Healing a New Generation of Families

A woman came to the Mennonite Heritage Centre (MHC) looking for information about her family. Her father, who had suffered much cruel abuse from his father, fled from home at age twelve. After receiving help from a “Good Samaritan” family in the town he fled to, he found work and eventually married and had his own family.

Almost 30 years after her father’s death, this woman came looking for her roots. She discovered her extended family through research at MHC. While she had always associated being “Mennonite” with the abuse that her father experienced from his father, learning about her family allowed her to discover a different side to her Mennonite roots. She wrote that she was able to replace long-standing hurt and anger with “…the pride I feel in being connected to the Mennonites [for] the faith they have kept through many trials and persecutions.”

Almost every day someone comes to the archives at MHC seeking help to discover who they are and where they came from. For some this is a process of reconciliation, of healing old wounds. All these historical records have the potential to bring peace and new understanding to new generations.

Consider these ways of helping to Heal Families

1. $50 provides 2 hours of staff assistance to a visitor seeking family connections [#2300-01]
2. $75 will transfer one hour of obsolete film to DVD [#2300-02]
3. $100 allows staff to present the story of conscientious objectors to a church or school class [#2300-03]
4. $150 pays for 15 hours of work to translate diaries and documents from gothic German to English [#2300-04]

Learn More

Visit the Mennonite Heritage Centre

Giving is easy

• Click on the “Donate Now” button (specify the gift code in the box, “Would you like to send a message to Mennonite Church Canada?”)
• Call 1-866-888-6785 and tell us your preference.

Contributions over and above this need will go to support other ministries in the Mennonite Heritage Centre.