For 75 years, an MCC volunteer exchange program has shaped worldviews, life paths
The situation in Gaza has been dire since the October 10, 2025, ceasefire declared by President Trump. Israel has violated the truce repeatedly, killing 464 Palestinians, including 164 children and 63 women since the Trump Peace Plan came into effect. We live in constant fear of targeted killings, renewed war, displacement and the prospect of again living on the streets, searching for water and food.
Growing up, Nicole Martin recalls hearing stories from her great-grandmother, Estelle Cartledge, about helping her husband build a church in Pittsburgh during a time of segregation when women leaders were viewed with suspicion. Her great-grandmother’s response was simple: Do the work in front of you. Let God take care of the rest.
Kevin Goertzen began serving as conference minister of Virginia Conference of Mennonite Church USA on Oct. 15.
Thirst, that is what African American men and women in the U.S. were feeling in the 1950s and 1960s because of the discrimination and racism that they were experiencing.
A while ago I gave my grandmother a call. I was having a bit of an existential crisis when something clicked. “Is this what my grandparents felt?” I asked myself. The question referred to significant cultural changes, world happenings and environmental crises. For example, I cannot imagine what it must have felt like as a child to go through nuclear test drills, and then live through the tensions of the Cold War.
Mennonite Central Committee continues to provide humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip through a local partner after Israel banned 37 groups from operating there. But Israeli restrictions still severely limit the size and speed of aid efforts, despite a ceasefire.
