Ad Interim Report on the Insider Movement

At our denomination's most recent General Assembly we adopted an interim report on the Insider Movement.  A final report will be submitted next year when our study committee finishes its work.

For those who wish to read this initial report please visit this page.

Book Review: The Gospel Under Northern Lights

The Gospel Under Northern Lights
A Missionary Memoir
Dr. Wes Bredenhof
Providence Press, 2011, 314 pages


This memoir is a first-person account of Dr. Bredenhof's missionary work at Fort Babine, British Columbia from 2000-2005. He and his wife were sent out by Smithers Canadian Reformed Church of Smithers, BC (about 700 km or 430 miles northwest of Vancouver). Though he grew up in a Christian home and his grandfather was a missionary to Brazil, the author never felt called to ministry until a number of events took place after he finished high school.


The story is set in the remote village of Fort Babine, a First Nations Reserve in British Columbia. The author does a fine job providing additional context for his story which includes the history of this people group, their interactions with whites particularly those affiliated with the Hudson's Bay Company, and missionary efforts in that region (mostly Catholic). His story also provides insight into government policies that hurt this First Nations group particularly a controversial federal law going back to 1904 which eliminated the use of salmon barricades. This may seem like a trivial matter for the people of our day but for the people of Fort Babine their lives were at stake. Historically they, like most First Nations people, were subsistence hunters. The elimination of these barriers meant that it was nearly impossible to store up enough salmon to make it through the winter.


Bredenhof's purpose in writing this memoir is threefold: 1) To explain life in rural British Columbia; 2) To explain his passion for missions; 3) To express his love for the people of Fort Babine. In my estimation he succeeded in achieving all three of these goals. These elements are woven throughout the book so much so that you cannot separate one from the other. It was his passion for missions that led him to a beautiful yet remote community filled with hurting people. Ironically, some of the most tragic figures in the book are those who visited Fort Babine for its natural beauty but who failed to see what Bredenhof saw – the Kingdom of God advancing (slowly) among a group people who by and large and not been exposed to the Gospel. One humorous story involved an American pastor who came up and went home the same day incredulous that there was no Starbucks.


The story chronicles the author's own sense of call to ministry and how he and his wife met. It also covers several major life events: marriage, finishing seminary, and ordination. Eventually the family moved to Fort Babine where God worked a minor miracle to provide suitable housing. After settling in he began his work of meeting the residents and initiating things like a "sports night" for youth. His goal was not mere evangelism but the establishment of a reformed church at Fort Babine. Thus one should not be surprised to read about basic evangelism as well as catechism, Sunday School and worship services.


It should be expected that such a lofty goal would be met with spiritual battle: Promising contacts often drifted away, syncretism enslaved others, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal teachers claimed still more. Cultural barriers proved hard to overcome as well: trust wasn't always easy to establish; how and when to invite people to events proved difficult; etc. There was also the element of racism that reared its ugly head from time to time. On top of this was the stress of raising a young family in such a remote location with all of its limitations: reliable electricity and phone service, lack of email/internet, and long winters with lots of snow and little daylight. One entire chapter is entitled The Year of Grief. The final chapter explains how and why they left Fort Babine.


Please know that the book is anything but a downer. Throughout the story the author shows a remarkable maturity for someone in his first ministry assignment. This memoir records numerous "breakthroughs" with various adults and teens where real progress is made. In addition to the stories about people there are many stories about travel and wildlife. Flat tires and getting towed were a regular part of life in that part of the world. Likewise, remarkable encounters with wildlife like black bear, grizzly bear, moose, wolves make the reader wish that they could visit the area to see the same things.


The story ends with final reflections summed up in the two words adventuresome and tragedy. The first word is pretty self-explanatory. Life in a remote area is filled with adventure: chance encounters with bear or moose; sudden accidents; and wild weather. The tragic nature of life in Fort Babine is summarized in these words: "It's a beautiful place, but there is so much brokenness and need there. The need is for the healing that only the gospel can bring. Tragedy is what brought us there and what made us leave (p. 282)." To fully understand the tragedy one must be sure to read the preface along with Appendix I (A Brief History of Residential Schools) and Appendix II (Introduction to the Potlatch).


On many levels this book resonated with me, not the least of which is my own exposure to native peoples. Last summer I participated in a short-term trip to the First Nations Reserve at Moose Factory, Ontario with our denomination (Presbyterian Church in America). There I experienced much of what Bredenhof describes in this book. Traveling to such a remote community location provided a sense of adventure. There was also a sense of tragedy as reflected in things like unemployment, poverty, and teen suicide.


The Gospel Under Northern Lights is both a memoir and a basic manual for cross-cultural ministry. I hope that people read it with both of these ends in mind. Those who plan to work among native peoples ought to read this book to learn about the things they will likely to encounter.

From Every Tribe, Nation and Tongue

 

One in 7 Billion

April 18, 2010 International Day of Prayer for Turkey

stream english from Administrator on Vimeo.

From the body of Christ in Turkey, to our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Greetings from the church in Turkey – from the land of Noah, of Abraham, of Paul, of Ararat and Harran, of Antioch, Ephesus, Galatia, of the Seven Churches of Revelation……… Yet today, the body of Christians in our land is less than 0.1% of the population of 72 million.

We are writing to you on behalf of the leaders of the church in Turkey to ask for your churches. We greatly desire that you would join the small congregations of Turkey along with many churches worldwide to give 2-3 minutes to prayer for Turkey in your churches on Sunday April 18, 2010.

To learn more go to...

Pray for Turkey

Taking the Reformation Back to Germany

And now for something positive about the PCA...

I just finished listening to a wonderful interview concerning Sebastian Heck and Reformation2Germany. The interview was conducted by Dr. R. Scott Clark of Westminster Seminary in California. Joining them was Rev. Will Traub, Director of Theological Training for the PCA in Europe.

Sebastian is spear-heading a church planting effort to reintroduce the reformed faith into Germany. Yes, it still exists, at least on paper and in state churches, but the marks of the true church are largely lacking. They are planning to hold their first worship service next Sunday (4/18/10).

Click on the link below to listen to the interview in its entirety. You will gain and understanding of Sebastian and his vision. You will also learn about the spiritual climate of Germany and gain an understanding of the theological movements that have swept the land since the Reformation.  Finally, should you wish to partner with Sebastian information is provided on how you may contact him.

Heidelcast April 11, 2010: Taking the Reformation Back to Germany « Heidelblog

Sebastian Heck - Reformation2Germany

This coming Sunday will be a special treat - Sebastian Heck (left) of Reformation2Germany will be speaking at our church at 11:00 AM. To the right is Dr. R.C. Sproul. He will be telling us about his work to plant reformed churches in his homeland of Germany. How wonderful it is to send nationals back to the own country to do evangelism and to plant churches!

The picture is best explained at the link below:

Announcing the German Translation of The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul Ligonier Ministries

9Marks & World Missions

9-Marks July-August 2009 eJournal:

Jonathan Leeman, Newsletter Editor has this note about their latest edition and the topic of World Missions. He writes:

"A country can only export what it manufactures. That's a pretty basic principle. But now apply that principle to the topic of missions: if generations of American churches have been characterized by pragmatic church growth principles, what would you expect to see characterizing their overseas missions endeavors? "

Okay, so maybe American missions work is driven by the same kind of pragmatism that characterizes so many American churches. Is that really such a big deal? Well, stop and consider the differences between planting pragmatically-driven churches in America versus planting them in most Majority World contexts. Such churches in America have the luxury of building themselves upon the foundations of a culture imbued with several hundred years of Christian influence and ethical norms. Fill a room with nominal Christians, as pragmatically-driven churches do, and you still have a dame that looks half way decent. She'll dress up alright.

Now build that same church with those same pragmatic principles, yielding once again a room filled with nominal Christians, but do it in a country with strong traditions in polygamy, or animal sacrifice, or ancestor worship, or Islamic chauvinism, or Hindu castes, or nepotistic social structures, or so on. Build it on the shoulders of leaders who didn't grow up in Sunday School and were not groomed in seminary classrooms with tall genealogical trees, where orthodoxy, even if it's doubted, has been defended in book after book after book. What should we expect of this church? I've been around the Majority World block enough times to suspect something very different, indeed."

Click on the link above to read the rest of his piece but the other articles on the same topic.

From an unrelated source I found this blog post about one man's recent mission trip to another country: http://genevaredux.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/american-cheese-exported/ Sad.

Christ Covenant Church in the News

Our denominational missions magazine, Network, came out last week. In it was a short story about the church I pastor and our desire to be involved in missions.

The story isn't about me as much as the people I pastor. They are a wonderful and caring group of saints. My hope is that in the years to come we can do more for missions than we are currently doing.

You can read the story by clicking on this link: Mission to the World (PCA). Then, page down and look for the Network tab located on the left side of the page. Click on that link. Once inside you will need open the Spring 2009 issue. You will find the story about our church on page 12.

On a related note our church website was recently updated. You can click here or click on the link to the right.

JAARS/Wycliffe Bible Translators Coming to Midland

On the weekend of September 13 & 14, 2008 the pilots and staff of JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Support), the support wing of Wycliffe Bible Translators, will be in Midland to conduct their Missions At the Airport program. The event will be held at the Midland-Barstow Airport courtesy of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Times are Saturday from 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM.

Those who attend will be able to see the aircraft up close, visit with pilots and learn about missionary aviation and the on-going work of Bible translation. Rides will also be available in the aircraft for a nominal fee (waivers are also required of all riders. A parent or guardian's signature is required for anyone under 18 years old).

Our church, Christ Covenant PCA, is sponsoring the event along with Midland Evangelical Free Church, 99.7 WUGN Family Life Radio, and the Midland Evangelical Pastor's Fellowship. Previous events in 2005 and 2006 brought out lots of people to learn more about this important work. We are trusting God for good weather and broad support from the folks in central Michigan.

For more information about this event please call (989) 839-6563.

To learn more about JAARS please visit their website:

http://www.jaars.org/