Ever since survivors of brutal fighting in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo fled to the city of Kikwit in 2017, the Mennonite Brethren Church has been ministering to them with faith and action.
 
The survivors came with burns, wounds from machetes and babies about to be born. They were exhausted from walking for weeks or months from various regions of neighbouring Kasai Province without much food or water. They carried emotional wounds from watching their family members and neighbours massacred in front of them.
 
The Communauté des Eglises de Frères Mennonites au Congo (CEFMC; Mennonite Brethren Church of Congo), which is based in Kikwit, saw their need. Individuals responded by taking people into their homes and giving clothing and food. The CEFMC hospital staff provided medical care, and their churches became temporary shelters.
 
But the needs were greater than CEFMC could meet alone. MCC, with the initial support of donations from global Anabaptist organizations, followed by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and MCC donors, is walking with CEFMC. Together, the local committee of CEFMC members are empowering displaced people to establish new lives in Kikwit.
 
MCC – Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/church-mcc-work-together-peace-grows-kikwit​

Ana Malena Cruz Montero unpacks items from an MCC relief kit in the small outbuilding on her property where her family is sleeping after Hurricane Ian damaged the roof of her house in 2022. She received a relief kit from MCC partner CCRD (Centro Cristiano de Reflexión y Diálogo, Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue), and will receive material to repair the roof when it arrives in Cuba.
Ana Malena and her daughters, 10 years and 4 months, hid under the bed at her father's house when the hurricane hit. Since the hurricane, she has moved the family's belongings to the parts of the house that are still covered, and has covered other belongings with tarps or old bedsheets to protect them from the rain.
"It was so sad, what happened with the hurricane. We're grateful for what you were able to do for us. Especially for the towels, because we didn't have any before."
To pack an MCC relief kit, visit mcc.org/get-involved/kits or mcccanada.ca/get-involved/kits.
 
MCC – Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ

A young woman who has cerebral palsy receives a handmade comforter, a relief kit and cans of meat supplied by MCC in Ukraine.
MCC partner New Life Charitable Fund assists people with disabilities in Nikopol with MCC humanitarian relief. Some of them are with relatives, but many live alone. They are reluctant to leave their city, but with limited mobility, it is difficult to access underground bomb shelters.
New Life states that the humanitarian assistance from MCC was a joy not only because it filled a need, but because it reminded the recipient that someone remembered them and cared for them.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!
 
Want to get involved? Visit mcccanada.ca/get-involved/kits  

Relief in Cuba
 
Cuban woman María Dolores Pérez Páez  is grateful for everything received in an MCC relief kit. She has been using them sparingly, since she says doesn't know when she'll get soap or towels again.
 
Maria and her husband Gregorio are a retired couple, living in a rural area in the province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. They both suffer from health problems, and are trying to make a living as best they can with Gregorio's pension. When Hurricane Ian hit, their house was destroyed — the roof, the walls, everything. Only the kitchen and bathroom, and the front wall, are still standing. During the hurricane, says Gregorio, the wind was coming from all directions at once: "it was a whirlwind." The hurricane's destruction has made an already difficult economic situation even worse.
 
Thanks to your support, humanitarian assistance is distributed to vulnerable families through Brethren in Christ Church of Cuba and the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue, MCC partners in Cuba.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!
To pack a relief kit, visit mcccanada.ca/get-involved/kit

Each $5 seed packet purchased will support growing and strengthening Indigenous communities through respectful relationships, advocacy, art and responding to disaster. There are three kinds of flowers – black-eyed susans, cosmoses, and forget-me-nots.
Pick up a seed packet in person at MCC Thrift on Grantham and learn more about MCC's Indigenous Neighbours program. And do a little shopping! Or donating! Laur Steven is the Receiver on Thursday mornings.
Thank you for making a difference!
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!
mcco.ca/indigenous-neighbours
​

Dear Friends,

Many people I know have fallen in recent weeks and sustained some serious injuries. My sister was one of those who fell, and people came to offer help on a busy city street where it happened. A visit to the nearby hospital emergency room confirmed no broken bones in this case, although others I know did not come off quite so fortunate. 
 
I’m reminded of the text in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 that says that “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” I think this is a good picture of what MCC does, helping people around the world, striving to share God’s love and compassion through relief, development and peacebuilding. 
 
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in the work of the Mennonite Central Committee. God bless you as you bless others in the name of Christ.

Stephen Roy
Church and Community Relations Associate
Mennonite Central Committee of Ontario
https://mcccanada.ca/ontario-speakers

MCC Thrift Shop Volunteers
 
April 16 - 22, 2023 was volunteer appreciation week! And MCC Thrift Shops can’t thank their volunteers enough for the hard work they do!
From sifting through bags of donations, pricing items, organizing merchandise for the shop floor, and being cashiers, MCC Thrift volunteers make these shops run everyday!
If you or someone you know would like to volunteer at MCC Thrift on Grantham, they’d love to hear from you. (905) 682-8944
MCC Thrift stores welcome donations all year long.
And don’t forget to purchase some soup made by the Raw Carrot non-profit group. 😊
https://mccthriftontario.com/stcatharines/
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!

When you make a comforter for MCC it goes to help people in places like Ukraine. Picture a family with a child who has cerebral palsy who has received handmade comforters, a relief kit and cans of meat supplied by MCC. What wondrous love is this!?
In Ukraine, MCC partner New Life Charitable Fund assists people with disabilities in Nikopol with MCC humanitarian relief. Some of them live with relatives, but many live alone. They are reluctant to leave their city, and with limited mobility, it is difficult to access underground bomb shelters.
New Life states that the humanitarian assistance from MCC was a joy not only because it filled a need, but because it reminded the recipient that someone remembered them and cared for them.
Interested in making an MCC comforter?
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!
 
Visit mcccanada.ca/comforters for more information.

Loud noises remind Misha, 6, of frightening artillery sounds in Ukraine. "Fear, he lives in my ears when I hear explosions. I'm very scared," he says.
Veronica, 7, silently clutches a stuffed bear at all times. She doesn’t remember where she came from. Her family escaped, leaving all their possessions behind.
As the crisis in Ukraine passes the one-year mark, we grieve with children whose lives have been forever changed because of war.
We also see hope in the creative ways Nevo, an MCC partner in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is helping children process feelings of fear and unease through working with clay. - Cheri Wampole
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!
 
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/childrens-war-stories

In the middle of the night, flood waters from a nearby creek swept away almost everything in La Florida, a community in the Montes de María region of Colombia. Three hours later, Judith Stella Robles Rivero was taking action, securing aid and advocating for governmental assistance to help her community recover. 
Robles Rivero was able to secure food and clothes for her community after the May 1, 2022, flood because of the leadership skills and confidence that she developed in workshops with SembrandoPaz. This Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) partner organization works in nine rural communities in the Montes de Maria region.
Empowering women is part of the work of SembrandoPaz – which translates to “sowing peace.” The organization is active in nine rural areas of the Montes de Maria region, which has been deeply impacted by decades of armed conflict, beginning in the 1980s.
MCC supports SembrandoPaz via Growing Hope Globally, a Christian nonprofit that works to combat hunger by building networks between farmers in North America and farmers in developing countries.
 
MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!
https://mcccanada.ca/stories/empowering-women-colombia