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Heritage Cemetery To Be Built At Randolph PDF Print
Wednesday, December 02 2009 23:47
So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”  Joshua 4:4-7. (NASB)

Some things from our heritage are important to remember, as the above scripture describes from the Israelites time in the Old Testament. As a Mennonite people, we too have a heritage that is worth remembering.

Randolph CMCWhen our forefathers came to Canada, many landed at the junction of the Red River and Rat River. From there they journeyed east and built their first church at Chortitz, which is now Randolph. We need to look at preserving this heritage for our children. As the Randolph church was looking into improving the cemetery there, some people expressed interest in contributing towards this project, and suggested that it be made into a Heritage Cemetery. A proposal was presented at our Ministerial Conference in October, and it was approved to turn the cemetery into a Heritage Cemetery.

A special fund will be set up in the Chortitzer Mennonite Conference, and will be administrated by the Cemetery Committee of the CMC. The project will be worked on as the funds become available. The project will only continue as funds are donated and designated for the Heritage Cemetery.

One of the first things that need to be done is fixing and restoring the existing grave sites. Next will be to pour concrete strips where the memorial stone can be placed upon so that they are not continually shifting. A Historical Memorial Stone is planned as well as a gate at the entrance. The estimated total budget for this project is about $16,000.00. Anyone wishing to contribute towards this project may contact the CMC Head Office at 204-346-6320, or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

- Bishop Frank Unrau (excerpt from December 2009 issue of the The Chronicle)

 
 
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