News from the Pews

"Over the past three years I've been wrestling with my role in Reconciliation as an emerging teacher in Canada and my identity within Canada’s past- that is, what can I as a young, white, idealistic Christian woman do? All of these identifiers set me apart as ‘the other’."

One of the questions that plagues me as I care for creation is “When we are channeling money into climate change initiatives aren’t we taking money away from initiatives that help the poor?” I am deeply concerned about God’s creation and I am deeply concerned about care of the poor and most vulnerable in our world so this question is very important to me.

John was walking along the sidewalk. He wore faded, black denim jeans and an Iron Maiden t-shirt underneath his studded leather jacket. Far removed from the latest fashion trends, he was decidedly a child of the 80s as he lit the cigarette he just bummed from someone passing by.

Mr. & Mrs. Elgersma would arrive every Saturday morning without fail for our weekly grocery run. They would make a point of going through our refrigerator and cupboards to take inventory of what needed replenishing. Then they would walk me through each food aisle of the small Co-op Store, point to a product, name it and very patiently say, “You like? You have.” And should I nod my head, they would add the item to our grocery cart. Every week without fail we would always stop in front of the meats counter and load up on packaged wieners. This was our primary source of protein for weeks, even months!

My name is Trang Thi Nguyen and this is a true account of my life from the time of my escape from a war-tarnished Vietnam to the life I currently share with my family in Canada.

Last month, I spent a sunny afternoon outside with my family. My children were running around with their friends, in shorts and tank tops, asking for the sprinkler to be turned on. It was on that day like any other that God opened my eyes to human trafficking.

It started with a question: "Can we do Show of Hands?"

A little baffled by the question, I asked for more information. It was a justice initiative put on by the Office of Social Justice. I remembered seeing something about it on a mailing a few months before but had nowhere to go with it so it was filed under "R" (a big blue recycling bin under my desk).

We just finished breakfast with Otilia, the lovely woman who hosts us while we do Romanian language training here in Târgu Mureș, and I need to tell her story. Fry yourselves some potatoes and garlic (that's what we had!) and pull up a chair.