mbmission.org
Summer 2018
AMBASSADORS OF
RECONCILIATION
Witness Summer 2018
Contents Editorial: Think Differently.......................................2 Questions About Jesus..............................................4
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?� Isaiah 43:18-19
After the Flood..........................................................6 Geronimo.................................................................10 An Eager Crowd......................................................12 Rabbit, Oscar and Cougar.......................................14
Staff Editor-in-Chief......................................Randy Friesen Managing Editor............................... Mark JH Klassen Layout & Design.................................. Darcy Scholes Illustration & Design............................. Colton Floris Writing & Prayer Mobilization.................Nikki White Media Team Lead.................................Larry Neufeld Circulation & Administration..................Ann Wiebe
Contact 1.888.866.6267 For other contact information, see mbmission.org For comments & questions, email news@mbmission.org If you would prefer not to receive a printed copy of the Witness, please contact us today.
Offices 300-32040 Downes Road, Abbotsford, BC V4X 1X5 Canada 4867 E. Townsend Avenue, Fresno, CA 93727-5006 USA For other office locations, see mbmission.org
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California Printed in Canada
Think Differently Many of you are familiar with Yosemite National Park in California and you probably know that rock climbers gather there from around the world to test their skills on the amazing granite cliffs. There is one rock face in particular in Yosemite that is known to be the most challenging vertical climb in the whole world. It’s called El Capitan. For decades, climbers have been scaling El Capitan to compete for the fastest ascent. In 1958, a team of expert climbers went from bottom to top in 47 days. Since then, with better equipment and techniques, climbers have improved their times from several weeks down to several days. For years, the best teams were summiting El Cap in a matter of four days, maybe shaving 20 minutes off of the fastest time. But last year, a climber from Sacramento named Alex Honnold did something phenomenal. With no ropes and no pack, Alex free climbed El Cap by himself in 3 hours and 56 minutes. The climbing world was stunned. No one had ever conceived of doing something like that before. From weeks to days to hours – it required someone to think differently. When I first heard that story, my mind immediately went to the sheer rock face that we are climbing called reaching the world for Jesus. Are we getting closer to our goal? Are we too called to think differently? Inspired by the radical pioneers of rock climbing, we’ve been praying into how we need to respond to the challenge of global mission. We realize that we need to think differently, and God has been faithful to lead us into four new approaches to mission. 1. One Body. Not many bodies or ministries roped together, but one body, the Body of Christ. Jesus’ prayer for us today is that “all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). Jesus is challenging us to think differently, beginning with our oneness with the Father and then our oneness with the entire Body of Christ. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you’”(1 Corinthians 12:21). Can we move past our denominational silos to think differently about our identity in Christ and our interdependence in the Church? This prayer of Christ directly affects our witness to the world. Our unity can be a four-day-tofour-hour game changer. 2. One Head. His name is Jesus. He is not just our Savior; he is the Lord of the harvest and our mission leader today. He has strategies to reach every nation, people
Editorial By Randy Friesen
group and city. He is calling us to radical surrender, to concerted prayer, and to risk-taking obedience. Rather than asking Jesus to fund our strategies and structures, will we listen for his voice and embrace his ways? Will we humble ourselves as leaders and think differently about strategic planning? Jesus would say to us: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19). New vision requires new wineskins, and new names. God is doing a new thing. 3. One Spirit. Empowerment for global mission comes from the Spirit of God, not from our titles or our budgets. The Church was born at Pentecost when they called out to God for the “gift of the Father.” It wasn’t a better missional strategy that grew the Church from 120 to 3000 people in one day. It was the outpouring of the Spirit of God on seekers that drew the nations gathered in Jerusalem. We won’t go from four days to four hours by better marketing. We desperately need the empowerment of the Spirit of God today to renew the Church for her mission challenges and assignments. There are churches in the slums of Nairobi and the condo towers of Beijing who are crying out to God for his Spirit’s empowerment in mission and they are experiencing amazing community transformation. Wherever the Church is calling out to the Father in prayer, he is present with them and transforming lives. Citywide prayer for a citywide harvest is still God’s mission plan. 4. One Mission. God’s mission, the Missio Dei, is most fully expressed in Christ’s incarnational life, death, resurrection and restoration of all things. Our call is to join this mission by making disciples of all nations. We are all ambassadors of reconciliation in the way of Jesus. God’s mission purpose is “to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). We believe the Lord is asking us to think differently about living together on this one mission – locally, nationally and globally. As we share stories in this Witness about how our teams are living as ambassadors of reconciliation around the world, we pray that the Lord would move us in new ways to live that reality within the Body of Christ in our communities wherever we are. Together, let’s think differently.
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Questions about Jesus
By a worker in a restricted area People from all over Central Asia send us messages with questions about Jesus. They watch our TV programs and take our online Bible courses and then they write to us with their questions or their objections. Often they request literature. Sometimes they ask for a visit. We do our best to respond to these requests. Recently, I went with another brother into a remote part of Central Asia where several people had invited us into further discussion about the person of Jesus and the message of the Gospel. Soon after we arrived into the area, a journalist approached us. But once we were alone with him, we were surrounded by local police. We had no idea that the man was only posing as a journalist and was actually a member of an international terrorist group. When the police were convinced that we were not terrorists ourselves, they left us alone with the man and we shared the Gospel with him for about two hours. That night, we met another man in the city center. His name was Mahmoud and he told us that he was an atheist. He invited us to meet with him in his house. At first, we were hesitant to go, because it seemed unsafe, but we went regardless and spent more than three hours talking with him. He had many sincere questions about Jesus and 4 | witness
we were able to answer most of them. We did our best to discuss our beliefs about God and to give him a summary of the Bible. Mahmoud had been educated at some of the top universities in Central Asia. After getting advanced degrees in Philosophy and Anthropology, he moved to this area to study Russian Language and Literature. Mahmoud told us that he had read more than 2000 books. “I was only thirteen years old when I first read the Quran,” he told us, “and since then I have been an atheist.” Finally, I told him, “We could debate until the morning, because you have so many great and deep questions. Even if I could answer them all, something would still be missing. What really matters is your heart; it all ends there. Just talk to God. If you can’t pray, just talk to him. He helped me and he will help you too.” Then we prayed over Mahmoud and left his home. It was after midnight. Back at our hotel, we took the opportunity to share the Gospel with the hotel manager, who was the owner’s son. For two hours, we talked with him about what it meant to follow Jesus. God touched his heart, but he was afraid. He said, “If I choose to follow Jesus, my family will kill me.”
The next morning, we traveled back to our home. As soon as we arrived, we received a call from Mahmoud. He explained, “As I told you, I have been an atheist since I was young. And in all of my reading, I only became more and more convinced that miracles do not happen. But when you prayed for me last night, something happened. When I went to sleep, Jesus came to me in a dream. Now I am ready to accept him.”
“When I went to sleep, Jesus came to me in a dream.” The next day, Mahmoud called a second time. This time, his voice was trembling. “Jesus came to me again in the night and called me by name,” he said. “I tried to touch him, but I couldn’t. Then Jesus turned and walked away.” “Jesus is inviting you to follow him,” we told Mahmoud, “and following means learning to trust him.” From that time, Mahmoud has not looked back. He is quickly growing in his faith. We have sent him many books and New Testaments. He reads them all and then passes them on to others. When we send him one book, he goes and makes one hundred copies and distributes them all. Last week, we had the opportunity to take Mahmoud with us on a ministry trip to another region. Together, we shared the Gospel with many people. On one occasion, Mahmoud shared the Gospel with a man named Salim who immediately decided to follow Jesus. There is no church in Salim’s town, so he has to travel more than two hours to meet with other believers. One by one, people are coming to faith in Jesus and learning to trust in him. Each one needs support and encouragement.
PRAY God is at work in Central Asia. Please pray for new believers like Mahmoud and Salim. Amid darkness, fear and opposition, the Gospel is being proclaimed and people are encountering Jesus.
Update from Randy God has been faithful to lead us in our journey to greater unity and effectiveness in One Mission – local, national and global. At the March meetings, the MB Mission Board affirmed a strategic plan to merge our two organizations into one new entity called Multiply. During the next several months, we will be actively engaged in a process of discernment and change as we work toward being fully launched into our new identity by January 2019. In the weeks to come, at key events like CCMBC’s Gathering and the National Convention of the USMB, we will be sharing more with you about this unfolding mission story and this new wineskin. Join us as we pray for spiritual renewal and mission to transform the Church and our nations in our day! For future updates and more information about this new direction, go to multiply.net Your fellow multiplier,
Randy Friesen General Director MB Mission and C2C Network
GIVE To support the author of this article and other national workers who are involved in proclaiming the Gospel in Central Asia, please consider contributing financially. Go to mbmission.org/central-asia and give to Central Asia Resourcing.
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After the Flood PERU
By Jess Garcia and April Klassen Ruth watched as floodwaters flowed through her village. The rains had been falling for months. It was the spring of 2017 and the worst flooding Northern Peru had seen in fifty years. People scrambled to salvage precious items from their homes and tried to save their animals. But soon it became too late. The rush of the current began taking people with it and finding higher ground became urgent. Nearby towns were already covered in water and helicopters were lifting people off rooftops and hillsides. Coordinating the relief effort was complicated as mobile phone services were cut off and electricity was scarce. Tens of thousands of homes eventually collapsed, buried under mud. Makeshift camps were set up to provide shelter for the hundreds of thousands of people who fled for safety. Joanna Chapa had only been in the country for months at the time of the flooding. She and her teammate, Stacy Kuhns, were long-term MB Mission workers living in Piura. They experienced the chaos firsthand and had no idea how the disaster would affect their ministry and bond them with the local people, especially people like Ruth.
Working together: Stacy (far left) with Ruth (in red sweater) and Joanna (third from right) 6 | witness
Joanna and Stacy joined rescue forces that reached stranded families and brought people to safety. But many residents left their homes knowing that they would not be able to return even after the flood subsided, as most of their possessions were destroyed. Worse yet, many were separated from family members, and some had loved ones who were killed in the flooding. “We could see the effects of the flooding not only on the infrastructure, but on the faces of the people,” said Joanna, “As they watched everything they owned disappear, you could see desperation in their eyes. They lost hope.” Ruth found herself trapped during the flood. Having sought safety on a hill nearby to her home, she and her siblings watched as the waters rose and their escape routes quickly disappeared. Soon they were surrounded by water on every side. They felt very alone. Earlier in the day, Ruth’s father had left to seek out the rights to new land claims that were being given to families who’d lost their homes in the flooding. In his long absence, Ruth’s mother had left to search for him, leaving Ruth alone to care for her four younger siblings. Eventually, evacuation boats located Ruth and brought her and her siblings to safety where they were met by Stacy and Joanna. Immediately, the two young women made arrangements to temporarily host Ruth in their home, which was called Casa Caminata, a discipleship center for young women. There, the other young disciples who had been received as family by Stacy and Joanna had the opportunity to welcome others in need. They were quick to provide comfort and support to Ruth and her brothers and sisters. At the discipleship home, Ruth and her siblings waited to hear news from their parents. Together with Stacy and Joanna and the others in the home, they watched the devastating images shown in the media. As they waited, they prayed for their parent’s safety, hoping that they hadn’t lost more than just their home. After a long and agonizing week, they finally received good news. Their parents were alive, and the family was reunited.
Joanna recalled how faith in God gave their Peruvian friends hope in the midst of the disaster. “They had this sense of ‘we’re gonna move forward.’ Somehow they believed that God could bring good even out of their pain and loss.” As the waters subsided, Joanna and Stacy pulled on their boots and began working alongside the leaders and members of the thirteen MB churches in the area. “We embraced the opportunity to share what we have in Jesus, and to shine the light of Christ into a dark situation,” said Joanna as she reflected on digging furniture out of the mud. “It wasn’t just the physical work – it was the heart behind it, the sense of a family working together.” The flooding also gave opportunity for people from around the world to give practical help and support. Within the MB family, several organizations came together to provide assistance to the Peruvian MB Conference of Churches. “The local churches were empowered to lead,” said Joanna, “and to take ownership of how they would respond to the crisis. It meant a lot that they could work as a family, supporting one another, honoring one another.” Joanna and Stacy were encouraged by the cooperation between the organizations they worked with, but they also saw the positive effect that this unity had on local people who were being helped in the aftermath of the flood, people like Ruth. “She saw the support of God’s larger family,” Joanna said, “not only to walk through the trauma of the floods but to experience the practical love of community.” After the flood, Ruth’s family had no choice but to move. They were given land where they could rebuild their home and restart their lives, but it was far from the city. For Ruth, it meant that she would be further away from the college she had hoped to attend. It felt like another painful loss in her life.
It was then that Joanna and Stacy invited Ruth to continue living with them at Casa Caminata where she could attend college and live in a supportive environment. Ruth was welcomed into a context where other young women were facing similar challenges, including loss and trauma, but they were surrounded by the love and care of a community where they could share their struggles in a safe place and learn to trust that God still had good things in store for them. In the discipleship house, Ruth began to study Scripture together with the other young women and learned to rely on God’s provision. They taught one another how to follow Jesus in new ways. “At first, Ruth felt like she had lost everything in the flood,” said Joanna. “But God has shown her how much he loves her, and reminded her that she does not need to carry her burdens alone. After the flood, she knows she has a bigger family. She has more brothers and sisters who care about her.”
GET INVOLVED For those who responded to this crisis last year by praying for Peru and providing financial assistance, thank you once again. Joanna and Stacy continue to work alongside the churches and invest in people like Ruth. If you are interested in supporting our Urgent Relief Ministries, please go to mbmission.org/urgent-relief. Your gifts help churches respond to disasters and crises with emergency relief and post-disaster development. As they provide food, shelter and health care, our workers and churches bring a message of peace, love, hope and reconciliation.
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“God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
Geronimo
COLOMBIA
By Nikki White “It is good to be with you,” Elmer Idrobo said quietly. “I thank God that I am able to be with North Americans, and have no desire to kidnap or kill them.” Then he smiled. As an ex-commander of one of the fronts of the Colombian armed rebels known as the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia), Elmer’s words were only half in jest. The North Americans who had come to Colombia to facilitate a peace and reconciliation camp sat mesmerized by the contrast between his understated demeanor and his vivid story.
For ten years Elmer was indoctrinated in atheism, taught to hate those who were preaching the Gospel. “By age thirteen, I had joined the communist rebels,” he related. “I was ready to kill for the Marxist ideological cause, especially Christians.” For ten years Elmer was indoctrinated in atheism, taught to hate those who were preaching the Gospel. The Bible was dangerous. It made people soft and weak. Christian churches were to be burned down, pastors shot. At night from the mountain base Elmer would see lights in the towns below, and send his troops to extinguish them, knowing that they were
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secret Christian meetings. He was disappointed if his men did not return with lightbulbs, electrical cables, and bodies. In respect for his ferocity as a warrior, Elmer’s commandant re-named him Geronimo. “I went to seven churches,” he says, “I took their buildings for our revolutionary meetings. They all feared me.” Or so he thought. One day as Geronimo was walking in a public square patrolled by his men, he suddenly found his path blocked by a sixteen-year-old boy. Gazing intently into the rebel’s eyes, the young man boldly declared, “God loves you, and he wants to save you.” Geronimo scoffed. “My gun saves me,” he barked, waving his weapon in the young man’s face. “How did you get to this place? How did you get through my men? You should be afraid!” “No, Señor,” the youth said. “It is you who should be afraid. You should fear God.” Amused by this youthful bravado, Geronimo agreed to give the youth thirty minutes to make his case for God. Then, he thought, I will destroy his arguments, and kill him for his insolence. But as the young man spoke of Christ’s love – a love that embraced death in order to save sinners – Geronimo began to feel unsettled. In the face of such strong convictions, he began to doubt his own. He lowered
his gun, and left the encounter thinking, if only my own guerillas had such courage, the war would soon be won. Not long after, Geronimo’s commandant sent him to execute a troublesome pastor who was persuading rebels to follow Jesus. When confronted with a gun, the pastor simply nodded, said, “Come to my office”, and calmly walked into the church. Angry and perplexed, Geronimo stormed after him into an office where, to his alarm, the pastor promptly turned around and locked the door. “Open that door!” Geronimo demanded. “Or I will shoot off the lock, and then I will shoot you!” The pastor smiled and said, “You need not fear me.” In the face of the man’s quiet, compassionate demeanor, Geronimo finally snapped. “You and your prayers!” he shouted. “I see you! I see you praying for the soldiers in the state army, for our enemies! How dare you! How dare you pray for them! You make our country weak!” “If you don’t believe in God,” the pastor asked, “why does it matter to you if I pray? Yes, we pray for the soldiers. But we also pray for the gangs, the drug traffickers, the paramilitary. And we pray for you, Commander Geronimo.” Geronimo jerked his head back as if he had been slapped. He felt frighteningly close to tears. When finally the pastor unlocked the door, Geronimo ran. It was only a few weeks later that his armed front found itself surrounded by opposing rebel factions, state army and para-military forces. Geronimo’s troop was decimated: two hundred and ninety of his fellow militants killed, including his commanding officer. Bullets were flying. Geronimo escaped by running down a mountain path where he almost collided with a member of a local church. He quickly regained his footing, turned and fled. To his horror, the Christian chased after him. He was convinced that this Christian wanted to kill him. Then he heard a shout. “Stop!” the man cried out. “God loves you! I want to save you!” But Geronimo kept running. That night he hid in a narrow crevice in the rocks known as Hell’s Cave, crouching miserably in the darkness. The state army was closing in, and there was little hope for survival. Knowing what might happen to him if he were captured, Geronimo decided that suicide was his only recourse. A heavy rain began to fall, and the thunder and lightning seemed a fitting backdrop for his imminent death. Rain flooded into the cramped cave, and soon he was shivering, covered in mud and soaking wet. When a bolt of lightning lit up the cave, he saw his own filth and thought, “Look how far I have fallen. I am no better than a pig.” Holding the gun to his head, Geronimo steeled himself to pull the trigger, but a voice suddenly spoke, “Do not do this thing.”
Was it the thunder? The wind? A hallucination? Three times he raised the gun; three times the words rang out to stop him. Then, as the rain stopped and day finally broke, Geronimo lowered the gun. Dropping to his knees, he asked God to save him. “Then I felt a caress,” he said, remembering. “Like a hand, wiping my face, wiping away the mud. I was so dirty. God, you didn’t even use a glove; you touched my filth with your bare hand!”
Holding the gun to his head, Geronimo steeled himself to pull the trigger, but a voice suddenly spoke, “Do not do this thing.” Geronimo went down the mountain and surrendered. It did not matter what happened, he needed to confess all of the wrongs in his life and face the consequences. And God showed mercy. Despite a bounty of two hundred million pesos on his head, and sixteen charges against him, he was released by the authorities in Popayán. They told him that because of his surrender and willing confession, the only crime counted against him was that of rebellion. Geronimo was astounded that God would allow him to start his life again, free from the guilt of the atrocities he had committed. That same forgiveness that he had experienced from Christians was now changing the course of his life. He decided to devote himself to going back up into the mountains, to reach the unreached with the Gospel of peace, a message of forgiveness and reconciliation. Today Geronimo has taken yet another name. He is now known as Santiago Paz – James the Peaceful. Besides evangelizing among the rebels, he visits in the prison with ex-combatants, including his own son, and those convicted of war crimes and drug trafficking. “Now,” Geronimo says, “I thank God for those Christians that once defied me with their love.”
GET INVOLVED Have you been personally touched by this story of transformation? How is God calling you to be his ambassador of reconciliation? For more information about getting involved in peacemaking or providing financial support for peace camps in conflict zones, contact your local Mission Mobilizer at 1.888.866.6267.
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An Eager Crowd SOUTHEAST ASIA
By Bob Davis Bounmee was invited to baptize ten new believers in a small Khmu village. One of his co-workers had planted a church in the village and these ten people were ready to publically declare their commitment to Jesus. So, on a Saturday morning, Bounmee, his wife and their two children piled into their pickup truck and drove out into the countryside. However, when they arrived in the village, they could see that something was wrong. There were police everywhere and people were gathering on the streets. As they drove up to the crowd, Bounmee rolled down his window. “Who are you?” the police officer asked. “My name is Bounmee,” he replied. “You are the man we are looking for!” the policeman shouted. “Park your truck and come inside. The mayor and the chief of the village are waiting to talk to you.” Immediately, Bounmee turned to his wife and said, “Pray.” As he was escorted inside, he thought about the pastors in the region who had recently been arrested and interrogated.
Once inside, Bounmee stood before a gathering of local authorities who questioned him about the Christian ceremony that was to take place in the village that day. Surprised that the word had spread about the baptism, Bounmee began to defend himself. He was very familiar with the laws of religious freedom in the land. In fact, he always carried a copy of the government’s regulations with him, so that he could effectively engage opposition and explain that it wasn’t against the law to be a Christian or to gather for worship.
“Come and see for yourselves that we aren’t stirring up any kind of rebellion against the government.” They argued back and forth for a few minutes, and then suddenly the chief of police slammed his fist on the table and said, “Listen! This has gone on long enough. We want you to tell us everything you know about Jesus right now, and don’t leave anything out.” Bounmee could hardly believe what he was hearing. Recognizing the opportunity, he proceeded to share the Gospel in detail with the crowd of eager listeners. After Bounmee had spoken at length, one of the officials turned to his colleague and said, “This doesn’t sound like something we should be opposing. It actually sounds really good!” Sensing a spirit of openness in the room, Bounmee spoke again, “Listen. We’re going down to the river to perform a simple ceremony for people who have decided to follow Jesus. Why don’t you join us? Come and see for yourselves that we aren’t stirring up any kind of rebellion against the government.” “Fine,” they replied. “We will.”
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So Bounmee walked outside and everyone in the room followed closely behind him. By that time, the entire
village had gathered and they joined the procession down the dirt road to the river. At the very front of the crowd, Bounmee felt strangely like a celebrity. People were spontaneously cheering for him and congratulating him. Others who joined asked, “Who is this man?�
The entire village joined the procession down the dirt road to the river. As they approached the river, the ten people from the village who had requested baptism were lined up at the water’s edge. After Bounmee took his place waist deep in the river, he addressed the crowd and took the time to explain the symbolic nature of baptism and what the ceremony meant for these new followers of Jesus. One by one, he baptized the ten. But once he was finished, there were more who had joined the line along the riverbank, more people who were ready to declare their allegiance to Christ before the watching crowd. All in all, Bounmee baptized fifty-eight people that day.
It was a great celebration. He knew that many of those who were baptized had been believers for some time, but they had been afraid of the opposition from police and government officials. But since the local authorities were all present in the crowd that day and not hostile toward them, the believers had the courage to take the public step of faith.
PRAY God is at work in Southeast Asia. Please pray for all fifty-eight people who were recently baptized in this village. Ask God to give them courage as they live out their faith in Jesus within their community.
GIVE To support Bounmee and other national workers who are involved in church planting and leadership training in Southeast Asia, please consider contributing financially. Go to mbmission.org/northern-thailand and give to Northern Thailand Ministry.
Partnership in Southeast Asia: Bounmee and Bob Davis mbmission.org | 13
Rabbit, Oscar & Cougar CANADA
By Nikki White “Rabbit was in big trouble,” John Johnstone said as he shook his head gravely. “I could see Cougar hiding behind the tall grass along the fence. The next thing you know, wham! Cougar swipes out a paw and scoops him up.”
As John went on to describe the gulf between First Nations and many other Canadians, it became clear that he is uniquely wired to bridge that divide with a message of reconciliation.
We were sitting in a coffee shop, and I had just asked John to share about his new role with C2C as First Nations Ambassador to Western Canada. In answer, John launched into what sounded like indigenous mythology. Or was it something that had actually happened on his property in Fort Langley? I was confused and having a hard time following the bunny trail, so to speak. But his storytelling skills were gripping and I did not want to interrupt.
John explained that he was born during the infamous “Sixties Scoop”, when First Nations children were taken from their families and adopted or fostered out to primarily white middle-class families. John was himself adopted by white parents and raised with no real understanding of his ethnic roots. His adopted brother and sister were from different indigenous families, and together they all faced the challenge of being “Apple Indians” – red on the outside, white on the inside. They had a hard time of it. Both brothers coped by abusing drugs and alcohol.
“I watched as Cougar loped away, with Rabbit in his stomach,” John continued. “Next morning, same thing. But this time, it was my little dog, Oscar. He ran down the same path, along the same fence, and there was Cougar, waiting. And pretty soon, wham! Cougar scooped him up and ate him too.” John paused, taking in the look on my face as I thought about poor Oscar. After a nod, John went on, “So then Cougar kind of sits up, and crosses his paws and says to me, ‘Hey John, so – how many calories do you think were in Rabbit?’ I shake my head at him, no idea. Cougar says, ‘About four hundred and fifty. How many calories do you think Oscar was?’ I shake my head again, no idea. Cougar says, ‘About four hundred and fifty.’ Then Cougar gets up and walks away.” “So here’s the thing,” John said as he leaned toward me across the table. “I share that story, and everybody gets all upset at poor old Oscar being eaten by Cougar. But the reality is, Oscar and Rabbit had exactly the same value. That’s what I want people to understand. We all have exactly the same value in Creator’s eyes. But over the years First Nations people have been taught that we don’t have the same value as other folk. And those lessons, well, they are hard to get over.”
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Eventually, John married and he and his wife Jennifer had two small children. One day, Jen demanded to take the children to church and, grudgingly, John agreed. Maybe it would be good for them as a family, he thought, getting a little religion. It was there that he met Jesus. “He kind of snuck up on me,” John recalled. “So, I asked him about my life, about everything that had happened to our people in history. And God said, ‘Oh, John, that wasn’t me. I love you. Always have, always will.’” That love of God moved John to make profound changes in his life. Soon after coming to faith through the Alpha
program, he knew that there was a calling on his life to reach out to First Nations people, but his deeply rooted sense of unworthiness held him back. Over the years, however, his leadership skills brought him into positions of responsibility, first within the First Nations community and then with C2C.
“Really, it’s not that complicated,” John said. “All we need to do is listen. Be witnesses to the truth. Then Creator can get in there and complete the healing, and reconcile us. Our stories – even the raw, painful ones – these are gifts that we bring to each other. They all have value. We all have value.”
“I realized that my story matters,” John said. “We all need someone to listen to our stories. And not just listen to our stories, but learn to re-tell them too. Success for me would be going to the grocery store one day and hearing two settlers re-telling First People’s stories, then for us to sit together with them around a table and share a meal.”
Like Rabbit, I thought. Like Oscar.
As First Nations Ambassador, John faces significant challenges. Although his bi-cultural background makes him uniquely suited to build bridges, he often encounters walls instead. Like Moses, his adopted status can make him somewhat of an outsider to both cultures. Sharing about his Christian faith with his own people can push some painful buttons. For many of them, it was the Church that endorsed some of the injustices suffered by the First Nations people in the first place. John works to bring down those walls of anger and blame. Contrarily, when John is sharing with non-indigenous people about history from a First Nations’ perspective, he sometimes encounters defensiveness and resentment.
John and Jen Johnstone live in Langley, BC. John is from the Leq’a:mel First Nation and is actively building relationships within local indigenous communities and seeking to bring the reconciliation and healing that he himself has experienced. He currently serves as C2C’s First Nations Ambassador for Western Canada.
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The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Luke 10:2
Please join us every day at 10:02 AM as we pray Luke 10:2 and ask Jesus to mobilize his Church into mission.
