This is no joke

Street Church Ministries in Calgary has released a comic book called Back 2 the Streets. It presents the life story of Artur Pawlowski, who had a violent background but came to faith in Christ and then founded Street Church Ministries. The book is intended to be the first of a series of comics; future books will portray stories of people impacted by the ministry. The books will be used to reach out to other people on the streets.

Only a few do good

Six percent of Canadians and a "secondary core" of about 20 percent make most of the contributions to the common good that keep society functioning well, according to a new study on generosity excerpted in the Fall 2009 issue of Cardus Policy in Public. The study found that 18 percent contribute 80 percent of the charitable giving, 9 percent contribute 80 percent of the volunteer hours, and 21 percent account for 65 percent of the participation in civic organizations; and members of the core group tend to be older, religious and well educated.

Refugees a concern

Representatives of a dozen Canadian religious organizations wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper November 12 to request a dialogue on Canada's refugee policies. The letter expressed concern about a new requirement that more people coming to Canada must have a visa; about Canada sending nationals back to 'moratoria' countries; and about plans to introduce a two-tier refugee determination system. The letter also expressed concern that statements by government leaders about "bogus" refugee claimants will "foster hostility to refugees." The letter noted that religious organizations are the force behind the success of Canada's 30-year-old private refugee sponsorship program. Those signing the letter included leaders of the Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, United Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Council of the Muslim Community of Canada, Canadian Religious Conference, International Development & Relief Foundation, Canadian Baptist Ministries, and Presbyterian Church in Canada.

So are children

World Vision Canada launched their 'Five for 5' campaign November 26. It's the first phase of a five-year campaign designed to improve child health globally and reduce child mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015. Currently 8.8 million children under five years old die every year, mostly from preventable causes such as malnutrition, lack of access to quality health care, and lack of basic infrastructure such as clean water and sanitation -- so World Vision is restructuring its development work to focus on health programs. World Vision is also calling on Canadians to take action to help the situation; and it is urging the Canadian government to make child and maternal health a top priority at the G8 summit in Muskoka next summer, and to increase funding for programs which will save the lives of women and children. At the launch, held at the YMCA in Toronto, World Vision released the results of an Ipsos-Reid poll showing that 85 percent of Canadians want Canada to be known as a global leader in finding solutions to poverty and protecting the world's children.

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Five more years

Geoff Tunnicliffe has agreed to serve another five years as international director and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance following the conclusion of his first term of service in 2010. Tunnicliffe also serves as Director of Global Initiatives for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

Women are better than men

The Trinity Western University Spartans women's soccer team won the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championship November 15. The Spartans defeated the Montreal Carabins 1-0 (4-2 in penalty kicks) in the gold medal match. They earlier defeated the University of Prince Edward Island and Queen's University in the championship tournament hosted by the University of Toronto. This is the second consecutive national championship for the team and the third in six years. On the same weekend, the Trinity Western University Spartans men's soccer team finished third in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships. The Spartans defeated the University of Toronto 2-1 (4-2 in penalty kicks) in the bronze medal game. The championship tournament was hosted by Trinity Western in Langley, BC. The male Spartans have won two bronze medals and two silver medals in the past five years, but have never won the championship.

Bishops talk

The annual Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishop's Dialogue took place at the Vancouver School of Theology, hosted by Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, November 18 - 19. The principal subject for dialogue this year was the global problem of human trafficking. At the end of the event, five Anglican and five Roman Catholic bishops celebrated vespers together in Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Vancouver.

Volunteers shoot the poor

On December 12, at least 10 volunteer photographers will gather at the Salvation Army's Grace Mansion in Vancouver's Downtown East Side to shoot Christmas photos of up to 100 families who could not otherwise afford them. There will be onsite printing and a postage station so the families can send the photos to their loved ones. The event, called Help Portrait, was organized by Steph Forster, who founded an arts non-profit organization called the Nehemiah Foundation. Also helping with the project are the Union Gospel Mission, YWCA Crabtree Corner, Eagles Nest Preschool and MoreThan12 Church.

The Big Squat

Staff at First United Church in Vancouver's Downtown East Side staged a 'Big Squat,' squatting outside the church to draw attention to World Toilet Day, November 13. The day draws attention to the fact that 2.5 billion people do not have adequate water and sanitation services. Since last December, First United has been open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing shelter for 250 people a night under the City of Vancouver's HEAT program. That accounts for over 50 percent of the people who access shelters in the city. Ric Matthews, minister at the church, says the bathrooms at First United are "totally inadequate" for the number of people staying there, even though the bathroom facilities are better than those in most single room occupancy hotels in the city. With some support from the City and BC Housing, the church plans to add five showers and five toilets at an estimated cost of nearly $100,000. First United and the City recently partnered together to open a safe storage facility for the shopping carts and other personal possessions of those seeking shelter.

November 26/2009