July 6th, 2026In Memoriam: Loren Entz (1948 - 2026)
Winnipeg – Loren Entz, former International Witness Associate with Mennonite Church Canada, passed away on June 27th, 2026, after a number of challenging years with an undiagnosed illness. He was 78 years old.
Born on March 13, 1948, Loren Entz dedicated his life to pacifism and love for the land and soil. He grew up on his family’s farm in Kansas and later got a degree in agricultural economics. As a young adult he emphasized living non-violently, choosing to do humanitarian work in Congo during the Vietnam war instead of fighting. He visited villages to encourage the raising of rabbits.
From his work with the Congolese, he learned that his relational gifts shared in Congo were much more important than what programs he started. This became the passion of his life and the principal strategy that guided his work. He never got so busy that he couldn't sit with a person who came into his courtyard.
Loren and his wife Donna were some of the first Mennonite workers with Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) in Burkina Faso from 1978 until 2008. For the first decade, they spent their time learning the trade language, Jula, connecting with and teaching Bible to believers who had recently moved into that province, collaborating with the Catholics, and building up the rest of the Mennonite team in the region.
After 10 years, Loren and Donna moved to linguistic work among the tribal group the Dzuun. Ethnographic research was their focus, beginning with recording local stories and folktales from elders. This work led to developing a script of around 70 stories that summarized the Old Testament to be translated into the Dzuun language. Over time Loren and Donna began broadcasting Old Testament stories, new Psalms songs, and local folklore material on the provincial radio station. Eventually they contributed to the preservation of the folklore, legends, proverbs, and songs to strengthen the retention of the Dzuun language and prevent the eroding of the Dzuun identity.
Loren was present among the men in their village and farm life. Loren’s interests grew, and his agricultural knowledge led to growing medicinal crops in their yard to meet a serious nutritional deficiency. The couple raised their three children, Zachary, Mariam, and Aisha, to participate in village community events as participant observers.
Soon after their time in Burkina Faso had concluded, Loren and Donna moved to Edmonton. They chose to not buy a car, and focused on serving their community through conversations on the bus, inviting people into their home, teaching English, and growing a community garden. Loren dedicated himself to taking care of their home while Donna pursued work with Mennonite Church Alberta strengthening the Muslim-Christian connections.
Years later they moved to Winnipeg to be closer to their adult children and live in community housing.
Tany (and late husband Jeff) Warkentin were Witness workers in Burkina Faso. Loren and Donna Entz served as mentors for them in their first term. Tany reflected on how Loren was always 100% present with the people around him. “We as westerners often value the ‘think-ers’ and the ‘do-ers’. But when my family overlapped with the Entz' last few years of serving in Burkina Faso, Loren taught me the value of ‘presence’. Of being available and having time for others. I am very thankful for this Christ-like gift which Loren embodied, which has been a blessing to my family and so many others.”
From the stories now surfacing about Loren, what stands out is his humility, his profound listening skills, and his amazing observations of people and culture. He had an intuitive sensitivity to people's needs even across cultures which was his gift to the people from the village. He accepted every human being as they were.
Peter Rempel was Africa Secretary for Commission on Overseas Mission with General Conference Mennonite Church during the time that Loren and Donna served. Peter remembers a lesson that Loren shared about his insights into local values that encouraged Peter to be humble. “After visiting the elders in their village and asking for their permission to depart - a requirement of courtesy to them - Loren informed me that a village would not let its elder travel beyond his village because the elder was regarded as essential to its welfare. It would only send juniors beyond to represent the village. And until then I had regarded myself as so important because I had been sent abroad and afar from my village.”
Dan Nighswander was General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada from 2002-2006. Dan and Yvonne Nighswander were Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers in South Africa from 2006-2009. Speaking of the short time that both couples overlapped in Africa, Dan reflected that “Loren loved the people with whom he and Donna lived in Burkina Faso - and everywhere else that he lived. He delighted in sharing their stories, which he always did with deep respect and good humour. Loren saw something of God in everyone he met, and he honoured that. And we saw something of God in Loren.”
Siaka Troare, a colleague from Burkina Faso, remembers his time with Loren and Donna dearly.
“A Christian wrote to tell me that Seydou Jan, Loren's Burkinabè name, acted like the Apostle Paul. He put into practice the words of 1 Corinthians 9:20-23: 'To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), in order to win those under the law.'
The fruit of Seydou Jan's hard work today is the establishment of local churches among the Dzuun people, and God wills the dedication of the New Testament in the Dzunn language on December 5, 2026.
I leave Loren with this- Revelation 14:13: And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.'"