Will Braun

Of the 200 or so congregations in Mennonite Church Canada, 40 are made up predominantly of people who are not Euro-Canadian and who use 16 languages other than English and German in regular worship. We call these newcomer and/or diaspora churches. Some include people who immigrated to Canada decades ago, and/or the kids of those people—so they are not all new to Canada. Then there are churches that include a mix of cultures. And others that are mostly white. That’s our beautiful family.

“I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.” These were God’s words to Hosea’s wife and the people of God she symbolized. I hope it is also God’s message for Mennonite Church Canada today. God had commanded Hosea to marry a specific woman: “Go love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” I love raisin cakes too.

I was about 14 when John Peterson prophesied over me. Peterson was a soft-spoken, itinerant American youth leader. He was slight of frame, middle-aged, a decent musician and a prophet, I guess. I was a Manitoba farm kid dabbling in the charismatic—partly intrigued, partly drawn to the passion of my evangelical city peers, and partly uncomfortable. My friend’s parents would take us to spirited church events from time to time.