Outtatown, a Canadian Mennonite University program, is sharing unfortunate news about its international program.

The discipleship program that runs out of a Winnipeg university will not be occurring this year due to the pandemic.

"Outtatown is a signature program of CMU, and it's very sad that we have to suspend it for the year. But a cohort-based program with travel in Canada and to Guatemala simply is not feasible during the COVID pandemic," Cheryl Pauls, President of CMU, says.

he world, and knowing God...I could see very clearly the love of God through other people."

Sawatsky adds that he was disheartened knowing others will not be having those experiences with the program this year.

Now, the program will not be taking flight this year.

"While we are disappointed that the modified Outtatown program will not be running this coming January, we are heartened by the desire of our students to participate in a full year Outtatown program," Renee Willms, Co-Director of Outtatown says.

Earlier the program was set to run on a modified three-month program, staying only in Canada but did not have enough people signed up to continue it. Willms says that they are looking forward to a time where it is safe and feasible to run the full program again.

The latest decision from the program follows the spring decision to bring students home from Guatemala early. In March, the Government of Canada stepped in to bring 42 people back to Canadian soil.