Articles : Katie Funk Wiebe
May 13 issue
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Home for a wanderer
Within most refugees’ hearts is the intense longing for a home and a homeland. This was true of 3-year-old Nikolaus Kampen, who, in 1943, together with his family and thousands of others, was forced to leave his home in a Mennonite village in Ukraine. They joined the Great Trek to Poland/Germany together with the retreating Nazi army to begin several years of homelessness.
The fall of the German Reich in 1945 became a pivotal time for the masses of refugees in Europe struggling to find a secure place as the Allied forces decided the fate of Hitler’s Germany. To fall into the clutches of the Soviet military was the great fear. Some refugees were caught and shipped like cattle to the cold hell of Siberia to die of overwork and undernourishment in forced labor camps. My aunt Aganeta Janzen Block, whose story was serialized in MWR, falls into this category.
March 4 issue
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Way stations on an eventful journey
Robert S. Kreider, academician, churchman, historian, writer, traveler, innovator, husband, parent — the list could go on. In this continuation of his earlier autobiography, this well-known Mennonite leader states that adulthood began for him at age 33 when he joined the Bluffton College faculty. He had finished 13 years with Civilian Public Service and Mennonite Central Committee. He would soon become dean and then president of this small Mennonite school in Ohio.
Dec. 10, 2012 issue
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Christmas: Season for courage
As I held my new grandson in my arms, his dark eyes looked boldly into mine, seeing and yet not seeing. The year was 1979, the year of the Iranian hostage crisis. Our Christmas celebration would be different this year because of this tiny newcomer. His life story had begun; we added a new chapter to ours.
Nov. 26, 2012 issue
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Simple life, but well-traveled
This is the story of a wife, a mother and a family — and also a people, one not given to writing about themselves: the Altkolonier (Old Colonists). The author, Helena Wiebe Krahn, finished school at age 11, yet in her later years felt burdened to record the story of her long, eventful life.
Sept. 3, 2012 issue
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Child of missionaries revisits early years
Throughout her growing years Gwendolyn Hiebert Schroth straddled two worlds: one foot was firmly planted in the United States as the daughter of a respected missionary family; the other was firmly planted in India, land of poverty and wealth, caste systems and mission compounds. Military conflict was troubling the Western world, and civil war was tearing India apart. Where did she belong?
April 30, 2012 issue
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The spiritual life of practical people
Gordon Houser, associate editor of The Mennonite, comes to his subject matter as an outsider who became an insider. He has observed American Mennonites for more than 30 years as a journalist. He acknowledges this book is not a definitive description of Mennonite spirituality, only his viewpoint. Spirituality as a complex, ever-changing entity, not easily pinned down with words.
Jan. 16, 2012 issue
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The appeal of Amish romance
On my desk is The Rose Trilogy: The Thorn (2010), The Judgment (2011) and The Mercy (2011) by Beverly Lewis, published by Bethany House, $14.95 each.
Nov. 7, 2011 issue
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Training for Christ-followers
On my desk is Forming Christian Habits in Post-Christendom: The Legacy of Alan and Eleanor Kreider, edited by James R. Krabill and Stuart Murray, published by Herald Press with the Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2011, 235 pages, $22.99.
Sept. 26, 2011 issue
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Couple’s lifetime of service
On my desk is Redeemed: A Reflective Chronology of the Lives of Fred E. Augsburger and Carolyn King Augsburger by Ruth Ann Augsburger and Owen E. Burkholder, published by Xlibris, 2011, 606 pages, $34.99 hardcover, $23.99 paperback.
Aug. 1, 2011 issue
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Novel of adapting to culture
On my desk is Heldin: Coming to Terms by Milly Janzen Balzer, published by iUniverse Inc., 2011, 328 pages; hardback, $29.95; paperback $19.95; ebook $9.95.
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