live magazine January-February 2022

live A Baptist resource for women on a mission January - February 2022 • $3.50

Encouraging Love Executive Director Highlights 2021 (p3)

Strategic Giving 2022 (p6)

April Conference Details Schedule, theme speaker and more (p20)

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in this issue

cONNECTING

COLUMNS 2 CONNECTING 5 We Remember 5 2021 Dominion Life Membership 24 A History Moment BIBLE STUDY 9 Encouraged Love

features 3 Executive Director Highlights 2021 A Season of Transition and Growth CONNECT TO MISSION 6 2022 Strategic Giving Looking Ahead and Pressing On 8 A Window on Latin America Prayers for Latin America connect to GOD 12 Set Free in Love Love is always God’s posture 14 Encouraged Love, Given Freely 16 Encouraged Love—Received Love Don’t settle for an approximation of love 18 A Small Crevice Deep Enough A poem of love and hope 19 Encouraged Love—Honest Love Love disciples others RESOURCES Shaped by Love | Shaped to Love 20 Baptist Women’s Spring Conference 22 The Story Behind the Cover Reflections 22 A Fond Farewell 23 Shaped by Love | Shaped to Love Book Club Reading List for 2022

Cover art: Rev. Tina Rae Reflections, August 2020. See story on page 22.

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My maternal grandparents knew how to encourage love. We lived in the house next door to theirs, separated by an acre’s worth of mango, plum, guava, avocado and coconut trees. You could say that on one level, proximity made it easy for them to dispense gifts and kind words to their granddaughter but they loved me into the Kingdom in other ways.

Every evening, without fail, as dusk skimmed the tops of the trees and the streetlights flickered, Pa would sit in his bedroom and begin to pluck the refrain of some classic hymn on his mandolin, singing softly. Some days I’d perch on the edge of my bed—listening and wondering what caused him to sing in this way, every evening. He was teaching me about worship—that nothing more was needed than an open heart and a willingness to simply draw near to God. Ma would walk through the yard at least once a week and rap on a bedroom window. “Renée,” she’d call out. “Take this.” I’d open the door to the aroma of one of her infamous Trinidadian breakfasts, hot off the stove. This too was done almost without fail; a counterpoint to the crisp reprimands she’d offer when she didn’t agree with my perspectives.

“Words have life,” she told me one day. I’ve never forgotten that. Ma was teaching me about kindness and respect—that loving others well meant I needed to know how to sharpen others, and allow myself to be sharpened in turn.

Take some time to name the people who have encouraged and loved you into the Kingdom. Then consider who He may want you to encourage and love through 2022.

Renée James 

VOLUME 95, NUMBER 1

live (formerly The Link & Visitor) began as The Canadian Missionary Link (1878) and Baptist Visitor (1890). Published bi-monthly by Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec 5 International Blvd., Etobicoke, ON M9W 6H3 416-620-2954 Fax 416-622-2308 bwoq@baptist.ca baptistwomen.com Executive director Helena Bergen Editor and communications director Renée James 416-651-8967 rsejames@gmail.com Art director Donna Lee Pancorvo of GEPM Group Inc. (gepmgroup.com) Contributors Rose Amer, Helena Bergen, Linda Ellsworth, Kathy Gust, Victoria Mok, Deepthi Paul Nalla, Rev. Tina Rae, Morgan Wolf Circulation and subscriptions Subscriptions 416-620-2954 live@baptist.ca Subscriptions Individual: $20* (direct or through promoters) US & overseas: $39 All currency in $C unless otherwise noted.

The publication of comments, opinions or advertising does not necessarily imply CBWOQ agreement or endorsement. All material is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in print or on websites without permission. Advertising inquiries and freelance submissions should be addressed to the editor.

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executive director’s report

Executive Director Highlights

2021

A Season of Transition and Growth

2021 bears witness to the reality that life is never static! Life truly is made up of seasons that unfold, develop and come into full fruition, or fade into the next season, and 2021 was a year of transition into a new season for Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec. In April, Jennifer Shewan finished her term as Board President and Dr. Darlene Maxey began her term as our President. Also in April, Rev. Diane McBeth announced that she was coming to the end of her time of leading CBWOQ, and in September, I officially began my tenure as Executive Director.

Transition can feel unsettling, and I am very grateful for the CBWOQ staff and board who have stayed steady and weathered these changes well.

As a relative newcomer to the world of Canadian Baptists, I am especially thankful for the warm welcome I received, for the many people who took time to answer my questions, and for the incredibly dedicated, gifted and Christ-loving team of women I now have the privilege of being part of.

Even in the ongoing transition, however, 2021 proved to be a busy and productive year. Our theme for 2021, Encourage Love | Inspire Good

(based on Hebrews 10:23-24), was accomplished in spades. We supported Canadian Baptist Ministries projects internationally, several refugee centres locally, gave to international work through Canadian Baptist Women, participated with Baptist World Alliance—Women’s World Day of Prayer, and had a full year of programming.

Annual Baptist Women’s Conference At our virtual conference in April, women were uplifted, equipped, blessed and challenged by plenary speaker Karen Wilson, workshop leader Mee Yun Kim and drawn into God’s presence through Jenna Cowan’s inspired worship leading.

We had 446 women who registered and, since then, over 600 views on our YouTube channel and website. We learned that while we missed being together in person, there were also many advantages to meeting online as women who would not have been able to travel to attend were able to join in.

We took the feedback from 2021’s conference to plan a hybrid conference for this spring—April 22 and 23—in which women everywhere will be able to access the conference and live • January - February 2022

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gather to experience it together. Currently, we are extending an invitation for women to host these gatherings. Would you prayerfully consider if this is something God is calling you to do?

Soul Sisters online “Intimacy with the one who shaped our heart will truly and deeply satisfy your soul.”

(Jennifer Rothschild).

Soul Sisters is a program in which spiritual friendships and intimacy with God are cultivated. In 2021, 15 women journeyed into deeper intimacy with God and each other through Soul Sisters 1. From this group, nine to 10 women continued in the spring and through the fall to complete Soul Sisters 2 and 3.

This month our new cohorts will begin and our leaders will have enjoyed some coaching time with spiritual director, Kathy Gust. (Read Kathy’s latest q Uptick Baptist Women cohort

spiritual formation article on page 12 in this issue.) The Soul Sisters program is available on our website for anyone to download and use, so if you are also longing for deeper relationships, feel free to access it there and start your own group. Please let us know if you do, so we can be praying and offering support to your group.

Complete Complete is a discipleship program to support women as they journey towards spiritual maturity. It is designed to help women discern God’s personal call to them and also to equip them to answer it. Seventeen women began meeting as the pilot cohort of Complete in September 2020 and they completed this journey in May 2021. Women learned from visiting speakers, from each other and from a selection of excellent resources. This time together proved so rich and

fruitful that we’ve developed it further in anticipation of a new cohort of Complete to begin in February 2022.

Racial justice The Racial Justice team worked hard in 2021 to respond to events and to shed light on issues that are so prevalent in our world. They hosted two intercessory prayer events to support Black History Month and in response to the discovery of the bodies of the Indigenous children. They co-hosted two live book club events in partnership with CBOQ’s intercultural awareness working group.

In September, they hosted a panel discussion with experts on the topic of how to talk with our children about racism.

Finally, with input from Black, Indigenous, Brown and Asian Baptist women, the team facilitated a weekly Advent experience called We Are One that launched on Sunday, November 28.

As we continue in our commitment to inform, educate and advocate for racial equity and justice, please visit our website or join our Facebook group for information on our resources and upcoming events.

Book club Another highlight this year was the online events for our Book Club—six in total. We cohosted two events with CBOQ,

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interviewed Canadian authors (and CBOQ pastors) Kevin Makins and Rev. Tanya Yuen and learned from the realworld experience of facilitators like Sharlene Craig from CBM. Learn about 2022’s book club on page 21 and plan to join us as we roll out a fresh program.

You’ll find details at baptistwomen.com/resources Uptick Baptist Women Uptick’s leadership team spent 2021 re-setting and re-discerning while preparing to welcome a fresh cohort in 2022. In June, leaders and alumni from all three cohorts gathered in June to reconnect as an Uptick community. At the moment, we plan to welcome one cohort in 2022. This group expects to meet online with hopes of an in-person retreat in late 2022. Your prayers are deeply

appreciated for this impactful leadership development program that invests deeply into the next generation of young Baptist women leaders.

As we look ahead to all that 2022 holds, I want to extend a special invitation to stay connected and informed by subscribing to live magazine, by signing up for E-LINK, our e-newsletter, by joining our Facebook group, and by visiting our website regularly.

I also want to invite you to prayerfully consider all our resources and program offerings to decide which of them would be beneficial for you and the women in your church to engage in this year.

God bless you deeply with his great kindnesses, Helena Bergen, Executive Director 

WE REMEMBER Each generation has the opportunity to fuel mission for the next. We are thankful for the following gifts: IN HONOUR OF Ina Evans, Stayner (99th birthday) Bernice Lougheed, Barrie Irene (Cochran) Meace in memory of Evelyn Hawn, (1913-1994), Hamilton (Beloved friend and medical missionary in India) In Memory of Verla Gallinger, Cornwall Ruth Ann Haley, Springford Mabel Howes, Monck Janet Langman, Orillia John Wright, Niagara Falls

2021 Dominion Life Membership A Dominion Life membership was presented to Sharon Griffiths of Westview Baptist Church in London, Ontario.

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2022 Strategic Giving Looking Ahead and Pressing On What motivates you to give to CBWOQ? What compels you to devote your time and energy towards influencing others to also give to CBWOQ? What compelling reasons do I have for asking you to give in 2022?

These are the questions I have been asking myself and I have come up with several answers. The fact is, Baptist women have long banded together to raise money for worldwide kingdom impact.

At its heart and soul, CBWOQ is a movement of laywomen who rise to respond to the needs of the times . . . with love for God and others. As we look to all that lies ahead in 2022, I want to share my compelling reasons to partner with CBWOQ through giving.

Photos courtesy CBM

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We partner in global mission.

We love the work of our partner organization, Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM). In 2022, we have committed to fully funding two CBM projects in India that have direct impact on vulnerable women and children for a total of $28,000. We have supported these projects since 2020, and last fall we were treated to a special live report from CBM’s field staff in India who oversees them. It was an incredibly rich experience, but it was also sobering to learn of the ways in which COVID-19 has compounded difficulties and intensified needs.

Soura Widows (Odisha, India) “The status of the Soura population within India has had challenges with low literacy rates and with facing discrimination as “untouchables.” Soura widows are often marginalized within their communities and struggle to provide for the family. Business training, financial support and the generosity of Christians living out their faith in word and deed can help empower and dignify widows despite any barriers.” (CBM.org)

CONNECT TO MISSION

Mising Tribe (Assam, India) In partnership with us and the local church, CBM is helping to transform the lives of disadvantaged youth, women and children. “With an unstable income, much of the community lives below the poverty line, especially minority Christian groups who are often the least privileged within the predominantly Hindu population. With an underdeveloped educational system, the economic situation of many in the community remains poor; alongside high unemployment and dropout rates, the literacy rate for women in the community is at merely 48 per cent.” (CBM.org) In addition to these two projects, we will continue to raise funds for two female field staff with whom we have partnered since 2019: Lilian Yang serving in the Golden Triangle Region (Burma, Thailand and Laos) and Pastor Xiaodan Gang, who works with the Chinese Ministries Team serving in Germany. Lilian’s role is to equip pastors and laypersons through Christian education and theological training. Pastor Xiaodan introduces the Gospel to Chinese students studying in German universities, many of whom return home upon graduating.

We partner in local mission.

Closer to home, our partners who serve refugees,

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5 Ways to Give in 2022

Become a MAD (monthly automated donor). A monthly offering of $20, $30, $50 or $100 equals stability for us.

Make a one-time donation. This can be for our general fund or directed to a particular project or campaign.

Get a group of your favourite ladies together to participate in one of our fundraiser campaigns this year.

Take a moment to pray over our ministries in 2022.

Can you and your group organize and run your own fundraiser for one or more projects?

Plan a legacy gift. Leaving even a small percentage of an estate can make a big impact that lasts beyond your lifetime.

newcomers and other vulnerable populations also compel us to generous giving. These include Matthew Houses in Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor and Fort Erie, the Oasis-Dufferin Community Centre (Oasis) in downtown Toronto, and Friendship House in Brantford. The daily impact these ministries have on the lives of the people who reach out for help inspires us, and we are deeply thankful to support their presence in their communities.

Over the course of the pandemic, Erika Abele and her team at Oasis experienced an increase in demand for their women’s counselling program. Many women who come to Oasis to access services become volunteers. In this way, they are able to become part of a supportive and loving community as they learn job skills and learn to speak English.

In 2021, Allan Reesor-McDowell’s team at Matthew House, Ottawa, provided refuge for around 40 asylum seekers and furnished about 650 homes through their furniture bank. The demand continues to be high though, and this year they are doubling their capacity for helping. Louis, a young man who arrived in Canada from Rwanda by himself in 2019, says “Volunteering at live • January - February 2022

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the furniture bank is similar to living at the Matthew House. It’s like a family.”

We provide grants for new initiatives and leadership development.

Did you know that CBWOQ has a grant program? In fact, we have provided start-up funding for many initiatives that support our target areas of vulnerable women and children and leadership enrichment for women. Our grants program is unique in that it serves a niche of smaller projects that often do not qualify for funding elsewhere. Many of the projects we have funded are local, but others are overseas.

In the late fall of 2021, our newest grant recipients, Erik and Veronika Kress, flew to Costa Rica to begin their ministry for single immigrant mothers and their children. Extreme poverty is a reality for almost 25 per cent of Costa Rica’s population and the Kresses will be offering a holistic program focusing on Bible studies, vocational training and early childhood development.

We are very excited to support them in this.

We create women disciples and discipling communities.

We don’t just raise funds for ministries, we build disciples who become leaders in the Church in Canada.

Erika Abele, referred to above, is an example of a young woman who was identified and discipled by CBWOQ and Baptist women many years ago.

Our passion and mission is for a new movement of laywomen who are deeply and authentically experiencing God in their lives, who live in genuine community with each other, and who live missionally in the place God has set them. We accomplish this through a host of programs and resources, many of which are referred to in this issue and you’ll find on our website.

As you consider my compelling reasons for giving to CBWOQ, I pray you are feeling as excited as I am. I pray also that we all experience God’s abundance this year . . . to give back with generosity, joy and gratitude for the opportunity we have of making real kingdom impact.

Helena Bergen  8

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A WINDOW ON latin america Prayers for Latin America

Did you know that Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec (CBWOQ) is a member body of Baptist Women of North America (BWNA)? BWNA’s prayer partner—and CBWOQ’s—for the next few years is the Union Femenil Bautista de America Latina (UFBAL—Latin American Baptist Women’s Union).

Join us as we begin 2022 with prayer for our Latin American sisters. These prayers were written by UFBAL for our World Day of Prayer on November 1, 2021. Let’s pray them again.

• We pray over our dream to support a Latin American woman missionary to work with women in India as we take our first steps toward this goal. The project is called “Treasures in Heaven.”

• We pray over our quinquennial goal which is the impact we want to have on future generations.

• We pray for Indigenous Peoples and the influence the Gospel will have in their cultures.

• We pray for PEPES, the Christian kindergarten for children from poor areas.

• Please pray for these big needs: An end to domestic violence; jobs for young people; a deepening in our walk with God. • We pray that a free phone line would be established for EVERY Latin American country to give support to women who are facing unexpected pregnancies.

Files from bwa-wd.org 

BIBLE STUDY

ENCOURAGED LOVE Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

Hebrews 10:23-24 (ESV)

Megan Leavey is a movie based on the true story of the uncompromising love of two heroic soldiers wounded by an IED in Iraq in 2006.

When an IED explodes, Corporal Megan Leavey’s partner saves her life. Her partner is the sniffer dog “Sargent Rex,” who is also wounded in the explosion. Although she and Rex are allowed to recover at home, she receives the command that Rex is to return to duty in Afghanistan. Megan comes out of deep depression and determines to bring Rex home, fighting to adopt him in his retirement.

Within the context of this battle is the rebuilding of Megan’s relationship with her estranged father, who has not been the best dad.

However, he has followed every nuance of her military career. When Megan discovers this and asks him why, he utters the most profound statement: “(because) . . . how I love you is stronger than what I’m not!”

Real life Megan Leavey with her dog Rex

Throughout Scripture we are encouraged to love both God and each other. It is this “encouraged love” that is the outcome of a relationship with God the Father. Abba. Daddy. The One who loves perfectly.

Photo credit: Cpl. Michelle Brinn

by Linda Ellsworth Linda is the member care coordinator for Christian Camping International, Canada.

Encouraged Love: The Characteristics READ I Corinthians 13:1-13 In honesty, how often have you read through this passage thinking “That’s nice . . .” and then walked away . . . nothing changed?

Verses 1-3 expose all of us to the truth of action without love.

In verse one, our “false love” is exhibited through our _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ In verse two, our “false love” is exhibited through: a) Gifts of _________________ and ______________________. live • January - February 2022

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b) Our _____________________ even so extreme that it could _________________________.

In verse three, our “false love” is exhibited through: a) Our bounteous ____________ _________________________ b) Our sacrificial _____________ _________________________ Re-read your answers above. Think about your life to date. Relate situations where you have gone out of your way to exhibit the great characteristics listed in these verses: _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ In each situation that came to mind, was your motivation one of love? OR was your motivation self-serving? _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Verses 4-8 show us what “God-love” looks like and what it is not: Verse 4: Love is ____________________ and ______________________ _________________________.

What situations might prevent you from exhibiting the two characteristics noted above? a) ________________________ _________________________ _________________________ b) ________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Love is not borne out of arrogance/ self conceit. When have you been or might you be tempted to be 10 live • January - February 2022

“arrogantly loving?” _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Verses 5, 6a: Following the negative characteristics listed below, note a time in which you have indulged in each of these acts/attitudes/behaviours (be honest): a) Rude ___________________ b) Self-centered _____________ c) Arrogant _________________ d) Easily provoked ___________ e) Blaming _________________ f) Happy over wrongdoing _________________________ Verses 6b-8: Following the positive characteristics listed below, discuss situations in which God-love prompted action: a) Always truthful ____________ _________________________ b) A burden-bearer ___________ _________________________ c) Faith-filled _______________ _________________________ d) Full of hope ______________ _________________________ e) An endurance prompter _____ _________________________ _________________________ f) Eternal __________________ _________________________ Pursue Love READ Chapter 14:1a How in the world do we pursue love? Look back at the story of Megan and Rex. Megan’s love for

that dog was born out of adversity. It was moulded out of trust into an unbreakable partnership.

Megan persevered under almost impossible odds to bring her dog home.

And in the midst of her struggles, do you remember what her Dad said? “How I love you is stronger than what I’m not!” That statement exemplified her father’s life, her life and often our lives.

Jesus’ love for us was moulded out of trust in the Father. It was borne out through adversity. It was fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus persevered under impossible odds to bring us Home . . . sacrificial love personified.

And we can personify that love of Christ. “How we love is stronger than what we are not,” since that God-love dwells in US in the person of the Holy Spirit!

Encouraged Love: Love In Action READ Philippians 4:4-9 Paul challenges us to love in action.

Verse 4 The key word in this verse is joy.

Often, we find great joy in the things around us: friends, family, relationships, nature, etc., but how often have these things, though good in themselves, crept into our lives as a type of “temporal joy”? _________________________ _________________________ Paul states that our joy is to have

BIBLE STUDY

a singular focus, out of which all other joy flows. Why do you think that is? _________________________ _________________________ Verse 5: We are to be gentle to the point of: _________________________ _________________________ Verse 6: We are not to _________________________ _________________________ Instead, we are to _________________________ _________________________ (and make sure we do so with _________________________ _________________________ As a result, God has a very special and precious promise in verse 7: _________________________ _________________________ Verse 8 tells us very specifically how and with what we are to fill our minds. What do these foci mean to you?

“Whatever things are: a) True _________________________ _________________________ b) Noble (Honourable) _________________________ _________________________ c) Just _________________________ _________________________ d) Pure _________________________ _________________________ e) Lovely _________________________ _________________________

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

by J.S. Bach (1723) Jesu, Joy of man’s desiring, Holy wisdom, love most bright; Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring Soar to uncreated light.

Word of God, Our flesh that fashioned, With the fire of life impassioned, Striving still to truth unknown, Soaring, dying round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding, Hark, what peaceful music rings; Where the flock, in Thee confiding, Drink of joy from deathless springs.

Theirs is beauty’s fairest pleasure; Theirs is wisdom’s holiest treasure.

Thou dost ever lead Thine own In the love of joys unknown.

f) Of Good Report (commendable) _________________________ _________________________ Because of our intimate relationship with Jesus, we WILL exhibit the characteristics of the love of Christ. We grow in intimacy as we faithfully interact with Him through reading the Word and meditating on it and as we engage in two-way communication with the Saviour through the intercession of the Spirit.

Verse 9: Love is an ACTION, It is to be PURSUED and PRACTICED.

The PROCESS is RELATIONSHIP. The OUTCOME is PEACE The VISUAL is obvious to all.

In light of Paul’s words in Philippians 4, how does the hymn (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, see sidebar) speak to your heart? _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ For further study, (and a great deal of conviction), read If by Amy Carmichael, Dohnavur Fellowship; Christian Literature Crusade; Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034; 1938 

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Set Free in Love Love is always God’s posture

by Kathy Gust Kathy is a spiritual director and is well-known to Baptist Women through her Conference workshop and teaching sessions during Soul Sisters and Complete programs.

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What would you reply if I asked you, “What is your hope for the Christian life? What are you specifically hoping for from your relationship with God? What does Jesus offer, and what does that look like in your everyday life?”

Pause to consider your response.

My current response to these questions revolves around love.

Since the greatest commandment of Jesus centralizes love (love God with everything you’ve got and love others as yourself), it seems to me that the highest hope He offers must be found in its fulfillment. Specifically, I’m hoping that my relationship with God will lead to me being set completely free in love so that I am completely free to love.

Sometimes the word love seems like a fuzzy concept . . . what does love mean? Is it a feeling? Is it an act of my will? What does it mean to authentically love someone I don’t trust or like? What does love look like in practical terms?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives clarity: Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love doesn’t traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honour. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offence.

Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong.

Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for

others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up. Love never stops loving. (The Passion Translation) What do you think the world would look like if every Christian knew, to the depths of their soul, that love is always God’s posture towards them? What would it look like if every Christian treated themselves and others this way . . . being gentle, patient, kind, never bragging nor being jealous, not being easily irritated or quick to take offence? Pause for a few moments to imagine it. This is the life Jesus offers. If realized, the church would be a haven of deep healing, freedom, peace, joy, community and vibrant life upon the earth.

How do we get there? Wisdom is found in the order of Jesus’ commandment. Our first focus must be to grow in our love for God. As that love grows, our desire and ability to love others and ourselves with a full and generous love will also grow.

My journey of attempting to fulfill the first commandment started with the realization that I’d been trying to live the Christian life without having the most important commandment as a focus.

I was embarrassed as I prayed: “God, I don’t love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and I don’t know how to love You more . . . will You help me?”

God’s answer to that prayer was unexpected and continues to transform my life. I’ve discovered the truth StoryBlocks.com of 1 John 4:19 that

What does love mean? “we love because God first loved us.”

Simply put, God has helped me to love Him more by consistently revealing His love and care for me.

He’s been doing it for years, yet I am still surprised at the sheer generosity of His love. It’s as if it has no end! As I’ve learned to receive God’s love, I’ve been amazed and delighted to discover that His love is in itself profoundly healing and freeing. I’ve noticed that as I’m set free in love, I’m also set free to love more deeply.

God invites you to spend time with Him, to deeply see and understand the greatness of His love, to allow it to saturate you so that you can experience increasing inner freedom and vibrancy of life.

Where do you need to know God’s kindness, compassion, patience and love for you?

Join me in praying Ephesians 3:17-19, that God will root and establish us in love so that we may have power to grasp how wide, long, high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. While I don’t know what the answer to this prayer will look like for each of us, I am convinced that the result, collectively, will be more freedom, love, light, peace, joy and genuine community upon the earth.  live • January - February 2022

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Encouraged Love, Given Freely

by Rose Amer Rose and her husband pastor a church in Niagara Falls and are leading their congregation in the process of becoming part of the Canadian Baptist family of churches.

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Growing up as a Muslim, love often meant doing some action or some work for the person you loved so they could be happy with you. In the same way, God’s love meant that I performed my religious duties, hoping to please Allah and thus enter into his heaven one day.

Since I was a little girl I’d been told that it would be extremely difficult for a woman to enter heaven because when the prophet Mohammed had visited heaven, he had not seen any woman there.

There was no assurance of eternal life for me, no hope of seeing God face to face. I was lost in the endless chores and duties that I had to do to earn my place in heaven, however difficult that would be.

On the outside I was a pious, legalistic and devout Muslim but on the inside I was yearning and longing to find my place on this earth and in heaven.

The concept of marriage and finding love in marriage scared me. I could not accept my fate that I would have to be content with whatever leftover love I would get from the man I married, whether as first, second, third or fourth wife. I loved Allah with my whole heart but I was not willing to obey his commandment to accept my lot in life—to be a wife of a man who would also love many other women besides me. As a teenager I quietly vowed that I would never be okay with this. I wanted to have the full, whole love of the man I would one day marry and I wanted to have the full love, the whole love of God without working so hard to earn it. I wanted this but I did not know to do this until I met Jesus Christ.

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When I first heard the term God is love, I was confused. Associating a human adjective with God seemed like blasphemy. Even though the term made my heart jump with joy I was also scared.

“What if this Jesus is not God?” I thought constantly.

Even with these doubts though, I started learning about Him. My pastors explained the God of the Bible to me. And after spending countless hours reading, studying and scouring the Bible, I realized that the love for which I had been searching my whole life I would only ever find in one person— Jesus Christ. I knew full well that I had to go through intense suffering in order to accept the love He

offered me freely. The cost, oh the cost was so high—beatings from my own family; imprisonment in my father’s house; escaping from his home, knowing I’d never see my biological family again; never being able to return to my brith country. Yet Jesus’ cross has taught me that love comes with sacrifice. Anything less is an empty emotion.

Today, after 24 years of walking with Him and talking to Him daily, I say with certainty that I found my true love in Jesus Christ. The term God is love now gives me this assurance . . . that one day I will see my Beloved face to face. God’s Son has given me a new meaning and a new definition of love that no

p When Rose met Amer she never thought she’d marry him. Upon discovering Amer was a pastor’s son she began to trust him and shared with him her desire to learn more about Jesus. They’ve been married for 23 years.

Photo credit: Rose Amer

earthly relationship will ever give.

Yes, I experience hardships, sufferings and troubles but I never experience them alone. He walks by my side. And not once has He demanded that I perform a meaningless ritual or duty.

“Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe.” 

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Encouraged Love – Received Love Don’t settle for an approximation of love

by Morgan Wolf Morgan is a writer from Calgary. She blogs about her faith and writing at anothergratuitousmdash.blogspot. ca. Morgan has just published her book, Altruism in Gophers.

Somewhere between the halls of elementary school and junior high, an insult began to circulate among us kids—a pejorative moniker that was only offensive because of the tone with which it was wielded; but wielded it was—and with the kind of zeal for indifferent cruelty at which children often excel.

“What a try-hard.”

It looks awfully silly written out. I’m sure it sounded even sillier to any adult ears that might have overheard it. After all, perseverance, hard work and a willingness to risk are all positive attributes that maturity

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requires. Trying hard is generally a good quality. Perhaps this is why “try-hard” only enjoyed a brief— and perhaps geographic—season in the sun of childhood insults, falling far short of other ’90s favourites like “butthead” and the ever ubiquitous, “loser.” But I find myself thinking about that long mothballed insult and wondering if perhaps we were onto something without knowing it. Because inherently, the charge was not about perseverance or hard work, or risk taking—but rather, it was about inauthenticity.

And, if we’re being really honest, we all know that even when we’re trying to be authentic, the counterfeit sneaks in to parade around its phony credentials. Like that stubborn wheel on the shopping cart that persistently sends it careening into the Stovetop Stuffing display, the imitation is always ready to sneak in to subvert the authentic article. We hear it in our voices when we say that we’d love to get together to catch up when we know that it will never happen. We know it in our hearts when we feign feeling more concern about a situation than we actually do. We can all feel it—and we feel guilty about it—so we try harder.

Nothing irritates my inner curmudgeon more than a smear of Christian syrup to gild an

unpleasant pill. It irritates me because, like the old adage that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still getting its boots on, the counterfeit has a way of rushing in ahead of the real.

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

(Romans 12:9)

We must be receive-hard saints.

Paul wouldn’t have needed to remind us to have our love be genuine, if there wasn’t going to be a real and continual temptation toward insincerity. This knee-jerk insincerity isn’t ill-meant; it is just easier than roughing it through the discomforting wilderness of emotion, critical thinking and spiritual wrestling required to test and approve that which is both true and good. And usually, it doesn’t feel like we have time for all that.

So, we wrap up our difficult conversations with banal statements like, “Well, God is going to do what He’s going to do . . . ” and promise to pray and often never think about the matter again, except to know that we don’t want to think about it again.

And then, there are those situations where genuine love feels downright impossible. What then?

I can either try real hard and produce a syrupy forgery of love, or disobey the command to love my enemies altogether. The answer to this conundrum requires spiritual pursuit, discernment and a humility that acknowledges that I have no love for my enemies on my own. Loving one’s enemies requires nothing short of a miraculous work of divine intervention.

The genuine love that God desires isn’t sourced in me at all, but rather in His character. It can only be supernaturally supplied.

Human love is only a shadow; a reflection of divine love. On its own it is as dim and twodimensional as all shadows must be. Instead of being try-hard Christians seeking to generate a pseudo approximation of love, we must instead be receive-hard saints who acquire the genuine love of God spiritually . . . and are then able to give from that same love in a supernatural exchange.

We were not called to what was possible in our own strength, but rather to die to our own efforts and live supernaturally through His. If we forget this, we’re in danger of relegating ourselves to an impotent and inauthentic faith.

And if we choose that? Well, perhaps those ’90s insults ring truer than we’d thought. 

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A Small Crevice Deep Enough

When I lived intentionally in a low-income community through MoveIn, I met a number of young neighbours who had fled war and continued to live in challenging circumstances. I wrote this poem after a night spent in the company of a very young boy and his family. It is a prayer for him to experience love and hope in midst of a difficult family situation.

Learn more about Victoria’s mission with MoveIn in the January-February 2020 and May-June 2021 issues of live magazine with my arms full of this boy I have a song to sing the words are lament and praise stunned sorrow and a hopeful haze rip from the boy all the world’s hate send instead your steady grace resurrect in him the expectation that men like him are honoured when they extend love to sisters when their hands know nothing of rage let forgiveness be truth inside and through its power let the dark past fade break the long history of violence, of war in his streets, fights breaking skin set the scars and bruises in your balm and, Lord, let your healing settle in—

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how loud do you hear these wailing cries in midst of an unarticulated struggle within a three-year-old’s mind? could my arms be the start

by Victoria Mok Victoria occasionally writes poetry to examine life experiences under God’s gaze. She has attended Mississauga Chinese Baptist Church for many years.

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of some mysterious peace seeping in and could momentary kindness find a small crevice deep enough for your love to be left behind? 

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Encouraged Love – Honest Love Love disciples others

My father could resist the temptation

by Deepthi Paul Nalla Sister Deepthi Paul Nalla was one of several Telangana Baptist women leaders who took part in Baptist Women’s Life Circles leadership training in spring 2021. She is in her final year of studies for her Bachelor of Divinity degree.

In 1987, my father joined the Defence Research and Development of India as a personal assistant to the recruiting head. He was in charge of preparing the interview questions for potential new employees. Two candidates, eager to acquire jobs in the government sector, learned that my father would be setting the questions. One of them approached my father and offered him money, equivalent to 10 years of my father’s earnings, if my dad would share the interview questions with him. The second candidate approached my father for guidance instead—perhaps because he couldn’t afford a bribe. This candidate impressed my father enough that he was happy to help this candidate, guiding them in their readings about how to prepare for the interview.

The other candidate was successful in bribing one of my father’s colleagues. He earned very good marks in the interiew and was placed in a solid position. The officer who’d taken the bribe also seemed to prosper, comfortable enough to heap scorn on my father and making his working life difficult in many ways, all because my father had not accepted the bribe in the first place. A day came, however, when higher officials discovered the truth. My dad’s colleague and the candidate who’d bribed him were terminated from their positions and barred from any further job opportunities in the defence and government sectors. My father advanced through the ranks and enjoyed a respectable retirement send-off.

When my mother shared this story with me, I learned that loving God and truly obeying His commandments will always lift you up, no matter the challenges and difficulties you may face because of that love and obedience. I also learned that parents and caregivers—through their lives lived in love and obedience to God, and through their testimonies—are cruical in encouraging the younger generation to love God. Because of his love for God, a love that his parents had encouraged, my father could resist the temptation of taking that bribe.

The pandemic has taught all of us that we cannot take our days for granted and that the moment we live in is very important. Our lives are like the mist we read about in James 4:14. How essential then, for us to use our time in every possible way to teach our children the importance of loving God above anything and everyone else.  live • January - February 2022

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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

HEBREWS 10:23-24 (ESV)

SHAPED BY LOVE SHAPED TO LOVE B AP TIS T WOM EN 'S S PR IN G 2 0 22 CO NF ERE NCE Fri Apr 22 • Sat Apr 23 baptistwomen.com/events

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Join us on Friday, April 22 and Saturday April 23 for Baptist Women’s Conference. Pause in the company of other Baptist women and consider what it means for each of us to be shaped in love,

by God our Father . . . to love Him, ourselves and others.

This will be a hybrid event.

This means you will be able to access all the Conference sessions and workshops online as they unfold, and receive all the goodness that Baptist Women’s online Conferences offer: great worship, inspired teaching and speaking, and the celebration of all that God is doing through us all.

We also invite you to also gather in groups and hold a watch party at which you all will experience the Conference sessions and workshops together.

The Schedule

Theme speaker (at plenary sessions) Holly Fortier is Cree/Dene from Ft. McKay First Nation, Alberta. She was born in Treaty 7 Territory.

Her passion for sharing Indigenous history and culture began with her mother’s residential school experience, and her mothers’ story of survival, determination and success. In the delivery of her workshops she not only shares lots of statistics and facts of Indigenous people, past, present and future, but also her own personal testimony.

Worship Leader Jenna Cowans has led Baptist women in worship at two previous Baptist Women’s Conferences. We look forward to receiving Jenna’s gift of creating a sacred space where together, we may connect to Christ.

Friday, April 23 5:30 - 6:30pm 7 - 8:30pm Saturday, April 24 10 am - 3 pm

Year in Review (Annual General Meeting) Plenary Session Workshops and Plenary Sessions

Watch parties – and hosting one A watch party may be a living room full of friends or a small gathering at your church where new faces are welcomed as you gather and receive all that’s being shared online at Baptist Women’s Conference this April.

A watch party does need a volunteer host, or two or three—working together. What will the host or hosting team do?

• promote the event, • welcome and show hospitality to women who attend, • invite other ladies to help host, • maintain a sign-up list with participant information, • take great photos of women at the party (or find someone to do this) If you’re interested in hosting or helping to host please email Abby Lambshead at bwoq@baptist.ca. She’d love to connect with you and send you a package of resources.

We were made for community! So let’s get together!

Workshop Leaders Kendall Vanderslice is a writer, public theologian and professionally trained baker. In 2018, she was named a James Beard Foundation national scholar for her work bridging food and religion.

Danielle Steenwyk-Rowaan is Team Leader of Open Homes Hamilton, a ministry that supports refugee claimants by offering home-based hospitality. Danielle and her Open Homes teammates and are working to recover the ancient Christian practice of hospitality in the Church today, Joanna la Fleur is a speaker, podcaster, TV host and communications consultant who has been helping the Church communicate the best news in the world for over 15 years.

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RESOURCES

The Story Behind The Cover Reflections Rev. Tina Rae from Westview Baptist Church, London, shares the story behind this piece. Tina is the children’s ministries director and a visual artist.

August 2020 - mixed media (acrylic, wire, aluminum, wood and broken mirror pieces

I was inspired by the fairy tale called The Ugly Duckling. If you remember the story, the duckling thought he was so ugly compared to the rest of his duck friends and later learned that he was the most majestic bird in the lake. All he needed was a new perspective and another swan to tell him that he was beautiful.

The reflective water in this artwork is made from broken mirror pieces to represent how we sometimes see ourselves with a broken and distorted view when in fact we are more beautiful and amazing than we may think. When the viewer looks at this piece they will see their own distorted version looking back at them, but they will also see the beautiful swans.

Reflect and ask: Are you broken? Are you beautiful? Or are you both broken and beautiful? How do you think God sees you? He sees you as beautiful even amid your brokenness! 

A Fond Farewell We are sad to announce that this issue is the last issue on which we will have worked with Gustavo and Donna Lee Pancorvo from GEPM Group Inc. Since 2009, Donna Lee has brought her eye for detail, graphic design skills, imagination, patience and a deep history with Canadian Baptists to bear on all the design layouts and proofing she did for live magazine.

Gustavo kept printing and mailing costs flat for too many years to count, finding and keeping the best trade printers and mailing houses engaged on this magazine.

Please join us in thanking Gustavo and Donna Lee for being a joy to work with and for being true ministry partners. We wish them God’s best as they move into another creative chapter in their lives.  22 live • January - February 2022

RESOURCES

Shaped by Love | Shaped To Love Book Club Reading List for 2022

We’re thrilled to unveil our 2022 book club titles. We’ve curated each read to reinforce the spiritual formation, discipleship and community engagement resources and programs we’ll roll out through the year.

To get you started, visit our baptistwomen.com/resources for a helpful resource on how to start and run a joyful book club. Then visit ReadOn Bookstore online to order the titles. We will also publish questions and reading prompts for each title throughout the year to guide your in-person book clubs. Look for those details at baptistwomen.com/resources.

We may also host online book clubs at which we’ll unpack a title or two over a series of meetings per title using author interviews, pre-set questions and/or guided times of sharing highlights. We want to give time and space for good discussion and thoughtful inquiry with these titles.

Our desire is that the book clubs you hold with your groups become spaces where you can share the joy of reading and learning with your sisters. Most of all, we hope this overall program inspires you to act— because you’ll have discovered something more of God’s love for you and the purpose for which He has shaped you. 

All books available from ReadOn Bookstore.

Free shipping on all orders.

Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege

by Dominique Gilliard $30 God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God

by Ken Shigematsu $16 The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in our Post-Christian World

by Rosaria Butterfield $25 The Neighbours are Real and Other Beautiful Things

by Preston Pouteaux $16

Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home

by Jen Pollock Michel $14 7 Attitudes of the Helping Heart: How to Live Out Your Faith and Care for the Poor

by John Christopher Frame $10

All titles available from ReadOn Bookstore 5 International Blvd.

Etobicoke, ON M9W 6H3 Tel: 416-620-2934 Fax: 416-234-8840 E-mail: books@readon.ca readon.ca

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a history moment

An example of Encouraged Love A Servant’s Goal Kae Bushey’s mission statement in the September/ October 2006 Link captures the essence of short term mission.

“My goal is to be a BRIDGE between my church in Wallaceburg and the church in Brazil. I will take our prayers, encouragement, and support to the people of Aguas Lindas and Rio de Janiero and return with fresh enthusiasm and information. To accomplish this I hope to be, with God’s help: A firm BELIEVER in God’s constant care in my life

Ready to form RELATIONSHIPS with those I meet willing to INQUIRE with an open mind Eager to DISCOVER the treasures God has in store for me Prepared to GIVE all I have to make this project a success Expecting to ENJOY the experience and ENCOURAGE others.

As reported in Our Heritage Becomes Our Challenge by Esther Barnes, page 398

How we connect with each other has had to change, but live magazine keeps our bonds lively and strong. Let a woman in your community know about live magazine. A subscription costs just $20. Pay at baptistwomen.com or call the editor, Renée James. Choose from three formats: print, audio (CD) or online.

Has your address changed?

Send your old mailing label and your new address to: live Magazine Circulation Dept., 5 International Blvd., Etobicoke, ON M9W 6H3 PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NUMBER 40007159 REGISTRATION NUMBER R9703 RETURN UNDEliverABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: live MAGAZINE CIRCULATION DEPT. 5 INTERNATIONAL BLVD ETOBICOKE, ON M9W 6H3 live@baptist.ca