Why the Church Cares

On December 7, Jennifer presented at a World Renew webinar on gender-based violence. What is provided below is an excerpt from her speaking notes. You can see a recording of the webinar here. 

“Throughout most of human history, people have lived as tribal groups in small villages in relatively isolated areas… A radical transformation of all human societies occurred when the European explorers discovered the Western Hemisphere… European languages replaced tribal languages in many lands, first French and then English became the tongue of the civilized world, of diplomacy and trade, and finally of the accepted expressions of civilized values.”  - Vine Deloria Jr.[1]

The story is told of a jungle law that survival is for the fittest. Recently while driving through Queen Elizabeth National Park enroute to the West Nile region in Northern Uganda, I watched how the antelopes and other smaller animals kept their distance away from the thickets, with ears and eyes open all through. If a lion was sensed within its vicinity, they would run for their lives. Unfortunately, the animals who were vulnerable due to sickness, hunger and disability and couldn’t outrun the Lion succumbed to be food for the mighty king of the jungle.

In the days leading up to September 30, 2021, that marked Canada’s first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, many Canadians stood in line as self-employed Indigenous women worked around the clock trying to meet the demands of people of all ethnicities waiting for orange shirts to be made in a size and design of their choosing. Yet, I find myself wondering how all this will play out long-term.

I saw Religious Broadcasters Association’ spokesperson Daniel Darling was fired for his support for vaccinations on a cable news channel. After Darling wrote in USA Today, “we are experiencing a deficit of trust in our institutions.

Hearts Exchanged is a perfect name for the program I was privileged to participate in this past year.  Instead of a purely intellectual exercise about Indigenous people and the church in Canada, this was a meeting of hearts and souls.  Real learning and listening took place. It was a laying out of beliefs and understandings.  Sharing of first person accounts. Gentle correction. Encouragement. Pledges to do better and ideas for how to do so in real and meaningful ways. 

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4: 7

The Summer Olympics are set to begin soon, and while there have already been plenty of concerns surrounding the games, I will be watching part of the games.

Recently I was asked “What caused you to care about the issue of human trafficking?”. It took me a second to respond. I heard about human trafficking for the first time when I was in the 9th grade. A woman came in and told us about what human trafficking is, how anyone could become a victim to it, the grooming tactics and how it was happening in places all around us. She told us it happens in areas near our homes and started listing off a bunch of popular places along with internet platforms.

Since starting as a student intern in January for the Christian Reformed Canadian Indigenous Ministry Committee (in the middle of a pandemic!), I have already learned so much.

Having little experience previously in advocacy organizations, I am continuing to gain both hands-on experience and a peek into the inner workings of how this kind of work unfolds. As part of my work, I have also been deepening my understanding of the complex and multifaceted nature of Indigneous issues in Canada and the history of settler-Indigenous relations. 

This could almost become an age-old adage, “It took something so horrible for people to pay attention to…”. We could fill in the blanks with a plethora of choices from the social issue buffet that plagues Canadian societies.