News & Notes
Events
Prayer
Resources
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**Annual Reports**
MCA's and Mennonite Church Canada's Annual Report Summaries were sent on Monday January 7. You can also download them here.
MCA 2018 Annual Report for Churches
MC Canada 2018 Annual Report for Churches
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 Welcome Home,
Werner and Joanne!
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 Thank You!
Snow Camp
Don't Stop Believing
Jan 11-13
Grades 7-12
Photos by Chad Miller
  
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Camp Valaqua is looking to purchase a truck this spring. If you would like to contribute, make cheques payable to Mennonite Church Alberta or send an etransfer to treasurer@mennonitechurch.ab.ca. Please designate to Camp's facility upgrade fund. Our mailing address is Box 1839; Pincher Creek, AB T0K 1W0. Please contact Kim Friesen Wiens (friesenwiens@gmail.com) with any questions.
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Funding available for healthcare students
 Graduate Students in Healthcare Professions: Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship (MHF) offers educational grants for Anabaptist students to learn and serve in cross-cultural mission/service settings in developing countries. Deadline for 2019-20 academic year is May 15, 2019. For details and application form, see www.mennohealth.org/student_term/, email info@mennohealth.org, or call 1-888-406-3643.
A flyer for printing and posting on a bulletin board is available for free download at
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Portable 
 Surviving and Thriving Despite Cancer
(and other major life crisis)
Dan Epp-Tiessen, Associate Professor of Bible
Portable CMU
February 8-10 @ Trinity Mennonite
Download Flyer here
NOTE: Saturday's session concludes at 4:30pm. Trivia Night begins at 6:30pm at Foothills.
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2019 Trivia Night - February 9
Edmonton vs. Calgary
a Camp Valaqua Fundraiser
Join us in Edmonton @ First Mennonite or in Calgary @ Foothills Mennonite Church on Feb 9th @ 6:30 for Trivia Night, a Camp Valaqua fundraiser. Invite neighbours, friends, and relatives to join. To submit a team of 6-8, or to join a team contact Kevin Stoesz (Calgary) or Kim Friesen Wiens (Edmonton), kbstoesz@gmail.com or friesenwiens@gmail.com, respectively. Admission will be $20 at the door and a donation will also be taken at the event.
NOTE Calgary area: Saturday's session at Trinity on Surviving and Thriving concludes at 4:30pm.
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 Annual Delegate Session
Vision 20/20 - Phase III - Discerning God's Call
March 15 - 16
Bergthal Mennonite Church, Didsbury, AB
 Betty Pries, CEO of Credence and Co, will join us again to follow up on the November event and to continue our renewal process. We will come together to share what we have heard during our season of prayer. Where have we felt the nudging of God’s Spirit?
To prepare for Phase III, we have been asked to be in a season of prayer. Betty challenged us in November to take a listening stance and to spend time in contemplative prayer. Documents and resources related to the November event (Phase II) can be accessed here.
Online registration for Phase III (March event) opens February 15. Contact June (communications@mennonitechurch.ab.ca) if you need assistance with resources.
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June 29 - July 1
Saturday afternoon - Monday noon
36035 N Parallel Rd, Abbortsford, BC
Opening Session includes installation of our new Executive Minister, Doug Klassen.
Pre-Gathering Events:
Friday June 28: Leaders Assembly
Saturday am June 29: Business / Delegate Meeting
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S H A K E:
Rattled by the Radical
Attention grades 6-12
Join other youth from across Canada.
July 28-Aug1, 2019
Shekinah Summer Camp, SK
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2019 Calendar
Feb 2 General Council, Bergthal
Feb 8-10 Portable CMU @ Trinity
Feb 9 Trivia Night - Edmonton vs. Calgary
Mar 15-16, MCA Delegate Sessions @ Bergthal
Vision20/20 - Discerning God's Call
Mar 29-31 Missions Consultation - Calgary
Apr 6-7 Joint Council in Calgary
May 13-15 Faith Studies Conference
Jun 7-9 MCA Women's Retreat @ Sylvan Lanke
Jun 15 Valaqua Hike-a-thon
Jun 16 Valaqua Garden Party
Jun 29 - Jul 1 MC Canada Gathering 2019, Abbotsford BC
"Igniting the Imagination of the Church"
Jul 28-Aug1 Shake: Rattled by the Radical @ Shekinah Camp SK
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 A Season of Prayer: We've been asked to pause and listen. What is God asking us to release? What is God asking us to embrace?
Open Our Minds - to really see all that is good and all that is challenging;
Open Our Hearts - to listen to one another with humility;
Open Our Wills - to really be, to surrender ourselves;
Open Our Spirit - to really know deep in our bones that we are loved by God.
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Prayers for peaceful Indigenous-Settlers relationships, and justice for all people.
Mennonite World Conference and other Mennonite church bodies have affirmed the need for healing of relationships between Indigenous and Settler people around the world. In Canada we recognize that Indigenous people have experienced deep injustice that continues to affect us all. In recent years the construction of resource pipelines has become a flashpoint for the difficulty of Indigenous-Settler relationships. Another example is occurring this week in northern British Columbia, where authorities have moved to stop a protest against the construction of TransCanada’s natural gas pipeline. While negotiations are producing promising results, pray that a peaceful resolution may be found to this and other similar conflicts. Pray that as we seek justice for all people we may learn how to open ourselves to the leading of God’s healing Spirit.
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International Witness
 The Friedenshaus (Peace House) is an urban community initiative in the Ludwigshafen Mennonite Church. It is a project of the German South-West Conference of Mennonite Churches (ASM) and is supported by Mennonite Church Canada and other Mennonite organizations. Serving as a bridge between the church community and the surrounding neighbourhood, the Friedenshaus promotes relationship building and a culture of peace in the city of Ludwigshafen, Germany, through volunteer-led German-language classes, a quilting circle, homework help, and potluck meals. Greg Rabus and Jennifer Otto, former Mennonite Church Canada Witness Workers (2013-2018), are co-founders of the Friedenshaus.
All Witness Workers: We pray that the peace of Christ would resonate through all Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers serving in five countries in the coming year. May each of us use the varied gifts God has given us to be “witnesses” to those we encounter in 2019.
 Pray for Tom & Christine Poovong and their ministry team as they continue to share their salvation story to Thai Issan people and beyond. Pray also that their vision for planting a church in each of the 20 Issan provinces becomes a reality.
George & Tobia Veith ask for prayers of strength and endurance for Tobia as she has many final exams (all audio-recorded) to mark during the next two weeks, and for wisdom and energy for George as he prepares materials for two presentations on peacemaking that he has been asked to give to pastors in Macau and in the Mennonite churches in Hong Kong.
 “Young people who have grown up in Ukraine’s government-run institutions are unprepared for independent adult life,” says Mary Raber. Pray for church-based halfway houses that teach necessary life skills to survive and thrive. (From Mennonite Mission Network’s December 2018 Prayer Vine.) Mennonite Church Canada works in partnership with Mennonite Mission Network to support the Ukraine ministry.
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www.commonword.ca
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Worship Calendar:
 Each year, Anabaptist-related churches around the world are encouraged to worship around a common theme on a Sunday close to January 21. On that date in 1525 the first Anabaptist baptism took place in Zurich, Switzerland. World Fellowship Sunday provides an opportunity to remember our common roots and celebrate our worldwide koinonia. Resources can be found at www.commonword.ca/go/1663.
 Cheaper By The Dozen is a bulk loan-option for pastors, librarians and church committees to preview new materials, host thematic displays over several weeks or circulate items within the congregation. Order 12 different loan titles and receive an extended borrowing period as well as other benefits. For more information, visit http://www.commonword.ca/go/1584.
 Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples
The Mennonite World Conference Peace Commission writes in a statement approved by the General Council in 2018: "In the Christian Scriptures, we encounter God who hears the cries of the dispossessed and suffering, feels deep concern for their welfare, and moves to save. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ, the living example for the church, embodies God’s preferred presence with the neighbor who is excluded, oppressed, ignored, rejected or treated as alien. Jesus associated with people on the margins, listened to and respected their experiences, and collaboratively sought justice. Mennonite World Conference desires to follow Jesus’s example to respond to the cries of Indigenous Peoples worldwide." Download at http://www.commonword.ca/go/1717.
Buy, Borrow, Download from CommonWord
Free Shipping on borrowed items.
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 MCA now accepts e-transfers at treasurer@mennonitechurch.ab.ca.
Stories, Events, Announcements?
communications@mennonitechurch.ab.ca
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