Maritime Mennonites Respond To Ukrainian NeedMennonite Central Committee PETITCODIAC, N.B. -- Peter and Ada Bunnett, serving with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Ukraine, wrote to their friends in the Petitcodiac Mennonite Church last fall about the conditions facing their friends in Ukraine. Frost in May and then drought through the summer destroyed most of the potato crop which was to be used for seed, for food and for selling to buy coal for the winter months. The Bunnetts asked the congregation to start a fund to help their friends buy potatoes.  In October, the Petitcodiac church initiated a fund and sent a letter to other Mennonites in the Maritimes, as well as in other parts of Canada, who had a relationship with the congregation or the Bunnetts. The goal was to collect $5,000 Cdn. To the group's delight, when the fund was closed in January almost $12,000 had been collected. The money was sent to MCC and on to two churches in Ukraine for distribution. The congregations the Bunnetts relate to shared the excess by reaching out to their neighbours. They also had money for special projects, such as purchasing caulking to make homes a little more resistant to heat loss. One Ukrainian couple with five children wrote: "Dear brothers and sisters in Christ from distant Canada.... We thank you from all our hearts for your help.... God sends us trials but also he provides a way out so that we can stand up under it. Thanks to your mercy we have coal and potato."
For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org |
 |
Email Article To A Friend |  |
Link to us! |
