Tag: Mennonite Church Canada
Doug Klassen’s visit to Mindanao was, at its heart, a journey of companionship. As Executive Minister of Mennonite Church Canada (MCCanada), Doug came not merely to see projects or attend meetings, but to walk alongside us—listening, learning, and sharing in the life of our community. For three days, we moved together through the varied landscapes of Mindanao, carrying conversations that deepened our bond as companions in peacebuilding. On the first day, he shared breakfast with CFP staff and baristas, lunch with PBCI staff, held an afternoon meeting with Bennette Grace Tenecio-Mañulit, and concluded the day with dinner alongside the Mindanao PeaceWeavers’ leadership. The second day took us to Camp Darapanan for a meeting with senior Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) representatives, followed by lunch in Cotabato City with Datu Haron Al-Rasheed Baraguir. On the third day, we traveled to the Malipayon Peace Hub (MPH) where Doug had breakfast with MPH staff before returning to Davao City for a lunch meeting with the PBCI Board of Trustees. The visit concluded with a reflective meeting between Doug, Joji, and me.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/08/11/deepening-the-companionship-doug-klassen-visits-pbci-cfp-fields-in-mindanao/
On 04 July 2025, during the Mennonite Church Canada Gathering held in Kitchener, Ontario, I had the privilege of presenting a reflection entitled Creating Spaces as Companions: Redeeming Koinonia in the Life of Mennonite Church Canada. This presentation was part of MCCanada Priority in the Gathering 2025 theme—deepening our commitment to relationships across congregations, cultures, and communities. I shared how koinonia, as envisioned in Scripture and global theological discourse, calls us beyond transactional partnerships and institutional habits inherited from colonial and industrial legacies. Instead, I invited our church to reimagine partnership as covenantal, relational, and Spirit-led companionship—a sacred journey of walking together in justice, mutuality, and love.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/07/07/creating-spaces-as-companions-redeeming-koinonia-in-the-life-of-mennonite-church-canada/
09-13 July 2024, Thailand — A group of us, missionaries sent by the Mennonite Church Canada Witness to various parts of Asia, gathered in Southern Thailand for a time of recreation, relationship building, and deep reflection. This gathering was not just a break from our usual routines but a purposeful retreat designed to foster personal and collective growth through the lens of vulnerability. My personal response focused on decolonizing and liberating the Christian missionary enterprise. For me, it’s essential for fostering a more just and respectful approach to effective Christian witness. By critically examining past practices, prioritizing local cultures, and aligning missionary efforts with the principles of justice-based peace and reconciliation theology, the Christian mission can become a force for genuine spiritual and social transformation.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2024/07/19/decolonizing-and-liberating-the-christian-missionary-enterprise-a-personal-reflection/
The Sondawa Coffee Farmers Association (SoCoFA) held a two-day leadership training on value-based strategic planning last 26-27 May 2023, at the Mt. Apo Facilities of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC). The training was facilitated by PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP), who are partners with the Manobo Apao Descendants Ancestral Domain of Mount Apo (MADADMA) and EDC. This value-based strategic planning was a culmination of more than 5 years of journeying together and partnership between the MADADMA, EDC, and PBCI-CFP. Through those five years, a Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) Community and a social enterprise have been established, and a set of well-qualified, equipped, and enthusiastic leaders were elected to sustain and regenerate this inclusive development program, which is partly a result of an on-going MCCanada peacebuilding ministry in the Philippines.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/05/29/socofa-holds-value-based-strategic-planning/
Last 20-26 September 2022, Doug Klassen (Executive Director, Mennonite Church Canada), Jeanette Hanson (Director, Mennonite Church Canada Witness), and Norm Dyck (Mission Minister, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada) accompanied the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Coffee for Peace (PBCI-CFP IncluDevTeam) in our regularly scheduled field work. Our field trip included a meeting with a Philippine Army officer, with the Council of Elders of the Manobo Apao Descendants Ancestral Domain of Mount Apo (MADADMA), with the Obo Manobo coffee farmers in Kidapawan, with the founders of TriPeople Development & Services Foundation, and with the Council of Elders of the Unified Bagobo Tagabawa Tribe. They also met with our Manila-based BOT members.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2022/09/27/mennonite-church-canada-leaders-visit-pbci-cfp-field-partners/
There is a need to sustain strategic peacebuilding through impact investment. Such investments support social entrepreneurial endeavors that lead towards regenerative and inclusive development. This is how Coffee for Peace (CFP) and PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) operate in synergy.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2020/02/27/we-need-impact-investors-to-sustain-strategic-peacebuilding-and-inclusive-development/
We have been blessed by the visit of two executives of Mennonite Church Canada. Willard Metzger (Executive Director) and Jason Martin (International Witness Director) immersed themselves for a week in the PAR Fields where we serve as International Witness Partnership Workers.
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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2018/10/09/mennonite-church-canadas-w-metzger-and-j-martin-visit-our-par-fields/
