look out, world!

The young people from Community Mennonite Church are going places... literally.

You can read here about Rebecca's upcoming trip to Bangladesh in June (she has been helping to organize a service-and-learning experience called Shikka, which is a Bengla word meaning "to learn").

Sarah and Christine will be going to Guatemala later in this summer with ENLACE, another serving-and-learning program run by MCC Ontario (and one of the leaders will be Denise - also of our congregation).

And then there's ANOTHER overseas learning experience - this one called YELLA (I know... MCC's department of "program-name-thinker-uppers" has been working overtime), involving Justin, Ben, Kayla, David, Mike, Derek, and Kevin, with Allan as one of the leaders as well.

Here's what Justin had to say about the trip in a recent message to the congregation:

"This May I will be participating in a young adult learning trip to Israel/Palestine with a group of 20 plus people. This 3 week trip, jointly sponsored by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, is designed to provide young adults, like myself, with faith-shaping and faith-stretching experiences that will help us develop as Christian disciples and leaders. I feel like being in the “holy land” will go a long way in solidifying my own faith by experiencing contexts of the bible and the Christian faith visually and first hand.

The tour is named Yella, which means “Let’s go!” in both Arabic and Hebrew. This Middle East experience will provide us with the opportunity to wrestle with multi-faith realities, delve into issues that divide people, explore biblical stories within their context, and encounter a Jesus we have not met . . . yet! Linford Stutzman, professor of culture and mission at Eastern Mennonite University will be leading the tour. He has led several groups of EMU students on semesters in the Middle East. There is also a service component where we will work at Nazareth Village, a Mennonite mission organization that helps hundreds of tourists each month understand the teachings of Jesus within 1st century Palestine."

... and here are some words from Mike - an invitation to a special event TOMORROW evening (Friday, April 25):

"This Friday at Rouge Valley Mennonite Church we are hosting a
Coffeehouse Fundraiser to help us be able to afford this trip. The
show, which features acoustic sets by local musical talents, will
begin at 7:30. The bill includes the Markham MYF Praise Band, Marcus Adrian & Co., Allan Reesor-McDowell, Mike Turman, and Antigonie.

Desserts and refreshments will be provided as well. Please come
prepared to support our trip to the holy land."