Canada

This year I took a leap of faith. I’m starting a new season of life and taking a humbling journey of hustling to be a social entrepreneur.

In the hundreds of conversations I’ve had about climate change, hope, and stewardship, the talk inevitably turns to politics. Rightly so. There is a lot we can do in our own homes, but we also look for guidance and direction from our governments: local, provincial, and federal. Recycling and waste recovery programs tend to be local, whereas larger programs like green energy generation and carbon taxes are left to the provinces or the federal government.

A simple Google search for “main causes of food insecurity” pulls up a list of some things that one might expect. Drought. Pests. Poverty. Climate change. Conflict. Corruption. And so on.

Most people are aware that many people around the world are hungry. We see non-profits raising awareness about hunger issues, hashtags about ending hunger, and celebrities fighting for causes.

If many of us took a minute to ask ourselves why people are hungry, I’m sure we could come up with some of the answers that Google gave us. All these answers are very true.

Strolling along the seaside town of Sai Kung, Hong Kong recently, I had a significant conversation with two of my wife’s cousins, both in their early 30’s. I have been visiting Hong Kong with Yee Lam since the handover of the colony from British control back to China in 1997, visiting with these girls since they were young. We used to visit every two years, but four years have gone by since we last were in Hong Kong. We were talking about how much has changed in both our countries, and our hearts, since we had last talked face to face.

“You’re Korean? I fought in the Korean War.”

Students at Calvin Seminary are taught the ABCs of writing and preaching sermons that are biblically grounded and theologically Reformed. They are also given the option to put their education to use by providing pulpit supply to CRC congregations all throughout West Michigan and beyond.

He came to us in dire straits.

Joseph wasn’t the name his mother gave him when he was born in Darfur—it’s the name he took on when he was baptized after coming and receiving medical help in this Middle Eastern country. His story as a refugee is full of twists and turns, starting with his flight, as an injured university student, from the authorities he was protesting.

His story as a refugee is full of twists and turns.

And the end has yet to be written.

In March 2018 a bold decree was made by Oba Ewuare II, the traditional ruler of the kingdom of Benin (located in southern Nigeria). Oba Ewuare II was upset that his beloved kingdom had received negative international press regarding the high numbers of women and girls who are coerced into trafficking and sexual exploitation and “bound” to their traffickers through voodoo juju rituals, so he decreed that all victims of these rituals are free.

Youhanna and Yosra, and their four adult children Martin, Alen, Aiden, and Abeer are from Qaraqosh, Iraq. In 2014 they were forced to flee their home when ISIS invaded and destroyed their predominantly Christian area. After spending several years in asylum in Lebanon, they had the good fortune of being sponsored to come to Canada by Harvest Bible Chapel. Martin arrived in September of 2017 and the rest of the family arrived in January of 2018.

I wish I had taken a vow of silence. But I haven’t. Far from any overtly noble rationale, I simply went quiet. For the past 11 months, I’ve hardly done any writing, I’ve only read two books, and I’ve been abnormally disengaged from the urgent crises and conversations of the past year. And I don’t have a good justification for doing so.

More recently – and more substantively – however, I’ve started to recognize three different themes that have impacted my lack of writing this past year.

We’ve been hearing lots of talk about family lately.

In the USA, the nomination of a new Supreme Court judge has prompted talk of family values. The detainment and separation of migrant families has done the same. In Canada, the announcement of compensation for those harmed by the Sixties and Seventies Scoop has raised questions about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous families. And then, of course, there is the more banal talk of family vacations and weddings that each summer brings.