It is always a reason to rejoice when one finds a church willing to gladly put all its energy and resources to outreach. But is not the cost of setting up a campus in another area a great waste of money, time and energy when there are so many churches out there that would be glad of help in extending the work, especially among the youth? To set up a campus in another area where other churches are labouring is to infer that these churches are wrong and that only this new mission is right.

Re A Grave Sin, November

The 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge is indeed a fitting time to remember that along with patriotism and courage there was faith on the battlefield. It is ironic that the battle came a day after Easter; but the greater irony lies in the fact that Easter was celebrated on both sides of the Ridge. I cannot forget a visit to a large Lutheran church in Frankfurt where half the large west wall was covered with a plaque honouring those who died for Gott und Vaterland in 1914-18. The suffering was shared at Vimy with the greater loss of 20,000 casualties falling to the Germans. Sir Philip Gibbs, the British war reporter, noted almost in passing that “the enemy losses were frightful, and the scenes behind his lines must have been and still (are) hideous in slaughter and terror … It is a black day for the German armies and for the German women who do not yet know what it means to them.”

I would like to express my appreciation to Andrew Faiz on his informative yet optimistic article. We are so accustomed to seeing negative items on television or in newspapers on the situation in war-torn countries, that it is refreshing to realize that all is not in vain and that this is where God wants us as a country to be. It is also gratifying to have our church and individuals involved in such situations. Those families who have lost loved ones in such conflicts need to read more about the people and cultures our men and women are trying to help. We also need to hear more about the involvement of our church in following Christ's teachings in such scripture as Matthew 25: 35-36. Thank you for being there.

I was deeply angered at the quick concurrence by the Presbyterian Church in the predictable and myopic stance of the Canadian Council of Churches on our nation's role in Afghanistan. If there will be opportunities for involvement in “public conversations” by individual churches, one wishes that the moderator might have waited before signing the letter to the Prime Minister. Too many of our decent countrymen and women have died in just causes to so easily negotiate their memory with the latest evil to confront us. That said, after reading on subsequent pages the sober reflection and informed reportage by Andrew Faiz (Afghanistan's Dusty Hope, October) on Afghan realities, I finished reading an excellent issue with an emerging hope. In a time for war, there can also be a time for peace.