Years of planning, prayer, training, cooperation – and some conflict – will bear fruit this weekend as the Greater Vancouver Festival of Hope comes to Rogers Arena from Friday to Sunday (March 3 – 5). One final pre-Festival prayer gathering…
Reg and Donna Reimer have experienced a whirlwind of media attention over the past week as they took part in an emotional meeting with a family Reg helped to reunite 39 years ago. Following is part of a November 6…
Margaret Ritchie and Soran Nakai attended Suitcase Stories by Maki Yi together on opening night (October 28). Margaret has written a review, followed by Soran’s interview with the playwright. Suitcase Stories is a Canadian-Korean woman’s first person account of her…
Local ministries are preparing for the next wave of refugees, even as they continue to support those who have already arrived. According to the federal government, some 6,000 more government-supported Syrian refugees will arrive in Canada this fall (of whom…
There is an ocean width of difference between being alone and being lonely. Some think it is language, unaffordable housing, technology or erratic work schedules that distance us from each other. For newcomers to Canada, it may be all of…
Forty years ago I hitchhiked up to a farm west of Lusaka in Zambia. Three months later I left as a born again Christian. The farmers/missionaries introduced me to Christ in their home Bible studies and I made a profession…
The Welcome Centre is open, and it in turn has been welcomed by its closest neighbour, First Christian Reformed Church of Vancouver, on Victoria Drive at 10th Avenue, near the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station. Operated by Immigrant Services Society of BC…
A recently retired theologian in Vancouver, British Columbia, tells a story about a conversation he once had while getting his hair cut. The stylist asked what he did, and he replied, “I teach theology.” “Really? You believe in God?” “I…
The look in their eyes captures many English words they don’t even know yet – overwhelmed, exhausted, relieved, hopeful. You can see the scene playing out at the airport day after day as refugees finish negotiating the final hurdle of…
José Figueroa is a free man, just in time for Christmas. Matthew Claxton of Langley Advance was on the scene when it happened December 23. He wrote: José Figueroa broke down in tears as he took his first steps outside of a…