On being there
I used to dream of having an office with a big bay window and my own coffee machine. I never imagined it would also come with a laundry pile and random mass of toys.
While I love visiting ChristianWeek's head offices in Winnipeg every chance I get, I must say I love having a job that I can do from my home office in the north end of Toronto. When I first made the jump from an office to writing from home, I wondered how will the people I interview feel when they find out?
The answer, often, is relieved.
I've heard the stress roll off the shoulders of young pastors when I tell them, sure they can call me back after they've put their own young children to bed. I've heard communications people sigh happily when I tell them we can reschedule until after they've had a chance to sit down and eat.
When I wrote from an office, my relationship to the other person on the phone was always 'the interviewer' and 'the interviewee'.
But since I've started opening up a little window into my life to those leaders and teachers, pastors and advocates on the other end of the line, I've started having in turn glimpses of the other roles they play— as parents and grandparents, caregivers and community members.
This issue I interviewed Nathan Colquhoun of theStory (sic) in Sarnia. A media-savvy pastor who could arguably take the world by storm if he felt God nudging him to, he surprised me by saying, "Just being in my community and staying here for the rest of my life is the best thing I can do as a Christian for the world."
What does it profit us—he asked—if we can get a whole bunch of strangers together in a prestigious room to listen to the gospel, but don't see that our own neighbour is hurting?
Well, I must admit the lunch I make for myself is a lot less fancy than the ones I used to get in some business luncheons. But now I know my children's friends and they know me. I know which ones just beam with happy confidence, and which ones need to know that someone noticed they were there.
"We need to learn how to 'be there'," Colquhoun said.
This issue of ChristianWeek is full of stories of Christians who are dedicated to being there. Aaron Epp writes about how missionaries like John and Katie are moving into rough communities high-need communities to live out the gospel. Jonathan Malloy looks at how Christians advocated the government in the early days of the NDP party.
We have stories of Christians making a difference from Africa to Siberia, on the stage and in the classroom, in our pulpits and in our pews.
Thank you again for the role you play in enabling ChristianWeek to be there as part of Canada's media landscape. At a time when positive, spirit-filled media is being squeezed out on all sides we never take your readership, friendship and donations for granted.
You enable us to be there, and we could not do it without you.
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