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| Urgent Need for VolunteersI am still on sabbatical, but I received this urgent note from Pastor Bernard Westerveld, pastor of St-Marc Reformed Church in Quebec City. Drop me a message if you can help out and I'll put you in touch with him.
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Dear friends,
We have an urgent need for volunteers for our English
Bible Camp, July 7-11 (Monday-Friday; 9 am - 4 pm).
The mission team
from Dayton, Ohio had to cancel their participation in this camp. However, over
30 kids are registered for the camp -- most from non-evangelical families. We
do not want to miss out on this opportunity to share the Word of God with
them.
We have about 9 volunteers from our local congregation, including
3 English-speakers who can teach the Bible lessons.
Our immediate need
is for more English-speaking reformed believers, particularly but not
exclusively youth and young adults, who can help with the camp activities --
singing, crafts, games, sports, supervision, etc. You can read more about the
English Bible Camp on the OPC web site: http://opc.org/cfm/Short-termSummerProjects.html
If
you want to come, you will need to:
- fill out the registration form and have a letter of recommendation from your
pastor
- take care of your own travel to and from Quebec City
- have money for some meals and pocket-money
- come with a few activity ideas (if possible)
We will seek to
provide you with free housing.
If you have any questions, please contact
me asap:
Bernard Westerveld, Pastor
Église réformée St-Marc
http://www.erq.qc.ca/stmarc/
Thank
you for your prayers as we prepare for this camp.
In his
service,
Pastor Ben Westerveld
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| Farewell for NowOn Monday (June 2) I begin my much anticipated study sabbatical. For the next six weeks I'm going to be a writing and research machine. So, you won't be hearing anything from me on Yinkahdinay till mid-July (July 15).
My Th.D. dissertation is on the relevance of the Belgic Confession for the practice and study of missions (missiology). Back in 2003/2004 when I started this journey, I chose this topic for a number of reasons. One was because it combined my interests in missions, church history, and the Belgic Confession. But more importantly, in the last 30 years, a number of strong assertions have been made about the relevance of the Three Forms of Unity for missions, including the Belgic Confession. These assertions were especially made in the Christian Reformed Church and I wanted to investigate this area to see if these claims have any validity. Is it possible to be confessional and missional? This is an area of research in which very little has been done and what little has been done has been in Dutch. So, I'm convinced that this will be an original contribution to the field of missiology.
I have presently completed drafts of two chapters (out of a projected eight). A third is nearly done. A lot of work still remains, mostly writing, but also research. Next week my plan is to evaluate what research still needs to be done and how much of it can be done here. If I need to, I can travel on my sabbatical to do some research elsewhere (e.g. Hamilton or Grand Rapids), but I would prefer to do as much as possible right here at home. I know my family prefers that too. They've also been looking forward to this sabbatical, a time in which I'm going to be working eight hour days, five days per week and I'll be home every evening -- no meetings, no visits. In short, we get to be a normal family for six weeks.
So, farewell until July!
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| Reformed Bible CollegeWhatever happened to the idea of a Reformed Bible College for the Fraser Valley? My colleague next door in Aldergrove provides an update. It would be great to see this get off the ground.
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| Vancouver Sun Follow-Up / CBCWell, I am surprised and grateful: the Vancouver Sun published my letter to the editor this morning.
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The Vancouver Sun has also featured a good deal many letters lately from disgruntled CBC Radio 2 listeners. CBC 2 has already changed their line-up quite a bit and more changes are in the works. Basically the changes come down to less classical music and more Canadian content. For instance, Disc Drive is being cancelled, so is Tom Allen's Music and Company.
I've almost totally given up on CBC 2. It all started going downhill when they cancelled After Hours, a jazz program that used to run from 10 till midnight. We ended up with "the Signal." What an insipid, stupid show. I tried to like it, but I can't. The odd time they'll place some cool electronica, but most of it is garbage that an uncultured Cretan like myself just can't appreciate. But yet CBC thinks I should just because it's Canadian. Two thumbs down for Canadian content laws and policies.
But all is not yet lost for public broadcasting in Canada. We still have a public broadcaster that plays quality classical and jazz and even throws in a bunch of electronica from time to time. It's called Espace Musique -- you can find it in the Vancouver area at 90.9 FM. Yes, this is the FM service of Radio Canada, the French equivalent of the CBC. If you're like me, you probably won't be able to understand 90% of what the announcers say, but who listens to radio for the announcers? I listen for the music and they play good music in French and English.
Besides all that, there are only two times that I really listen to the radio at all. That would be when I'm driving around and when I'm laying in bed falling asleep. Otherwise, it's all music off the Internet, either stuff that's streaming or downloaded.
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| Letter to the Editor of the Vancouver SunFrank has provided some helpful clarification about the article that was featured in yesterday's Vancouver Sun about our new pipe organ. This is the letter that I sent to the editor this morning. I doubt they'll publish it, but at least the effort was made.
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Dear editor,
I would like to thank the Vancouver Sun and Pete
McMartin for the article regarding our new pipe organ ('A pipe dream come true',
May 27). We appreciate the interest that exists in our community for the
installation of this beautiful instrument. We look forward to having it enhance
the singing in our worship services. It is true that organs have sometimes been
described as "the voice of God." However, at the Langley Canadian Reformed
Church, the voice of God is not heard in the organ, but in the reading and
preaching of the Bible. We invite all to join us, not only for the singing
accompanied by our wonderful new organ, but also to hear the voice of God as he
speaks through his Word.
Wes Bredenhof
Co-pastor, Langley Canadian Reformed
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