In my quest to deepen my understanding of my faith, it has become apparent that if I don’t pay attention to the Incarnation I will have missed the point. I explain in Episode 4 how I arrived at this critical belief when Jacqui, my collaborator and pastor, interviews me. I won’t expound here. Jacqui and … [Read more…]
Another fantastic festival of international films this September. I was pleased to have walked to and from every screening at The Globe and Eau Claire making me fall in love with my city some more. Happy to have shared the experience with Amber at 4 films, my neighbour Jae at 5, and another neighbour Marilyn … [Read more…]
Lots of politics lately. War. Guns. Refugees. Women’s rights. Climate Change. Racism. All of it explodes on Facebook and traditional news. I find most of the time the issues are incredibly complex with stakeholders on all sides. I have Facebook friends on most of these sides too. Then there’s me. I’m a teacher. I work … [Read more…]
I found this book (Something Beautiful for God: The Classic Account of Mother Teresa’s Journey into Compassion) at the Calgary Reads Book Sale in early summer. I’ve always been fascinated with Malcolm Muggeridge since reading about him in the Diaries of Adrian Mole and then his short story of the leprous heart. I learned he … [Read more…]
It’s been 1 year since I boarded a plane to visit two African countries and a community development organization in each one. Since that time, I’ve really let the ideas and realities of what is happening in these successful enterprises percolate. Here are the thoughts that have persisted. SOUTH AFRICA My first stop was Bhekulwandle, … [Read more…]
My first week in Africa was spent with the wonderful Waldon family who have been in the Amanzimtoti / Bhekulwandle area of South Africa for the last six years. I knew them in Saint Albert when I was working my first job out of university at their church. Amber and I have been supporting their … [Read more…]
Carl hooked me up at Seed of Hope with one of their after school programs led by a great guy name Musa. Musa leads tutorials and discipleship programs with jr and sr high students living in an impoverished area between holiday town Amanzimtoti and Durban township Illovo. The students who showed up were told to … [Read more…]
The media response following the XL Foods in Brooks, AB shutdown over the last couple months has been a dominated by concerns to make food safer: more regulation, more measures to safeguard the quality of the meat. What is remarkable is the silence regarding the state of food production in Canada and the alarming trend … [Read more…]
The latest fundraiser I was a part of was the Pink Floyd themed “Another Brick in the EcoSan Latrine Wall.” We sold cardboard bricks for $10 and entered people’s names in for door prizes that church members donated (wine or beer tastings, multi-course home cooked meals, jewelry making class, etc.). Then a couple Sundays ago … [Read more…]
My church was graced with the presence of three directors of community development projects in the Kamenzi area of Malawi for 11 days at the end of September. I have been a member of a community development partnership team from my church called Ubuntu for the past couple years. Since we sent a small group from Calgary … [Read more…]