Although we did cancel our 2020 retreats due to the pandemic, that doesn't mean we haven't been busy! Below you'll see stories about JoinTrees, our new tree-planting campaign, a busy year of giving grants to churches through JoinHands, and we continue to develop new written resources.

While we are refraining from in-person retreats out of an abundance of caution, if you would like to hold a virtual retreat with Mennonite Men, please feel free to contact us and we'd be glad to plan it with you!

This fall Mennonite Men is launching JoinTrees, our campaign to restore the earth by planting one million trees by 2030. This campaign targets the problem of climate change and its negative impacts on God's earth and people.

The effects of climate change have are already being seen through more frequent, stronger hurricanes, increased wild fires on the west coast, and flooding in the Midwest. Deforestation is a major cause of this crisis as tree and forest loss continue, dramatically reducing the earth's most important means to sequester carbon and cool the planet. Global tree cover loss continues at an alarming rate of nearly 18 million acres each year—roughly 27 soccer fields every minute.

Responding to God's call to address this crisis, Mennonite Men is locating land, forming a network of partners and resources, assisting with tree planting, and receiving contributions for this program. We invite men's groups, youth groups, congregations, universities, nonprofits, and other groups to participate in this campaign.

For more information, click here.

To contribute to the campaign, click here.

• African Community Church of Lancaster, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• Calgary Chin Christian Church, located in Calgary, Alberta
• Centro de Alabanza, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Unity Church of God, located in Homestead, Florida

"This has been an unusually busy year for us," said Steve Thomas, Coordinator of Mennonite Men for the US. "It has been a great experience to be able to help this many churches, and we hope to continue this pace next year."

By purchasing their own building, these congregations are then able to hold their own events, expand their ministries in their respective community, and welcome more families and individual members. Mennonite Men encourages churches with the resources to pursue building projects to give as a way of sharing resources and serving "fair balance" with congregations in need.