ENI – The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank for pioneering small loans to poor people to set up in business, which has been hailed as a major boost for what is now called microfinance.
Kenneth Kim was officially installed as the new director of Presbyterian World Service and Development on Nov. 3 at a recognition service at church offices. His new position follows 11 years of service in Central America with International Ministries.
It keeps changing as I hear new ones, though I nearly always return to the old ones. But perhaps I return most often to Mary MacDonald's Child In The Manger:
I saw Jesus in Georgetown today. Yes!
No, we don't need no manger
Christmas Eve In the dark the streets are silent, Tumult in the city has ceased. In the light the snow is drifting, But no mortal […]
Asked why he teaches English in Taiwan as a volunteer, retired missionary Murray Garvin has a definite answer. “I enjoy the students more than anything else,” he told the Record during a visit to church offices in June. “They're mostly third-generation Christians. They're very dedicated, and there's a fervour that you don't see very often in the Canadian church. Most are pretty motivated.”
The story of Presbyterian missionary George Leslie Mackay came to the big screen in November, with a special launch screening at the University of Toronto. The documentary takes its title, The Black Bearded Barbarian: Mackay of Taiwan, from the name given to Mackay by the people he served. The documentary also aired on Omni, in available television markets.
Last month I wrote to you while on the first leg of a visit to Chennai in southern India. Our time there was followed by much joy and several special events in the villages on the Bhil field in central India, beginning with celebrations at the airport in Indore where a large group gathered to welcome us.
We are fighting for our rights as grannies,” says Magdeline Ramakobo of Alexandra, South Africa, shouting to be heard over the roar of grandmothers' voices filling the streets of Toronto. “We have to be recognised. We are so tired of not being taken like people.”
The Jewish community recently honoured a Canadian Presbyterian minister who helped Jews and Christians escape Nazi persecution during the Second World War. Rev. Dr. Fred Metzger, now retired, was declared “righteous among the nations” at a Yad Vashem ceremony in Vancouver in May. Alan Baker, Israel's ambassador to Canada, flew in from Ottawa for the presentation.
Montreal's largest congregation received its new assistant minister, Rev. Steve Filyk, on a celebratory afternoon in October. The congregation of St. Andrew and St. Paul, along with presbytery members and ministers from around the city gathered at the historic church for the service of ordination.
From the bairn in the byre
The new Evangel Hall building does more than offer shelter for Toronto's less fortunate. It offers safety, respect and a place to call home. At the grand opening celebration on October 19, those gathered listened to Khatija Tammi, a woman with two young children who fled her abusive husband. She told the crowd that being homeless was the most difficult for her eight-year-old son, Shawn.
Never heard a Christmas carol I didn't like. If they're played all day long from November 1 to December 25, that's fine with me. When else are you going to hear those beautiful old songs that speak profoundly of Jesus' birth? After December 25 that's it — no more carols until next year, except maybe for one or two that carry on until Epiphany.
As a boy, I began looking forward to Christmas vacation in early September, about the time Mr. Kowalski started handing out those math assignments. By the time December arrived, my parents were whispering more than usual and I was wondering what magical things they had in store. There was little in the way of extra money, so one of those magical traditions was the making of colourful candles we would sell door to door, hoping to earn enough to buy gifts. Not all of the traditions were welcome. Sometimes my parents enjoyed travelling to visit relatives and friends. They had a highly sophisticated method of choosing whom we would visit, which involved the laying of a map of Canada on the floor and the tossing of relatives' pictures in the air. Whoever had their picture land closest to their hometown would receive a complementary weekend visit from the Callaways. Sometimes we'd end up in Carstairs, Alberta, and sometimes in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan. As I recall, my father never used a map, he went on faith. I always felt like the Wise Men must have felt, heading off on those trips.
ENI – The Malawi Council of Churches and a multi-faith grouping, the Public Affairs Committee, are urging the government to introduce a law barring prostitution, which they say is fuelling the spread of HIV/AIDS.
My favourite thing about Christmas is singing Christmas hymns! I love so many of them that it's hard to pick a favourite.
After declaring victory last year on Taco Bell for the treatment of Florida tomato pickers who supply the food chain, the Alliance for Fair Food, in association with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, are now going after McDonald's, the biggest fast food chain in North America.
They begin playing on the radio earlier every year — those old familiar sounds alerting us to the oncoming season filled with joy, hope, family and friends. There are so many favourites, how to choose just one … Joy To The World brings fond memories as it has always been the last hymn sung by candlelight on Christmas Eve before we head home, visiting friends and family along the way. But I think O Holy Night is my favorite. “The stars are brightly shining” triggers memories of starlit walks on frosty snow, thinking about how these same stars are shining over loved ones near or far on this very night and how they once shone over the baby in Bethlehem. “It is the night of our dear Savior's birth” — that God loved us enough to send His only Son into this world as an infant — “A new and glorious morn” — that Jesus is still being born into people's hearts around the world on this very night, that there is still so much hope in such a dark world. It all brings tears to my eyes with a hope that many will come to believe through the message of song during this special time of the year.