People and Events

"MEDA is for you" is a new advertising effort launched by Mennonite Economic Development Associates to let people know that MEDA is not just for business people. People from all walks of life--teachers, factory workers, sales managers, farmers, pastors, doctors, auditors, software designers, students, librarians, chaplains--are a part of MEDA. Created in 1953 to help Mennonite refugees in South America develop their own businesses, MEDA is involved in setting up microcredit lending institutions in South and Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and eastern Europe, as well as helping low income entrepreneurs in North America. Over 2,600 North Americans are part of MEDA; in 1998, they contributed $1,177,500, which grew into more than $10.5 million, for MEDA's programs.--MEDA

Volunteers working on 19 Canadian Foodgrains Bank community growing projects in Manitoba received a 1999 Premier's Volunteer Service Award in the community groups category on Apr. 21. CFGB growing projects was one of three recipients selected from more than 35 nominations in the community groups category. A typical growing project involves a group of volunteers such as farmers, churches, school children, agricultural businesses or community service clubs working together to plant and harvest a crop for donation to CFGB. Last year, the community growing projects in Manitoba ranged in size from seven acres of test plots managed by the Pembina Valley Conservation District to 280 acres at the HOPE ("Helping Other People Eat") project in Arnaud. In 1998, community growing projects contributed more than $430,000 to CFGB.--

Lawrence Warkentin is a retired MBMS International missionary working with the German MB Conference to plant a church in East Berlin. His work involves home visits, school visits through the Gideons, speaking in churches and meeting university students. One day, Warkentin dialed a wrong number and talked to a Mennonite from Ukraine who had renounced his Christian faith under pressure from communists. The man asked him: "Is that bad? I need to prepare for heaven, right?" The man found forgiveness and peace with God, and his two sons are now interested in the gospel. Lawrence and his wife Selma began with Bible studies and expected to hold their first Sunday worship service in June when representatives from the MB church in Dresden were to visit.--MBMS INTERNATIONAL

Team 2000 is an evangelistic initiative of MBMS International to present the gospel to the 1-2 billion people in the world who have no Christian witness in their ethnic/language group. Already several young people have committed themselves to take up this challenge for 10 years.--MBMS INTERNATIONAL

Until 1985, Mennonite Central Committee had more people serving overseas than in North America; Since 1985, more workers are serving in North America. In 1969, 66% of workers served overseas; by 1998, only 37% of workers were located overseas. The ratio of MCC workers under age 40 to those over age 40 dropped from 4:1 in 1980 to 3:1 in 1987 and to 1:1 today. In 1982, MCC had 556 overseas workers; today it has 357. That decrease is largely due to changes in MCC's African program. In 1973, MCC had its largest number of workers serving in Africa (250), largely due to the demand for teachers in newly independent countries. The number of MCC board-appointed workers serving three-year terms overseas and in North America peaked at 1000; MCC now has 850 workers on such terms. In 1998, MCC had 340 North Americans serving overseas, 315 national program staff and 190 national support staff (National staff are hired by MCC country representatives and are paid at a level consistent with the local economy). However, the number of short-term workers is increasing. In 1998, about 150 people served in one-year programs such as SALT (Serving and Learning Together); nearly 200 people served in assignments of several months; and one-week programs such as SWAP (Serving with Appalachian People), COPA (Chicago Peace in Action) and TOOLS (Toronto, Ontario, Opportunities for Learning and Service) involved about 1,300 people. In 1980, just over 50% of workers were younger than 30; today fewer than 30% are younger than 30. In 1969, 40% of workers were women; today more than 60% are women. In 1970, 10% of MCC workers were salaried; in 1998, 32% were salaried.--MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Rene Camahort was deported to Manila, Philippines, by the Saudi Arabian government May 9 after spending nearly three years and nine months in a Riyadh jail. (See "In Prison", MBH, Jan. 22, 1999.) Camahort, 41, was arrested Aug. 15, 1995, when his employer at Al-Tayar Travel Agency accused him of being part of an embezzlement scheme. In prison, Camahort became a Christian, and was threatened by religious police, court officials and guards. He smuggled word out to Amnesty International documenting the October 1995 arrest of Donato Lama, a Filipino Christian who was jailed for 17 months and received 70 lashes for "promoting Christianity" within Saudi Arabia. Lama was released and deported in March 1997. Now Camahort has to rebuild his life. During his imprisonment, Camahort and his wife separated. Camahort was reunited with three of his children on May 9, when he saw for the first time his five-year-old son, born after Camahort's last visit to the Philippines. Camahort is also trying to locate his two other children, including a teenage daughter addicted to drugs.--COMPASS DIRECT

Edmonton Recycling Society is going out of business after 11 years of employing people to collect garbage from blue boxes, and sort and sell it for recycling. Most of its 50 employees will be out of work. City council decided two years ago that BFI Waste Systems would be awarded the sole contract to collect the recyclable garbage and to build and operate a new recovery facility. When the city introduced blue boxes, Mennonite Central Committee, Catholic Social Justice Committee and Citizens for Public Justice created ERS to bid on the contract. ERS's bid was $1.1 million higher than that of BFI, but city council members argued that the social benefits justified the higher costs. The city's share of the profits totalled $4 million in the first seven years. While the city was satisfied with ERS's performance, council recommended that the contract go to BFI. ERS employment has varied between 50 and 100. Almost half of the employees were severely employment disadvantaged when hired. The new BFI facility will provide training for clients of the Chrysalis Society for Citizens with Disabilities.--CANADIAN MENNONITE, EDMONTON JOURNAL

Peggy Wehmeyer, religion reporter for ABC World News Tonight, is the featured speaker for the 1999 Mennonite Economic Development Associates convention, to be held Nov. 4-7 in Norfolk, Va. Wehmeyer will be joined by other keynote speakers John Dalla Costa, president of the Center for Ethical Orientation and author of the bestseller The Ethical Imperative: Why Moral Leadership is Good Business; and Bishop Leslie Francisco, pastor of the fast-growing Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Va. The theme of the convention is "Staying on Course in a Sea of Change." Joining ABC World News Tonight in 1994, Wehmeyer became the first correspondent on religious and spiritual issues to report for a US TV network. Previously, she covered religion and social issues for more than 10 years for WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, and served as director of public information for Dallas Theological Seminary, where she also studied. Wehmeyer will speak about being a person of faith working for the media. According to Wehmeyer, media must pay attention to religion because of its powerful role in culture.--MENNONITE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES

The art of storytelling should be promoted to communicate the Bible more effectively, says Thomas Boomershine, founder of Network of Biblical Story Tellers. He suggested formal storytelling training for people who read the Bible aloud in churches. Speaking to the annual Bible Agencies Forum in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Boomershine said his concern is that the way the Bible is normally read in churches encourages people to go to sleep. He says the electronic media are reviving storytelling in North American culture. Leaders of 17 international Bible agencies met at the April forum to discuss ways to make the Bible more interactive with readers, including presenting the Bible through video games and music. Book of Life International announced it has launched a new evangelistic Web site aimed at young people. The site, on-line since May 1, emphasizes the Bible's relevance through issue-oriented chat rooms, links to contemporary musicians and profiles, and interactive video games. A representative from "Hosanna" said there has been a dramatic impact made on churches by its program "Faith Comes By Hearing", a set of audio Scriptures used in 90 countries. Also discussed at the forum was the practice of dumping cheap copies of the Bible into other countries, which is undermining the development of local Scripture production in post-Soviet countries.--EVANGELICAL PRESS NEWS SERVICE

While the movie saga Star Wars may have spiritual themes, its message is not Christian, according to Baylor University religion professor John Wood. While there may be parallels with the Bible on some themes, he noted that the movies by George Lucas overcome evil with violence. That's not what the Bible teaches, Wood said. Another contrast is in Christianity salvation and the Holy Spirit are available to everyone while in Star Wars only an elite few can access "the Force". Ever since the first Star Wars movie appeared, theologians have been exploring parallels between the sci-fi trilogy and the Bible. Launched in 1977, Star Wars is the story of Luke Skywalker, who fights the evil force of Darth Vader, and eventually wins in The Return of the Jedi (Episode 6). The fourth installment, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, which opened on May 19, is the story of Luke's father, Anakin, who eventually is transformed into the evil Darth Vader.--EPNS

Indonesia's financial crisis is not as bad as the government is reporting, according to three new studies by the World Bank. While previous estimates of the poverty rate have ranged as high as 48%, the most recent rate is 14%, 3% higher than in 1997. The poverty rate is defined as less than 50 cents per person per day. Also, the newest report estimates that there has been a 4 or 5% decline in school enrollment of school-age children, less than the 24% drop widely reported.--WORLD PULSE

There are 2 million Internet users in China, and that number is growing by 40% annually. To this point, the industry has been largely unregulated. Internet services offer news and analysis of current events. Although illegal, dissident journals are also available electronically.--WORLD PULSE

The Old Order Amish are an anabaptist group that began in 1693 after a split from the Swiss Brethren/Mennonites in Europe. The Amish first settled in Pennsylvania in the 1730s, and continue to double in population every 20 years. About 80% of their young people join the Amish church. The 1998 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Directory states there are at least 70,000 Amish in North America in at least 960 congregations. Old Order Amish do not have electricity or phones in their homes, most drive horses and buggies instead of cars, and most dress plainly. They prefer to live simply, focusing on faith, church and family life and on good stewardship of the earth. Other plain anabaptist groups include New Order Amish (a group that embraces some more technology), Old Order Mennonites, Beachy Amish and the Hutterian Brethren.--COURIER

The famine in southern Sudan is under control, according to some relief agencies. The most recent harvest was twice as large as the one in 1997. However, according to World Food Program, distribution and access to food remain problems. For instance, half of the population of Bahr el-Ghazal is displaced, resulting in a loss of farming, and the level of malnutrition remains high.--WORLD PULSE

Montreal is the 1999 target city for the "City on a Hill" project of the Commission on Home Ministries of the General Conference Mennonite Church The designation includes a $25,000 US grant to support outreach in the target city. There are no French-speaking Mennonite churches in inner-city Montreal, said Daniel Genest, a former Baptist and Mennonite Brethren pastor in Quebec, who has a vision to plant a multicultural congregation there. He has worked in church planting with the General Conference Mennonite Church since 1994, first in northeastern Quebec and for the past three years in Montreal.--GENERAL CONFERENCE MENNONITE CHURCH

Kosovo refugees have received comforters and "refugee kits" from Mennonite Central Committee. Bread of Life, a partner with MCC, delivered "hygiene kits", including soap from MCC, to 300 families on Oct. 7. A humanitarian agency of evangelical churches in Belgrade, Bread of Life intends to deliver more aid to the thousands of displaced people in Kosovo.--MCC

China signed a United Nations treaty protecting freedom of religion on Oct. 5. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights must still be ratified by China's legislature. China permits religious freedom only within official churches approved by the government.--EPNS

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