In 1948, Mary B. Geigley, a single woman in her mid-forties who lived with her mother and sister Susan in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, sent a baby layette through MCC. That package arrived in Austria, where my mom was overjoyed to receive 7 diapers! Mom responded with a thank-you letter and a package of crocheted doilies--that started a correspondence that lasted until Miss Geigley's death in 1966. "Auntie Mary" remembered us at Christmas and at each birthday with toys, clothes and home-baked cookies when we were young, books when we were older. Letters always began with "Greetings of Love in the Master's Name.' We never met Auntie Mary; she was only 62 when she died, and the flowers Mom sent to cheer her arrived for her funeral.

Mary Geigley was one of countless people in North America who gave so generously to those of us who were refugees. In 2007, our Society will join MCC in hosting a traveling quilt exhibit which "features 18 quilts and comforters made by North American women and sent to the Netherlands by MCC following WWII. For decades the quilts were in the care of a Dutch Mennonite woman whose home had served as a refuge for Jews, hungry children and Mennonite refugees from Ukraine. Today the quilts and their stories testify both to the horrors of war and to the power of compassion." (http://ontario-mennonite-relief-sale.org/poc.html) May we be faithful and tell future generations of the love shown to us. LBP

report by Helen Rose Pauls and Louise Bergen Price

Russian Mennonites and their Swiss counterparts developed along separate but parallel lines, yet felt a kinship through common beliefs, stated Dr. John Landis Ruth at the MHSBC's fundraising banquet. This kinship was so strong, that when Swiss/American Mennonites heard of the difficulties facing their 'brothers and sisters' they immediately set about seeing what they could do, wanting to do their 'fair share' to help, first to aid early Russian Mennonites to emigrate in the 1870's, then to send food to the starving in Russia in 1921. This latter event was the beginning of MCC. Dr. Ruth was an engaging storyteller, often getting carried away as he described one event after another. (Some of the stories will be featured in the winter edition of Roots and Branches). Displays by Alice Umble Klassen and Sara Snyder Friesen, and a picture gallery by Jean Neufeld added further information on the subject. Dr. Evan Kreider described Swiss Mennonite singing and led in several songs. Dr. John B. Toews presented a framed copy of a Denkschrift written by BB Janz and others in 1922, thanking American Mennonites for their help. In closing, Evan Krieder led us in '606': Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow. Praise God for kinship, community, and the American Mennonite aid which kept many of us, our parents and grandparents alive.

Future Event: David Toews--Undaunted Hero, Mennonite Moses
Speaker: Helmut Harder, author of David Toews was here: 1870-1947.
Date: February 18. Time: 7 pm Place: Emmanuel Mennonite Church, Clearbrook Rd.

David Toews was a tireless and courageous fighter for justice. As one of the founders of Rosthern Junior College, he took on several staggering challenges during his years of active ministry. But none was bigger than accepting  the responsibility to have CPR transport desperate Russian Mennonites in the early 1920s. Toews was willing to take large financial risks and brave withering criticism in the larger church community; however, his bedrock conviction that he was taking the right course of action sustained him. His heroic accomplishments deserve to be celebrated. Without the intervention of David Toews, large numbers of Mennonite immigrants would never have made it to this country.

Dr. Helmut Harder was a professor of theology at the Canadian Mennonite Bible College for many years, and is now Professor Emeritus from CMBC. In the 1990's he was secretary of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada. He has written a number of books, including David Toews was here; 1870-1947. from a report by David Giesbrecht