Knox Blog
October 26, 2010
From Ann Chow, Knox Missionary
I write to you as the logistics coordinator for the Programme Committee for Cape Town 2010, a conference held in collaboration with the World Evangelical Alliance this October in South Africa. It’s part of the Lausanne Movement, a worldwide group that mobilizes evangelical leaders to consider the current missions issues of the global Church and collaborate more effectively together. They are bringing together 4,000+ leaders from more than 200 countries to confront the critical issues of our time – other world faiths, poverty, HIV/AIDS, persecution, among others - as they relate to the future of the Church and world evangelization. The Lausanne gatherings started in 1974 by Billy Graham, to reframe the Christian mission of evangelization in a world rife with social, political, economic, and religious upheaval. There have been smaller gatherings since then in addition to Lausanne II held in Manila in 1989. I remember learning about this in my church history classes, each gathering brought about a huge paradigm shift in the way we think and do missions, so this is church history in the making! This will be the third gathering at the prompting of church leaders around the world and you will be glad to know that many staff from the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students is deeply involved in the direction and program of the congress. Many of them I met in Toronto at World Assembly 2007, small world, eh?
No one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.
On a personal scale, I am struck once again how the kingdom of God is backwards. Backwards to how we understand the world to work, the opposite of what we learn is the ‘responsible’ thing to do and utterly counter intuitive. There goes Jesus again, talking this kingdom of God talk. Sigh. What does this all mean? I had the privilege of leading the bible study from John 3 in our monthly chapel last fall, where Nicodemus has his famous interaction with Jesus under the cover of darkness. Was it out of fear for his reputation? Uncertainty of the divinity of Jesus, or perhaps he was certain that Jesus was the Messiah and decided to became a quiet double agent. He surfaces again at the time of Jesus’ death to bury his body according to the proper Jewish customs. Poor Nic, it must’ve been quite the confusing conversation for him. Talking about womanly topics with a Pharisee was so, um, unclean. How is it possible to be born again, was this guy actually God in human form or a total nutter? The Word zeroed in on me and the message has stayed with me ever since. Jesus was calling this prominent teacher to leave his current world of comfort where he had everything he needed, food, the warmth of trusted colleagues and a growing reputation to what? To certain birth pangs and be thrust out from a place of relative comfort and familiarity to a place of complete unknowns, exposure and vulnerability. Does God truly call us to this? If we believe that conversion is not just a one-time thing, but that spiritual transformation is a continual process, then it’s very likely that being ‘born-again’ is not a single act in the life of a faithful follower of Jesus, but a risky paradigm shift that requires many steps of faith & a boat load of courage carried by the prayers not just of the individual but of the community of believers. I’ve had a sense that transition was coming, but didn’t have a clue what it would look like and I still have the everyday concerns a person raises when they sense change is coming – what will I do for a job? How will I pay the bills? What direction is my life heading? Cape Town 2010 is extremely exciting but temporary. I would appreciate your prayers for courage, strength to face the future and discernment for God’s direction in my life.
July 19, 2010
Lessons from Mali
Knox attendee and sound guru Alyssa Bistonath, a regular photographer with World Vision, recently travelled to Mali on assignment. Below is a short meditation on one of her experiences there, underneath her illustrative (and astonishing) photo.
As we drove through the dust-filled air, the sky took on a sepia tone and the clouds sunk into a low April fog. I took note of the bruise that the bumpy road and my camera had formed on my leg. I was in Mali, working as a photographer for World Vision, and the 45-degree heat, rumours of the Icelandic volcano eruption, and a harsh flu made me thankful for a day off.
We were venturing further when, to the right of the car, we noticed a cloud embedded in the ground, a fury of activity right in and among it. Within seconds, we were pulling over, and a balloon of excitement burst in my chest.
I jumped out the back doors and climbed up on top of the jeep, my camera slung over my shoulder. I had never seen anything like it. It was a misty pool left over from a dried-up lake. It was surrounded by hundreds of people, horses carts, and bicycles. “Sunday,” Abdullah, our driver, told us. “Time for fishing.” We learnt that the community waited all year round for the hot season to dry up the lake. Week by week, they communally fished each leftover pool. Planning each time where to meet next; no one disrespecting the others by trying to fish a pool alone. As I walked down the hill and to the shore, I was moved—by the teamwork of families, neighbours, and friends. Everyone knew their role, everyone helped.
More than on any other trip before, I asked God a lot of questions while in Mali—but mostly I wanted him to ask something of me. “What purpose do you have to offer to my community?” I think back to that fishing village, and I wonder how they got to the point where every person, down to the tiny babies collecting minnows at the shore, knew what their responsibilities were. I pray and hope we can learn the same in our growing church community.
–Alyssa Bistonath
June 14, 2010
SpikeBack Against Poverty
On Friday, February 19, a volleyball team representing Knox Church was one of 22 teams participating at an annual fund raising volleyball tournament hosted by Toronto City Mission The 2010 SpikeBack Against Poverty Beach Tournament raised over $20,000 to sponsor 285 inner city children to attend March break and summer day camps. Not only did the Knox Spadina team raise the most money of all teams, they also won the tournament for the second time in three years.
