Canada Through Fresh Eyes, by Bob Jones

Canadian freedom and security is glorious, just like our national anthem says.

On Canada Day, values that Canadian-born people may take for granted are best treasured through the eyes of those celebrating their first Canada Day.

In April 2017 two Syrian refugees landed at the Edmonton International airport and were welcomed to Canada with hugs and Tim Hortons. They are now happy residents of St Albert, Alberta.

Four years ago they were forced to leave everything familiar and flee the bombings in their city of Damascus. They made their way to Jordan where they were interned in a refugee camp. The couple were eventually taken in by a group of Jordanians living north of Amman. 

For three years they repeatedly applied for refugee status in Canada. Only when a Christian organization in Canada guaranteed their sponsorship was their application considered.  North Pointe Community Church waited for fourteen months to meet the couple they had fallen in love with from a distance.

Since April, their time has been invested in learning English, enjoying BBQ’s, meeting new friends and getting ready for Canada’s most famous season by stocking up on winter supplies at a Canadian staple - garage sales. And during the playoff run they learned to cheer for the Oilers. Not everything has been easy.  There is the emotional stress of leaving behind family who are still in danger, fitting in socially, getting jobs and establishing a new life. They love their new home country.

Not only does Canada have so much to offer them, they have so much to offer Canada. Volunteering in a UN Humanitarian Aid organization in Jordan provided one of our new friends with useful administrative skills. Our second friend is a skilled goldsmith, just waiting to use his talent in a Canadian context.

People from North Pointe have been shuttling them to appointments and the afore-mentioned garage sales. Strangers have been so kind. When one owner heard about their flight from the civil war in Syria she packed up a bag of mitts, a scarf, very expensive warm knee highs, a hat and a few other items.  Our Syrian friend was thrilled and her face absolutely beamed with appreciation.

Sitting on a deck and enjoying a cup of tea at sunset one evening the couple remarked how safe they felt. Safe. Secure. Canada, eh?  Thank God for Canada.

Canada is a one of a kind nation. One hundred and fifty years ago the dominion of Canada came into being – named from the text of a Psalm. “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.” A mosaic of nationalities. Unconquered by foreign invaders. A nation bonded in battle at Vimy Ridge and burgeoning with opportunity and possibilities.

When you engage with people new to Canada let their appreciation for all we may take for granted give you a fresh perspective and gratitude.

This summer be Canadian - drink a Horton’s double double. Bar-B-Q. Be grateful. 

And sing with hope and humility, “God keep our land glorious and free.”

Bob is a recovering perfectionist, who collects Coca-Cola memorabilia and drinks Iced Tea. His office walls are adorned with his sons’ framed football jerseys, and his library shelves, with soul food. He writes to inspire people to be real, grow an authentic faith in Jesus, enjoy healthy relationships and discover their life purpose.

Follow his writing at Pointes Of View.

Brought out - Nesdoly

With vivid description the writer of Psalm 105 details the things God did to bring the Israelites out of Egypt:

"Their land (Egypt, where the Israelites were slaves) swarmed with frogs even in the chambers of their kings .... He gave them hail for rain and fiery lightning bolts through their land ... He shattered the trees of their country .... He opened the rock and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like rain ....So He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing" (excerpts from Psalm 105).

There is in many of our histories the story of going from oppression to freedom, dotted similarly with signposts of God at work. I come from Mennonite stock. For this ethnic mix of original German, Swiss and Dutch peoples there is the story of an exodus from Europe to Russia and then to the U.S. and Canada in a quest for religious freedom.

My husband's Russian great-grandfather converted from the Orthodox faith to simple faith in Christ as taught by the Russian Baptists. As punishment for converting he was imprisoned for eight years in Siberia before he could bring his family to Canada.

The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister is the fascinating true story of a young Russian girl who, from ages nine to about 20, kept detailed journals of her life. She describes her happy experiences as part of a large wealthy Russian family. She relates how the Bolsheviks expropriated her family's property. She tells of the dreadful winter of the German occupation of Russia when she was a teenager. She does eventually get to America. Hers is a story full of the evidences of God bringing someone out with joy and singing (though she shed many tears along the way).

In addition, many of us have a personal story of being in bondage to our old life and finding new life in Jesus.

And so it might be an interesting exercise to write a Psalm 105 of our own. It could be the story of our people. Or it could be our personal story where we recall the details of God taking us out of a life of slavery to sin. (If you write such a psalm, don't hesitate to use your imagination for the details, making it come alive like the psalmist does with the rain of hail, the fiery lightning, the shattered trees, and the miraculous gushing water!)

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the way you have worked in the history of my forefathers by bringing them to Canada, and for my own personal story of coming to freedom as your child. Amen.

(Adapted from "God Brings Us Out" first published on Other Food: daily devos August 8, 2011.)


- by Violet Nesdoly
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Website: www.violetnesdoly.com 

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