News from the Field

Winter is quickly approaching my neck of the woods: leaves have fallen from the trees, displaying barren branches and trunks beautifully poised like dancers frozen in time.  

A continuous sense of coming snow has invaded the crisp air. Perhaps most telling of all, even my coat-adverse teenagers now sometimes shrug on their winter jackets before heading off to school. 

Lord and Creator of the cosmos,

In whose hands the entire creation is held,

Remind us again of your faithful care and sustaining love.

Teach us again to look for signs of your reign in a troubling world:

Servant love in a world of violence;

Peaceable kindness in a world of blunt power;

Persistent hope in a world given to despair.

1. Do not be afraid.
2. Love one another.
3. Stand firm.

Each one is short and to the point. Lay these three on top of each other, and a powerfully rich framework for seeking justice takes shape. 

This past month, I flew from Atlanta, Georgia to Lilongwe, Malawi. The total travel time from Atlanta to Lilongwe was around 56 hours- my longest flight to date. My flight left Atlanta at 5pm (11pm Malawi) on Friday and I arrived 7am on Monday in Lilongwe (Atlanta- 1am Sunday). The extra-long flight was due to a 12-hour layover… and the fact that I fell asleep at the airport, didn’t realize the different time zone, and missed my flight. There were no other flights to Malawi that day, so I had to spend a night in Nairobi, Kenya. Luckily, I have friends that live there.

Nestled in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan sits LaGrave Avenue CRC. Over thirty years ago, LaGrave was the very first church to host SERVE – a week-long mission trip experience for high school students run by ThereforeGo Ministries (formerly known as Youth Unlimited)  – and they have kept that momentum going. Due to their location in the very center of the city, helping the unhoused and disadvantaged is the very heartbeat of the church. 

“Wait, how many times do I have to refuse an offer of something before I can accept it without causing offense?” This question is one of the first you must learn the answer to while living in the Middle Eastern country in which I have spent my last year and a half (precise location undisclosed for security). In answer, my local friend explains that in a culture like this one, one of the ways in which you show honour is by making offerings of relationship through hospitality not just once, but multiple times.

I have had the privilege of participating in several conferences this spring, each of which touched on a different aspect of my work on poverty in Canada. They explored issues including housing, reconciliation, polarization, income security, and climate change, and brought together church folks, academics, advocates, people with lived experience of poverty, service providers, and government representatives from across the country. 

Going to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, ON, every year means deep fried ice cream waffles for me. I know this is not the healthiest thing to eat but it is so tasty. Guilty pleasures like this shouldn’t be our regular diet but an exclamation point on our life journey.

We have a hope in the risen Christ who overcame betrayal. How did betrayal benefit Judas Iscariot by giving Jesus to the Pharisees after receiving the lump sum amount? Even at the last supper, the last warning was made when Jesus said, ‘one of you will betray the son of God.’ 

Who was God in the life of Judas Iscariot at that moment? 

All in turn asking Jesus at dinner,’is it me?’

Until Judas’s turn and Jesus said ‘YES.’

“To bring justice to the children who never made it home is to be able to identify who they are, bringing peace to the families and truth about the children’s passing,” said Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc.  

On May 27, 2021 Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc confirmed an unthinkable loss—the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc is the home community of the largest school in the residential school system.