Flood Church responds to cyclone devastation in Malawi
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Flood Church responds to cyclone devastation in Malawi

Named the longest running cyclone in the southern hemisphere’s history, Cyclone Freddy made multiple landfalls in Africa over 34 days in February and March. Worst hit in southeastern Africa was the nation of Malawi, where the death toll has risen to over 1000 people. More than 560,000 Malawians are displaced from their homes due to…

Our Daily Bread
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Our Daily Bread

Chapati!Roti!Poori! The answers came quickly. I was leading devotions at a children’s home and had asked the children to tell me the names of some of their delicious breads. The question was a lead-in to talking about the portion of the Lord’s prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This home for orphans and…

40 were baptized
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40 were baptized

A deep cut on the heel of her foot didn’t stop Mrs. Chan Sokmean from being baptized. After worshiping with her church one Sunday, she climbed down the cement steps into the reservoir near her house and lowered herself into the water. On the way to the reservoir, she told Navy Chann-Chhay, a Resonate Global…

‘We have hope’
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‘We have hope’

“It is a miracle that we are still alive,” Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, told 80 members of the press. “So many good people around the world are united with us in their prayers and in their generosity.” On February 8, 2023, Aid to The Church In Need (ACN International) hosted…

From a miracle in Syria to a revival in Asbury
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From a miracle in Syria to a revival in Asbury

The ground is sturdy, until it’s not. Until it’s pulled out beneath you like a rug. The aftershocks of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in southeastern Turkey have hit the globe, but most especially those in the city of Gazientap. Over 50,000 deaths in Turkey and Syria have been confirmed so far, while others continue to…

‘We are all orphans’
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‘We are all orphans’

Although we knew it was coming, we still experienced the death of Queen Elizabeth II as a blow. I myself was caught off guard and wept when I heard the news. A good friend put it well: we are all orphans. The Queen had been on the throne for seven decades, since before I was…

The Church could end the war in Ukraine
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The Church could end the war in Ukraine

As religion writer for the Edmonton Journal, I visited Ukraine in 1988, the 1,000th anniversary of the baptism of Vladimir the Great. Edmonton has the largest Ukrainian population of any city in Canada, and Canada has the most Ukrainians of any country outside of Russia and Ukraine itself. On my journey through Ukraine, I could…

Plastics: A Small Victory
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Plastics: A Small Victory

In the 1967 movie The Graduate (the first movie my wife and I saw together), Benjamin Braddock, contemplating his future, is steered toward an outstanding career with one word: “plastics.” Plastics, it was believed, could do anything. Fifty-five years later, we now know plastics have horrible downsides – they last almost forever and are causing…

From Refugee to Family
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From Refugee to Family

As we watch the gut-wrenching conflict coverage coming out of Ukraine, many of us are wondering what we can do to help. Images of destroyed shelters, video footage of babies too premature to be evacuated and news reports of civilian bodies in the streets are impossible to ignore – they cry out for justice. On…

Cyprus 1974 and Ukraine 2022
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Cyprus 1974 and Ukraine 2022

The current Russo-Ukrainian war brings back difficult memories of another conflict that occurred in my youth and displaced virtually all of my paternal relatives from their homes. It was July 1974. I had just completed my first year of university at Bethel College in Minnesota where I was majoring in music. During that summer, I…

The world responds to Russia

The world responds to Russia

Following the end of the Great War just over a century ago, an effort was made to end the ancient cycle of warfare by anchoring international order in a new multilateral League of Nations. US President Woodrow Wilson, a devout Presbyterian Christian, wanted to locate its headquarters in Calvin’s Geneva in historically neutral Switzerland, but…

Harvesting hope in a season of drought
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Harvesting hope in a season of drought

In 2020, the fallout of the covid-19 pandemic brought with it a dramatic increase in global hunger. Ongoing war and conflict continued to impact people’s food security. Changing weather patterns also resulted in an increase in floods, droughts and other natural disasters, leaving vulnerable families struggling to meet their food needs. Canadian Foodgrains Bank works…