News briefs

The Passion World Tour in Vancouver. Photo by Kevin Pollard

Passion fills arena with worship

David Crowder at the Vancouver stop of the Passion World Tour. Photo by Kevin Pollard

Right to Sight

October 9 is World Sight Day, and a Canadian ministry is taking the opportunity to urge government officials "to work collaboratively to play a leadership role in the eradication of avoidable blindness" on a global level. "Every five seconds one person needlessly goes blind in our world," says cbm Canada's executive director, Dave McComiskey. "It doesn't have to be this way; 75 percent of blindness is avoidable through treatment and prevention." World Sight Day is an international day of awareness held annually by Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness.

Fast for change

On World Food Day, October 16, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) is asking Canadians to fast as an expression of connectedness and solidarity with the 800 million people around the world who do not have enough food. The agency has prepared a "prayer plate" to help families, friends, youth groups, etc. gather around tables and pray for the hungry. CFGB has also prepared a seven-day guide containing Bible readings, reflections, and suggestions for small changes that individuals can make which would have a big impact on the world. CFGB is operated by 15 church agencies representing most Christian denominations in Canada. Many of the leaders of those denominations and agencies have already signed up for the fast.

The Bible in pictures

Canadian artist Perry Barclay-Goddard has released Codex Matthew, a collection of 48 individual pen and ink drawings exploring the themes of the book of Matthew. Barclay-Goddard hopes to produce a similar visual representation of every book in the Bible. He is already working on Genesis, Mark, Exodus and Psalms. The Codex Psalms alone is expected to include 250 drawings. Rather than sell the works separately, Barclay-Goddard is searching for a church, gallery, collector or other interested party to provide a permanent home for the entire Codex Matthew.

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Vote for the family . . .

A "pro-family coalition" has issued a two-page 'Election Guide for Serious Christians' highlighting five "non-negotiable moral principles" which it says "should be ranked above all other issues that come up in political debate": abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and homosexual marriage. The coalition includes Canada Family Action Coalition, Campaign Life Coalition, andDefend Marriage.

. . . or for development

On October 3, Michael Casey, executive director of Development and Peace, "the official international development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada," issued an open letter to all federal election candidates to "make international development a priority for Canada."

That's a lot of turkey

Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver is kicking off Homelessness Awareness Week by serving 4,500 turkey dinners on Thanksgiving Monday, October 13. The meal requires 130 turkeys, 1,200 pounds of mashed potatoes, 700 pounds of vegetables, 700 pounds of stuffing, 50 gallons of gravy, 250 pounds of cranberry sauce, 3,000 dinner rolls, 500 pumpkin pies and 240 litres of ice cream. Due to rising food and fuel costs, the cost to provide a UGM meal to one person has risen from $2.59 to $3.29. UGM is reporting "an increase in the number of families coming in for food" and "a decrease in food donations."

Give peas a chance

Five leading agriculturalists from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) have begun a two-week visit to Canada as the guests of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). The men are seeking to learn agricultural techniques which will help to solve North Korea's chronic food crisis. MCC has donated food and supplies worth more than $13 million to North Korea since 1996.

Southern Baptists adapt to the north

The Canadian Conference of Southern Baptists has changed the name of its denomination to the Canadian National Baptist Convention. The denomination, begun in 1953 in affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention in the US, now has 250 congregations across Canada.

You can learn by talking

Western Christian College and High School in Regina recently sent 10 students to Antwerp, Belgium and China. It was a cross-cultural learning experience for the students, but they were also part of a Let's Start Talking mission group that teaches English using books from the Bible as text.

October 9/2007