February 23, 2015 Issue #3003

Unforgettable film
Living with anxiety
Pastor rescues babies Finding hope in the middle of winter
PAGE 8
PAGE 10
PAGE 20
PAGE 14
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A Reformed Biweekly | 69th Year of Publication | February 23, 2015 | NO. 3003 | $2.50
News. Clues. Kingdom views.
A global report card
Evaluating the Millennium Development Goals
Some goals have seen success, like two billion more people with access to clean drinking water.
Judith Farris
Recently nominated by Denmark for the Nobel Peace Prize,
the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) turn 15 this year. In
2001, the 189 states of the United
Nations agreed to eight MDGs
with clear, measurable terms and a
timeline lasting until 2015. As the
calendar turned this January, the
global community finds itself at
the end-date for these objectives,
(listed in the sidebar below). The
good news is that some goals have
been achieved – a specific target
within the first goal, eradicating
extreme poverty, was met ahead
of schedule in 2010, as the number
of people living on less than $1.25
per day was reduced to half of
what it had been in 1990.
Other goals have had more
mixed results. The target of improved sanitation, included in
the seventh goal of environmental sustainability, has been met
with a huge improvement in the
number of people with access to
clean drinking water – 2012 saw
2.3 billion people gain access to
improved drinking water when
compared to 1990. But the sanitation target also includes what the
UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan
Eliasson believes to be the goal
that still requires the most work,
which is access to toilet facilities for defecation – an estimated
one billion of the world’s people
practice open defecation for lack
of more hygienic options. He has
launched a campaign, as shown at
What were the original MDGs?
1. To eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger
2. To achieve universal
primary education
3. To promote gender equality
and empower women
4. To reduce child mortality
5. To improve maternal health
6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. To ensure environmental sustainability
8. To develop a global partnership for development
Specific targets within these goals can be viewed at
un.org/millenniumgoals/.
opendefecation.org, to raise awareness of this issue and create change.
Interrelated goals
Progress for each of the goals
is assessed on the United Nations
website. When looking at any one
of the goals, though, it quickly
becomes clear that all eight goals
interrelate. As stated on the World
Renew website, all of the MDGs
“work together to overcome the
World Renew
The Sustainable Development Goals will soon replace the MDGs
on the UN’s agenda.
barriers that keep the poor powerless, voiceless and vulnerable.”
Alan Talens, a medical doctor
and World Renew Health Advisor
based in Michigan, offered the example of universal primary education as a goal with cascading effects.
Death in childhood is connected
with the social determinant of lack
of education: “educating girls has
a huge impact on maternal and
child health.” Mothers who have a
primary education have more of a
chance to gain important resources,
such as water, nutritious food, shelter and toilet facilities. The way that
they care for their children improves
health outcomes for those children
as well. The 2013 film Girl Rising directed by Richard E. Robbins
makes the same point: “educating
girls is the highest return investment
possible to break cycles of poverty.”
Continued on page 2
Anti-poverty plan begins vital
national conversation
Kathy Vandergrift
On Feb. 3, a national anti-poverty strategy called Dignity for All
was released on Parliament Hill.
The plan was developed by people
who know poverty first-hand; it was
coordinated by Citizens for Public
Justice (CPJ), a Christian organization, and Canada Without Poverty,
a national anti-poverty group. The
Canadian Council of Churches
plans to host forums on poverty
across the country this spring, so
local church members and national
church leaders can connect local
issues with this national plan.
One day on the frontlines in a
Jim McIntyre
Continued on page 2 Joe Gunn, executive director of CPJ, presents the plan to MPs on Parliament Hill.
christian courier
PAGE 2
News
A global report card continued
Leanne Talen Geisterfer, World Renew’s Latin America
Team Leader, affirms that development work integrates
many of these goals: “It’s not an easy fix. You have to
work at all of them.” In the work Leanne oversees from her
base in Honduras, education relates to many development
areas. She is especially interested in participatory teaching methods that lead to behaviour changes. For example,
agriculture promoters use demonstration plots on a participant’s farm to show techniques like terracing, and health
promoters organize mother-to-mother support groups to
help mothers reach the goal of exclusive breastfeeding
until a baby is six months old.
Social capital
Development means transformed individuals and communities. Leanne Talen Geisterfer comments, “you need the
transformed lives of people with a basis of faith. You need
the faith values – honesty, integrity and the willingness to
sacrifice for others – that are so integrally related to faith
development. We work with churches, churches that are
working with the community, being salt and light.” The
goal of transformed communities means that the people of
the local community can work on their own development
and begin to oversee projects themselves.
Alan Talens agrees that building relationships, “increased
social capital, the community caring for each other,” is essential to development: “It’s not the health facility, or the
medicine, or the doctor that saves life per se, it is the community.” In a community with high social capital, a woman
who is in hard labour at 2 a.m. will be helped to a health care
facility by neighbours. Strong communities can be life-savers.
Offering services involves capacity-building for the
vulnerable group: “Giving material things is okay but
not enough. What is really needed is empowerment, giving voice.” The disadvantaged group needs to be part of
decision-making. They know what the problems are, and
solutions can be found at the grassroots level.
Moving forward: Justice for all
Diarrhoea from contaminated drinking water is the second
leading cause of death in children under five.
Leanne Talen Geisterfer agreed that maternal health
has a long way to go, and commented that perhaps the
least-achieved MDG was one that was not named specifically – justice for all. She was glad to see that this goal has
been included on the upcoming Sustainable Development
Goals, the follow-up to the MDGs, available at sustainabledevelopment.un.org. The justice SDG goal is intended
to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable
development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.”
Leanne said that increases to health and well-being
through development work are vulnerable if a society and its
institutions are corrupt: “Anyone who rises will be knocked
down.” She is encouraged that in her own neighbourhood
in Honduras, people are beginning to report crime to police
rather than accept victimization as a basic part of life.
She commented, “my optimism is based in the power of
God. In the area of justice, sometimes the whole corruption
issue just takes away any optimism. On the other hand,
you say, okay, these systems are made of individuals, and
individuals can change. Sometimes it is a matter of getting
enough individuals to change, and then
the systems can change.”
The MDGs may be relatively easy to achieve in some
places and among some populations, and much more dif-
ficult to attain with others, such as tribal groups, ethnic
minorities and people in remote areas, who often show a
disparity in health outcomes. It is important to seek out
the places where achieving the goals is the most difficult.
There has been a drop in the maternal mortality rate
since 1990, but much room for improvement remains. As
noted on World Renew’s website, “more than 500,000
mothers die around the world of preventable causes. Of
all the MDGs, there has been the least progress made in
improving maternal health,” only nine percent of the way
to the goals related to maternal mortality, with almost no
progress overall in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Child mortality numbers are also still staggering: 6.3
million children under five still die every year, an average
of 17,260 deaths every day. Alan says this number is the
equivalent of 35 jumbo jets full of children crashing every
day. To begin to address this problem, Alan noted that seeking out the most vulnerable populations is an important step,
as in World Renew’s programs in India and Bangladesh.
Anti-poverty plan continued
Six Planks in the National Anti-Poverty Platform
Equity in design
food bank showed me the harm done to persons and families
who get caught in poverty traps. Members of parliament
heard about a family with a child living in an old car because
they can’t afford both rent and food; in our cold climate, this
situation damages their health. When 4.8 million people
across Canada struggle to pay rent, feed families and provide
basic needs, poverty is a national issue. This includes more
than a million children in their formative years.
Since 2009, church leaders across Canada, including
the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Canadian
Council of Churches (of which the Christian Reformed
Church is a member), have called for national action.
In 2010, a research study by a parliamentary committee
called for a national poverty reduction strategy, but the
government rejected the proposal. Social justice groups
took up the task themselves. Five years of consultations
were compressed into a model National Anti-Poverty Plan
for Canada. Its title, Dignity for All, expresses the core
principle of respect for the rights of every person to live
with dignity and participate in Canadian society.
Measurable targets
The plan, available at DignityForAll.ca/FedPlan, takes
a comprehensive approach because experience has shown
that piece-meal, short-term services, such as food banks
and emergency shelters, are inadequate “Band-Aids on a
gaping wound,” as one proponent described it. It includes
proposals for action in six areas: food security, jobs, housing, income support, health and early childhood education
and care. The proposals range from first steps to long-term
strategies with annual measurable targets, drawing on the
progress made through such strategies in some provinces
Policy area
Food security
Judith Farris (judithmariafarris@gmail.
com) lives in Sarnia, Ontario with her
husband, the Rev. Allan Farris, and their
children, Anna and Peter.
Sample indicators of need
25 percent increase in food bank use
since 2008; 30 percent of users are
young people; high cost of food in north
50 percent increase in precarious jobs,
low wages, no security
Sample of proposals
National strategy that ensures all people can
access nutritious food; high priority to the needs
of northern and remote communities.
Living wages; focus on jobs for young adults
and vulnerable groups
Housing
250,000 homeless; shelters full
Housing strategy, $2 billion to start
Income security
Rates leave people in poverty
Health
20 percent of growing costs are due to
poor living conditions
Reform current system.
Focus child benefits on gratest need.
Community and preventive health;
pharmacare plan to cover medicines
Early childhood
Education and care
Lack of affordable programs for
parents who need to work
Gradual increase to spend 1 percent of GDP on
early education and care by 2020.
Jobs
and cities that are tackling poverty head-on. While the
detailed policies will be subjected to critique and debate
over the coming months, the plan’s framework drew wide
support at the launch, which included MPs from all parties.
The Dignity for All campaign hopes that each political party
will include an anti-poverty plan in its election platform.
The 40-page plan is big in content. Opponents will say
it is unaffordable. As the plan states, however, the costs
of poverty are also high – an estimated $24 billion a year.
In health care alone, 20 percent of burgeoning costs are
directly related to basic living conditions, such as lack of
nutritious food and safe housing. Doing nothing is also
costly. Conscious about costs, the plan includes some
proposals to use existing resources better, such as shifting
money within the child support envelope to benefit those in
need. Given our aging society, Canada has a moral imperative to help every child develop his or her full economic
and social potential.
When asked why Canada needs this plan, Rev. Laurette
Glasgow, representing the Anglican Church of Canada,
summarized the case in three points: “It is the right thing
to do. It is the smart thing to do. It needs to be done.”
Tabling this plan puts the needs of poor people on the
public agenda, which has been dominated lately by the interests of the middle class. Dignity for All moves the debate
from a decade-long, fruitless argument over defining the
poverty line to solutions for those living well below any of
the official lines. If this plan is not the right mix of policies,
the onus is now on others to come up with a better plan.
Continued on page 3
From the 11th
Province 23, 2014
february
Marian Van Til
page 3
Column
From the Lab
Ethical research in human studies
Rudy Eikelboom
Most of my research over the years
has involved working with rats to study
the biological basis of human mental and
Everyday Christian
behavioural disorders. The rat models I
Cathy Smith have studied may tell us something about
addiction and anorexia nervosa. Such preclinical models are valuable in the study
of the causes of illness and may help suggest treatments.
Currently I have a PhD student who wants to explore
whether a theoretical approach to addiction and feeding sugArlene Van Hove
gested by animal research also can be studied in humans.
Specifically, our animal models indicate a distinction between
things animals crave and things they like. Craving is what
causes
themand
to search
out a reward, measured by how hard
Flowers
Thistles
animals will work to get the reward. Liking is the affective reCurt they
Gesch
action
experience when they obtain the reward, measured
by how they respond when consuming the reward – rats show
a yum response to sweets (and also a yuck response to bitters).
Words
fromwould like to see if we can study craving
My student
and
liking
in humans. She believes that one factor leading
Wild
Horses
toWarkentins
eating disorders and obesity is specific cravings that
increase over time. Thus I may be en route to doing some
human studies with her.
Before we can carry out any human studies, however,
Ourneed
World
we
ethicsToday
approval from the university’s Research
Ethics Board (REB). No research at Laurier (or any uniBert Hielema
versity
for that matter) can be carried out without ethics
approval, whether it is research with animals or humans. I
have worked with the animal ethics process for years and
for a time was Chair of the Laurier Animal Care Committee. I know these ethical issues well.
Human ethics approval has a completely different set of
issues. One major difference is that you do not need to get
consent from the rats you study, but you do need it from the
human participants in your research. In Canada research ethics
requirements have become consistent across all the funding
agencies under the Tri-Council Policy Statement version 2
(TPCS 2). In addition, before anyone can even seek ethics approval for a specific project under these guidelines, they must
take an online course offered by the panel on research ethics,
the TPCS 2 Course on Research Ethics (CORE tutorial).
SU MO
TU WE
TH FR
SA
Getting Unstuck
Research on humans requires care, respect and permission
from the Ethics Board.
research: core principles behind the ethical rules; definitions of research, consent, privacy, risks and benefits,
fairness, conflict of interest; and the process that an REB
follows. Each module ended with a short test to ensure
that I had mastered the concepts introduced. Along the
way there were examples, often Canadian, of research
projects that had raised ethical issues. At the end I was
able to print off an electronic certificate saying I had
completed the CORE tutorial.
Having completed the tutorial, I can now submit a
research proposal to the Laurier REB with my student
(with her own tutorial certificate
in hand) around
her research on
craving and liking. Preparing
the multiplepage human ethics forms will
take some time.
grow
the plan by investors group
After that, the
proposal goes to
the committee
for review and
comment.
Anyone who
has looked at
the conduct of
Rules and respect
scientists in the
grow
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Thus last week I spent three evenings completing my past recognises
CORE tutorial. In total it took me about seven hours to why we need a
complete all eight modules, but it was interesting, and I process like this
went slowly, looking at many of the connected sites. (Any- to govern our reone can take this course. Find it by choosing the English search process.
or French site at pre.ethics.gc.ca, then look for the CORE We are all aware
tutorial in the menu bar on the left.)
of abuses that grow
protect
save
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The modules covered many of the ethical issues around have happened
in past research – the administration of LSD to psychiatric
patients in the Allen Memorial Hospital at McGill, for example. Is the Canadian system perfect? No. Just because
one knows the rules does not mean they will be followed.
However, if I break the rules there will be consequences,
and they can be severe both for me and for my institution.
At the heart of ethics for human research is respect for
the research participants, consistent with our Lord’s command to love our neighbour as ourselves. I’m thankful that
research in Canada tries to follow Christ-like principles.
Rudy Eikelboom ([email protected]), who is now allowed
to do psychological research with humans, is a member of
the Waterloo CRC and Chair of the Psychology Department
at Wilfrid Laurier University.
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Anti-poverty plan continued
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christian courier
PAGE 4
Editorials
Physician-assisted death:
Where do we go from here?
Change of scenery
Monica deRegt
Photos were flashing up on the screen one by one, timed beautifully with the
accompanying song. Each picture depicted fun and rugged scenes of boys camping, fishing, swimming, building fires, tying knots. It was Cadet Sunday and our
church was hosting several of the Southern B.C. boy’s club cadres for a service to
highlight the exciting events and ministry over the past year.
A few moments into the PowerPoint presentation I couldn’t help but notice a
common theme. While our attention was meant to be focused on the skillful axe swing, the “big
catch” and the smiling faces of the boys and men who were “Living for Jesus,” my eyes were drawn
to the breathtaking panoramic background in every photo – the huge, towering blue mountains that
frame the view from every angle in this part of the country. The massive white-capped blue rock,
complete with ribbons of waterfalls, created the colour scheme for each and every photo, regardless
of what else was in the picture.
Having recently moved back to
B.C. from our former home on the
“mountain” in Hamilton, my jaw
still regularly drops in wonder at the
sheer majestic beauty of the Cascade
and Coast mountains in the Fraser
Valley. But a quick look around
me confirmed that other people did
not seem to notice these beautiful
backdrops. I’m sure that the photographers themselves did not even
intend to take pictures of the mountains – they were just unavoidable, I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth
if beautiful, backgrounds.
(Psalm 121:1-2).
Back in the valley
As a believer who was born and raised in the Christian faith, I have sometimes longed for the
experience of being a new Christian – seeing the greatness of God, being awed by his majesty and
humbled by his grace for the first time. It must surely be a little like the wonder of seeing mountains
for the first time, or even for a first time again. Even as devout believers, it can be easy to stop
paying attention to the breathtaking wonder of our always-present God – easier, perhaps, to focus
on ourselves and our own actions, well-meaning as they may be. Sure, sometimes we spend time
in the mountains, and have exhilarating mountain-top experiences, but when we are back in the
valley, they become part of the landscape again, often obscured by man-made structures, or ignored
as we keep our eyes on the road and our fingers on the texting keys. Numerous studies have come
to startling conclusions about the correlation between our physical and mental health and spending
time in nature. Does knowing this change anything? The same holds true for our spiritual health.
Just like the mountains and other spectacular views of nature, God’s bigger picture is the constant
backdrop of our lives. His presence sets our colour-scheme and frames our every view, whether we
choose to notice and delight in him or not. A change of scenery can help re-instill a sense of awe, refocus our lenses and allow us to appreciate
the enormity of his power in this world.
Christian Courier
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of culturally savvy partners in faith for the purpose of inspiring all
to participate in God’s renewing work within his fallen creation.
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Refocus the lens
The season of Lent begins on February 23 this year. For many people, myself
included, this involves giving something
up for the 40 days leading up to Easter –
chocolate, TV, Facebook – whatever will
be helpful as a daily reminder of the infinitely greater sacrifice that God made for
us. While some may call this trendy or
gimmicky, or even unnecessary in light of
God’s grace that no longer requires physical
sacrifice, maybe it could be the very thing
that “changes our scenery” and draws our
focus back to the bigger picture of God’s
amazing story. Perhaps this practice of a
temporary daily discipline can be the nudge
we need to remember to look up in awe – up
to the God who gave it all for us.
Monica Kronemeyer deRegt grew up with
this view of the Hudson Bay Mountain
(Smithers, B.C.) as her backdrop.
She currently lives in Abbotsford, B.C.
with her husband and three children,
and is the Features Editor for CC.
André Basson
“A step toward kindness,” so one daily newspaper chose to
headline the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to open the
way for the decriminalization of physician-assisted death (although the ruling would only come into effect after 12 months
in order to allow the government to rewrite the Criminal Code).
The words are actually the response of the daughter of the late
Gillian Bennet, the 84-year-old who wanted to die “on her own terms and in
her own time” once she had become incapacitated either in mind or in body.
If the current prohibition of physician-assisted death is struck down, Canada
will be joining a very small group of countries (the Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg and Switzerland) and some U.S. states (Oregon, Washington and
Vermont) that allow the practice, although preconditions for implementation
vary from country to country and state to state.
Compassion and human autonomy seem to be the principal reasons raised
by advocates for physician-assisted death for lifting the ban. Indeed, even if
one has never had to care for a loved one who is afflicted by a terminal illness and whose suffering has become unbearable because of it, our humanity
urges us to want to see it brought to an end as quickly as possible. And from a
Christian perspective, it could also be argued that such a step would actually
be in keeping with the second half of the Great Commandment (“to love one’s
neighbour as oneself”). But then how do we bypass the sixth commandment
that prohibits intentionally taking the life of another person?
Suffering and compassion
At the same time, it also appears to be the biblical view that suffering can
actually serve to bring us closer to God and strengthen our faith (ie: Rom. 5:3-5).
A Catholic view would even argue that suffering actually has redemptive value.
Hence the late Pope John Paul II’s insistence that, by his refusal to abdicate despite suffering from debilitating Parkinson’s disease, he was setting an example
to all Catholics. On the other hand, as Scott Rae points out in his book, Moral
Choices: An Introduction to Ethics, a consistent application of this argument
would exclude any medical treatment intended to diminish suffering.
By appealing to personal autonomy, advocates of physician-assisted death argue that
individuals have the
right to make decisions
that affect their personal
and private life, and that
it is often even protected
by law. In other words, if
marriage and procreation,
We must seek to remain both faithful and compassionate. to name but two, are areas
in which a person enjoys almost absolute autonomy, why not include the decision
to end life? However, if personal autonomy were to be elevated to a determining
principle, what would stand in the way of any person, irrespective of physical or
mental condition, to seek a physician assisted death, for one reason or another?
Furthermore, underpinning Judeo-Christian ethics is still the firm belief that all
life is a gift from God and that he alone decides when it should be ended.
Of the two reasons for physician-assisted death just mentioned, compassion
remains for the Christian perhaps the most difficult one to challenge, since it
can be reconciled with a great deal of what Scripture teaches on the subject of
concern for those who suffer, whatever the nature of their suffering may be.
Does this mean that, at least as far as the issue of physician-assisted death is
concerned, what is called for is an approach that is increasingly based on situational ethics, in other words, one that is guided by the particular context and
eschews moral or biblical absolutes?
While it is certainly likely that rapid advances in medical technology may
alleviate suffering in some cases and even extend life in others, the fact remains
that the question of physician assisted death will probably become more complex in the future and require – at least from Christians – an approach that will
seek to remain faithful to the biblical notion of the sanctity of life. On the other
hand, the Christian ethic of love will always urge us to support those whose
suffering has become unbearable and not to add to it through lack of empathy
or through any hasty judgment.
André Basson is campus minister for the Christian Reformed Church
at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.
page 5
february 23, 2014
Letters
The many rooms of Islam
While I agree that, as Canadians from a Western culture,
we have an obligation to respect the Muslims among us
(“How should Christians respond to Islam? Insights amid
uncertainty,” Jan. 12), we nevertheless must approach the
subject with a good dose of realism. I admit it is a perplexing problem; one the one hand, we want to share the love
of Christ with them, while on the other we are faced with
violence on the part of Islam towards those of other faiths.
The latest Persecution and Prayer Alert from the Voice
of the Martyrs reported on the January 2015 murders by
Islamic militants of a pastor in Nigeria, a young Christian
student in front of his church in Mombasa, Kenya and three
Christians in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. As long as we
do not raise the persecution of non-Muslims in Islamicdominated countries when dialoging with them here, we
participate in an injustice.
What Muslims forget and we must remember is that
Islam is a house with many rooms. Sunnis and Shiites have
been at each other’s throats for nearly as long as Islam has
existed. Untold thousands have been killed as a result of
their warring. Boko Haram, ISIS and many other Jihadist
groups all occupy a room in that house (often accusing
each other of being infidels). Is it any wonder that many
question the peacefulness of Islam?
Klaas Brobbel
Oakville, Ont.
Does God like capitalism?
American novelist Marilynne Robinson and Nick
Loenen, who freely quotes her in his article “Civic virtue:
Drying up without God?” (Jan. 26), are both entitled to
their views on how sinful behaviour undermines our communal living. However, as the article progresses Loenen
loses sight of his objective and becomes involved in an
ideological discussion that gets us nowhere. He tries to
convince us that democracy and capitalism as we know it
cannot co-exist, and he cites Robinson to, in effect, say that
adherence to free-market principles likely means that the
world’s hungry will go unfed. And no alternative economic
practices are given to help Christians do better in pursuing
the laudable attributes of civic virtue.
We know all too well that sin soon corrupts whatever
we turn our hands to, also in the economic sphere, but
any argument for greater civic virtue in our society is
not furthered by blaming capitalism and its free-market
practitioners. In the past number of months my wife received excellent care and treatment here in the Region of
Waterloo at the cancer centre, established and funded by
the co-founder of Research in Motion, better known these
days as Blackberry. As a retiree living on a very modest
scale, I see no conflict in advocating for free markets and
pursuing civic virtue in my activities. The practice of economic capitalism is not at all incompatible with practicing
“generosity, largeness of spirit, fellow feeling, common
responsibilities, public spiritedness . . . and civic virtue,”
using wording in the article. In fact, the huge financial
costs of our domestic and never-enough international
civic virtue programs arguably would not be sustainable
without some form of a free market economy and the
wealth it produces.
The negative civic behaviour that Loenen [associates
with] capitalism are just as readily found among those who
practice other forms of economic development. One only
needs to look at socialism and how its communist practitioners have and continue to impoverish and demoralize
billions of human beings. The barriers for greater civic
virtue are not created by any system of economics, but by
what lives in the hearts and minds of people.
In the meantime, sign me up for maintaining a freemarket economy with all its warts and wrinkles. I believe
it does far more than any other system to promote solidarity
and democracy among people.
Ed Grootenboer
Waterloo, Ont.
Israel continues to ignore international law
In the January 26th issue of CC, it was mentioned that
Palestine is now a member of the International Criminal
Court (ICC). In this regard, it is important to note that although Israel joined in 2000, two years later it declared that
it no longer intended to ratify the treaty and bears no legal
obligations arising from its signature. Israel will not send
any of citizens (private or military) to face justice in the ICC.
Indeed, Israel has much to hide when it comes to its
conduct in the West Bank. Miko Peled, an Israeli and exsoldier, who wrote the book, The General’s Son: Journey of
an Israeli in Palestine, goes as far as stating that the Israeli
army is the best-funded, best equipped terrorist group in
the world. He also talks about how he was misled to by
his government.
I found that to get into Israel, I could not let Israeli security know what I was going to do there – namely, witness
life under occupation and record human rights abuses. I
took any files off my computer that gave reference to it,
erased e-mails, etc. Good thing, since they took my stuff
into a separate room and searched it. When asked if I would
be going to the West Bank (WB), I stated that I would go
to Bethlehem and visit Christian holy sites.
It is interesting also to note that Israel leads the list in
violations of UN Security Council resolutions, including
the condemnation and criticism of the governments’ policies and actions. These violations are mainly to do with
annexation of land and settlements. Also the Geneva Conventions regarding occupation are completely ignored by
WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
Sixth Annual Christian
Courier Short Story Contest!
I: Send in your original short fiction (1000 to 3000
words) on any theme by May 1, 2015. First prize
receives $100 and publication in a summer issue
of Christian Courier. Please note that this contest
is for fictional short stories, not essays or articles.
Second prize receives a year’s subscription. All
stories must be submitted electronically to
[email protected]. Entries over the
word limit will not be considered.
II: Our readers 8 to 14 years of age can participate
in the category for youth. There will be two
divisions: junior (Grades 3-5) and Intermediate
(Grades 6-8). Send your short stories (500-1000
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1, 2015. Entries over the word limit will not
be considered. The first-place winner in each
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valued at $50. Please include a photo of yourself,
your mailing address and a short bio.
The beauty of round bales
Seeing a field full of round bales has often made me
stop the car to fully admire the landscape (“Winter-proof
hay” by Meindert Van der Galien, January 12). Hence I
would like to ask all farmers not to be in a hurry to either
stack their bales or cover them with plastic. Please, let us
enjoy the sight of many bales on a hill as we travel in the
countryside.
I am glad the province of Ontario still permits our
farmers to harvest their hay in round bales. My brotherin-law lives in Alberta, where in his part of the country
farmers were not allowed to make round bales. I wondered
why round bales could possibly be a problem.
“Well,” he said, “in the West our cows deserve a square
meal!”
Happy haying Meindert.
Peter DeBruyne
Grimsby, Ont.
Israel, as well as the terms of the Oslo Accords of 1993/95.
Many people living in Israel are not aware of what is going on in the WB nor are they aware of the Nakba of 1948. It
is not mentioned in Israeli textbooks. I was privileged to be
present for a session in Beersheba, Israel, where the “Truth
Commission on the Responsibility of Israeli Society for the
Events of 1948-1960 in Israel” was being held. It is a step
forward in acknowledging the past so healing can begin.
When I asked Israeli
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christian courier
PAGE 6
News
Nova Scotia Supreme Court: Trinity Western
wins case vs. Barristers Society
Marian Van Til, with files from NS Supreme Court, EFC, TWU
HALIFAX – Justice Jamie S. Campbell of the Nova
Scotia Supreme Court has ruled that the Nova Scotia
Barristers Society (NSBS) cannot refuse to recognize law
degrees granted by the Trinity Western University law
school just because the NSBS disagrees with the university’s “Community Covenant” and believes that document
discriminates against homosexuals. The NSBS decided in
April 2014 that it would refuse to accept graduates of the
TWU law school because of that Covenant.
The Community Covenant requires all TWU students to
agree to lead a Christian lifestyle, which includes chastity
outside of marriage between a man and a woman and fidelity within marriage. The NSBS argued that the Covenant
is “unlawful.” But Justice Campbell said in his 138-page
decision that TWU is not “engaging in unlawful discrimination,” and that “allowing the NSBS’s decision to stand
would have a chilling effect on the liberty of conscience
and freedom of religion” in Canada. Campbell also said that
there’s “no evidence to support the claim that LGBT people
or anyone else in Nova Scotia will suffer psychological[ly]
or otherwise if they are aware that TWU students, subject
to the same ethical requirements of others, can be admitted
to the practice of law in Nova Scotia.”
The justice noted that for
most people “the study of law
is a purely secular activity.”
But for evangelical Christians,
like those at TWU, that is not
true because “their religious
faith governs every aspect of
their lives” and “when they
study law, whether at a Christian law school or elsewhere,
they are studying law first as
Justice Campbell
Christians.”
The Justice noted that “being Christian in character
does not mean excluding those of other faiths but does
require that everyone adhere to the code that the religion
mandates. Going to such an institution is an expression of
their religious faith. That is a sincerely held believe [sic]
and it is not for the court or for the NSBS to tell them that
it just isn’t that important.”
State needs compelling reason for coercion
The NSBS had also argued that the 2001 Supreme Court
of Canada decision allowing TWU to operate an education
The ruling said TWU is not “unlawfully discriminating.”
program is “outdated.” Justice Campbell also rejected that
argument, saying the principles of the case remain relevant,
and though Canadian society is secular “the state does not
have a secularizing mission.” The Justice said that “the
state through the NSBS does not have the authority to try
to coerce them into changing those beliefs so that they
conform to those of mainstream society. If the state seeks
to coerce them to change their actions that give effect to
those beliefs it had better have a compelling reason.”
Justice Campbell called attention to the fact that “the
[lawyers Code of Professional Conduct] doesn’t keep out
lawyers who hold views that are exactly the same as those
expressed by the TWU Community Covenant. There is
no test for ‘aberrant’ attitudes or ‘correct thinking.’” He
commended the NSBS for its “serious and meaningful
efforts” to deal with discrimination, particularly against
LGBT people, but added, “This just isn’t one of them.”
TWU spokesman Guy Saffold said after the Court’s decision was handed down, “We believe this is an exceptionally important decision from Justice Campbell. It affirms
that protection of religious freedom is and must continue
to be central value in Canada’s pluralist society.”
Bruce Cleminger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), which was one of the intervenors in
the case, noted in an online commentary that the decision
“strongly affirms the freedom of religious organizations to
maintain their religious identity and serve the public good.”
Besides the EFC, intervenors on behalf of TWU included The Association for Reformed Political Action,
Christian Higher Education Canada, the Catholic Civil
Rights League, Faith and Freedom League, The Christian
Legal Fellowship and The Canadian Council of Christian
Charities.
The issue isn’t entirely settled. TWU still faces two other
similar suits, from the law societies in B.C. and Ontario.
Ottawa: Supreme Court OKs doctor-assisted suicide
OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – In a momentous ruling on
February 6, Canada’s highest court unanimously ruled
to open the door to assisted suicide, allowing doctors to
provide the means for those suffering from an “irremediable” illness, disease or disability” to die.
In Carter v. Canada, the Supreme Court overturned a
previous law prohibiting assisted suicide, in effect reversing
the previous 1993 Rodriguez decision in which it said the
state’s obligation to “protect the vulnerable” outweighed
the rights of the individual to self-determination.
The ruling makes Canada join the ranks of only three
other countries – Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium – and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, in
allowing assisted suicide.
In a 9-0 ruling the Court said that Section 241 (b) and
s. 14 of the Criminal Code “unjustifiably infringe s. 7 of
the Charter and are of no force or effect to the extent that
they prohibit physician-assisted death for a competent
adult person who (1) clearly consents to the termination
of life and (2) has a grievous and irremediable medical
condition (including an illness, disease or disability) that
causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition.”
Iraq: Christian fighters
join forces to fight ISIS
NINEVAH, Iraq (CD/CP) – Christian fighters in Iraq
have joined together to fight against Islamic State militants.
“The forces are fighting under Ministry of Peshmerga Commandment [the Iraqi government] and their main task is
to defend Christian lands and to take back their areas that
have been occupied by ISIS,” Yelda Shimuel, the Head of
the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s headquarters in Telkef,
told a local source, the Kurdish Globe. They also have the
support of the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The group is known as the Nineveh Plains Protection
Unit. The force has 500 Assyrian Christian troops stationed in towns such as Alqosh in the Nineveh Plains to
defend them from ISIS and another 3,000 troops serving
or awaiting training.
Another force will also be formed and the recruitment
process will start soon, said Shimuel. This follows months
of hardship for hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians.
More than 120,000 Christians fled the largely Christian
city of Mosul after Islamic State militants invaded in
June and left Christians with an ultimatum: convert to
Islam, pay a religious fine or face death by the sword. The
militants have declared cities in Iraq and Syria as their
Islamic Caliphate. In total, about 1.2 million people have
been affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces that had been fighting Islamic State in the region, also fled, ceding the Christian
villages to Islamic State and forcing nearly 100,000
Christians to seek refuge in Kurdistan. In November 2014,
an Iraqi Christian militia in village of Bakufa vowed to
keep Islamic State militants out after they were pushed
out of the region more than a month ago.
Last stand
The predominately
Christian region located
about 243 miles north of
Baghdad was overrun by
ISIS militants over the
summer. Bakufa, along
with 22 other villages,
had seen the black flag
of ISIS raised over the
town, forcing many vilAssyrians are the largest
Christian group in the region. lagers to flee to other locations in northern Iraq.
Assyrians are indigenous to the Iraqi region and are
decedents of the ancient Mesopotamians. Next to the
Chaldeans, the Assyrians make up the largest Christian
group in the region. The Assyrian Christian forces are
allied to the Iraqi Army and Kurds but do not take orders
from either, and their aim is to establish an administrative area for the Assyrians and Yazidis, as well as other
minorities such as Shabaks and Mandeans.
The group is funded by members of the Assyrian
diaspora, who are mainly concentrated in the United
States, Australia, Sweden and Britain. They are being
trained by an American security company.
British-Assyrians are currently awaiting a response
from the British Foreign Office on whether it is legal
or not to financially support the group, which is short
of funds. The region holds many ancient artifacts and
buildings that Kisso believes needs protection as they
are at risk of being destroyed by the Islamic State.
The Ninevah Plains Force is hoping to prevent further loss of land for their people, and to be allowed to
be Christians. John Michael, a British-Assyrian, said,
“This is our last stand, if this fails then Christianity will
be finished in Iraq.”
page 7
february 23, 2014
News
CRC ‘Network’ online celebrates five years of success
Chris Meehan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (CRCNA) –
Rev. Louis Tamminga says he has become
“increasingly enamoured with” The Network, the Christian Reformed Church’s
online community that celebrated its fifth
birthday this month.
Tamminga, retired since
1995, served four churches
in Canada and one in the
U.S., was the long-time head
of CRC Pastor-Church Relations, served as chair of Pastoral Ministries and is now the Tamminga
guide for the “Elders” section of The Network.
What he loves, Tamminga says, is the
chance The Network gives people to share
ideas and approaches about how they involve
themselves in ministry across the Christian
Reformed Church. “I learned that there is
just such a beauty of insight among God’s
people, and such riches of experience. I also
found that notions I held as true were not
always totally valid and I had to accept correction. In general, I found that ministries of
churches and individuals gain in value and
effectiveness when they become known.”
In the last five years since the social site
began, users have created nearly 5,000 new
ministry-related posts, and those posts have
yielded over 10,000 responses. Still, there
are many more who read posts but haven’t
themselves joined the conversation. Since
its inception, the site has averaged more
than half a million page views per year.
The Network covers dozens of ministryrelated topics, including church administration and finance, church planting, faith formation, deacons and worship, as well as youth
ministry, safe church and disability concerns.
“The whole idea behind The Network
has been to help us all do ministry better in
our churches,” says Staci Devries, the site’s
community manager. Each week, thousands
of people visit The Network to read weekly
blogs, share resources, discuss forum topics
and get answers to ministry questions.
Whether someone is a deacon, elder,
small group leader, webmaster, nursery coordinator or volunteer for any other ministry
in a church, The Network is a place to learn,
share and connect with others who do what
you do, says Devries. “The Network is one
of the CRC’s most popular sites, and it might
be the first thing that gets people wondering
and asking questions about the CRC.”
One-stop resource, meeting place
The Network was launched in February
2010 to create an easy-to-access, one-stop
resource centre about the “nuts and bolts” of
ministry. All along, it has provided resources:
articles, blogs, basic guidelines, advice and
helpful links. But is has also been a meeting
place for the CRC and its friends, a place of
conversation, learning and comparing notes
about practical aspects of church ministry.
Bonnie Nicholas, director of the CRC’s
Safe Church Ministry, says she appreciates
the extra visibility that The Network provides and the opportunity to connect with
people who may not otherwise know about
the ministry. In addition,” she says, “The
Network is a place to share information, promote dialogue and learn from one another.
We’ve especially enjoyed being able to produce webinars on various topics, something
we could never do on our own without the
assistance and expertise of The Network.”
Abigail Genzink is The Network guide
for global missions. Besides sharing what the
CRC is doing in global missions with others,
she says she loves “to browse the other pages
and see what is going on in the church.”
order to post resources, a blog or to comment on something that appears on the site.
As part of its fifth anniversary, The Network will be awarding badges (“Participant”
and “Community Builder”) to Network users
who have met various criteria. These badges
will be visible on users’ profiles on The Network and are attainable via easy steps, including completing profiles and interacting on
the site, says Devries. Without participation,
social websites like The Network wouldn’t
exist. So badges are a way this online community can recognize their active members.
The Network will also be giving away
two Amazon gift cards. “First, we are having
a ‘caption contest where we will post a fun,
ministry-related picture and ask users to provide clever/interesting captions. The winner
receives a prize,” says Devries. “Secondly,
we will be posting a blog highlighting our
most-read posts from the last five years and
soliciting others to post on the site. Those
who post during the month of February will
be entered in a drawing for a gift.”
To browse the site and join the conversation, visit crcna.org/network.
Guides such as Genzink and Tamminga
provide a welcoming voice on their topics,
and help connect people to conversations.
“The guides have a real heart for their area,”
says Devries. “They post regularly on the
site and keep it active.”
Significant changes came to The Network a year ago this month when it received
a new design and better navigation, making
it easier to search for topics, types of posts,
and authors, “so you can get straight to what
you need,” says Tim Postuma, web manager
for the CRC. Especially popular, he says,
has been the ability for more resource sharing. “Instead of the guides being the only
ones to post resources, we’ve granted those
permissions to the entire community.”
Also popular has been opening The Network up for anyone to post a blog in one
of the ministry sections. “We want The
Network to continue to be a place where
both ministry ideas and practical tools are
freely exchanged,” says Postuma.
While anyone can read content on The
Network, you need to create an account in
Work on Canadian philosopher by Calvin College prof is ‘Book of the Year’
Phil De Haan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (CalvinCollege/
CRCNA) – Calvin College philosophy professor James K.A. Smith has written a book
on the work of Canadian philosopher Charles
Taylor. That book recently won Christianity
Today’s “Book of the Year” award in the
magazine’s Christianity and Culture category.
Taylor, born in 1931 in Montreal, is a
versatile scholar, and a Roman Catholic
Christian, known for his contributions to
political philosophy, social theory, the history of philosophy and intellectual history.
Smith’s book on Taylor is entitled How
(Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. The 152-page book has been praised for
its accessibility.
In honouring Smith’s book, reviewer Gene
Edward Veith, provost of Patrick Henry College, said, “Taylor is the author of a monumental study of contemporary life called A
Secular Age, which explores the widespread
loss of religious sensibility in modern life.”
The 21st book from Canadian-born Calvin prof.
Veith noted that Taylor’s work “exposing
the ideology of secularism has important
implications for contemporary apologetics,
evangelism and ministry. But it’s so technical
and sophisticated that it is mainly accessible
to academics. Smith has offered not a CliffsNotes style simplification, but a paradigmshifting book that creatively applies Taylor’s
findings to the church and the larger society.”
An apologist nuanced, complex,
humble
Such words are music to Smith’s ears. In
a May 2014 interview for The Gospel Coalition (TGC) website, Smith talked about his
hope that people, through his book, might
better come to understand not just Taylor,
who teaches at McGill University, but also the
many ways in which Taylor’s subject matter
impacts life today for 21st century Christians.
Smith’s book had its genesis in a Calvin
College class: a senior seminar for philosophy majors on Taylor’s A Secular Age. In
leading the class, Smith told TGC, he realized that Taylor’s tone resonated with his
students and could
help them make
sense of the world
they inhabited.
He also realized
that his book could
be of use to pastors
and church plant- Taylor: a “serious Chrisers who needed to tian public intellectual.”
understand their own “secular” environments.
Thus began his plan to summarize and synthesize Taylor’s book, a plan that he admits
also had an evangelistic motivation.
“If Taylor is right, this shouldn’t be seen
as a battle. Instead, we should recognize all
the persistent longings for transcendence
that characterize our secular age,” said
Smith. “To proclaim the gospel in such a
context is not a matter of guarding some
fortress; it’s an opportunity to invite our
neighbours to meet the One they didn’t even
realize they’d been longing for.”
Look for a review of Smith’s book, coming soon in CC.
christian courier
PAGE 8
Column/Review
Significance
“I’m significant!” screams Calvin beneath the open sky. Not John Calvin;
this is Calvin of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. In the next pane
Calvin stares into the dark, starry sky. Then he finishes, “. . . screamed
the dust speck.” Here is the challenge of understanding human existence.
I showed this cartoon on my last day of teaching at LCC International
University in Lithuania. In summarizing the course for students, I decided
to drive home the point that their lives are significant; they have meaning.
Earlier in the course, students had responded to the question “Why do we live?” with
“I do not know,” “to be happy,” “to be economically successful,” “to help my family,”
“to change the world,” ”to help others” and “to serve God.”
How do you answer that question? We all answer it, either consciously or subconsciously.
And the answer directs much of what we think and do. Do you think you’re significant?
Worldview answers
Secular answers highlight human significance in the face of God or challenge it in
the face of science. Humanism sees our significance as saviours of the world. Humans –
through education, science, technology, communications or other cultural developments
– will solve our problems. Calvin’s tiger, Hobbes, is the namesake of Thomas Hobbes,
who championed these views of significant, self-interested individuals rationally entering
into “social contract” with others for the good of all.
Wars, news of human evil and natural disasters, failing educational systems, fears of
climate changes, disgust with government, economic crisis and much more point to a less
optimistic answer. We can arrogantly challenge the problems or just retreat into our own
shelters of nihilism. Add to this an evolutionary worldview, studies in human origins and
explorations of the vastness of the universe and we become Calvin just yelling in the night.
Some movements in Islam reject “Western” humanism, secularism and nihilism.
They call for a return to the fundamentals of their worldview: obedience to an absolute
monotheistic God. Human significance is only in obeying Allah and controlling those
who disobey. Many in the West wonder how ISIS or Boko Haram can attract fighters. This
fight gives the militants a sense of purpose that poverty, persecution and the “Western”
perspective have taken from them. They are screaming their significance.
Variations of “Eastern” worldviews believe we create and experience suffering by our
focus on this world, ourselves and the physical. Our enlightenment comes from realizing
our spiritual nature and connectedness to the spiritual forces in and of the world. We are
dust in the wind or one electron in the world’s current.
Image bearers
Calvin, John Calvin, articulated a Christian view
of human significance. Our
knowledge of who we are
is rooted in knowledge
of who God is. When we
think we are god, or there
is no god, or when our
view of God is distorted,
we distort ourselves and
Despite the vastness of the universe, God considers us significant. the world.
We are image bearers of God commissioned to represent him in the world. God makes us
rulers in his creation, to rule as he rules, graciously and forgivingly, to the blessing and benefits
of others. We are agents of God mediating his presence to the whole creation.
The Reformed tradition has often spoken of this as the “cultural mandate,” regrettably.
“Mandate” means “commandment.” In Genesis God does not command us. In Genesis
1:28 he blesses us. It is a gift, an empowerment. In Genesis 2:15, it is a purpose statement,
“to till and keep” the creation. This is the answer to why we live. This is our “cultural
purpose,” to be God’s image bearers, his agents, to develop his creation.
After showing my students Calvin and Hobbes, I added another picture. I had the
Creator of the universe call back to Calvin, “YES!” Yes, we are significant because God
makes us so. Yes, God empowers us and chooses to work through us. This is so important
in our broken world and lives. God still considers us significant.
On the exam, one student wrote, “It is important to understand what the most important
things in this World are, to understand why we were created, our purpose. Our thinking
was challenged in the essays. This course was not only important because of the new
things I learned but also because of inspiration that you gave to us. We are significant,
even though we are the dust specks. . . . We are all here to have a great mission in this
world and even sometimes [when] we cannot feel that, we are significant.”
God has crowned us with glory and honour (Psalm 8:5).
Dr. Wolthuis is a Christian Reformed pastor who was the Co-President of ICS,
taught at Calvin and Dordt colleges and served churches in Michigan and Iowa.
Calvary, directed by John Michael McDonagh, 2014
An altar in the ruins of a church
Brian Bork
The opening scene in John Michael McDonagh’s stunning Calvary takes place in a
confessional. Fr. James’ face is illuminated, though barely, in deep orange tones. The
confessor’s face is out of frame, but his words leap out of the dark: “I’m going to murder
you one week from today.” A genuine confession, I suppose, though the confessional booth
is typically reserved for sins already committed. That means Calvary isn’t a whodunit,
exactly, but more of a who’s-about-to-do-it, with some bleak farcical elements thrown in,
too. It’s also a theologically rich portrait of the relationship between a good man placed
in impossible circumstances by his parish and the history of his church.
McDonagh has placed Calvary amidst some astonishing Irish countryside. Weatherbeaten granite hills burst from rolling green meadows, the surf crashes against peculiar
rock formations on the shore, and the camera pans across vast vistas. The whole place is
windswept, with the sort of beauty best beheld from afar. You get the sense that at any
moment a gale will whip in from the sea and scrape the whole place clean.
At the center of this threatening beauty is a small parish, presided over by Father James,
who’s played with a sturdy imperturbability by Brendan Gleeson. For the most part, anyway. The camera loves his face, too, which isn’t a surprise, since it’s every bit as craggy
and weathered as the Irish countryside. He’s a second-career country priest who entered the
priesthood after his wife passed away. He’s a recovering alcoholic, and estranged from his
daughter. He wears the old-style cassock, the severe black one with the big buttons down
the front, though that’s not indicative of his temperament at all. He’s long-suffering and
attentive to his flock, never hectoring them or offering trite consolations, and he maintains
a faithful presence in their lives, though it doesn’t seem that they’re particularly interested
in his presence.
And what a miserable, loathsome flock they are. There’s the cynical atheist doctor, and
the lecherous auto mechanic. An abusive husband and the millionaire with the stolen fortune.
Characters that function as stand-ins for the classic cardinal sins: sloth, lust, wrath, greed,
and, well, you know the rest. They spend most of their time scoffing at Fr. James – some
critics find them to be darkly funny – but for the most part, they sound resentful and cynical.
That cynicism may be earned, however. Calvary is set amidst the wreckage of the
Irish Catholic church, still reeling from the sexual abuse scandals, and its plot is anchored
around the weight of that transgression. Our would-be murderer confesses to Fr. James
that he was victimized as a boy, and plans to murder Fr. James as payback. Not because
Fr. James is the offender; in fact, the guilty priest died years ago. Instead, the would-be
murderer thinks it would rock the church more to see an innocent pay the price for the
sins of a guilty man.
An innocent man who pays the cost for his fellows’ sins. That's a familiar tale for Christians – a grim yet hopeful, harrowing yet faith-affirming one. Calvary echoes that poignantly,
and surprisingly, too. I’ll confess I approached the film with some trepidation, expecting it
to be a purgative for all the anger and pain that the sexual abuse scandal has sown. That’d
be a really easy film to make; maybe even a justified one. It’s easy to have sympathy for
those who’ve witnessed the carnage of sexual abuse and decided to just chuck it all.
But Calvary is not that kind of film. It is indeed coarse and grim, though there are
streams of mercy and goodness in the harsh Irish landscape, too: the simple yet profound
fidelity of a shepherd tending his wayward flock, the possibility of reconciliation between
a father and his daughter, and a steady, quiet witness to the beautiful core of the Gospel,
so often shrouded by the Church. As Fr. James moves through the week towards his own
Calvary, we may realize that we all have some things to which we
can die: our self-justification, and the prestige of our institutions, for
starters. Calvary reminds us that though the way ahead may look dark,
forgiveness, faith and love are indelible, and they remain in the world
like a stone altar standing in the ruins of a church.
Brian Bork is CC’s Review Editor and a CRC chaplain at the
University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.
page 9
february 23, 2014
Reviews
Good reads
Night Boat to Freedom
by Margot Theis Raven.
Illustrated by E. B. Lewis
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)
Great children’s books for Black History Month
Willie and the All-Stars
by Floyd Cooper (Philomel Books, 2008)
Willie loves baseball and dreams of
playing in the Major League at Wrigley
Field. But in 1942, the dreams of an African American boy living in Chicago aren’t
easily realized. Willie is crushed when Ol’
Ezra, a neighbourhood old-timer, tells him
that many exceptional ball players aren’t
famous and featured on radio baseball
programs because they participate in the
Negro League. He firmly, yet gently tells
Willie, “Being a Major League ballplayer
is about a lot more than how good a fella
is. It’s also about the colour of his skin.
And yours is the wrong colour.”
Willie is crushed by Ol’ Ezra’s revelation. But the old man lifts Willie’s spirits
by giving him tickets to a game between the Negro League All-Star players and the
Major League All-Stars to be played at Wrigley Field. The day of the game, Willie
jubilantly watches as the Negro League players defeat their opponents. And he witnesses an incredible sign of hope for the future as two opposing players, one white
and one black, walk across the field and shake hands.
Author’s notes relate historical details on which this fictional children’s picture
book is based. In America in 1888, when all players of colour were banished from
participating in the Major League, Negro League Baseball “was formed as an answer to the closed hand of Major League baseball.” Many contests between the two
leagues followed and often the Negro Leaguers were victorious. Author Floyd Cooper
wonders, “Who knows how many dreams were kindled by their determination?”
Big Jabe
by Jerdine Nolan
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
(Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 2000)
Addy, a slave on a southern
plantation, loves to spend time at
the river fishing for her master’s
household. One day she fails to
catch any fish, but she makes a
different kind of catch that brings
tremendous change to the plantation. A little boy – reminiscent
of the biblical Moses – floats
by in a basket on the river and
is trapped in the roots of a tree
near where Addy is standing.
After she pulls the boy ashore,
he tells her his name is Jabe and
offers her a luscious pear. After
Addy eats the fruit, Jabe plants
and waters the pear seeds. Then
he calls to the fish in the river and
they magically leap onto the bank, giving Addy a catch she’ll never forget.
At the plantation, Jabe and the pear tree grow at a remarkable pace, till Jabe is a giant
and the tree is full grown. Jabe’s awesome strength and speed lighten the work load of the
other slaves, infuriating the overseer, who takes his anger out on some slaves.
Remarkably, slaves begin to disappear without a trace. At first, only Addy understands
that Jabe is taking the slaves to the pear tree and, incomprehensibly, helping them to escape.
In this emotionally moving and, at times humorous tall-tale, young readers are introduced
in an age-sensitive way to the reality of slavery. But more important, they
will learn the truth that good can and does overcome evil.
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema
([email protected]) wrote these reviews. She is a
freelance writer living in St Catharines, Ontario.
Twelve-year-old Christmas John and Granny Judith
live on a plantation in Kentucky, across the river from
the free state of Ohio, where Granny Judith dyes hanks
of thread and weaves them into fabric.
Granny Judith has told Christmas John about how she
was lured into slavery in a faraway world. But in her
daily round of slave labour, she focuses on freedom.
One night, she asks Christmas John to ferry slaves in
a small boat across the river to freedom. She calms his
fears by telling him, “What scares the head is best done with the heart.” Before he leaves
on his first trip, she asks him to tell her when he gets back what colour clothes the escaping
slaves were wearing. Later, she has a vision to make a quilt from all those colours, and when
only two squares are left, she will know that it is time for Christmas John and her to escape.
Based on true stories recorded in the Slave Narrative Collection, Night Boat to Freedom
gives young readers a glimpse into the hopes, fears, creativity, and spiritual lives of slaves
who fought injustice and risked their lives for freedom.
Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson
by Sue Stauffacher.
Illustrated by Greg Couch
(Alfred A. Knopf, 2007)
In the 1930s, Althea Gibson excelled in sports
played on the streets of Harlem. Wild and restless,
everyone who knew her said she was nothing but
trouble. But Althea didn’t care what people thought
of her because she was convinced that one day she
would be a somebody. As a young girl, she had
no idea that she couldn’t realize her goal through
pluck alone. Poverty, racism, and lack of opportunities might have defeated her if not for the
help of mentors who opened doors for her that
she couldn’t have opened for herself.
Buddy Walker, the play leader on the street
where Althea lived, noticed her exceptional
abilities. With his help, she gained access to
the Harlem River Tennis Courts to play several sets against one of his friends. Slowly, but surely Althea overcame
many odds and “became the first African American, man or woman, ever to compete and
win the coveted Wimbledon Cup, long considered the highest honor in tennis.”
Vibrantly illustrated, Nothing But Trouble shares the true story of a courageous, feisty
girl who finally realized that she would never have succeeded without the help of mentors.
Friend on Freedom River
by Gloria Whelan.
Illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen
(Sleeping Bear Press, 2004)
In December 1850, when twelve-year-old
Louis’ father leaves their home along the
Detroit River to look for work in a logging
camp, he says, “Son, you’ll be in charge of
the farm. If you don’t know what to do, just
do what you think I would have done.”
In the woods near his place, Louis encounters runaway slaves – a mother, her young
daughter, and her son, who is Louis’ age.
Immediately, Louis knows what his father
would do. Though he is afraid and the river
is icing over, he agrees to row the fugitives
A collective search for justice.
across the river to freedom in Canada.
As Louis and the slave boy work together to row the boat, the mother sings a song,
a prayer for deliverance – “O Lord, O my Lord, keep me from sinkin’ down.” When
the boat arrives safely on the Canadian shore, loving people shelter the fugitives and
Louis returns home.
Glowing illustrations against a backdrop of threatening darkness complement
this moving narrative which subtly shows people, no matter the colour of their skin,
collectively seeking justice and sacrificing to realize freedom.
christian courier
PAGE 10
Features
Surprised to be loved
Lisa Van Engen
A persistent uneasiness follows me.
Nights stretch on and worry edges out
reason. My mind dwells on imperfections, unknowns and everything I ever
said in error. The anxiety creates spaces
of darkness that obscure light and hope.
As the darkness grows opaque, I fight
harder to avoid conflict, find perfection
and bypass people. I feel smaller than
everyone else. Deep down I know my
thoughts are irrational, but they stay
stubbornly affixed to my waking hours.
I lock the door repeatedly, check the
alarm clock dozens of times and touch
my daughter’s lunchbox all the way to
school to make sure it is still there. I
worry everyone I love will die. Outside
my window I see dark shadows. I feel
like everyone hates me, that I will never
become all I long to be and that God is
ashamed of my inner life.
Anxiety and depression
According to the Canadian Mental
Health Association, 20 percent
of Canadians will experience
mental illness in their lifetime.
Anxiety and depression are the
most common mental illnesses,
yet 49 percent who feel they suffer never seek professional help.
Canada’s youth suicide rate is the
third highest in the industrialized
world. In Canada, only one in five
children who need mental health
services receive them.
A kindergarten student wakes
every morning to a stomachache.
An 8-year-old boy sits in the
school assembly with headphones
to block out noise. Five minutes into a
test, a middle school student leaves for
the bathroom. A fifth grader struggles
to fall asleep, worried that she might
not wake up again. A pre-teen breaks a
computer rule. She is still apologizing
four weeks later. The questions come
quickly and furiously – will there be a
storm tonight? Will you be back in time
to pick me up? Will our dog be with
us forever? A college freshman leaves
university after a semester.
Mental health and the church
In the spring of 2013, the pastor of
Saddleback Community Church and author of Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren,
lost his son to suicide. Tentative conversations about mental health within the walls
of the church began. Pastor Warren started
a mental health ministry at Saddleback and
hosted the gathering “Mental Health and
the Church.” A 2013 survey by Lifeway
Resources found that half of those surveyed believed prayer and Bible study
alone could solve mental illness.
Mental health symptoms are not always visible. When struggle takes place
in the mental realm it’s easy for people
to question its authenticity. I asked my
blog readers about their experiences with
mental health and the church. Here are
some of their responses:
• I felt too much shame to ever talk
about it . . . like it was somehow my fault.
Something I was doing wrong.
• I started taking medicine. I felt like
a better version of me. God was so close.
Others cautioned me not to rely on the
medicine and trust it more than God. I
want to trust God, but maybe I should
stop taking it. The thought terrifies me.
• I told about my anxiety . . . and no
one ever said anything again . . . I think
it was worse because it was just ignored.
• I have wasted so much of my life
dealing with anxiety. It’s so misunderstood. I’ve heard I should just claim
Jesus’ promises, it’s not a real medical
issue, you’re just afraid.
A struggle with mental illness is often
handed back to the sufferer. As if overcoming is entirely in their own power. In
a world full of Pinterest perfection and
It was by far the most difficult conversation I have ever had. He made an appointment, doing for me what I could not
do for myself.
I know now that I need to get enough
sleep, eat healthy, exercise, pray. I write,
because for me it edges out the dark.
Those are the things I do and take responsibility for, but I need more.
For the rest of my life, I will also
need to go to a counselor regularly. My
counselor helps me discern reality from
anxious thoughts. We find patterns, so I
am aware of times when I feel myself
slipping away again. I can speak my
fears without burning out those who love
me. I also take medication.
The first time I swallowed the prescribed pill, I was terrified of being a
failure, of being weak, of losing sight of
God. Within days light began to peek out.
My spirit and body grew calm enough to
look at the world around me rationally. I
learned that thinking about the time you
did something awkward in Grade 10 for
two hours in the night is
not normal. People didn’t
look bigger than me anymore. I felt God’s presence
in my life again. I thanked
him for mental health professionals, medicine and
for saving my life. He was
not ashamed of me.
God cares for us
beautiful Instagram smiles, no one wants
to expose mental illness. Advice flows
freely in chat forums and comments,
but living through mental illness takes a
holistic approach. No one has the exact
same journey to wellness.
Asking for help
I lived 30 years before I realized that
even my dreams unfolded in worry. By
then, my hope lay paralyzed. The anxiety
covered everything. God felt so far away.
I was a young mom, and the wife of a pastor. I felt like a complete and utter failure.
The internal tug to be perfect overruled
everything else. I lived so very small.
I felt that if my faith was strong
enough, I could fight it on my own. My
prayers just needed to reach higher. I
didn’t want people to think I was pessimistic, not thankful, a joy-sucker.
One day, I drove to urgent care, my
heart beating out of my body, tiny cries
escaping my mouth, crying hopeless tears.
I thought I was so sick that I would surely
die. Sitting in a chair waiting to be seen, I
finally realized what was happening. I got
up and left, unwilling to go there.
I told my husband that I needed help.
Sometimes I wonder
how my life might be
different if I had realized
sooner. A thought that at
one time would have consumed me is now welcome when it arrives. I understand what a gift it is to
be healthy now. I realize some parts of
my struggle make me who I am. I know
to listen, to love, to understand. I have
hope. This passage has become close to
my heart from The Message translation
of Psalm 18:19: “He stood me up in an
open field; I stood there saved – surprised to be loved.”
People have chemical imbalances.
They might occur for a variety of reasons. The imbalance may stay for a season or always follow someone. Whatever
form mental illness takes, it is real. God
cares for us and is not ashamed. As a
sufferer, asking for help is the most courageous response you can have.
Christians and even people without
faith often turn to the church first for
help. How will we respond? How can
we respond preemptively so help is not
too late?
Lisa Van Engen is
a writer from Holland,
Mich. She writes at
aboutproximity.com
and loves to connect
with readers there.
page 11
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
Features
Counselling in community: Shalem’s Congregational Assistance Plan
Krista Dam-VandeKuyt
Wednesday, January 28th was Bell’s Let’s
Talk Day in Canada. And Canada certainly talked. Survival stories were shared on
Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the day,
122,150,772 calls, tweets, texts and posts
were shared from coast to coast about experiences with mental health. When athletes
like Olympian Clara Hughes and national
companies like Bell bring mental health to
the forefront to help reduce stigma, people
in Canada take notice.
But is talking enough? Hughes, Bell’s
key spokesperson, also attributes her healing to caring medical help and a social
support network. Dialogue and awareness
are essential in addressing mental health,
but professional help and the support
of a loving community are also important. Shalem Mental Health Network in
Hamilton, Ontario (shalemnetwork.org)
emphasizes the importance of faith, hope
and community to help those struggling
with mental health issues, supporting both
clients and churches through programs
like the Congregational Assistance Plan
(CAP). CAP provides counselling sessions
to church members from local, professional
Christian therapists.
“Churches are historically where people
come in times of need as we are called by
God to help one another,” explained Shalem
Director of CAP Marg Smit-VandeZande.
“We recognize that churches cannot deal
with some of the complex issues alone.”
A leap of faith
CAP began as a pilot project in 2006,
when five Christian Reformed churches
introduced this program to their congregations. The program was modelled after the
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offered in workplace benefit packages, offering
six counselling sessions per household each
year. As described by program developers,
“the CAP was literally a leap of faith. It
was unknown if in Canada the idea of EAP
could translate into a similar idea but with
a geographic church congregation as the
foundation rather than an employee population. Although some initiatives had been
attempted in the United States and though
many clergy had long had access to their
own EAPs, nothing like this was in existence
in the country.”
For one pilot church, Rehoboth CRC
in Bowmanville, Ontario, the use of CAP
greatly exceeded their initial expectations.
The pilot program was an overall success
and the initial participating churches have
chosen to continue in the program. Once
Shalem was confident in its administration
and calculation structure, CAP was offered
as a permanent program to all churches
in Ontario in 2009. In 2011, a school approached Shalem, which led to the development of CAPS, a Counselling Assistance
Program for Students. Currently, four
schools have enrolled in this program. Since
its initiation, CAP has grown from serving
five to 50 churches/schools as of 2015. In
2014, 965 individuals/households used these
programs, with almost 2,500 counselling
sessions.
In removing barriers
such as cost,
disclosure
and finding a
suitable counsellor, clients
can easily and
quickly access quality
counselling. CAP matches clients with a
counsellor who specializes in the presenting
issue. CAP has a brief solution focus, so six
sessions are often sufficient. However, if
there is need for additional support and the
client cannot afford the fee, further funding
can be arranged. One client who used CAP
appreciated that the cost of seeing a therapist
was taken care of by the church: “Without
help financially, I wouldn’t have received the
help to move on in my journey.”
Empowering churches for ministry
Each participating church receives a
quarterly report of usage that provides nonidentifying information, such as the number
of clients and the presenting issues. This
information not only indicates the amount
of use but allows churches to be aware of
needs in order to address them in prayer or
as sermon themes. Churches can also pay
for extra households, or “blank lines” that
allow a church to offer the program to nonmembers that might be part of other church
ministries such as Coffee Break women’s
ministry or GEMS girls clubs: “It’s one way
that we are able to respond by ministering
to others outside our church with welcoming, enfolding measures,” said Pastor Ray
Vanderkooij of Bethel Christian Reformed
Church in Acton, Ontario.
Bethel, who enrolled with CAP four years
ago, sees this program as a blessing to its
congregation. It was an above-budget addition, but the church council felt it was an
excellent way to address the challenge of
members not receiving needed help because
of fears of disclosure. A key feature of the
CAP program is the confidentiality. It becomes the choice of the individual receiving
the help whether or not to share their journey
with their congregation.
Anonymity
vs. stigma
As stigma is one of
the greatest
barriers for
people seeking help, when
a program like
CAP promotes
anonymity, does this reproduce the stigma attached to mental illness and prevent
churches from living in community? CAP
can be one way that a church helps its members, but it should not be the only ministry
to those who struggle with mental health.
Vanderkooij believes that more people
are getting the help they need because of the
anonymity. He is aware of about half of those
who turn to CAP, but others don’t disclose
this. Often, once people are in a healthier
place and able to talk about their struggles,
they come to express their gratitude for this
program. At Bethel, they have also encouraged community within their congregation
by talking more about mental health during
worship services and through sharing stories
through testimonies.
In order to encourage community,
churches need to work to reduce stigma
and make the church a space in which individuals feel comfortable coming forward
to seek emotional support from their congregation. Until the stigma surrounding
mental health is erased, the most important
goal of any community should be that those
struggling with mental health issues receive
help they need.
“The anonymity of CAP is a very important aspect of the program,” Pastor Rita
Klein-Geltink of Ancaster CRC affirmed.
“Despite the efforts of people like Clara
Hughes, the stigma surrounding mental
health remains. That is no less true within
the church. Through the work of our deacons, we have always encouraged our members to seek out professional help when the
need arises, and we have been willing to
support this financially, yet people often
remain hesitant to share with their elders
and deacons.”
Walking together
“Clients need that element of privacy. Not
having the confidentiality can be a barrier to
someone getting help,” Smit-VandeZande
explained. She added that when a church
has a program like CAP, they are letting
members know that they support mental
and emotional health as well as spiritual
and physical health – a holistic approach to
caring for each other. “The program works
alongside churches, not separate. When
churches promote CAP and mental health is
talked about in a healthier way, the stigma is
getting addressed.”
One person who received counselling
through CAP expressed how grateful they
were that their church provided this resource,
as it demonstrated the church’s commitment
to fully ministering to its members.
“It’s never a questioning of its value,”
said Vanderkooij. “We recognize CAP as
one of the ways that we, as a church community, walk together and bear each other’s
burdens.”
Krista Dam-VandeKuyt is
a member of Ancaster Christian Reformed Church. She
enjoys using her passion for
research and composition as
a part-time writer and loves
her full-time job as wife to
Rob and mother to Ethan,
Eliya and Zoë.
christian courier
PAGE 12
Features
Hopes collide in Ferguson
Heidi Blokland
February is Black History month, a time to honour and
remember the stories of Black Canadians and Americans. We
remember stories of Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King and
Rosa Parks. Perhaps it is time to reflect on some new stories.
I am so tired of waiting,
Aren’t you,
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
(Langston Hughes)
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot and killed
by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Add a few descriptors: 18-year-old, unarmed, black, police officer, white – and
the result is anger, bitterness, protests, fire, looting, riots,
brokenness.
On November 24, 2014, a Grand Jury announced its
decision “not to charge Officer Wilson over the killing after
examining evidence from the shooting and hearing from 60
witnesses.” The result is more anger, more bitterness, more
riots, more brokenness.
There is much debate over the events that occurred occurring between 12:01 p.m., when Officer Wilson encountered
Michael Brown on Canfield Drive, and 12:04 p.m. when other
officers arrived and found Brown dead on that same road.
Some witnesses say Michael Brown had his hands up in the
air. Others say that he charged at Officer Wilson. The truth
may never be known.
We are familiar, however, with the ensuing anger and rioting. In 1966 Martin Luther King said in an interview with
Mike Wallace that “we’ve got to see that a riot is the language
of the unheard.” What is not being heard? That “Black lives
matter,” as signs and slogans say. This is a cry demanding
attention, demanding action – action that recognizes the
brokenness of the whole situation. Anthony Carter, a pastor
from Georgia, hesitantly writes his thoughts about what happened in The Front Porch (thefrontporch.org): “It seems to
me that both Michael Brown and Officer Wilson must assume
some of the fault. The tragedy . . . is not simply that Michael
Brown was killed. It is also that Officer Wilson was put in a
position to have to make such a tragic choice.” Carter also calls
us to pray and “to preach against the inherent sin, systemic and
personal – including racism, cultural pride, abuse of authority,
political arrogance, presumption and self-justification.”
Time to take notice
A life was lost when Michael Brown was killed. And yet
it seems like something more was lost too, regardless of what
one might believe to be the truth. Thabiti Anyabwile, a pastor
from the Washington DC area, expresses that “we are watching again the colliding of hopes.” He says that “everyone
watching this is hoping for something. They are hoping for
justice as they understand it to prevail. They are hoping for
righteousness to reign.” Why are hopes colliding? Why aren’t
hopes aligning? Why aren’t hopes connecting? Perhaps it’s
because the world is not post-racial or colour-blind, as some
may believe. Maybe it is time to sit up, or even stand up,
and take notice of the stories of
injustice and oppression that are
happening.
Fifty years ago Mike Wallace
asked Martin Luther King, “Why
does the negro find it so difficult
to make his own way up out of
the ghetto?” Wallace pointed out
other groups, such as Irish and
Italians, who have been able to.
MLK responded by saying, “No
other racial group has been a slave
on American soil. It’s nice to say
other people were down and they
got up. They were not slaves on
American soil.”
Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer
Fire and frustration in Ferguson, Missouri in response to the death of Michael Brown.
from Alabama, is another voice
worth listening to. He works with the poor, marginalized, He had been at a church fish fry at the time of the murder
hopeless and the broken. Stevenson “believes that the op- (New York Times).
And on July 17, 2014 – a few weeks before Michael
posite of poverty is not wealth. It’s justice.” He claims that
the United States has never talked about the stories of slavery Brown was killed – Eric Garner, a black man, was dragged
and terror and lynching. At a TED talk (ted.com) he states to the ground by New York police after he argued with them
“We don’t like to talk about our history and because of that and resisted arrest. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
we really haven’t understood what it’s meant to do the things
we’ve done, historically. We’re constantly running into each Broken by the brokenness
These stories may be uncomfortable to consider. We may
other, we’re constantly creating tensions and conflicts. We
have a hard time talking about race and I believe it’s because want to argue against them, justify them away. But perhaps
we are unwilling to commit ourselves to a process of truth we can let them stay with us awhile, we can let the brokenand reconciliation.” And thus, when three minutes on a St. ness in them break us as well. Can we listen to the message
Louis street leave a young black man killed by a white police underneath the rioting? Can we risk being broken by the
officer, there is no space to dialogue about it; there is only brokenness? Stevenson says of himself, “I’m broken too.
When you get close to suffering and inequality . . . you will
anger, rocks, fire, brokenness.
get broken. And because I’m broken I can’t live in a world
Listen long and speak seldom
as a broken person while other broken people are getting
If “a riot is the language of the unheard,” as Martin Luther crushed” (“Tapestry,” CBC radio). “And Christ, on the night
King claims, then the way to stop the riots is not through tear that he was betrayed took some bread, broke it and gave it
gas, rubber bullets and police lined up in riot gear. And, con- to his disciples. ‘Take it,’ he said, ‘This is my body’” (Mark
versely, if the unheard want to be heard then they need to put 14:22). Jesus entered our broken world, got close to all our
down the Molotov cocktails. MLK never wanted violence or brokenness, and was broken to take away our sin.
riots. He said, “My hope is that it will be non-violent. I would
Bryan Stevenson describes himself with the following
hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating seven words: “Broken by poverty, injustice, condemnation.
and socially destructive.” So perhaps it requires creating a But hopeful.” He calls us to action and to hope. “We are talkspace where we can “listen long and speak seldom,” as Thabiti ing about a need to be more hopeful, more committed, more
Anyabwile says. Can we seek out the stories of injustice and dedicated to the basic challenges of living in a complex world.
terror? Can we listen to the stories and allow them to break And for me that means spending time thinking and talking
us as well?
about the poor, the disadvantaged.”
Consider the story of George Stinney. He was executed
in 1944 by the state of South Carolina when he was 14 years Hope remains
Thabiti Anyabwile writes “We need to see each other, and
old for the murder of two white girls. George was interrogated
for the murder without his parents or an attorney present. The we need to see each other as made in God’s image.”
Three minutes after Michael Brown encountered Officer
sheriff claimed he confessed, although no written or signed
statement was ever presented. George was convicted solely on Wilson he was dead. In that time hopes collided. But, mercithe evidence of this alleged confession. His court-appointed fully, hope remains. Hope that we will listen to the cries of
lawyer did not call a single witness. George was recently the unheard. Hope that we will let the brokenness of others
break us as well. Hope that we will recognize that all people
exonerated from the crime, 70 years after his execution.
And there was Rubin Stacy, a black man who was lynched bear our Lord’s image.
by a white mob in 1935. A woman filed a complaint about
A bruised reed he will not break,
him, which led to his subsequent hanging. She later admitted
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
that he had come to her door asking for food.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
Emmett Till, visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955, was
he will not falter or be discouraged
kidnapped by two white men after he was seen flirting with
till he establishes justice on earth.
a white cashier. The men beat him and shot him in the head.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.
The men were then charged with murder, but an all-white
(Isaiah 42:3-4)
jury acquitted them.
Walter McMillian was charged with murdering a white
Heidi Blokland lives in a rural comwoman in 1987. He was placed on death row while waitmunity
south of Ottawa, Ont. She teaches
ing for his trial to begin. His trial lasted a day and a half
Kindergarten
at the local Christian
and it was later discovered that many witnesses lied to the
school and is a member of Community
police, after being threatened with being put on death row.
CRC in Dixon's Corners.
McMillian was later exonerated after six years on death row.
page 13
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
The Public Square
Columns
Harry Antonides
‘One little word
shall fell him’
Singing the
Truth
Marian Van Til
In the month since my last column about suffering, God has given me the
chance to practice what I preach about trusting him in all circumstances.
A virulent virus or bacteria or something – God can name it, if my doctor
can’t – has laid me low. In winter climates that’s not shocking. I don’t
mean this to be a complaint; countless people, surely some of you among
Rudy Eikelboom
CC’s readers, must endure far more than I.
However, it can be hard to pray, even to know what to pray, when it
feels as if you may never again have energy or health to carry on normally. And Satan
takes
advantage;
in fact he’s behind the temptation to believe you’ll never see healing,
Everyday
Christian
and God doesn’t care. The biblical account of God’s allowing Satan to afflict Job is
told
us for
various reasons (I wrote of Job last month), but we should never think that
Cathy
Smith
Satan doesn’t still operate in that manner. Peter flatly states that the devil goes about
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And that warning is for us Christfollowers, not those already in the devil’s grip. But we must also remind ourselves
that Satan will not win the ultimate battle, that God has him on a leash, albeit one that
may seem awfully long to us. Still, Paul assures us that nothing will separate us from
Arlene
Van
Hove
the
love of
Christ.
Satan knows he’s doomed. But in the meantime he and his minions are working hard,
fighting even against God’s mightiest angels (see Daniel 12). Satan surely counts it a
victory if he can get even one of us who confess Christ and purport to rely on God no
Flowers
Thistles
matter
what,and
to weary
of God’s seeming heedlessness and the heavens being “as brass
above us.” The devil is surely gleeful if we become angry or bitter at God’s dealings with
Gesch
us,Curt
or God’s
felt silence, and even finally, at any wish to “curse God and die.”
Artful Eye
From the Lab
SU MO
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Getting Unstuck
Words from
Wild Horses
Warkentins
Our World Today
Bert Hielema
St. Michael slaying the devil by Guido Reni (1636).
Deliverance
While ill, the more I prayed, or tried to, the more I felt oppressed by Satan. It was as
if there were a high wall between God and me, through which no communication was
possible: a wall built by the devil. What greatly surprised me, however, at our post-church
healing service on the Sunday I was able to go back to church (yesterday, as I write this),
was that Doug, the lay minister doing the anointing and leading prayer over each of us in
the group, immediately acknowledged that he was feeling a similar oppression. Several
others said they knew that feeling.
These are Lutherans, by the way, not “emotive evangelicals” who routinely talk about
spiritual warfare! However, Martin Luther had a great deal to say about Satan. And Luther
wasn’t just talking. There’s the famous account of him throwing an ink well at the devil.
Whether the details of that specific encounter are true or not, there’s no doubt that Luther
frequently felt tormented by Satan, and saw demons. (An aside: I recently read a book
by an evangelist who has the gift of healing, who noted that when God allows his people
to discern angels that means they also often can see demons.)
Clearly, healing – yes, I’ll call it deliverance – was necessary for all of us. And that’s
what Doug prayed for (and we for him). Afterwards Doug and I talked together about
how Satan goes after Christians, and Doug mentioned his love of Luther’s “A Mighty
Fortress,” with its confession: Though hordes of devils fill the land all threat’ning to
devour us, / We tremble not, unmoved we stand; they cannot overpower us. / Let this
world’s tyrant rage; in battle we’ll engage! / His might is doomed to fail; God’s judgment must prevail! / One little word subdues him (Lutheran Book of Worship wording).
It’s that last line at which Doug expressed particular joy and amazement. You may
know that line as “One little word shall fell him.” That’s a direct translation from Luther’s
German: “Ein Wörtlein kann ihn fällen.” That visual image and the truth behind it are
stunning: Satan being cut down in battle (in Luther’s time, felled by a sword). Just one
little word from the Word – from Christ the Word, who gives us the two-edged sword
of his inscripturated Word – deals Satan the mortal blow.
Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Marian Van Til ([email protected]) is a former CC editor living in
Youngstown, NY. She blogs at ReformedRevelry.wordpress.com.
Melissa Tempelman
The Sleeping Giant
I have looked at you from Hillcrest Park
As slowly your image grew out of the dark.
Though sleeping, you watch men and me
From the beginning until eternity.
You lie there as a wonder in our land,
Created by God’s very own Hand. Unmovable, oh silent, solid piece of rock.
Undisturbed or tied – like I – to time and clock.
On orders given at the start of creation
You watch the coming and going of a nation.
Watching the vessels – fast or slow – as vessels go,
They leave the bay brim full their hold Loaded with paper, ore or Prairie gold.
You watch the people – going to and fro – as people go
Leaving here, for countries near and far
Taking their arms to fight another war.
You see the seasons from year to year,
The seasons come, they go and disappear.
And though I cannot see the reason
Your blanket changes every season.
Sometimes you’re hidden in a shroud
Covered with a veil or in a cloud.
And then, I do not know – that you still exist –
you disappear in heavy watery mist
covering you, from toe to face.
t’ Seems to me a dress of fine silk or lace
And while you lay there I see
In you a Sleeping Beauty.
O, nature’s wonderful contrast,
A Sleeping Beauty from ages past.
In summer time your coat is green
The best colour that I have ever seen.
Comes Autumn, nature’s colour carnival,
You dress in brown, gold and yellow,
Any colour of the Fall.
If Winter comes – with snow and ice – he freely smite,
You have changed again and now pure white.
Nations, vessels and men they passed away
But you are here and stay for aye.
As never your position change
For me the only answer that remains:
You sleep and wait and watch us still
Directed and obedient by a Higher will.
Thus you and I we share a similar lot,
We are both created for the glory of our God.
Poem written by Marinus (Rien) Grootenboer (1914-1991), submitted by his daughter, Willy Tempelman, who found it among his archives in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The photo of the Sleeping Giant peninsula near Thunder Bay was taken by the poet’s
great-granddaughter, Melissa Tempelman, in May 2014.
Marian Van Til
christian courier
PAGE 14
From the Lab
Columns
Rudy Eikelboom
Everyday Christian
Cathy Smith
SU MO
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Heroes, singers
and hobbits
Recently I watched a 60 Minutes
episode that featured the heroism of Nicholas Winton. In 1938,
Winton, a young British stockbrokArlene Van Hove
er, was anticipating a ski trip to
Switzerland. Instead, he ended up in
Prague. His vacation plans changed
when a friend told him about the 100,000 displaced
Flowers
Thistles
Czech
Jews and
stranded
in refugee camps. Emigration
had
ground
to
a
halt.
Conditions
were deteriorating.
Curt Gesch
Galvanized, Winton set about to rescue as many
children as possible. Nazi officials were eager to
“cleanse” Europe, so he was permitted to send eight
Words from
trains full of children to England for adoption. A
Wild Horses
ninth train with 250 children never made it out. War
Warkentins
had
begun. But Winton’s kindertransport saved 669
children from the death camps.
For 50 years this remarkable humanitarian feat remained relatively unknown. Winton moved on, never
Our World Today
seeking recognition. But the story finally became
public
in 1988 on the BBC’s That’s Life.
Bert Hielema
Winton, guest of honour in the studio, was composed as his story was shared. But the show took a
dramatic turn when the host revealed that some of
the children he had rescued were seated right beside
him. In a final climactic “reveal,” dozens of audience
members stood up, descendants of children he had
saved. Families made possible by his selfless action. It was an emotional moment, highlighting the
profound impact and far reach of his intervention.
Knighted in 2002 by the Queen, acclaimed in Israel,
Winton is a national hero in Czechoslovakia.
Winton’s achievement exemplifies Hebrews 11 –
untold blessings flowing from a willing step in the
right direction. It’s such audacious Scripture, really,
to claim that God uses the faith of a bewildering
bunch of sinners to advance his salvation cause –
Rahab, Gideon, Barak. Jars of clay like you and me.
Getting Unstuck
Divine propulsion
I studied Victorian Literature in university with
Dr. Hair, an exceptional professor. Under his tutelage, Robert Browning’s poetic drama, Pippa Passes,
came alive. Pippa, a simple silk-winder, has one day
off a year, New Year’s Day. She enjoys her holiday,
skipping through town singing happy songs, unaware
that each song influences someone for the better. Her
listeners are transformed, evil schemes change to
good intentions, old becomes new. Her joyous outlook scatters blessings in its wake. I was feverishly
discarding my Christian upbringing at the time, but
God was simultaneously replenishing my heart with
new ways to apprehend my faith heritage. Pippa
Passes, with its spritely plunge into the mysteries of
providence, was one of those gifts.
By that same providence, I now testify to God’s
divine propulsion towards Victory. Unlike Nicholas
Winton, I haven’t saved a single person. Like Pippa, I
may never know the results of my efforts to proclaim
his Name. The accomplishments of which I am most
proud may be nowhere near the most significant. But
I keep striving to have confidence in what I hope for
and assurance about what I do not see.
Questioned about his unlikely choice to include
Bilbo, the Halfling hobbit, in his company of warriors, Gandalf, wise wizard of Middle Earth, muses:
“I’ve found that it is the small things, everyday deeds
of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay –
simple acts of kindness and love.” Similarly, in a Wall
Street Journal interview, real-life pastor and author
Tim Keller asserts the eternal consequence of faithful
small steps: “If there’s no God, then everything you
do at work will be forgotten, and nothing you can do
in your career will earn lasting significance. But if
Christianity is true, then every ‘good endeavour,’ no
matter how small, can matter forever” (“God Isn’t
Dead in Gotham,” Dec. 2014).
Keller’s words comfort me. After decades as a
Christian school teacher, a particularly public role,
my Christian walk is now decidedly low-key. A narrowed circle of influence. Sometimes, vaingloriously,
I fret about the invisibility of my service. I worry
about its apparent ineffectuality. I fear judgment for
not doing more.
Pippa and Gandalf remind me that all faithful
acts – small, unseen, unacknowledged – are valuable. Biting back the caustic retort. Summoning fresh
patience for the difficult one. Granting forgiveness
despite lack of remorse. All worthy. May, in fact, save
the day. May affect generations. Because everything
is in God’s hands. Pippa’s artless song has become
sadly clichéd, but, in God’s cosmic eschatology, its
ingenuous confession still holds fast:
The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearl’d;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in his heaven –
All’s right with the world!
Nicholas Winton will turn 106 this year. Above: Winton with
one of the children in 1938. Winton in 2009 with some of the
surviving children (top right) and their descendants (bottom).
Cathy Smith is a retired teacher and contributing editor with CC. She lives in Wyoming, Ont.
Gathering Light
Emily Wierenga
Finding hope in the
middle of the winter
Hope is the laughter of little boys jumping through a surprise of
puddles on a plus-7 day in the middle of winter.
Hope is an amaryllis, blooming, in the living room where my Mum
sits and stares out the window, forgetting what day it is and what
year it is and even that I’m pregnant, but still, the flower blooms.
It is the smell of my husband’s clean shirt pressed against me
after a fight, the hug that forgives.
And hope is mothers from the slum of Katwe shouting with joy
when our Ugandan Lulu national coordinator and staff mama show
up. It’s them singing and dancing just because someone cares.
I seek it in the piles of laundry and the food-stuck-to-dishes
and the late nights with sick boys who can’t stop coughing. I seek it in the piles of white and gray outside my window, Canadian winter sticking to the roof of the world like an
unspoken word.
And I seek it in my Bible at the breakfast table, reading of
Gideon and Joshua – and how hope was God winning the battle
through small numbers and music. How he took what people
had – Gideon’s smallness and his musical skills, Joshua’s courage
and the Israelites’ trumpets – and he brought glory down from
heaven, he brought victory down, he brought HOPE down from
heaven. Through man’s praise and God’s power.
To bring him glory
And so I praise him. I praise him for these piles of laundry and
for food-stuck-to-dishes and late nights with coughing boys. I
praise him for that conversation with my Mum in which she said
things that didn’t make sense and for the cold Canadian winter
clinging to our boots. I praise him because I know, as my friend
reminds me, God is greater than any problem we will face today.
She told me this on Sunday, after church, holding her two
young children. She told me this before going to visit her husband
in the hospital. He is paralyzed from a car accident, unable to talk
or move. She told me this with her eyes shining because “you
never know what God is doing in places we can’t see,” she said,
and I nodded, because I could not speak.
My friend is the amaryllis, blooming.
Our God is bigger than any problem we will face today, friends.
Maybe you’re going through a really hard time. Maybe you just
lost a loved one, or a job, or you received an unwanted diagnosis.
Maybe your heart is sick.
God is bigger.
You can win this battle because the God-of-Angel-Armies is
on your side.
All you need to do is offer him your smallness and your praise.
And he will do the rest.
Emily T. Wierenga is an award-winning journalist,
blogger, commissioned artist and columnist, and the author
of five books. She lives in Neerlandia, Alberta, with her
husband and two sons.
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
The Public Square
Intangible Things
Flowers and Thistles
Harry Antonides
Heidi Vander Slikke
Curt Gesch
From the 11th
Province
Country Living
Words from
Wild Horses
Meindert van der Galien
Kenny Warkentin
Columns
Marian Van Til
From the Lab
Patchwork Words
Rudy Eikelboom
SU MO
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Speak - Write
Cathy Smith
Getting Unstuck
Arlene Van Hove
Flowers and
Curt Gesch
Warkentin
Unbroken Paula
in war,
healed by grace
“Prayer begins where human
capacity ends.”
Thistles
(Marian Anderson, 1972 UN
Peace Prize recipient.)
For 50 years the option of
filming Louis Zamperini’s life
Words
story
sat onfrom
a shelf at Universal Studios waiting for
someone
to have enough confidence in the subject
Wild Horses
toWarkentins
make it happen. Tony Curtis was chosen to play
Louis, but it never got off the ground.
Finally Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit,
got wind of the story and wrote Unbroken: A
World
II Story
of Survival, Resilience and
Our War
World
Today
Redemption. When the paperback edition came
out,
theHielema
book spent four years on the New York
Bert
Times bestseller list. It came as no surprise that a
screenplay was soon in the works.
Enter Angelina Jolie.
She had read the book and was so inspired by
Zamperini’s story she became a driving force in
bringing his journey to the big screen. Jolie also
discovered she could see Louis’s house from
where she lived in Los Angeles, and in the process
of filming they became close friends.
Three stories in one film
The film covers Louis Zamperini’s life in three
parts.
In childhood flashbacks he is portrayed as a
scrappy young Italian immigrant boy, living in
California, who regularly gets into trouble with
the local police for smoking, stealing and drinking.
And he’s not yet 10!
His rise to fame as an Olympian begins when
his older brother, Pete, encourages Louis to take
up competitive running. Pete’s advice? “If you can
take it, you can make it.” While Louis did not win
any gold medals, he did set a new record in 1936
by running the last lap in an amazing 56 seconds.
His wartime experiences begin when his plane
crashes in the Pacific Ocean in 1943. Adrift on a
life raft with two crew members he prays “God, if
you get me through this, I will dedicate my whole
life to you.” For the next 47 days Louis and one
crew member (the second one died) struggle to
survive as they catch and eat raw fish, fight off
sharks and dodge bullets from an enemy plane
overhead – only to be picked up by the Japanese
and sent to a POW camp. There he meets “the
Bird,” a preening dandy and a sadist, who has it
in for Louis. He beats and tortures him at will. But
Louis’ strength lies in his fierce but calm restraint.
His goal is to survive. Both Jack O’Connell as
Louis Zamperini and Japanese pop artist Miyavi
as the Bird put in strong performances.
The power of the human spirit
Probably because of the immense amount of
material in the book, Director Jolie played it safe.
She stayed within a popular three-part format and
kept the length of the film to 137 minutes. The plot
is basic and it moves along well.
Both Jolie and Zamperini wanted the film to
have universal appeal. In order to qualify for an
age 14 rating, some of the violence inflicted on
Louis by the Bird is creatively shown off screen.
Still, it is not easy to watch what human beings
can do to one another. I had to remind myself the
film is less about cruelty and more about the power
and resilience of the human spirit.
The film ends when the war is over and Louis returns home safely, a truly amazing experience after
coming through so many life or death challenges.
Jolie adds a written epilogue (paraphrased
here): Louis Zamperini married and had two children. He experienced debilitating post-traumatic
stress symptoms (PTSD) for quite a few years.
Louis was converted at a Billy Graham Crusade
in 1949 and the PTSD symptoms left him. He
made good on his promise to serve God for the
rest of his life.
Final notes
‘Detoxing’
the world
It happened quite unexpectedly, this notion that I needed to
detox. A few years ago, when a friend was visiting from out
of province, I took her to one of my favourite places, which
serve the best falafels and fries. I’ve tried to stay fit and active
enough to “afford” such a tasty and greasy establishment, but
Bert Hielemalittle did I know what it was doing inside of me.
Immediately following this pleasurable feast, I began to feel tightness in
my chest, pain in the middle of my back and shallow breathing. I knew the
symptoms and announced, “This is it, I’m having a heart attack!” I pulled
over and sat in the passenger seat while my friend drove me to the hospital
emergency room.
Things happened pretty quickly; I was ushered into the triage area where
I was immediately placed on an EKG machine and had bloodwork done.
The EKG result was abnormal, so I was brought to another area where I was
given nitro pills and constantly monitored. After three nitro pills the pain in
my chest subsided, I could breathe and my head felt the clearest it has ever
felt. But the pain in my abdomen was excruciating. It wasn’t a heart attack;
my blood work and pressure were normal, so what was causing the issue?
The doctor felt around my abdomen and sent me for a gallbladder ultrasound.
Sure enough, it was full of gallstones.
After a while, the pain left and I was scheduled to see a surgeon about four
months later. So I did what anyone who has Google would do: I researched
everything I could. Turns out that fatty foods trigger gallbladder attacks! I
decided that I would try to do a detox to see if I could save this organ. It
worked, but three years and some bad habits later, my gallbladder is causing
issues again. Time for another detox?
Our World Today
Melissa Kuipers
Everyday Christian
page 15
Jolie hopes the film shows that no matter how
dark, hopeless or overwhelming life can be, the
strength and resilience of the human spirit is an
extraordinary thing.
Many Christians were disappointed that the
film ended when Louis returned home from the
war. They wanted to see more of his conversion.
But Louis himself suggested that anyone interested in more read Laura Hillenbrand’s book.
Louis’ real victory was his ability to forgive his
captors, including the Bird, although he would not
meet with Louis when he travelled back to Japan.
Louis Zamperini, 97, died July 2, 2014. A few
days before his death, Jolie downloaded a rough
version of the film onto her laptop and showed it
to him in the hospital.
Sanctified
I won’t answer that question here, but it has propelled me to think about
detoxing in relation to the struggle we have with the world. A few scriptures
come to mind: Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” and John 17, where Jesus
is praying and describes Christians as being not of this world but sent into it.
If I am completely honest, I like the world way too much. I’m an all or nothing kinda guy, and so I take the word of God very seriously. Thankfully God
has been rich in mercy and abounding in grace as he sanctifies (“detoxes”) me.
When I came to know Jesus, I realized that here was an incredibly loving
God who saved me, rescued me and set me on a journey toward life. It wasn’t
just a get-out-of-hell-free ticket, but one of submission to him. So I submitted
my sexual and gender identity to him and permitted the Holy Spirit to do a
good work in me. To heal and restore and to give me wisdom and knowledge
on how to navigate my identity in a way that honours God’s holy order. It felt
very much like he was detoxing me. It wasn’t always pretty; in fact, it hurt,
but God was renewing me – getting out the impurities of sin. Then as I read
further in the word of God, in regards to being a disciple, I realize I’m pretty
selfish with my time and energy and I am faced with another detox, so that
I can be increasingly sacrificial and loving toward others, so that I can see
that life isn’t so much about Kenny and what Kenny wants.
The more I read in the Word, the more I realize the extent of the detoxing
that needs to happen in my life and the more I am in awe of the grace, love and
mercy of a Father who is slow to anger and abounding in love. He knows the
greasy things we get into, he knows what it does to us and those around us and
he longs to pull us out and clean us up, for his glory and his fame.
Kenny Warkentin is Associate Pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Winnipeg, where he lives with his wife Paula and their daughter Phoebe. He
blogs at kennypwarkentin.blogspot.com.
Cathy Smith
christian courier
PAGE 16
Getting Unstuck
Arlene Van Hove
Column
Flowers and Thistles
Curt Gesch
Arthur Cripps: ‘Maverick missionary and activist for African rights’
I recently finished one to put tradition above human need.
reading The Dust When observing the graveside ceremony
Diaries, which com- of a child in his parish, he noticed that
bines history, hagiog- there was no blanket beneath the dead
Warkentins
raphy and the recon- boy’s head: “Dropping his prayer book,
structed life story of he slipped his cassock over his head and
Arthur Cripps (1869-1952), an Anglican began folding it into a neat bundle.”
Our Worldin Today
missionary
Southern Rhodesia (now
Nonconformist
Zimbabwe).
Bert Hielema
He was frequently in dispute with the
What Owen Sheers, the author, discovered about his great, great-uncle’s life colonial authorities and sometimes with
startled and awed him. Sheers, by his own the Anglican hierarchy. Authorities began
admission, had “intellectualized God out to tax the Shona per dwelling, which had
of existence” and “spoke against organ- to be paid in cash. Not living in a cash
economy, this forced adults to leave home
ized religion.”
When Cripps took up his calling as in search of jobs that paid cash, which
missionary in 1901, he soon
found himself “absorbing the
country and absorbing into
it.” He both influenced the
Shona culture and was influenced by it. Cripps was not a
colonialist, bringing light to
the heathen and civilization
to savages. He was a person
whose mission was simply
to live among a people. He
maintained his own idiosyncrasies while appreciating
those of his new adoptive
Contemporary Zimbabwean art.
culture.
Language study took a long time, as it destroyed the harmony of local cultures
does for many missionaries – especially based upon local contributions from chilthe nuances of tonal pronunciation. “It dren, parents and clan members all lowas only when the young mission boys cated in a “home area.” Cripps argued not
began running around the church hut with against taxation but in favour of payment
their knuckles on the ground in the man- “in kind,” which would have preserved the
ner of chimpanzees every time he spoke social structure that had been developed
of Shoko Kristu that he learnt he had over centuries.
Cripps was not afraid to stare the aubeen preaching for months not, as he had
thought, on Christ’s message, but Christ’s thorities in the eyes. He often walked – a
monkey. There was only a breath and an hundred miles was nothing to Cripps – in
upward inflexion between the two words, rather threadbare shoes and clothing to
speak prophetically against any authority
but it was enough.”
While maintaining the practices of that he felt was acting in a harmful and unAnglican Christianity, Cripps was not just manner.
Cripps “was strongly opposed to many
of the traditional practices of Shona witchQuotes
craft [. . .] and yet in the same breath he
“People talk about the need for medappeared greatly in awe of the Shona caical missionaries in South Africa but in
pability for faith, of their highly developed
a country like this, you know what the
spiritual intelligence.” He found many exAfricans really need? [. . .] Legal misamples of “redemptive analogies” congrusionaries, that’s what we need here. Not
ent with the Christian gospel, somewhat
Christian, not medical, but legal. That’d
in the same manner as Don Richardson
put the cat among the pigeons, wouldn’t
described the tradition of the peace child
it?”
among the Sawi. These included the
Shona practice of chisi (day of rest) and
“The only way to pray before battle,
“each tribe’s Mhondoro as an example of
Mrs. Cole . . . [is] for its failure, I mean.
worshipping one deity.”
To pray any other way isn’t a prayer at all,
but a petition for murder.”
Words from
Wild Horses
Of Cripps, an Afrikaner remarked,
“He’s a bloody, fool of a rooinek
predikant, but man, he’s a real Christian.
I’ve seen him walking along the Umvuma
road carrying a black baby on his back.
Any white man who can do that, man he
must be like Jesus Christ.”
cord of a man for whom the gospel was not
the proclamation of dogma, but a matter of
living the gospel.
When an interim priest named Smith
began burning Cripps’ mission stations
(rondavels and huts), visiting Bishop
Paget watched “as Cripps preached from
the blackened altar stones. [. . .] The
African congregations gathered around the
old priest, intent on his sermons and singing out the Shona hymns with an energy
that Paget had never witnessed in his own
services in Salisbury. He watched Cripps
preach and could not help but feel that
these shattered mission stations, open to
the veld, were perhaps the most suitable
churches of all for this maverick priest.
Here, there was no partition between the
church and the land, no entrances, no windows, the birds flew above them and the
wind moved through them. And, Paget noticed more than once, the crucified Christ’s
behind the altars, having passed through
Smith’s flames, were coloured a deep,
charred black.”
There are times when I (raised with a
“mission consciousness” and married to an
M.K.) think of the history of missions and
the western church much like T.S. Eliot
did in his satiric “The Hippopotamus.”
I saw the ‘potamus take wing
Ascending from the damp savannas,
And quiring angels round him sing
The praise of God, in loud hosannas.
Blood of the Lamb shall wash him clean
And him shall heavenly arms enfold,
Among the saints he shall be seen
Performing on a harp of gold.
He shall be washed as white as snow
By all the martyr’d virgins kist
While the True Church remains below
Wrapt in the old miasmal mist.
‘Suitable’ churches
I do not know which of the stories is
embellished, imagined or simply a record
of stark fact. All I can say, without reproducing the author’s research, is that it is
close enough to what I can easily discover
to ring true. In another way, it rings true
psychologically and spiritually. It is the re-
Cripps shrine has become a place of pilgrimage.
But Owen Sheers has given me new
hope for missions by telling Arthur Cripps’
story. We need to hear more stories like
this, and to produce more missionaries like
Cripps.
Curt Gesch lives in Telkwa, B.C.
Cripps shrine illegally
seized in 2011
Owen Sheers
In 2004 I published The Dust Diaries,
an account of my journey tracing the
life and legacy of my great, great uncle,
the maverick missionary and activist for
African rights Arthur Shearly Cripps. My
journey in Cripps’ footsteps finished at his
graveside in the knave of a ruined church
deep in the Zimbabwean veldt. The
church was built by Cripps in the style
of Great Zimbabwe. It was midnight and
hundreds of people were packed between
its walls, dancing and singing around my
uncle’s grave. Fires picked out the shape
of the kopje that rose above us, testament
to the 700 Zimbabweans who had, despite fuel shortages and other difficulties,
made the journey to this isolated place
to celebrate Arthur’s life and remember
his 50 years living and working with the
Shona people around Chivhu. The celebrations lasted for three days. Remarkably
ecumenical in nature, both Anglican
service and traditional Shona pungwe,
they constituted the annual “Shearly
Cripps Festival,” an event attended by
Zimbabwean Anglicans for over 50 years.
This year [2011], the Shearly Cripps
festival has not been allowed to happen.
On August 2nd it was reported that excommunicated Anglican Bishop Nolbert
Kunonga, an outspoken supporter of
President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF,
claimed to have “taken over” the Shearly
Cripps Shrine, along with all other church
properties in the Masvingo Province.
Sadly the local police have enforced
Kunonga’s claims, despite repeated court
orders ruling that access to Anglican properties should be open to all.
Cripps strived all his life for equality
and justice. When he died he left all his
land to the local people who had lived and
farmed on that land for many years. In the
light of his work and his legacy it is particularly saddening that the kind of actions
Cripps fought against during his time in
colonial Southern Rhodesia should be
echoed now by Kunonga in a post-colonial Zimbabwe.
–Adapted from owensheers.co.uk/dust.
The Shrine has since
opened to parishioners
again.
page 17
february 23, 2015
Classifieds
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Pastor/Leader
Pastor – Faith Formation
Vice Principal/Teacher
Urban church located in the multicultural city Toronto seeks a new
pastor/leader who feels called
to our small, vibrant, and diverse
congregation.
Community Christian Reformed
Church of Kitchener, Ontario is
a large, multi-generational church
whose average age is 32. A
community-based, intergenerational
model of ministry has led us to develop a position of faith formation.
Bulkley Valley Christian School is seeking a vice-principal/
teacher for the 2015-216 school year. BVCS is a K-12 school with
approximately 200 students located in Smithers, a beautiful city that
combines a warm sense of community and outdoor living while still
providing many of the conveniences of a larger center. We are looking for a vibrant, energetic person who has a passion for Christian
education and who has demonstrated leadership in an educational
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Further information can be found
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Contact Rika VanderLaan:
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Pastor of Community
Janny Klazinga
1935
February 23rd
2015
With thankfulness to God, the
children, grandchildren and great-grandchild thank the Lord that we can celebrate
with our mother her 80th Birthday.
With all our love Mom.
Diane and George Kok
Allan
Mark & Laura and baby
Laura & Phil
Tina & Tyler and Sadie
John and Jan Klazinga
Adam & Amanda and baby Julian
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Alex
Keeghan
Brextyn
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Adyson
Ethan
Covenant CRC of St. Catharines
is a staff-led ministry called “to be
Christ’s family transforming lives and
culture.” In keeping with this mission
we are seeking a full-time Pastor of
Community who will lead and nurture a culture of care. The pastor will
guide and develop a growing vibrant
youth and young adult community,
equip and enable members to use
their gifts in building the community
of care at Covenant, and lead and
develop a program of outreach.
The successful candidate will
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Pastor.
For more information please contact our Search Team secretary,
Carolyn Schilstra, at pastorsearch@
covenant-church.ca
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View the job posting at http://www.
ccrc.on.ca/careers. The posting
will remain open until a suitable
candidate is found.
All applicants must submit a resume, cover letter, and a one page
statement of faith in a single PDF
file to Mr. Lawrence Lutegendorff at
[email protected].
Youth Pastor/Director
Drayton CRC, located in beautiful
southwestern Ontario, is seeking an
outgoing, highly relational youth
pastor/director who will engage
the youth of DCRC in spiritual growth
by developing, coordinating and administering an effective and comprehensive youth ministry.
As a member of the pastoral team
you will also provide discipleship and
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upon request.
Please contact Teresa Rumph at
[email protected].
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For complete details on the
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PAGE 20
News
Dropped but not forgotten:
New documentary shares pastor’s mission to save abandoned Korean babies
Angela Reitsma Bick
It usually happens just before dawn.
A doorbell chimes, and Pastor Lee’s heart drops.
He rushes to the door. It’s a very small door, and he
opens it gently.
Behind the door is a box, and in the box a bundle sits. A
newborn baby disguised as a package. Before peeling off
blankets, Pastor Lee thanks God for saving this little life.
He has, since building the “drop box” in 2009, said that
prayer hundreds of times.
Lee Jong-rak is the pastor of Jusarang Community
Church in Seoul, South Korea. Jusarang means “God’s
love.” Pastor Lee says his son, Eu-man – who was born
with serious disabilities and spent the first 14 years of his
life in the hospital – truly founded Jusarang.
Lee and his wife adopted four children with disabilities
once Eu-man came home, and then “people started bringing babies to our door.” He eventually built the drop box
as a warm, safe alternative for babies – especially those
with disabilities – who would otherwise be left outside
for dead.
An estimated 200 babies are abandoned in the city of
Seoul every year. In South Korean society, unwed mothers
are stigmatized and pregnant teens kicked out of school.
That contributes to the “common practice” of leaving unwanted children on the streets.
“These things happened in secret,” says Min Hwang,
Director of the Women’s Hope Pregnancy Crisis Center in
South Korea. Now, because of Pastor Lee’s drop box, “it’s
a [public] issue.” People are talking about it.
Lee’s idea is not new. During the Middle Ages, monks
and nuns rescued babies from foundling wheels in church
walls. Today, from the Czech Republic to the state of
California, baby boxes have been installed in hospitals to
help save little lives.
In every case, critics warn these boxes will encourage
irresponsible parents to dump their children. Adoption
agencies worry about incomplete records. But Pastor Lee
knows that God sends each person to earth with a purpose. For the children falling through society’s cracks, he
is – just as the righteous man God described to Ezekiel –
steadfastly standing in the gap.
“Even if my mother and father leave me, the Lord will take
me in.” Those words, from Psalm 27:10, are inscribed
above the outer door of Pastor Lee’s box.
Angela Reitsma Bick is Editor of Christian Courier.
The Lee family is currently raising 15 children.
The back story
“I had no idea while I was making a film about saving Korean babies that God was going to save me.”
Director Brian Ivie read a news piece about Pastor
Lee’s drop box and decided to make a movie. During
the two years it took to film, Ivie himself became a
Christian and started a non-profit to support the Lee
family. Focus on the Family Canada paired with Ivie’s
organization to help distribute his documentary. The
Drop Box will play in theatres across Canada on March
4 & 5 only; see dropboxfilm.ca for local listings.
BE
lectures
REdEEmER’s 28th
AnnuAl ministRy
ConfEREnCE
tuEsdAy, mARCh 3, 2015
www.redeemer.ca/beinspired
The FuTure oF
religion in Canada:
What’s Needed from
ChristiaN Leaders
WedNesday, marCh 4, 2015
www.redeemer.ca/twaoc
TWO EVENTS FEATURING DR. REGINALD W. BIBBY