The East Africa Revival began as an ecumenical, grass-roots Christian renewal movement in 1929. The movement emphasized a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ, and encouraged a Christ-centered life in community that broke down barriers of denomination, race, class and ethnicity. Women took significant leadership roles in the movement.
North American Mennonite missionaries returning from East Africa spoke of the influence of the revival on their lives, and sought to bring the same revival to North American Mennonites through itineration and fellowship conferences. In 1981, Simeon and Edna Hurst and Ron and Marjorie Lofthouse from Ontario attended an East Africa revival fellowship retreat in Minneapolis. They were inspired to bring a similar retreat to Ontario, forming the Canada East Fellowship Retreat. Photographs in this file are publicity images used in annual Canada East Fellowship Retreat brochures.
The Access Project was a program of community education in cooperation with the Victim-Offender Reconciliation Project (VORP) of Mennonite Central Committee Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Corrections. The program ran from 1977-1980. In 1977, the Access Project created two educational slide shows, one on "The Law, Crime and the Administration of Justice" and another on "Juvenile Delinquency." Slides were also taken for use in displays and for a television series on "Crime and the Community." The slides in this file are assumed to have been created for the above purposes. The slides came to the Archives in no particular order, and may have been used for more than one presentation. No scripts for the slideshows have been located.
This fonds contains oral interviews gathered on the subject of labour history from the view of Mennonite business owners and Mennonite employees and well as the history of Westgate Mennonite Collegiate in Winnipeg. The workers were selected from different gender and social classes. The content formed the basis for Thiessen's thesis on labour history of Russian Mennonites, a book on unions, and history of the private Mennonite high school, Westgate.
The album contains photos of Mary Neufeld (later Mrs. Mary Schroeder), the staff, activities, residences, buildings and landscapes associated with the places she worked before she married in 1959. One series were taken in 1947 and 1951 while working at the Rosthern Invalid / Nursing Home. Another series were taken in the summer of 1952 when Mary Neufeld served in the Brandon Mental Hospital on a Voluntary Service (VS) assignment. Another series of photos were taken during the summer of 1953 when she worked at the Ninette (Manitoba) Sanitorium. There are also a few photos from 1948 when she worked at a canning factory in the Niagara (Ontario) region and visited Niagara Falls, Crystal Beach, and Brock's monument at Queenston. A few photos were taken when she worked as a cook at the Rosthern Bible School in 1951-1952.
This fonds consists of the financial record which the bookkeeper from 1980-1993 passed on to the Conference of Mennonites in Canada finance office in 1994, when they took over the bookkeeping responsibilities. There are minutes of Mennonite Church (Region I) Canada Coordinating/Planning commitee, minutes of the annual general meetings of Mennonite Church International for 1988-1993, detailed financial statements for 1993, and the bookkeeper's correspondence.
Six letters in German script from members of the Brubacher family residing in Ontario and Pennsylvania. Correspondents include Johannes and Susanna Brubacher, Jacob and Maria Brubacher, and Heinrich Brubacher. ALl of the letters have either been transcribed or translated. Among the letters are also several photocopied German hymns with translations into English.
Letter from a Mennonite missionary serving the Pikangikum Indian community north of Red Lake, Ontario. Describes the missionary showing lantern slides of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ and playing records of testimonies, singing, and preaching "in the Indian language" to 40 Native Americans.
A small set of papers pertaining to S. F. Coffman's service to the (old) Mennonite Church in the early and mid- 20th century. Coffman, an ordained pastor, began his work at the Mennonite Home Mission in Chicago, Illinois in 1895, but spent most of his career as a bishop in the Ontario Conference. Materials in this collection include correspondence and subject files, materials pertaining to the 1927 Mennonite hymnal, and miscellaneous materials.
A typed transcription of a letter describing the Baumans' trip from Ontario, Canada to their home in Breckneck Township, Pennsylvania in 1846 and the condition of their crops and the weather upon their arrival. Five different copies of the transcript are present.
Photocopies of family correspondence of a Mennonite bishop in Ontario. Full inventory may be found on the Web site of the Mennonite Heritage Center, which owns the originals.
The collection includes a 6 page reflection on Valentine Kratz, the first Mennonite preacher in Vineland, Ontario, written by his great granddaughter Mrs. Simeon Kratz, and several pieces from an old family bible dated before 1799.
Included is a photocopy of a letter by Benjamin Eby dated October 17, 1849 and 4 transcripts and translations of additional letters by Benjamin Eby from 1851 to 1858 as used in the October, 1967 issue of the Mennonite Historical Bulletin.
