{"id":5972,"date":"2016-06-29T14:45:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T19:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/?p=5972"},"modified":"2016-09-20T16:31:09","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T21:31:09","slug":"cmu-thanks-philanthropic-mens-group-for-advancing-christian-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/2016\/cmu-thanks-philanthropic-mens-group-for-advancing-christian-education\/","title":{"rendered":"CMU thanks philanthropic men\u2019s group for advancing Christian education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christian\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Investors in Education makes final donation before disbanding<\/i><\/h3>\n

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is thankful for the generosity of a Winnipeg-based group of men known as the Christian Investors in Education (CIE) who contributed more than $80,000 to the university over the past 30 years.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_9546\"<\/a>
CMU President Cheryl Pauls receives a cheque from Henry Neufeld, chair of the CIE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The group recently disbanded due to aging membership and a recognition that the group had run its course, but not before making a final donation that will amount to more than $115,000 over the next 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with (CMU) on this level over many years has given us a great deal of satisfaction,\u201d said Henry Neufeld, chair of the CIE. \u201c(We) trust that the spinoffs of this support might continue to be a blessing for all involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls praised the group\u2019s generosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who invest in education demonstrate trust,\u201d Pauls said. \u201cThey are not trying to control immediate outcomes, but invest in people and in the ongoing generation of faithful imaginations through time.\u201d<\/p>\n

CMU will use $8,000 from the donation annually for the next two decades to fund new and ongoing Indigenous initiatives, bursary support for international students, and practicum support for students doing an intensive, cross-cultural practicum, particularly students involved in practica in Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n

The CIE started its operation 52 years ago with the goal of assisting various forms of education.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_9555\"<\/a>
The Christian Investors in Education: (left to right) Henry Schulz, Gerald Neufeld, Henry Neufeld, Tim Dirks, John Wiebe, Alvin Wieler, Arthur Driedger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Projects included buying and operating a trading post in Pauingassi, a First Nation community located 280 km. northeast of Winnipeg, to assist Indigenous persons living there.<\/p>\n

The CIE also purchased a property in Winnipeg\u2019s North End for a Mennonite Central Committee outreach project.<\/p>\n

After selling its properties, the CIE invested the proceeds.<\/p>\n

Starting in 1984, earnings from the proceeds, plus additional donations by members, supported cross-cultural practica at CMU as well as bursaries for international students.<\/p>\n

Some years, as many as 30 members were active in the group. By 2016, that number had dwindled to 10 and the CIE decided to cease operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have come to the decision to gracefully dissolve our organization,\u201d said Neufeld, who joined the CIE in 1970. \u201cTo disperse the remaining funds, we have selected several appropriate projects to support\u2026 We would like to hand over to (CMU) the balance of our funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to being a philanthropic endeavour, the CIE served as a fellowship group for its members, who met monthly. Each of their meetings included scripture reading, prayer, and time for sharing personal concerns.<\/p>\n

Group members also met twice each year with their spouses for a summer barbeque and a Christmas banquet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe developed a very meaningful relationship with each other,\u201d said Alvin Wieler, who joined the CIE in the 1960s and was its longest standing member. \u201cWe all grew together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arthur Driedger, a CIE member for 15 years, added that he enjoyed hearing reports from students who were supported by CIE Funds. Driedger is sad to see the group disband.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery report (the students) gave us was just so well done,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was encouraging for us older people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pauls said that she has been inspired and encouraged by the good that resulted from the CIE\u2019s fellowship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the multi-dimensionality of what this group has been,\u201d she said. \u201cThrough nurturing one another personally and spiritually, they have advanced Christian education collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

About CMU<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU\u2019s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as\u00a0graduate degrees in theology,\u00a0ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent\u00a0students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.<\/em><\/p>\n

For information about CMU visit <\/em>www.cmu.ca<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For additional information, please contact:
\nKevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
\nkkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
\nCanadian Mennonite University
\n500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB\u00a0 R3P 2N2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian\u00a0Investors in Education makes final donation before disbanding Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) is thankful for the generosity of a Winnipeg-based group of men known as the Christian Investors in Education (CIE) who contributed more than $80,000 to the university over the past 30 years. The group recently disbanded due to aging membership and a recognition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,5],"tags":[790,791],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5972"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6066,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions\/6066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}