000 people died and 15,000 were injured in Armenia, where the epicentre of the quake occurred.--MCC

A new alliance was formed in January by Mennonite Christian Leadership Foundation and Global Disciples Network. Each will retain separate identities and boards of directors while working together for an initial three-year period. In existence for 30 years, MCLF provides leadership training for church and Christian business leaders internationally. The GDT Alliance of Global Disciples provides evangelism leadership training worldwide for young people. Don Jacobs, who retired after 30 years as executive director of MCLF, will serve as a consultant with MCLF. Galen Burkholder, executive director of Global Disciples, will provide staff leadership for both organizations.--GLOBAL DISCIPLES NETWORK

Grain donated from the prairies to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for use in overseas relief and development projects from Apr. 1, 1998 to Jan. 31, 1999 was 12,208 tonnes, an increase of 17% over collections in the same period last year. Eastern Canada (primarily Ontario) donated 3,880 tonnes of grain through Jan. 31, an increase of 39% over a year ago. Through Jan. 31, the CFB had received total grain donations of 16,088 tonnes, compared to 15,278 for all of 1997-98. CFB's fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.--CANADIAN FOODGRAINS BANK

Once considered taboo in China, the subject of sex is becoming prominent on bestseller lists. Transsexuals are going public. Adultery is becoming increasingly tolerated. The divorce rate jumped from 5.9 per thousand in 1990 to 7.1 per thousand in 1995. However, police usually close down bars frequented by homosexuals and beat homosexuals caught cruising.--WORLD PULSE

Doug Zehr demonstrates the use of a teeter pump at the Centro de Capacitacon, a Mennonite Central Committee appropriate technology centre in Bolivia. As the teeter on the pump is raised and lowered, it lifts and compresses two black rubber air springs. The pumping draws water from a cistern through a pipe to a field. The teeter pump delivers more than 180 litres of water per minute.--MCC

Inflation is seen as the main cause for poverty in Mexico. The price of basic food has risen 370% since 1994. Last summer, 2% of Mexicans did not have enough food, but now that number has risen to 7.5%. About 26% are earning just enough to eat, up from 18%. The share of those in extreme poverty has climbed from 40% of the population five years ago to 55%. Sixty percent of those surveyed said their quality of life had fallen in 1998.--WORLD PULSE

E-mail is a new and fast way the Commission on Overseas Mission of the General Conference Mennonite Church transmits prayer requests. Prayer Partner Program uses monthly lists of prayer concerns from COM workers worldwide. The messages are compiled by COM staff in Winnipeg and Newton, Kan., who then e-mail the messages to 261 people at 37 e-mail addresses. Another 93 addresses receive the prayer requests via regular mail.--GENERAL CONFERENCE MENNONITE CHURCH

Friend Ships is a non-profit organization, based in Los Angeles, that delivers donated humanitarian aid around the world. Financed by private donors, it uses a fleet of five ships crewed by Christian volunteers. Friend Ships began when a wealthy couple became Christians and had a vision to deliver large amounts of food overseas. They found a World War II supply ship, removed the military hardware, reconditioned the ship and renamed it "Spirit of Grace". Friend Ships is scheduled to transport 1,000 tonnes of corn from Mennonite Central Committee to North Korea by the end of March.--MCC

Haiti benefitted from a rebuilding project headed by Mennonite Economic Development Associates over the last four years. The Canadian International Development Agency provided several million dollars to MEDA to help jump-start the Haitian economy. The MEDA project created 716,313 person-days of work, paid $2.3 million in wages to Haitians, restored 200 km of roads, repaired 70 km of irrigation canals and 14 km of drainage canals, built five bridges, fixed three schools, improved six springs, planted 993,558 tree seedlings, grafted 9,196 fruit trees, trained 3,209 people and gave 4,193 people literacy training.--MEDA

Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, B.C., said Jan. 16 that he will withhold his consent to the blessing of same-sex marriages. While he supports same-sex marriages, Ingham wants the issue to be examined over the next two years, with the intention of holding another vote in 2001. Ingham has asked his Commission on Liturgy to prepare a service for same-sex unions in the event that consent is granted at a later date. Last May, Synod delegates of the Diocese of New Westminster voted 179-170 in favour of a motion authorizing Anglican priests to bless same-sex unions, making it the first Diocese in Canada to vote in favour of the motion. However, the Canadian House of Bishops asked Ingham not to permit the blessing of same-sex unions for the time being. At the Lambeth Conference on Aug. 5, 1998, Anglican Bishops from around the world voted strongly against the ordination of homosexuals, saying that homosexual activity is incompatible with Scripture.--BC CHRISTIAN NEWS

, the principal reported that the number of serious fights had declined, and respect between students and teachers had increased. Southport High began imposing a detention and a call to parents for a first-time offense and a suspension for repeat offenders after Principal Larry Hensley-Marschand noticed that every fight on the school grounds began with verbal assaults.--EVANGELICAL PRESS NEWS SERVICE

ABC's Peggy Wehmeyer, network television's only full-time religion reporter, told USA Weekend that some journalists think she has a secret agenda because she happens to be a person of faith. However, she responds: "Do you think political reporters can't be objective covering politics because they vote? Of course not. If anything, my faith, which demands that I be fair and honest, makes me a better reporter. What's the alternative--to have religion covered by an atheist who has no interest in God?"--EPNS

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