Author: Admin account

  • Tenth Man: A pastor’s testimony

    ​Leonard Wiebe relates journey to find a new home for his congregation. ‘One particular day, I was driving in the neighborhood. I drove onto the lot, wishing we could buy it. I started walking across the lot, and somehow felt the need to pray. I knelt down on the ground, and prayed, ‘Lord, if you want to have a church planted here, you will have to help us.” Read the entire story here.

  • Tenth Man: A pastor’s testimony

    ​Leonard Wiebe relates journey to find a new home for his congregation. ‘One particular day, I was driving in the neighborhood. I drove onto the lot, wishing we could buy it. I started walking across the lot, and somehow felt the need to pray. I knelt down on the ground, and prayed, ‘Lord, if you want to have a church planted here, you will have to help us.” Read the entire story here.

  • Wounded Lovers Retreat

    A journalist once asked, why in the world are men so consumed by sex? ‘Did nature simply overload us in the mating department, hot-wiring us for the sex that is so central to the survival of the species, and never mind the sometimes sloppy consequences? Or is there something smarter and subtler at work, some larger interplay among sexuality, life and what it means to be human?’

    On a Saturday in April, men met to address this question at Pathways Retreat in Goshen, Indiana and put sexuality and spirituality back together as they shared about the joys and struggles of their sexual lives.

    Read more.

  • Wounded Lovers Retreat

    A journalist once asked, why in the world are men so consumed by sex? “Did nature simply overload us in the mating department, hot-wiring us for the sex that is so central to the survival of the species, and never mind the sometimes sloppy conse-quences? Or is there something smarter and subtler at work, some larger interplay among sexuality, life and what it means to be human?”

    On a Saturday in April, men met to address this question at Pathways Retreat in Goshen, Indiana and put sexuality and spirituality back together as they shared about the joys and struggles of their sexual lives.

    Read more.

  • Manitoba church pays it forward

    ​Seeds Church, a member of Mennonite Church Manitoba, recently made a $10,000 contribution to JoinHands, paying forward a portion of the grant they received from Mennonite Men to help another congregation. Read their story here.

  • Manitoba church pays it forward

    ​ Seeds Church, a member of Mennonite Church Manitoba, recently made a $10,000 contribution to JoinHands, paying forward a portion of the grant they received from Mennonite Men to help another congregation. Read their story here.

  • Mennonite Men approves grants to six churches

    Mennonite Men approves grants to six churches

    ​Mennonite Men, the men’s organization of Mennonite Church USA, approved six JoinHands church building grants totaling $167,312 at its March board meeting and requests contributions for these projects.

    Two grants assist Mennonite churches overseas and four grants fund projects of growing racial-ethnic congregations of MC USA. Click here to read more.



  • A Time of Reckoning for Men and Masculinity

    In recent months there has been unprecedented exposure of sexually predatorial men in high places, as well as unprecedented violence perpetrated by solitary men with little or no regard for human life. Whether acting out of a sense of entitlement to use women, children, or other men as objects for self-gratification and demonstration of power, or raging at humanity out of what author Michael Kimmel calls ‘aggrieved entitlement,’ an identifiable group of men has triggered a reckoning for all men.

    Read the rest of the article here.

  • Mara Christian Church Grant Receives $40,000 JoinHands Grant from Mennonite Men

    Mara Christian Church Grant Receives $40,000 JoinHands Grant from Mennonite Men

    ​On December 17, 2017, Mennonite Men, presented the Mara Christian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina a $40,000 JoinHands church grant.

    A member of Virginia Mennonite Conference, the church is a young vibrant church made up of refugees from Myanmar who fled their country to escape persecution by the Buddhist military who control the country. Many Mara Chin people have fled to the United States and Canada and have been granted asylum here.

    The congregation of over 100 members currently meets in a rented church on Sunday afternoons. Their services typically are 3 hours long and involve a great deal of prayer and singing. Many of the congregants received no formal education in Burma so have worked hard to learn English and adapt to North American culture. There are many children in the church. They also have a women’s group, a youth group, and a mission team.

    The church has a building committee and is currently looking for either a place to build a church or a current building that would fit their needs. They have struggled to find an affordable option in a growing Charlotte real estate market. Meanwhile, the church continues to grow with more Mara people coming from Myanmar.


    Church leaders are Tei Do (left rear), ZaZah (right front) and Bei Lua (left front). Among them for the presentation are Lonnie Bartel (front center) of Mennonite Men and Dan Yoder (right of Lonnie), who along with Lois, his spouse, Lois, marvel at the generosity and kindness of the Mara church.

    With this grant, Mennonite Men has given nearly 2 million dollars to help new congregations acquire their first building. We are grateful for the opportunity to assist this congregation in purchasing a meeting place.

  • Becoming Strong, Loving, and Wise

    Becoming Strong, Loving, and Wise

    Camp Deerpark, New York (November 3-5, 2017)

    Men gathered for a weekend Mennonite Men retreat at Camp Deerpark in New York on Healthy Masculinity: Becoming Strong, Loving and Wise.

    We asked, What does it mean to be a man? How are we pressed into a ‘man box’ in our culture? And how does this impact women, children and us as men?

    We examined toxic masculinity of men being invulnerable, acting tough and dominating others and how this affects us all in our communities. Then we considered healthy masculinity that God intends for us.

    We engaged this critical issue in challenging conversations, interactive exercises and table fellowship.

    Coming together across cultures, we embraced who we are as beloved sons of God called to follow Jesus and become strong, loving and wise with God’s Spirit.

    Leaving the retreat, we returned to our communities in New York seeking to be the mature men God’s calls us to be as we extend God’s love and peace in the world.