Faith Today - March/April 2016

KINGDOM MATTERS

Speaking for the voiceless

Reah International encourages Christians in North Korea

New anthology
focuses on
First Nations
Christian voices

FIRST NATIONS CHRISTIAN WRITERS is a newly released anthology from Goldrock Press, an independent publisher in Manitoba (www.

goldrockpress.

com). It features what the publisher considers to be the seldom heard voices of First Nations Christian writers, including 16 contributors from isolated Northern communities, urban centres and university campuses across Canada.

Joshua Heath, 14, the youngest writer, recounts the impact of the foster care system on his life, while the oldest, Sylvia Polson, 79, writes about the secure and loving home she had with her parents living in a cabin on a trap line in Northern Ontario.

The collection also includes poetry and essays on issues like murdered and missing Aboriginal women, residential schools and Aboriginal identity.

Parry Stelter is another author featured in the book. “As an Aboriginal Christian, it has been hard to find a voice for issues related to faith in Jesus Christ and an expression of what we have been through as Aboriginal people,” he says. “This book is another catalyst in that process that will lead to more open doors and a wider voice.

I am so proud to be a part of what is going on with this project. The Creator who is three in one is very proud.”

First Nations Christian Writers will be launched on March 31 in Winnipeg.

–DORENE MEYER

NOR TH KOREA IS the number one country where the persecution of Christians is most severe, according to the Open Doors World Watch List.

This is an issue close to Jamie Kim’s heart. Kim, executive director of Reah International ( www.reah.org), is a Canadian committed to making a difference in North Korea. The mission of Reah International – a nonprofit headquartered in the United States, but with a strong presence in Canada – is to support North Korea by empowering those in the field, those going and those staying home.

Reah International organizes leadership retreats, matches Christians with opportunities to serve in North Korea, and plans prayer and informational meetings.

Kim says the idea for Reah International began in 2005, when he gathered Christian expatriates living in North Korea along with people who wanted to support and pray for them in California. These Christians were able to meet each other for the first time, exchange information and be encouraged in the work they were doing in North Korea.

“For the next four years we
held annual conferences where we
gathered Christian professionals to
see how we can pray and tangibly
engage the people of North Korea
through medical, educational
and economic development,”
says Kim. “Our work is to support
any Christian in North Korea
and Northeast China, regardless
of organization or theological
association, through spiritual and
relational development.”
Kim says they’ve held retreats
and Bible studies in China,
Thailand and South Korea, among
other locations. They provide a
time and place for international
workers to worship, relax and
talk about how they’re doing
spiritually. About 40 per cent of
attendees are working in North
Korea or China
through other
organizations and
about 60 per cent are
just Christian expats
who’ve decided to
live and work there.

Reah International
initiated a campaign
called One Christ, One
Body to encourage
people to pray for Christian unity
for North Korea and explore
practical avenues of engagement.

(This year the campaign was carried out in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Maryland and most recently in Toronto.)

“I believe that our unity begins here in Canada,” Kim says. “If we are not united here, we are going to bring that same division to the field. We are all God’s people, and I believe we need to be the voice and the advocate for the voiceless, like those in North Korea.”