Though I grew up in a Dutch immigrant family, it seems that my mom and dad were quick to drop the tradition of celebrating St Nicholas Day on December 6. It wasn’t until we started our own family that we reintroduced some of that story and mythology, along with some of its racist trappings, I’m embarrassed to say. Steve Bell writes this in his Pilgrim Year,”From his beginnings as the beloved Bishop of Myra and champion of the poor in the early 4th century, to the Coca-Cola endorsing, ruddy faced, red elf of the 21st century, Nicholas’ fame has been appropriated to inspire sincere empathy in some, and excessive consumption in others. In the 4th century, he was a living icon of Christ Himself. In modern times, he has almost become the high priest of a consumer cult which drives much of Western society. Actually, little information is known about the man himself. The legends surrounding him are many and often fantastical, but the basic facts suggest that he was renowned for secret gift-giving, and that he had an uncommon compassion for children in an age when childhood was often grim. One of the legends that I connect powerfully and personally with, tells of a poor man with three daughters. Without a proper dowry, the daughters were destined for a desperate future sold into slavery as prostitutes. Wanting to shield the family from the embarrassment of public charity, Nicholas slipped three bags of gold into their house under the cover of night, effectively saving the three young women from a life of bondage in the sex trade…. Historian, Adam English, remarks that it’s a surprising legend to come out of an era that had little concern for vulnerable people, especially women, which gives some historical plausibility to the legend. In our own day, Christians are once again taking up the fight against poverty and slavery, especially as these things relate to the sex trade. It occurs to me that perhaps Saint Nicholas of Myra might be a worthy spiritual patron of such causes. He clearly saw the link between chronic poverty and the sex trade and acted selflessly to interrupt the devastating consequences of deprivation…. During Advent, those of us who claim the Christian story as our own, and who hope to reclaim the “true meaning of Christmas,” may want to redouble our efforts on behalf of the disenfranchised and vulnerable poor.” One of the big markers in our family life was our going to South Africa for six months in 2002. The six months that we were able to live and teach in the northern part of the country, and the many wonderful people we met, was life changing. You might well call it an awakening of sorts and it set the direction of our lives for these past 20 years. It convinced us that we needed to share the rich blessing of Christian Education as we experienced it in Canada with those who might not otherwise be able to access it. I returned from South Africa into the position of Principal at Surrey Christian School and the beginning of a major building program and then merger of schools. Those were challenging and rewarding years of team and leadership that led to our partnership in Sierra Leone, the building and establishment of a Christian School that has now been graduating students for about five years and recognized as one of the best schools in the country. And then more recently this partnership has led to the establishment seven more Christian schools in the more remote villages around Kabala and beyond where there are growing Christian communities. One of the big challenges for the Christian Reformed Church in Sierra Leone is building an infrastructure that is financially sustainable. There are about 60 village churches in very poor villages that are not even able to pay a pastor or in many cases even build a simple church building, let alone tithe toward supporting the larger countrywide church structure. There is an urgent need to establish this church in the larger cities where people are working for wages and might be able to support a larger church infrastructure. This is a long-term goal. A few months ago, the fledgling CRC of SL was able to find a piece of land in Freetown and make a commitment to purchasing it. The property of some two and a half acres will cost about $25, 000 to purchase. We have some generous donors who have put forward funds to be matched that could finalize the sale and begin the process of development. It is the hope of the church there to build shops on this property that will be income generating as well as build a small church and a Christian School. The closing date for this sale is this year-end. If you would like to make a Tax receiptable donation to this important project you can do so online at Global Partners or send a cheque to Global Partners in Christian Education c/o Surrey Christian School 8390 – 162 Street. Surrey BC, V4N 3G1. Write Freetown Project in the memo line. Thank you for helping this new church begin to stand on its own as it seeks to offer Christian Education in the country and hope for its children. Thank you for your long term commitment to this work. With Gratitude Dennis deGroot One of my sisters gets a daily feed of archived Lethbridge Herald newspaper stories. She sent this link of main street Lethbridge out to us the other day which in turn led to a long string of memories on our family WhatsApp page, with one winter/Christmas memory leading to another. You don't know what you remember until someone else close helps you to bring it back from the files of your mind. The memories were of Third Avenue S. and the corner of Eatons. Woolworths and Kresge's Department stores, evoking the smell of oiled floor boards, the revolving entry doors, milkshakes in thick glass tumblers, listening to 45's, and watching with fascination the Budgie birds in their cages. This photo for some reason is overwhelming in its nostalgic power. I can't stop looking at it. The slushy street and the simple lamp post decorations, the string of lights and the old city busses that we would ride using paper tokens. Makes me homesick for my childhood home. As Advent and the coming of Christmas seem to have longing embedded in them. Maybe part of it is also tied to adult feelings of nostalgia that well up easily at this time of year, nostalgia and longing for what seemed like a simpler time with simpler pleasures. When we actually get to visit the past, or return to the places of our childhood, invariably they seem smaller or diminished. C.S. Lewis in his Narnian Chronicles speaks through one of the main characters. "Yes." Queen Lucy said, “In our world too a stable once held something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” As does the wardrobe, that at first seems like just a good place to hide for one person, contains a whole world to live out one's life. That kind of vibrant living that Lewis is suggesting requires a reframed imagination. Rowan Williams as he reflects on the Narnian world, "We go through a door into a reality that is bigger than the one we have left behind; the world opens out, it shows itself to be bigger on the inside than on the outside.” I need to do some more thinking about this. Thanks to JR and the folks at Terrace CRC. Another very helpful and challenging section out of Edgar Villanueva’s Decolonizing Wealth is on Listening. This should be simple but is such a difficult skill to practice and live well. “Focused listening allows you to get a glimpse of what it is like to be someone else and see the world through their eyes. Being able to adopt the mindset of a person with a different background than yourself creates openness in you. It will challenge your assumptions and limiting beliefs. It may lead you to solutions or ideas that you would never otherwise have been able to access… So good listening includes being:
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