New Opportunities

Can you imagine escaping a dangerous situation and finally beginning a new life in Canada...but doing so with $10,000 in debt, before you even started language classes or enrolled your children in school? For more than two decades, Canada was the only country in the world to charge refugees interest on their travel loans. For a nation claiming to welcome refugees, this sent mixed messages.

If you’re a Christian in Canada, you’ve likely heard by now about the Canada Summer Jobs controversy. Many churches are concerned about new rules for federal funding for student summer jobs. Kate Kooyman chatted with Mike Hogeterp of the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue to learn more about the controversy and how CRC people can respond.

As we enter the season of Lent, the period of 40 days that carries us to Easter, it is important to acknowledge the ways that we have turned away from God in our lives and remember the call to turn our thankful hearts, humble minds and serving hands back toward God. For many Christians and churches, Lent is a time to refocus and reorient ourselves to a life of prayer, sacrifice, and repentance.

This week could be a historic one for Indigenous children in Canada. The Minister of Indigenous Services, Jane Philpott, has called an emergency meeting on Indigenous child welfare, comparing the current situation to the horrors of the residential school system.

Advent is a season of waiting and hope. As we enter the third week of Advent, these themes have taken on new meaning for me.

I see Dreamers courageously sharing their stories and tirelessly advocating for Congress to pass the bipartisan Dream Act before Christmas. Dreamers have a deep hope and great anticipation that the country they call home will claim them as its own and that their presence will be recognized as a blessing, not a burden.  

This coming year Do Justice will mark its 5^th birthday.

It's hard to believe we've been cultivating this community for that long! We have shared hundreds of articles, and 212 of you have shared your reflections on biblical justice on this blog--from deacons to philosophers, poets to advocates, pastors to non-profit leaders, young leaders to seasoned justice champions. 

On Do Justice, we’re all about creating space.

Space to ask hard questions. Space to wrestle with the implications of the Church’s call to do justice in the places where we live, today. Space to struggle with what it means to be the Body of Christ, where the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you” and where the foot cannot say to the head, “I don’t need you.”

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Two resources, Let’s Talk About Privilege and Homegrown Faith and Justice, offer studies to help young people grow in their journey of faith formation. Both resources provide strong Biblical teaching, in-depth questions, and activities for practical application. In our desperately hurt and broken world, recognizing privilege and responding with faith and justice marks us as followers of Christ. These resources help families and faith leaders guide children and young people on that path.

I have a confession to make.

I've been leading a group of white Christians for the past 6 months in unlearning our white supremacy. We've met once a month to do the hard work of looking our own racism in the face and calling it out, together. And I haven't really talked about it.