ALLY

 

This is the fifth in a series of articles written by a number of Community of Christ Evangelists in Canada East Mission. We are pleased to offer the stories of these highly respected ministers for your reading. It is our hope that their stories of faith will bring a blessing to your life. This post is from Evangelist William McCarty of Port Elgin, Ontario.

I am a member of the Port Elgin, Ontario congregation (Canada East Mission). For the past 12 years, our congregation has sponsored a Peace Scholarship Award of  $500 to a graduating high school student. The  student must demonstrate peacemaking skills in self, family, school  and community.  We have 3 community judges plus myself as co-ordinator  representing  the church. Two of our judges are retired elementary and high school teachers,  the third community judge is a retired nuclear engineer who has received many local and provincial awards for outstanding volunteerism. Eric has opened many doors for us where previously we had no contact. We have met some outstanding students over the past 12 years. The high school has been very supportive in this endeavour.  At the award assembly each June, there are approximately 1000 students plus teachers and families.  I am given 5 minutes to give the presentation, but stretch that to 8-10 minutes in which I try to connect the International Peace Award to our local Peace Scholarship Award,  as in our Canadian recipients of the World Church’s Peace Award to Craig Klineberger and Jean Vanier.

One of our last recipients  was Angie who shared with the community judges of needing to bridge an understanding between her divorced mother and father and her younger siblings. At such a young age of 18, this young woman bore her testimony of the  presence of Christ’s peace.

This year, as we were interviewing students who had made submissions to the peace award, we met Emily. We noticed on her backpack a patch that  read  ALLY. During our interview, we asked Emily what the patch meant. She explained that if anyone was being bullied, discriminated against, or needed a friend to talk to, she would be a friend and a safe place to share.

I believe it is one of our callings to be an ally to those who feel oppressed, lonely, or fearful. Let us be like Emily and provide a sanctuary of peace to those who are searching for an ally.

In Grace and Peace,

William McCarty

Healed of Hatred

 

This is the fourth in a series of articles written by a number of Community of Christ Evangelists in Canada East Mission. We are pleased to offer the stories of these highly respected ministers for your reading. It is our hope that their stories of faith will bring a blessing to your life. This post is from Evangelist Larry Galbraith of Ottawa, Ontario.

Several years ago, following a church meeting a mother came up to me very upset and depressed. She shared that recently her teenaged daughter had been accosted by a man who was now in custody and awaiting trial. Her heart was filled with hurt, anger and revenge. She was even feeling hatred toward God and she was suffering greatly. She did not know how she and her daughter could face this man in court. Her peace in Christ was gone and she felt desolate and alone.

Another Elder and myself ushered her into the sanctuary where it was quiet and offered her administration to ease her anguish. As we presented her to God, His Holy Spirit enveloped us in a blanket of warmth, love, understanding and forgiveness all in one. This mother was wrapped in a warm glow of peace and acceptance. We all felt His Divine Presence and her soul was healed.  The sword of righteous indignation was removed from her hands. She was free from all hatred and oppression. Praise the Lord!

Evangelist Larry Galbraith
Ottawa, Ontario

LET THE OPPRESSED GO FREE

This is the third in a series of articles written by a number of Community of Christ Evangelists in Canada East Mission.  We are pleased to offer the stories of these highly respected ministers for your reading.  It is our hope that their stories of faith will bring a blessing to your life.  This post is from Evangelist Carson Imeson of Windsor, Ontario.

Serving as an Evangelist for the past 20 years has allowed me to experience and become more aware of the love God has for each one of us. It is a love that goes beyond judgment.  It is a love that recognizes the good in all of us. It has been my experience that in being a minister of blessing, I too receive the blessing. 

Last year I attended the McGowan’s Lake Reunion near Ottawa, Canada and met Sean Pigeon, who is blind. He is an Elder in the Community of Christ and even being physically blind has brought rich ministry to so many over the years. He received the sacrament of administration after the closing service and as we stood there alone, he asked if I would take him down the rocky terrain to his trailer. I said I would be glad to, but I have never led a blind person. What is required of me? He suggested that I make available to him my right elbow so he could touch it and to walk and he would follow. We arrived safely at his trailer and as I walked away, I was filled with God’s presence reminding me that in my blindness and uncertainty from time to time, all I need to do is reach out and touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and follow. This was the day that a blind person allowed me to see with new eyes what ministry is all about. I received a new meaning to the words “recovering sight to the blind”. It is through service that we are healed.   

 I have always been touched by the parable of the prodigal son. Even though the son had taken his inheritance and wasted it all with riotous living, the father continued to look down the road for his son’s safe return. And when he saw him at the bend of the road, he ran to meet him, had compassion and embraced him without judgment. We too are called to be sensitive to the broken-hearted, accept the sinner without judgment and let the oppressed free.

I have had the opportunity over the years to help out in soup kitchens in the City of Detroit. Along with others, we prepared the lunch and the reward for this labor was in the serving. As the homeless lined up you could see the joy on their face. When I would put a sandwich and a bowl of soup on their tray they were filled with gratitude. There was no complaining. Their faces were filled with smiles of thankfulness and it was expressed in the words THANK YOU. GOD BLESS YOU. I was blessed that day.

I wonder at times why we have the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, and marginalized among us. The oppressed have brought a new understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Evangelist Carson Imeson                                

Canadian Eastern Mission

Windsor Congregation

A place of Support and Healing

 

This is the second in a series of articles written by a number of Community of Christ Evangelists in Canada East Mission.  We are pleased to offer the stories of these highly respected ministers for your reading.  It is our hope that their stories of faith will bring a blessing to your life.  This post is from Evangelist Carole Heathers of Stratford, Ontario.

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For ten years I spent a week at camp with a group of people oppressed by society and the stigma of HIV/AIDS. I knew of the oppression and stigma firsthand as our son struggled with whom he could trust to share his status. He lost his battle with AIDS in 2000.

The camp was sponsored by another denomination and was the only AIDS camp that included all people. The campers were a diverse group, adults, children, gay, straight, different nationalities, different abilities, different religions…so many differences but the one thing they had in common was that HIV/AIDS had touched their lives. In spite of the many differences they accepted each other with open arms. Camp is a safe place for everyone, often the only place where they could be themselves and feel safe enough to speak freely. When I stepped on the grounds each year I had the feeling that it was sacred space where all were safe and accepted…it reminded me of how I envision Zion.  Some campers had never been able to share their status for fear of being ostracized, even persecuted. As the week goes on you can see a weight lifted from their shoulders… a wonderful blessing…a blessing of acceptance and support.

Each day I led a Guided Meditation elective to bring healing. To those who took part it built a bond of trust between them.  On one occasion I was able to offer to a very sick camper the sacrament of the laying on of hands. My heart ached for the campers as they shared their stores of abuse and cruelty. That pain was doubled when their own family turned their back on them.

I remember the year a young man drove onto the campgrounds. It only took a look into his eyes to see his pain and fear. He had been encouraged to come to camp but as he stepped on the grounds it was obvious he was ready to run. I approached him, introduced myself and did my best to help him feel at home. It was a struggle to keep him at camp but I encouraged him each day to stay for another night and see how he felt. I asked him to come to the meditation group I was leading. After the rest of the group left for other activities he stayed and talked and cried as he shared the pain in his heart. He found out he was HIV positive just a few weeks before he came to camp; his parents distanced themselves from him. He was alone, scared of what the future would bring. He was depressed, nervous and had no one he trusted enough to share this burden with. In the quiet of our meditation room I had the privilege of listening to his story and offering him words of encouragement and hope.

At first he stayed by my side, ate every meal with me not really engaging with the other campers.  After a few days he began to look beyond his fear and see the many campers who are living with HIV/AIDS and living fully.  The day he said to me, “Do you mind if I eat my lunch with the guys from my dorm” I knew he had found a support system of friends who would stand by him without judgment.

God blessed me with a deep compassion for the difficult journey these extraordinary men and woman were walking. They have forever touched my life.

Carole Heathers

Freedom from Oppression

Wiarton Community of Christ

Today we begin a short series of articles written by a number of Community of Christ Evangelists in Canada East Mission.  We are pleased to offer the stories of these highly respected ministers for your reading.  It is our hope that their stories of faith will bring a blessing to your life.  Our first article is from Evangelist Alma Leeder of Wiarton, Ontario.

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“You who are my disciples must be found continuing in the forefront of those organizations and movements which are recognizing the worth of persons and are committed to bringing the ministry of my Son to bear on their lives.” D&C 151:9

This counsel given in 1974 reassured me that any service or effort expanded on behalf of individuals or groups experiencing hindrances to their well-being, was worthy of my support –even required. In 1951, at the age of 21 and still single, I was invited to become a Rotarian. I soon discovered that the Rotary motto “Service Above Self” would lead me into activity beyond club boundaries, in less formal circles, and church-related projects. One example occurred when a few friends decided to raise funds to send a buddy to a U.S. clinic to try to reverse his MS condition. In the end, it was not successful and we lost him, but we knew that no stone was left unturned in the attempt.

Before government health care was the norm in Canada, service clubs had to raise money for corrective surgeries. I recall going with a senior club member to visit a family. This member had been the mayor of the town, and had to use all his political talents to persuade the family to have corrective surgery to the son’s Achilles tendon to allow his heel to touch the floor when he walked or ran. It was done.

In 1964, two Rotarians spearheaded a plan to provide a place of learning for the community’s mentally retarded children and youth. Our Wiarton congregation provided the venue by sprucing up the church basement. From a small start-up budget and an initial enrollment of ten individuals,

the program has expanded geographically to service over a hundred clients with an annul budget of $1,250,000. Of greater significance, the organization has a new name- “Community Living”-to better reflect its mission.

Oppression is any condition which prevents individuals or groups from reaching a lifestyle free from the ravages of hunger, disease, and all forms of hopelessness. World-wide, polio is 98% eradicated-sometimes at cost of brave souls who go to hostile countries to administer the vaccine. But many of the needs are close to home; here on the Bruce Peninsula, it is a daunting task to supply the food banks and provide resources for home heating during cold winters.

I am grateful that as a church, we can link arms with other faith groups and anyone with an idea to bring wholeness to the lives of others. My father, a World War I soldier, always spoke highly of the kindness he received from the Salvation Army overseas. Our congregation supports their efforts to alleviate distress in our community, and we do it gladly. The late Elbert A. Smith once told our people that the Lord has many forces at work for good in the world, of which we are not aware. I believe it!

Alma J.V. Leeder

Workers

Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.

(Words of Counsel Presented at the 2013 World Conference)

Yesterday I met with Tim Stanlick, our Canada East Mission President.  We talked about a variety of situations in various cities, towns and areas where Community of Christ has congregations or opportunities: Blenheim, London, Toronto, Barrie, the Maritime provinces, the list goes on and on.  It occurs to me that the common denominator in every case is the need for workers.  As I reflect on that conversation this morning, a variety of scriptures come to mind, among which are the following. 

The call is for WORKERS in the cause of Zion; therefore, neither tarry, nor doubt that I am.  (Doctrine and Covenants 155:8)

The field is white already to harvest, wherefore, thrust in your sickle, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength.

(This call for workers actually occurs eight times in the Doctrine and Covenants: sections 4:1c, 6:2a, 10:2a, 11:2a, 12:2a, 32:1d, 32:2c, 122:71)

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

(Isaiah 6:8a)

With that in mind, and the needs of the church pressing firmly upon us, I would like to place the following ad.

HELP WANTED

Must be a disciple of Jesus and willing to pray, visit, listen, work and invite.  This is an outside position that requires successful applicants to be outside the walls of church and home to meet people where they are.  Must be willing to work in teams for no pay and great rewards.  On the job training provided.  No previous experience required. 

And the Trees Wept!

It was Saturday morning following Good Friday.  I had attended an

Ecumenical Good Friday Service and recalled the tragedies of Holy Week.

Now, I arose, looking forward with anticipation to the joys of Easter Sunday.

As I walked into my kitchen, facing my wall of windows into my back yard,

I  was quite literally knocked speechless by the most astounding, awe

inspiring sight that I had ever seen before, or ever expect to see again.

A bright, clear morning sun had set my yard ablaze; a tall birch tree, a

shapely Japanese maple, and a huge willow tree were arrayed in a mantle of millions of diamonds, setting off radiating sparkles in every direction.  I was

speechless at the beauty before me.  But where, how, why?  My eyes then

traveled downward, and lo and behold streams of sparkling water poured

from every tree.  Again I looked around me;  looked at my neighbors trees

on both sides.  No ice, no frost, no rain!  Nothing!

I stepped out on my deck, holding my arms heavenward to feel the rain....

but no rain fell.  Then as my eyes turned to the glittering trees before me, and

the sparkling waterfall beneath, resembling ropes of moving diamonds more

than water and I thought, “My trees!  My trees are weeping!”

And then almost immediately came a second thought, so clearly;

“God is weeping this morning, weeping over His children!”

....and then these thoughts quickly followed.   Easter is not just remembering

the horrors of Good Friday, or the joys of Sunday’s resurrection, because

God still weeps over His children.  God sent His only begotton Son to suffer

and die for our sins, and He still stands at the door of our hearts and knocks

seeking entrance in.  His resurrection gave us hope for eternal life, but our

hearts have yet to learn to love ALL of God’s children, and so He Weeps!

Can we answer His knock on our heart and forgive one another, love one

another, and share the Good News  that Jesus Lives, Jesus Lives!

Submitted by Dottie Burdette

Co-Pastor, Wiarton, ON