Reconciliation

How shall we demonstrate our solidarity with our First Nations brothers and sisters? 

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.

“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. 

Am I strange or have you also left a website open in your browser just because you couldn’t bear to close it?  For five months after the event ended, I kept the EventBrite page open and I smiled every time I saw it.  This open tab reminded me of the amazing time of preparation for and the celebration of the Broken Walls concert held on Sept. 30 (The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) in Belleville, On.

If I had my way of doing racial reconciliation, I would have to follow this verse of the Bible:  "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." Psalm 51:17. 

To me this means that I must be painstakingly convinced of my misery and danger by sin, which I spare no cost to obtain the forgiveness of it. A broken spirit and a contrite heart are those in which sorrow and affliction have done their work, and the stubbornness of pride has been replaced by the humility of penitence. 

George de Vuyst, is a missionary with Resonate Global Mission.  He has been serving in Ukraine since 1998. George trains pastors and facilitates healing and reconciliation through “Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations” (HHTN) workshops and trainings for facilitators.  In June 2021 he traveled to Michigan and planned to return overseas in June 2022. Russia’s war against Ukraine changed that. We pray for the war to end and for opportunities to serve and minister to Ukrainians now and in the future. 

Marlene was born In Burns Lake BC to an Indigenous father and a white mother. Her father joined the military when she was 18 months old and she was raised in a variety of towns and Air Bases throughout Canada and Germany. In this episode Marlene tells us about what it has been like to embrace her Indigenous AND Christian identity.

Harouna Issaka is the regional director for West Africa with World Renew and also works with Timothy Leadership training. In this episode Harouna speaks with us about how the Timothy Leadership Training has build relationships across unexpected divides.

In this episode we talk with Shannon Perez about what reconciliation looks like in light of her personal story and her First Nation's story. Shannon is the director of the Indigenous Family Centre (a CRC ministry with Indigenous people in Winnipeg). Shannon is a member of the Sayisi Dene First Nation, and lives in Winnipeg with her husband and children.

People are a little shocked when we tell them that we are “Missionaries” who don’t start any programs.  As servants of Christ we come beside individuals and see what their dreams are for their community. We work together on how we can support them.