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Mennonite Aid Plan is not part of the MutualAid eXchange (MAX) Liquidation

September 6, 2023

Important announcement text with a megaphone in red and white

An article in Anabaptist World on August 28, 2023 stated that MAX was insolvent and in liquidation proceedings. The article went on to say that Mennonite Aid Plan of the Pacific Coast (MAP) was part of MAX. That part is incorrect.

MAP is not part of MAX. We do not have any investment or reinsurance connections with MAX. Our AMBest rating continues to be B++ (good).

In 1956 Anabaptist insurance companies formed the Association of Mennonite Aid Societies (AMAS) for fellowship and the exchange of ideas. MAP joined AMAS until it dissolved in 2001 (when MAX was formed).

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or 559-638-2327.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

A Church Thriving With Diversity

September 6, 2023

By Lorie Ham

Church service in progress where all members are standing in solidarity with each other.

At a time when diversity is being challenged all over the country, it is more important than ever that churches strive for it. One church in Fresno has a unique perspective as four different congregations meet in their sanctuary with three different language groups. Shelly Spencer has been the Office Manager at Butler Mennonite Brethren Church, referred to as Butler Church, for seventeen years. She and her husband began attending there after college when they were newly married. We chatted with Shelly recently about the diversity within their church.

Q: Does each congregation have its own services or is it all together?

Shelly: There are four worship services each Sunday in English, Spanish, and Lao. Each congregation has a name since their characteristics are more than just language or style. And even within each congregation, there are multiple ethnic groups! For example, our Asian Grace congregation includes Khmu, Laotian, Thai, and Mien. Translation is needed there also!

Q: What are some of the best things about having so much diversity within the church?

Shelly: The food! We for sure have the best church potlucks! And it’s a taste of heaven to be able to worship together in multiple languages. It blesses my heart to see people who might not otherwise even interact with each other begin to engage in each other’s lives and extend themselves on behalf of each other.

A woman dancing wearing traditional clothing.

Q: What are some of the challenges?

Shelly: Communication across languages and cultures is certainly something we’re always working at. It’s not just translation, but understanding that various groups each approach things like decision making and leadership differently. For example, it can slow down the process of implementing a new initiative. Actually ‘being’ one church is more than just getting together regularly.

Q: How do you feel having such diverse perspectives strengthens the church?

Shelly: We gain a much broader view of what God is about in the world and don’t just see him through one type of lens. We discover how our various gifts and talents fit together to serve our church family and also to share the Hope of Christ with others. I love being able to greet someone in the office and have so many options to connect them with, depending on what their situation is. I can offer them food, if they’re not English speaking I can connect them with our Amor y Fe congregation, if they’re wondering if they fit in our church, I can invite them to a worship service in English attended by people of various backgrounds and racial groups.

Q: What are things the church does to build bridges between the groups?

Shelly: Our ministries for children, youth, and adults include all of our congregations. While there are groups within each congregation that meet regularly for Bible study, each time we have a special event there are often people from each of our congregations who attend – like the recent Men’s Day at the Lake, or our summer Women’s Lunches. We find that food brings people together! This is an area we’re still working on though. One thing we’d like to try is a common teaching series at certain points in the year where we are all studying the same section of scripture and could share (with translation of course) testimonies of what we’ve been learning. We do have a common theme every year; our current one is Confident Hope.

Children on a stage dancing.

Q: What are some things your church can offer the community because of that diversity?

Shelly: A place of connection that is possible even when coming from a variety of languages or socioeconomic backgrounds. Having worship services in Spanish and Lao are especially important for our immigrant communities. And, having those alongside English services means worshiping with an extended family; they may have young adults attending our Common Ground service in English where they may feel more comfortable while the parents or grandparents would like to continue worshiping in Spanish or Lao.

Q: Are there special events that you have that highlight some or all of the different groups?

Shelly: We do have combined services several times a year. Coming up we’ll have a fall Cultural Celebration night where we get to highlight the uniqueness of all the parts of Butler and our surrounding community. As one church we also have a shared budget for shared activities and ministry which would include children’s and youth ministry, the costs of office and facilities, and the staff positions that serve all of the church. We also work together in various ministry events like Food Distribution, Neighborhood Clean Up Days, and community events like Meet and Treat.

Q: Anything you would like to add?

Shelly: Folks who have been at Butler for any length of time have made an intentional choice to be part of this church family because it is multicultural. We’re all in different places of understanding what it means to be a healthy multiethnic church though, and many would be the first to say we haven’t got it ‘all figured out!’ This past year, we’ve been digging into that even more and are in the process of working at this more intentionally. There are so many aspects of that – creative funding models, growing in our awareness of cultural dynamics, ministry partnerships, and understanding the demographics and needs not just of our church family but of our southeast Fresno community. Our story from intentionally choosing this multicultural model over 30 years ago is still unfolding!

Church signage

For those in the Fresno area who might want to check out Butler Church, you can find them at 4884 E Butler Ave. in Fresno, California. You can learn more on their website. Services for the four different congregations on Sundays are:

9:00 a.m. Faith Community and Asian Grace

10:45 a.m. Common Ground and Amor y Fe

Faith Community and Common Ground services are in English, though different worship styles. 

Do you have a story of diversity within your own church? We would love to have you share on the Mennonite Insurance Services Facebook page!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tips & Recipes for School Lunches

September 6, 2023

By Lorie Lewis Ham

By the beginning of September, most students are back in school. While many schools now provide free lunches, some parents still prefer to decide what their kids will be eating. However, it can be a challenge to keep it interesting, healthy, and yet simple enough for their busy schedules.

If you Google school lunch ideas there are many out there. PureWow has an article entitled “70 Simple, Delicious School Lunch Ideas That Even the Pickiest Eaters Will Love” which includes ideas like BLT Pasta Salad, Lunch Kebabs, and a Peanut Butter and Banana Roll-up Snack Box.

The article also includes tips for packing those lunches such as starting with a fun but functional lunchbox, doing fun things with their lunches, and even getting your kids involved in the planning and making of them.

For some ideas you won’t find on Google, mystery author Kate Lansing who writes the Colorado Wine mysteries, has some great tips! “When I first started packing school lunches for my daughter, I was surprised by the prevalence of bento boxes. It makes sense, though, because in my experience kids aren’t so much picky eaters as they are particular. They like things the way they like them, namely, deconstructed. Kids like to know each component of what they’re putting into their mouths. Luckily, multi-compartment containers—easy enough for little hands to open—make packing lunch a piece of cake!”


Kate’s go-to lunches include pizza, what they like to call “salad”, and classic PB&J (note, you can substitute sunflower butter if your school is nut free!).

For pizza, put small slices of plain cheese pizza or even just crust with red sauce, in the largest container (leftovers are great for this!). Then add black olives, turkey pepperoni, slices of bell pepper, and diced pineapple in each of the smaller openings.

For “salad,” pita bread goes in the largest container, with hummus and whatever veggies you have on hand in the others—cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, maybe even butternut squash, which pro tip: you can get peeled, diced, and frozen at the store!

And for the classic PB&J, put the sandwich in the main section, with baby carrots, grapes, and something fun like Goldfish, granola bites, or chips in the other containers.

For kids who may need to head out early and would like to include a little something for breakfast, mystery author Edith Maxwell has a delicious recipe for Cheesy Biscuits in her book Flipped for Murder from her Country Store Mystery series.

Cheesy Biscuits

Cheesy Biscuits on a plate.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter cut in half-inch cubes
2 eggs
½ cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix the dry ingredients.

Cut butter into the flour mix until mostly pea-sized pieces.

Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and milk, mixing with a fork in the well.

Add the cheese and stir all with a fork until liquid and cheese are just blended with the flour. Do not over mix.

Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and on the dough. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the surface, rubbing flour around the inside of the bowl until clean.

Lightly knead the dough until it comes together.

Flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough to a half-inch thickness. Fold in thirds. Roll, fold, and repeat several times.

Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass and position on a baking sheet. You don’t need more than half an inch in between.

Bake for about ten minutes or until risen and golden brown on top.

Serve warm with apple butter, honey, or gravy.

If you would like to include a sweet treat for dessert after a healthy lunch, mystery author Leslie Budewitz has a recipe for gingersnaps in her book Killing Thyme, the 3rd Spice Shop mystery.

Pepper’s Gingersnaps

The classic, with a bite of a little something extra. Call it Pepper’s personal touch.

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil, such as corn or canola
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1/4 to ½ cup white sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and salt. In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Beat well. (No need to dirty your mixer and clean the beaters—the oil makes this dough easy to mix by hand.) Add flour mixture and stir until well mixed.

Shape the dough into one-inch balls. If you’d like to top the cookies with sugar, pour the white sugar into a small soup or pasta bowl or on a small plate. Roll cookie balls in the sugar. Place two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, until bottoms have darkened slightly and tops begin to crack.

Makes about 4 dozen. These cookies will be soft at first, but crisp up nicely. They freeze well.

If you enjoy reading mystery novels you can find even more recipes in any of these authors’ books!

FamilyDoctor.org offers safety tips on packing your kid’s lunch, such as finding out if their school offers refrigeration. If it doesn’t, be sure to pack foods that don’t need to stay cold or include an ice pack. The same article has helpful information should you choose to have your children eat the lunches the school provides. To see the nutrition information for lunches offered by your child’s school you can check out United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

If you have tips or suggestions you have found helpful, we would love it if you would share on the Mennonite Insurance Services Facebook page!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Mennonite Insurance announces the scholarship winners for 2023.

August 3, 2023

Mennonite California

REEDLEY, Calif.–Mennonite Insurance announces the scholarship winners for 2023.

Mennonite Insurance Services is excited to announce the recipients of the 2023 Scholarship.

Students must be members of an Anabaptist church, be at least a junior at a West Coast college or university and have a GPA of 3.0 or better.


Our first scholarship recipient is Jessica Manning.

She is a member of Rosedale Bible Church in Bakersfield, CA and attends The Master’s University. She tells us “My goal is to become the owner of a mobile dog-grooming business. I am currently earning a degree in business management so that I will have the knowledge necessary to run a business. I plan to get a full-time job as a groomer so that I can accrue knowledge of grooming the various types of animals that I plan to offer services for in my own business. Once I have gathered the necessary experience, I will begin launching my own business.”

Jessica Manning Headshot

Our second scholarship recipient is Sam Nofziger from Seattle Mennonite Church, Seattle WA.

He is a senior studying International Studies and attends George Fox University. Nofziger states “I love the study of economics and its intersection with public policy. I want to do something to help provide access to housing and healthcare for Americans.”

Sam Nofziger Headshot

“It’s great to be able to help our recipients reach their educational goals. It’s very rewarding for us to have small role in their success,” said Claudia Fletes, Mennonite Aid Plan’s scholarship administrator.

Each recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship. Application forms and scholarship rules are available at mennoniteinsurance.com or on the Mennonite Insurance Facebook page.

Mennonite Insurance Services and its parent, Mennonite Aid Plan, provide property insurance to churches and their members on the West Coast.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

National Honey Bee Awareness Day

August 3, 2023

A closeup shot of a bee on a chamomile flower

By Lorie Ham

August 19 is National Honey Bee Awareness Day! According to Holiday Insights, it was declared in 2009 by Thomas J. Vilsek, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and is celebrated on the third Saturday of August every year. It was originally created for beekeepers as a day of education and promotion of honey bees and honey. The third Saturday in August was selected so beekeepers would have a new supply of honey to promote.

Holiday Insights goes on to state that many bees have to travel 55,000 miles to produce just one pound of honey. To get that pound of honey, those bees need to gather nectar from two million flowers. A single bee will gather just a half teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops in the United States each year, including more than 130 types of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Honeybees also produced honey that was worth around $3.2 million in 2017, according to USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

“Many people don’t realize how important pollination is to our food supply,” says Mennonite Aid Plan/Mennonite Insurance Services CEO Jerry Linscheid. “Over the last decade or so, we’ve seen dramatic declines in the bee population.”

USAFacts.org states that US bee populations are declining for a multitude of reasons which include parasites, pesticides, habitat loss, and disease. The losses have critical implications for food production and ecosystem health. More than 40% of all colonies were afflicted with varroa mites in 2022, a parasite that targets bees.

An article on WSU Tree Fruit says that 2023 is looking like it will be one of the worst years for honey bees in nearly two decades. The article goes on to say more about the varroa mites and the effect that climate conditions like hurricanes, drought, and flooding, contribute to making this year the worst year since the disastrous year of 2005.

The Bee Conservancy offers some suggestions on things we can do to help the honey bees. They include planting a bee-friendly garden, avoiding the use of pesticides and herbicides, creating a bee bath, and becoming a community scientist. You can learn more about these and other suggestions on their website.

While bees are incredibly important, they can at times cause problems as well. What happens if bees inhabit your home and honey leaks inside? Or if you keep a beehive on your property and a neighbor gets stung? Do you have any responsibility? According to an article on Policy Genius, property damage is not covered by your homeowner policy. However, if bees have taken up residence in any part of your home or property the best way to get rid of them is to contact a local beekeeper—not only can they help solve the problem, they can preserve the lives of those precious bees.

“As to whether a homeowner is liable if someone gets stung by a bee, the short answer is maybe,” says Linscheid. “From a homeowner’s perspective, the important thing is that the insurance company will defend you if you get sued because of a bee sting. Liability depends on a number of factors. Did the homeowner know about the bees? Did the homeowner have a duty to remove the bees? Did the bee sting come from the homeowner’s bees? Did the injured person provoke the bees? However, whether or not the homeowner is found liable, the insurance company will provide the defense of that claim. Defense attorney costs can be a large part of the total cost of a claim, and the homeowner does not have to foot that bill.”

If you have any insurance questions about bees, be sure to reach out to Mennonite Aid Plan/Mennonite Insurance Services and they will be happy to answer your questions 559-638-2327.

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Every Day is Book Lover’s Day

August 3, 2023

By Lorie Ham

Do you love to read? Summer is a wonderful time of year to pick up a good book, find a cool place to hide from the heat, and escape into reading! It just so happens that August 9 is the official Book Lover’s Day, but if you enjoy reading, any day is book lovers day!

According to Holiday Insights, Book Lovers Day encourages you to find a place in the shade to relax with a good book. The article goes on to state that no one really knows the origin of this day, however, the article includes some great ways to celebrate beyond just reading a good book. You can go to the library, attend a used book sale, support your local bookstore, give books as a gift, and join a book club!

If you are trying to find that good book to read on August 9, there are so many places to look! NPR has a list of 19 summer book recommendations that cross many different genres. Some of the books listed are Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs, A Quitter’s Paradise by Elysha Chang, All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby, and Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.

Tom Lake published by Harper
Tom Lake published by Harper

LitHub is another great place to find book suggestions all year long. Their Ultimate Summer Reading List includes some of the same books as NPR, as well as Happy Place by Emily Henry for those who enjoy light romance. The article also has links to summer reading lists from other publications such as the Washington Post and Publisher’s Weekly. But wait, there’s even more! You can find links on their website to LitHub’s many other book-related publications and podcasts, including CrimeReads for mystery and true crime book lovers. Before you leave the LitHub hub, be sure to check out their list of 28 novels you need to read this summer!

When looking for possible books to read, also be sure to check out Goodreads. They even have a list of specifically summer-related books. On this list, you once again find more Emily Henry books, including fun titles like Beach Read and People We Meet On Vacation.

People We Meet On Vacation published by Berkley
People We Meet On Vacation published by Berkley

If you are more into sci-fi and fantasy, Barnes and Noble has a great list of suggestions for your summer 2023 reading list. Their list includes books by V.E. Schwab, Christopher Paolini, T.J.Klune, and Brandon Sanderson. BookBub is another great resource for finding book suggestions in various genres, and you can get a personalized list of eBooks on sale each day sent to your email! If you enjoy mysteries, especially lesser-known and cozy mysteries, Kings River Life Magazine has book reviews and giveaways every week in its mystery section, and Dru’s Book Musings posts a list of new mysteries every week! You may just find a new favorite book and author that you had never heard of before!

Other great sources for book ideas are lists on your local library website, BookTuber’s on YouTube, and book-related podcasts.

Our other article this month is about National Honey Bee Awareness Day, so while appreciating honey bees, you might consider reading The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia. The description on Amazon describes it as “Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, The Murmur of Bees captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family that has put their love, faith, and future in the unbelievable.”

The Murmer of Bees published by Amazon Crossing
The Murmer of Bees published by Amazon Crossing

So, if you love to read, I am sure you can find at least one book on these many lists to help you celebrate Book Lover’s Day! But then again, if you love books every day is book lover’s day! Be sure to share on The Mennonite Insurance Facebook page some of your favorite summer reads!

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