Juana García — Cuba

Juana García, a pioneer leader of the Brethren in Christ Church in Cuba, passed away on January 20, 2017 at age 93. In the 1950s García worked alongside Howard and Pearl Wolgemuth, who served as Brethren in Christ missionaries in Cuba beginning in 1953. In 1960, when Wolgemuths were advised to leave Cuba following the Cuban Revolution, García and  Keep Reading…

Mennonites in Sidi, Burkina Faso

Pour français cliquez ici Note: This story has been updated. In the village of Sidi, Burkina Faso, Mennonite Christians face losing access to the land they farm, because of a growing conviction that the requirements for land use in the village are in conflict with their faith in Jesus Christ. Land in Sidi is managed  Keep Reading…

Jakob Aron Rempel

Elder Jacob Aron Rempel was probably one of the most important personalities among the Mennonites of Russia in the 20th century, both in terms of his theological education as well as in his extraordinary personality and public activities. In 1929 he was arrested by the USSR’s secret police force (GPU) for his religious affiliations. He spent  Keep Reading…

Katharina Reimer Claassen

On January 6, 1860, Johann and Katharina Claassen were among the 18 families of the Molochna Colony, South Russia who organized the Mennonite Brethren Church. The group experienced much joy but also new challenges. In March, nearly three months later, the municipal authorities ordered the “Brethren” back to their former churches and Johann, as their  Keep Reading…

Tulio Pedraza

In 1948 the assassination of Liberal political candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán touched off a ten-year civil war in Colombia. In nearly the same year, Colombians joined with Mennonite missionaries to form the first Colombian Mennonite congregations. But the civil war cast a long shadow over the church’s early years. Because Protestantism was seen as a  Keep Reading…