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Christ-centred. Creative. Canadian.
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Jeremy Palmer, a seafarer who passed through the war-torn Strait of Hormuz earlier this year, was somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when I contacted him for my seafarer article. Palmer’s onboard duties were demanding and his internet was spotty, so he was only reachable through Facebook Messenger. Our interview spanned the course of several days, a conversation made sporadic by a time difference and a literal ocean between us.
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Although Palmer and his crew safely traveled through Hormuz, things could have easily gone awry. I’m a world removed from the war in Iran, tucked into my bubble of Canadian ignorance where my dorm remains stocked with goods from faraway places. Palmer’s story made me realize just how much I rely on that little strip of water between Oman and Iran, and how it took Canadian gas prices increasing for me to think about the seafarers who risk their lives at sea for the sake of globalization.
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This week’s stories point to our need for global relationships. Here are a few highlights:
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P.S. Did you know you can track ships in real-time online? It surprised me how many ships are at sea every day!
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Did someone forward this newsletter to you?
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THE FACES OF THE FREIGHT WAR
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Canadian chaplains respond to the war wounds of stranded seafarers.
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Jenna Boone
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Christian Courier was able to get in touch with Jeremy Palmer, a Filipino seafarer who passed through the Strait of Hormuz aboard the MV Ermis in July. At the time of this writing, he was en route to Brazil, but the memory of Hormuz still cast a shadow over his journey. From March to July, Palmer and his crew were adrift in the Arabian Sea “wait[ing] for the war to decrease the tension at the Strait of Hormuz” so they could enter.
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A FROSTY WELCOME FOR SEASONAL WORKERS
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Immigration, kinship and the Kingdom of God.
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Rena Namago
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Many of us enjoy the fresh fruit and vegetables that are so abundant at farmstands and grocery stores at this time of year, but how often do we think of the human cost of this abundance? Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program is often described as a “triple-win” for origin countries, Canada and migrant workers; however, the story is different when we listen to migrant workers and their families.
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THE WOMEN WHO MADE MAGA POSSIBLE
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Kathy Vandergrift
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What to make of the high percentage of evangelical Christian women continuing to support Donald Trump? Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez traces the development of a particular notion of femininity and Christian womanhood in a book complementing her best-seller, Jesus and John Wayne, which charted the history of masculinity in the evangelical world.
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A CBC REPORTER LOOKS BACK
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Harriette Mostert
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Anchors and foreign correspondents were familiar names when I began paying attention to the news as a young person during the 1980s. Brian Stewart stood out with coverage from far-off places like Ethiopia, Northern Ireland, Poland and Afghanistan. His reporting on The Journal went beyond sensational headlines.
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A BROKEN COMMUNION
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David Koyzis
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I understand that church denominations have to weigh their associations carefully to ensure that they align with their mission and identity. But I believe Synod was too hasty in ending our relationship with the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and I hope it isn’t too late to correct this.
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THE ISOLATED CHILDHOOD
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Matthijs Kronemeijer
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It is not our culture, especially in the West, to admit that we need others. We have individualized everything. Parenting is seen as an individual responsibility, encumbered with all kinds of safety and liability issues (as so much else is), rather than a communal challenge. I think that needs to change.
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GOD DOESN'T SHOUT HIS GRACE ACROSS A DISTANCE
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Why the CRC shouldn’t have left the World Communion of Churches.
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Mike Koot
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What troubles me most about the CRC's decision to formally withdraw from the World Communion of Reformed Churches is that ours was one of the churches that helped shape the communion’s formation in 2010. What becomes of our witness once the relationship is gone? What becomes of our love? It seems to me that relationship is not merely a pleasant accompaniment to truth. More often than not, it’s one of the ways the truth finds a hearing. It’s the vehicle for truth.
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ABECEDARIAN SEPTEMBER (OR BETTER THAN CARROTS)
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Katie Munnik
Ate so many zucchini this summer – my garden was almost
Bursting with the glut of great, green
Canoes, yes, that huge, and (my fault) largely forgotten in the shade. . .
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Do you and your spouse attend different churches (or wish you did)?
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One of our writers is working on an article about mixed-church marriages – that is a marriage where the spouses are members of different Christian denominations. This could mean that on any given Sunday you: Go to church together, but one of you identifies more strongly with a different denomination OR you attend services at two different churches, but go together OR you attend separate churches.
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If you are in a mixed-church marriage, we would love to hear from you about what works and what's hard. We would also love to speak with pastors and other church leaders about their approach to these situations (words of advice, words of caution, and how you help couples navigate the unique challenges they may face).
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