Post 95--Trudeau: Due Diligence? (2)

  

More “Spontaneity” and Populism?

The same issue arose in my mind with respect to the PM’s announcement that his government was going to accept all the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee—and, if my memory serves me right—they are up into the 90’s!  Again, that mix of spontaneity and populism.  Again, what seems like a serious lack of due diligence. All 90+ without careful analysis, even before he was enthroned?  I loved and still love the composition of his Cabinet, assuming that the Ministers are all fully qualified, but even that I am beginning to wonder in view of this pattern of spontaneity and populism without due diligence. Did he and his advisers possibly practice ethnic and tribal politics by glad handing Canada’s various races and religions, including recent immigrant arrivals as well as more settled non-Caucasians?  In view of already mentioned instances of seeming spontaneity and populism, the question of due diligence refuses to go away, even though I have no doubt that there are people worthy of cabinet appointments among all of us.  Once you have the suspicion of lack of due diligence, rightly or wrongly, you begin to look for it everywhere. 

Andrew Coyne’s Take

I have great respect for Andrew Coyne, one of Canada’s most prominent and, perhaps, most popular political commentators in both Canadian press and TV.  He recently published an opinion column under the title “Maximum political mileage with minimum thought.” The subtitle was “Promises: After three months in office, Trudeau big on smiles and symbolism but short on substance” (Vancouver Sun, Feb. 6, 2016).  Wow! Coming from Coyne, this is like a bomb shell. Under a picture of a smiling, waving Trudeau, the editor comments “A tendency ‘to announce policy first, then figure out the consequences later’ is the modus operandi of PM Justin Trudeau’s government….” 

In case you haven’t caught on yet, I want it understood that the suspicions I am airing are pre-Coyne. That is to say, they were raised in my mind before I read any commentator on the subject. They popped up immediately I first read about the 25,000. But Coyne strongly confirmed these suspicions and he buttresses them with more facts at his fingertips than I can muster.  So, with your permission, here’s a little more of Andrew’s take. I promise that tomorrow I will move on to another subject.

Apart from their tragic content, namely a seemingly light-hearted playing with the destiny of 34 million plus people, Coyne’s article contains so many pithy and humorous quotables, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Here are some samples about Trudeau’s government:

It is one part not being Stephen Harper, one part symbolic gesture, one part wriggling out of campaign promises, and one part saying yes to everybody. … Get used to it.

For a government that makes much of its…forward-looking credentials, the Trudeau crew are unusually obsessed with digging up the recent past. The platform itself was filled with promises (my colleague, Bill Watson, puts the number at 50) to reverse this or that Conservative initiative.  … What was common to all was their relentless symbolic focus, achieving maximum political mileage for least expense.   

Is it to be supposed that the “evidence-based” party had any research to support its claim to be able to safely admit 25,000… refugees… by December?

Referring to the announcement of a tax increase for high incomers that would precisely offset a tax decrease for the “middle tax bracket,” Coyne asks, “Was there any basis for the party’s claim?” The original $3 billion income from the increase was subsequently whittled down to $1 billion.  Any basis?

Of course not: they gave…about the same amount of thought as Trudeau did in announcing…that he would implement all 94 of (the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s) recommendation. Which is about twice as much thought as he and his advisers gave to the implications of abolishing party caucuses in the Senate. Or, for that matter, than they gave to their pipeline policy.

You have no idea how hard it is for me to refrain from just reproducing Coyne’s entire article, but I have to watch copyright restrictions and may already have transgressed them.  I plead for mercy from the Vancouver Sun on the grounds that I am such a strong advertiser for them apart from being part of that rare breed of remaining loyal paper subscribers.

Coyne does not relent. Two weeks later, he published another article entitled “Liberals fooled by their own image” with the subtitle “Broken promises: This Trudeau government says one thing and does the other at the same time”  (Feb. 20, p. B2), also loaded with gems:  “It is one thing to say one thing and do another in sequence. But to do both at the same time is deeply worrying.”  But be comforted; things are not as bad as they could be. Andrew writes that he would not go as far as therapist Evan Solomon, who describes Trudeau “as a kind of psychopath, alternatively charming (‘the romantic’) and homicide (‘the killer’). I think…he poses no danger to anyone but the economy. Still a number of recent incidents give one pause.” And then comes another litany of examples.

If Andrew does not relent, I will, right here, before the temptation overpowers me. I am no politician, but I do recognize political irresponsibility when I see it, at least this brazen variety of it. And this is not a political column, but I have stated somewhere in the past that social responsibility is one of my trademarks that comes straight out of my Christian convictions. When I see that, whether political or not, I get my dander up high and mighty. I need time to cool off. See you next time.

P.S.--It’s February 28, 2016. Today the announcement was made that Canada received the quota of 25,000 refugees.  

Post 94 Trudeau: Due Diligence? (1)

Religion and Politics

"Religion and politics" is such a huge subject that it will never be exhausted, no matter how many tomes or conferences are devoted to it. Though it is the subject for a couple of initial paragraphs in this post, it is not our main subject today.

Post 93 deals with what might be considered a “purely” religious and spiritual topic:  Ash Wednesday.  And now, immediately, right after it a dive into politics?  Federal politics even?  That will seem like an awfully wide leap to some, from the sublime to the shady.

Actually, it’s not as big a leap as you may think.  “Purely” religious or spiritual topics are meant to improve your relations with God and man—your neighbor, as per the name of this blog. And it is with this improved or strengthened relationship with both God and your neighbor that you then go forth into the world of culture, including politics. Anyone with poor or absent relations with God or neighbor is likely to pursue unhealthy politics, being guided by all sorts of shady motives and unhelpful worldviews.

So, here I am, unabashed and unapologetic for this move from high spirituality to high politics—that of our Prime Minister (PM).  That’s as high as you can go in our country—but perhaps at the same time as low!  You can go either way. The lowest motives may be the most dominant at the highest or vice versa.

I should hasten to indicate my awareness that the PM of Canada is not the Head of State and that, officially, his is not the highest status, which is reserved for the Governor General, who is appointed by his “inferior,” the PM.  True, but the PM certainly is the highest in terms of political power, influence and responsibility.

PM Trudeau and Due Diligence

My question is whether our new PM is doing due diligence.This question arose first arose during his campaign before Trudeau was “enthroned.” I’ve had no reason to put my mind at ease on this score and note that I am by no means the only one to have a suspicion here. From before his installment to the end of his hundred honeymoon days, I have detected a consistent pattern that keeps the question at the forefront.

Before proceeding, though, I want to praise the PM for some of his earliest actions that delighted my soul. The first one was the composition of his Cabinet. His 50-50 gender cabinet appointments. The second was his racial or ethnic inclusiveness, also in the context of the Cabinet. That was just such a refreshing change from history.  There was his “march” to the Governor General’s mansion in the company of his cabinet, all on foot instead of an ostentatious automobile entourage. And then there was his unfeigned and spontaneous reaction to the unexpected meeting with his daughter who ran into her parents arms during that march. It was all so delightful and different. I initially accepted it all in pure delight. This was going to be a different PM, no doubt about it. The MacLean’s cover photo of the surprised look of the Prime Ministerial couple upon seeing their young daughter run into their arms is pinned to a wall in our apartment. It’s bound to become a classic.

Spontaneity vs Due Diligence

That pattern of seeming spontaneity continued on. With the tremendous pressure of Syrian refugees dominating the news towards the end of the PM’s campaign, he bravely announced that Canada would welcome 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015, a period of just a couple of months. How spontaneous was that?  Or was it?  You may remember previous posts on this blog on the subject of refugees. I pointed out that even under more normal circumstances, those responsible for vetting refugees admitted that it is virtually impossible to do it thoroughly according to established protocol, let alone under the pressure of the moment.  25,000 within the space of a couple of months? I loved the sentiment behind it. But was it feasible to do it within the protocol?  I judged “no.”  Not possible. Only if various steps were ignored or omitted, even if those chosen would already have been vetted by the UN.  Canadian officials sent to the Middle East to sort them out would hardly be capable of reading between the lines of the oral and written claims of Third World refugees, whose logic, culture, religion and, not to forget, their interests are so radically different from their own. 

Populism vs Due Diligence 

The question of due diligence bubbled to the surface. Was this true spontaneity, genuine spontaneity?  Does spontaneity exclude or bypass due diligence?  Of course, the PM himself recognized his decision for what it was and moved the deadline for the 25,000 forward several times. Or was this populism?  That is, playing on the emotions of the public that was exposed regularly to the pitiful scenes of hordes of refugees, women, children and the elderly, making their way across seas and land borders in their search for safety. Playing on their emotions without doing due diligence?  And let the chips fall where they may?  Like spontaneity, populism, that is, listening to the hearts of the people is good democracy, but not without due diligence.  It is the duty of our politicians to listen to the people and to practice due diligence at the same time.

(To be continued in Post 95)

Post 93—Ash Wednesday

I wonder: Did you observe Ash Wednesday this month?  It fell on Wednesday, February 10. As the name makes obvious, it always is celebrated on Wednesday.  But perhaps, before asking whether you observed it this past week, a prior question is whether you even know what it is. A second question is, even if you know what it is, whether you gave it any thought at all. The answer to the last question probably depends on which church you attend and whether your church pays attention to it. Some churches or denominations do; others ignore it. I attend two different churches/denominations, and both observed it by holding special services on the evening of February 10.

So what is Ash Wednesday? Wikipedia gives the following bare, curt definition: “the first day of Lent in the Western Christian Church, marked by services of penitence.”  As if the writer regrets this curt version, she/he then provides a few more details: “a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity. It (normally) occurs 46 days…before Easter and can fall as early as February 4th or as late as 10 March. Ash Wednesday is observed by many Western Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists,Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics.”  More recently denominations like the Christian Reformed Church and some Baptist groups have also begun to observe it.  The more recent arrivals have dropped the fasting part of it.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness or desert, during which time he faced satanic temptations. The 40 days of Lent, which Ash Wednesday is day 1, mirrors this period of fasting. The name itself comes from the ashes made from palm branches that were used on the previous year’s Palm Sunday. These ashes were/are placed in the form of a cross on the foreheads of the participants by a clergy person, accompanied with formulae like “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19) or  “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). The first and more original of the two sayings are the words spoken to Adam and Eve after their fall into sin and remind worshippers of their sinfulness and mortality along with their need to repent. 

Ash Wednesday in some countries is enriched by some additional traditions. For example, I understand that on that day the Pope traditionally participates in a penitential procession between two churches, where ashes are sprinkled on his head—not smudged on his forehead--, while the Pope also places ashes on the heads of other worshippers. The Catholic Church and, more recently, some Protestant churches as well, participate in the “Ashes to Go” programme, during which clergy go to public places like downtowns, sidewalks, train stations, malls to place ashes on passersby, sometimes even on drivers waiting at stoplights! Another innovation is for small cards to be distributed among the congregation on which people are invited to write a sin they need to confess. These cards are then brought to an altar or table where they are burned. 

The association of ashes with grief, sorrow or repentance has ancient Biblical and cultural roots, even among Israel’s Pagan neighbours as in Nineveh. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, she sprinkled ashes on her head…and went away crying (2 Samuel 13:19). Job said in Job 42:3-6, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” The prophet Jeremiah called for repentance, “O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes” (Jeremiah 6:26). Daniel pleaded to God “in earnest prayer with fasting, sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). In the New Testament, Jesus spoke of the practice: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 3:47; Luke 10:13). There is also reference to it in Hebrews 9:13. 

So my wife and I participated in the ceremony at First Baptist Church in downtown Vancouver. But it was not merely a ceremony; it was a living experience what with the readings, prayers and hymns that goaded us towards a renewed sense of our sinfulness, mortality and need to repent. Though these are daily elements in the heart of a born-again Christian—or should be—a ceremony like this refreshes that awareness and stimulates one’s resolve to revive it. I am happy that I participated in this first step into Lent. The beauty of it all is that, paradoxically, after one goes through what sounds like a macabre exercise, one comes away from it with renewed joy and peace in his heart.

If you have not been in the habit, I strongly recommend attending Ash Wednesday 2017.  Especially for the born-again, for those who are alive in Christ, it is a blessed way of starting your Lenten journey towards the Resurrection of our Lord.

Post 92—My Offering Appeal

             

This is an edited version of an offering appeal speech I delivered at one of the plenary sessions at MFV 2016.

“Salam Alaikum”—That’s the common Arabic greeting used by Muslims to each other around the globe, no matter what language they normally speak. Millions and millions of times a day this is their greeting to each other.  It means “peace to you.”  What a wish. What a prayer. What a greeting.  Time and time again. In mosque and market place. Everywhere.

The response:  “Alaika salam”—“Peace to you.”  A conversation throughout the day. How beautiful. I live next to 100 refugees who are in a hotel next to us in the West End of downtown here. The men come out on the street to smoke. So I stop and try to talk to them, something not easy due to language differences.  But when in the middle of a halting conversation I stop and suddenly greet them “Salam Alaikum,” the entire tenor and atmosphere becomes electric. They look up in surprise and enthusiastically all chime in with “Alaika Salam.”

That, by the way, is one of only a few words of Arabic I know, but they are key to beginning a relationship. I know them because I speak Hausa, a major language in Niger and Nigeria. It is the mother tongue of, I would guess, some 60 million Muslims as well as a trade language for another 30 million or so. It is the language I studied at Michigan State University and frequently spoke  as a missionary in Nigeria. It is not a Semitic language like Arabic and Hebrew, but the language has adopted many Arabic theological, philosophical and abstract words that I often recognize due to their similarity to  the Hebrew I picked up in seminary.

I thought about that greeting the other day. We Christians have our own greeting:  “the peace of Christ.”  But we do this only in church!  Why is that? Why only in Church?  Why not everywhere like the Muslims?  Is the peace of Christ only for church?  Of course not. It’s for the whole world.

The purpose of MF is exactly that: to convey the peace of Christ to the whole world. Wouldn’t it be nice if we would regularly greet each other that way?  “The Peace of Christ” wherever you go.  How about us MFesters starting this tradition among each other publicly?  Break through our secular secrecy and silence. Thereby proclaiming the Peace of Christ throughout the world.  But I would go one better than Muslims. While many Muslims restrict the use of this greeting among themselves, though in public as well as private, I would want us Christians to use it even when greeting  non-Christians no matter what their religion. Proclaiming the “Peace of Christ” to everyone within reach time and again throughout your day both in church and marketplace. Can you think of any reason this would be inappropriate? I said, “Inappropriate,” not merely “politically or culturally incorrect.”  Any reason at all we should not do this?  Feel free to contact me about this.

MFesters: The Peace of Christ to you (raising my hand as in blessing). 

My name is John Boer. I live within walking distance—WE and I serve on the Board of MF

But today I have a much greater role:  MF Pickpocket. Yes, you heard that right:  MF pickpocket.  But pickpocket with a difference. Not with a clever sleight of hand in your pocket but with a powerful sleight of the Spirit of God in your heart!

Did you realize that MF is the largest unifying Christian event in our Metro?  Yes, indeed. Annually some 35,000 or so visits and that for 33 years. That’s visits, not individuals. Yesterday I heard John Hall, our Executive Director, suggest this probably amounts to about 15,000 individuals at each annual conference.  That’s a total  of about 495,000 people coming to this event one time or another over our 33 years.  Nearly half a million! And that’s not even counting the thousands that are touched by MF and its partners throughout the year, every year by means of ongoing events.

Did you realize that this crowd annually includes thousands upon thousands of young people?  It’s one of two events I meet some of my nephews and nieces once or twice removed even, the other one being family funerals. This is a place where many young people begin to think seriously about their  calling in life. There are files in the MF office with amazing stories of young people having been brought to a life time commitment and decision.

It’s also a place where all of us can and do get connected to over 200 Christian mission agencies from across the street and around the world. So many challenges. Almost too many to take in.

The things that are happening here are amazing. Yes, amazing, nothing short of that. And all of this is accomplished by the Spirit of God through a miniscule staff of 5 people.  JUST 5! Imagine what all this around you takes to organize in just one year by such a small crew. Oh, yes, including 600 volunteers who do herculean work. Without them it would be impossible. But you probably have no idea how much work those 5 staff people have to do to get those volunteers aboard and trained.  This is a modern miracle, nothing short of it.

This brings me to the, hard, cold fact of money.  You all know full well, all of this takes money. This venue takes money, big money. And that in turn brings me to our budget.

At the mention of budget, a technician will show the budget slide.

Our budget this year? A modest $520,000.  Yes, that’s it—a mere $520,000. I’m not saying it’s a small amount, but for what you get for it?! Just think of the cost of this venue and then of all the programmes going on around you throughout this entire weekend.  It is our goal at this event to raise $120,000 through tickets and  offerings.  That’s the big  O-WORD for today!  Offering!  And that’s where you come in.  Offerings.  Can you say that word?  Offerings!  Yes, offerings with an exclamation mark. Your offerings.  Your offerings today, In this meeting. The big O!

We ask that you give generously today and maybe even consider starting a routine of monthly giving.  By doing so you will have the privilege of participating in an event that that sends ripples of hope throughout the world.  I can just feel these ripples surge through my body right now. Don’t you feel them? 

So, offering. There are three ways you can do thi:.

(1)  Online using Canada Helps. Go visit MFV website and click on the donate button on the home page. That’s one easy way—if you’re into online stuff.

(2)  If not, well then you use the envelopes found on your seats. That one thing most of us have learned to handle . If you need a tax receipt, fill in the info section on the envelope. And please check the box authorizing us to send you news and updates.

(3)   You just place your 1000 bucks in the bucket that will be passed around. It doesn’t get easier than that.

Oh, and allow me to draw your attention to an important info column in the MF Magazine,  p. 40.

At this point, we’ll take just a moment so we can consider how God wants you to invest in His Mission. Yes, we have the courage to call MF "His Mission."   We will pause for about 30 seconds for you to make a serious commitment around this big O-word. 

After that, I will break into prayer, after which the ushers come with their buckets.

PRAYER

Holy, Divine Triune God. We begin with adoration of you the creator of the entire universe that till today, we are told, is still expanding. Amazing.

We adore you, Holy, Divine Son of God, who did not hesitate to come down from your position of power and glory to take on our flesh and blood, including all the pain, suffering and agony that come with that.  

We adore you, Holy, Divine Spirit, who works in our individual hearts but who also moves amid the cultures of this world and who today wants to pick our pockets. Pick it, Holy Spirit, pick it, so that the work of Mission Fest Vancouver can continue to connect the people of this city to your Kingdom. Triune God, open our hearts today, open our hands, our pockets for our own sake, but even more for Your sake.  And for all those who have been moved to give, we say a loud….”AMEN!”

Mission Festers: the peace of Christ to you!

          Volunteer Ushers—Please come forward with your buckets. We have      

          prayed ourselves ready for you.     

Post 91—Missions Fest Vancouver (MFV)

With the exception of 2010, the year of Winter Olympics in Vancouver, MFV is regularly held during the last weekend of January in one of the most prestigious locations in downtown Vancouver, namely the city’s Convention Centre. Most of it in the older part of the Centre, but this year the Film Festival was held in the newer West section, a building so beautiful, I would describe it as ostentatious.  

It’s kind of funny that part of it is built over the waters of the Burrard Inlet, an arm of what is really the Pacific Ocean. The “funny” part of it is that Canada is a huge country, the second largest in the world next to Russia, with only a tiny population. It’s got oodles and endless empty spaces, but we build over the ocean waters as if the country is crowded and land scarce!  OK, that’s just a humorous but true aside.

The best ways to get acquainted with MFV, apart from actually attending it, are, of course through its website 

<www.missionsfestvancouver.ca >

and by reading its annual magazine simply called Missions Fest 2016.  Below that title MFV always prints the theme, which in 2016 was “Mission: Being or Doing?”  

For the leaders of MFV, that was a rhetorical question with an obvious answer, but it was posed to help Christians overcome a seriously mistaken dichotomy between being and doing.  Missionaries have taken sides on that issue and structured their mission programmes accordingly. That in effect led to their hosts being presented with one-sided and thus distorted versions of the Gospel, some emphasize being; others, doing. 

I expressed dismay when I first noticed that theme and objected that these two could and should not be ever be separated. The CEO, John Hall, explained that the intention was precisely to undermine that distinction and insist on their togetherness. I was happy that this pseudo distinction was finally going to be laid to rest. In the meantime, some of the emerging churches suffer from the residue of this false dichotomy in their thinking. Perhaps I can use a later post to explain how this distinction caused serious problems, but today I want to talk more of MFV itself, perhaps induce you to attend the 2017 version.

You should have been there Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. If you had any degree of claustrophobia, but for the grace of God, you would not have lasted. The wide hallways were so crowded in both directions that pedestrian traffic was close to standstill. 

The most important fact here was the amazing number of youths, both primary and secondary as well as tertiary.  MFV is successful beyond imagination and far more than any other Christian organization in attracting youth. True, some of them are bused in by schools, no doubt often forced, but their enthusiastic participation was obvious.  

There were programmes for every age level, even for pre-school. There were the  Film Festival, youth concerts, art and drama along with outstanding speakers, all aimed at youth and attended by huge crowds. I’d like to say “thousands,” but I don’t want to exaggerate. But with approximately 35,000 visits by an estimated crowd of 15,000 individuals throughout the conference, one can be generous in his estimates without exaggerating too much. The MFV archives contain many stories of young people having made decisions  in the areas of the spiritual and career choice that affect them for the rest of their lives.

An annual feature of the multi-faceted programme is that of seminars, about 100 of them! These are given by various experts who have something to contribute to contemporary mission debates. This year there were three “seminar tracks,” one on “Business as Mission.” They had four sessions with the following themes:

1.    “The call for all: Finding purpose in Life, work & mission.”—“Every believer is called. We are all on a mission. Our calling is bigger than our job. Find out how to live out calling in the marketplace, whether whie collar, blue collar or no collar.”

2.    Panel discussion on calling: From white collar to blue collar to no collar.”—Markletplace believers will discuss how to live our calling in the marketplace, whether while, blue or no collar.”

3.   The call to business: The new frontier?”—“The world of business may be this century’s most important mission frontier…--find out why!”

4.   “Panel discussion on living your calling at work.”—Panelists discuss how to live out your calling in the workplace on a daily basis and to have a kingdom-building impact.”

This was actually the subject that interested me more than anything else. I myself have written a book on the subject with the title Caught in the Middle: Christians in Transnationals. (See  www.SocialTheology.com/ boeriana for the entire text.) I had hoped to attend at least one of these sessions, but somehow I could not make it due to other duties assigned me. 

I did attend another seminar on the subject by another speaker and was left very dissatisfied, for the speaker strongly advocated an approach that gave business no legitimate or significant place in God’s Kingdom except as a means of evangelism. That entire book of mine fulminates against such an approach and gives business a significance and meaning of its own in the Kingdom, not merely as a handmaid to evangelism. Go read that book of mine! I do not know just which direction the business track took. I suspect and hope along the line of my book. That, at least, I would expect from one of the leaders, Paul Stevens, a professor emeritus from Regent College.

Then there was an “Islamic” track led by seven discreet individuals, not by a team as was the case with the business track. Here, in  

 summary, were the issues presented:

1.    “Introduction to Islam”—“This lecture is designed as an introduction to the religion of Islam and the Muslim cultures.”

2.    “Share your faith with a Muslim”—“A conversation about reaching out to Muslims in your life and sharing the Good News with them. Topics include what to say, what not to say and Stevens Paul, resources.”

3.   “Muslims and media”—“Muslims in the Islamic world live in controlled environs where questions are prohibited but smart phones and the internet have become secret conduits to truth.”

4.    “Ask an ex-Muslim”—A panel discussion”—A moderated panel discussion in which panelists will share their conversion experience and present ministry before fielding audience questions.”

5.    “Current issues in Islam”—“A Christian view of explosive issues around reaching Muslims for Christ. Topics: Who is Allah?  Chrislam, insider movements, bible translation and radicalization.”

6.   “Major barriers for Muslims”—“Muslims are currently coming to Christ in unprecedented numbers, but often they face huge barriers. Be equipped.”

7.    “Islamic worldview”—“An interactive aid to understanding critical aspects of the Muslim worldview and view of western Christians, with practical considerations for reach out.”

Again, I did not attend even one of them, partially because I was busy but, more importantly, having been immersed in Muslim culture for many years, by living, researching and writing,I did not expect there would be anything new for me in these presentations. If you are interested in any of them, you can order them on CD from MFV, including the one I delivered some years ago.

I would love to tell you about the 200+ booths in which a bewildering range of mission, development, educational and medical agencies presented their programmes. In addition, there were those who tried to “sell” major opinions, like views on Free Masons, on creation versus evolution, as well as abortion and euthanasia issues.  One of my jobs as member of the Board of Directors was to interview all the exhibitors in one isle, about 24 of them. This was an attempt to establish good relations with them as well as uncover any problems they may have experienced and special experiences they had with their visitors.

I would love to tell you more, but I’ve already gone way beyond my 750.  Post 92 will feature a speech I gave at a plenary session to encourage generous giving to help MFV cover its costs. Here’s hoping these three presentations on the Festival will be enough to encourage you to attend MFV 2017?

Post 90 Missions Fest International (MFI)

I ended the last post with the announcement I was going to attend the annual conference of Missions Fest Vancouver (MFV). There is a world-wide Missions Fest movement so that I do need to specify it is the Vancouver version I am talking about. Every specific Missions Fest has a place name associated with it to distinguish it from the others.

Well, not quite. There is actually a Missions Fest without a place name. It is the international version that is the proprietor of the name and the logo, and that is also based in Vancouver.  It is appropriately called Missions Fest International (MFI). Yes, our secular Vancouver is the womb where it all started. In fact, the original founder, Richard Dodding, now a man of seasoned age and living in Metro Vancouver, is still busy founding new chapters especially in Africa. There are now chapters in seven African cities with more preparing for theirs.  At the MFV conference he strides around sporting a lanyard that identifies him as “Founder.” I think he is both justly grateful for and proud of his achievement—with the help of God, of course—and well he might. He wrote the history of it all in his book Uncovering Missions—Engaging the World with the Gospel that I found very interesting reading. I encourage you to check out MFI’s website.

I have great respect and admiration for his achievements. People of greater fame than mine likewise exude in praise for MF in general. Tony Campolo, the well-known maverick Christian sociologist, wrote:

Missions Fest is one of the premier missions conferences in the world. This conference draws huge crowds to hear some of the best speakers in the world. Here, in Uncovering Missions Fest–Engaging the World with the Gospel, is a thorough account of its history, which in itself can inspire the reader to consider what he or she can do to carry out the Great Commission.—Dr. Tony Campolo, Eastern University, St. Davids, PA. 

Likewise, Mrs. Darlene Dodding wrote a book entitled Stories from a Reluctant Missionary of which one reader exuded:

You won’t be able to put this book down. I wasn’t! Reading Stories from a Reluctant Missionary made me laugh and cry–and relive my days in Kenya. These stories of sacrifice and dedication are full of adventure, challenges and, most of all, love. Arlene has captured the thrill of introducing her village students to the wonders of science and technology. In truth, these Christian young people have taken their places in Kenyan society in medicine, teaching and business. —Lillian Cornelius Warkentin, missionary and Bible translator.

I haven’t read Darlene’s, but it sounds like I should.

I do want to alert the more academically inclined among my readers. These books are not of an academic nature and sometimes that’s enough for us academics to shove them contemptuously aside as not worthy of our time. I have at times caught myself with that kind of attitude. But you know, some of the best things in this world are not of academic inspiration or nature. Any academic who dismisses popular books purely for that reason, is acting on prejudice and false pride, and definitely not according to a genuinely academic standard.  Missions itself—yes, a legitimate singular/plural combination—is not an academic enterprise, though missiology is. Non-academic as missions is, it has been one of the most positive forces for good during the last two centuries, in spite of its warts  and even more in spite of its many critics and detractors. My writings, including this blog, are a combination of the two.   

As noted at the beginning of this post, I intended to write about MFV but ended up writing mostly about MFI and its founders. OK, so I changed course slightly, but this MFI stuff really needed to be aired first in order to understand the context of MFV.  So, I promise: The next post will be on the latter. 

There I go again with my promises!  I just can’t seem to live without them. In addition, this post represents a break from some of the longer ones I have forced on you recently—not even up to the 750 words at which I generally aim and often exceed. An entire 37 short!