Service, community service, and service learning are buzzwords that describe the good work of lending a hand to meet the needs of others. For the church worker, youth leader, community activist, or educator, service should be a way of life or second nature. For the Christian, service to others is a model that was illustrated […]
More and more schools are getting involved in “mission trips.” I applaud the initiatives in many way, but more and more research is suggesting there are serious flaws with the one- or two-week “mission project.” Haiti is currently in the news, and I don’t doubt that some of our schools will take the opportunity to […]
For years I have been intrigued by the concept of restorative justice. My first encounter with this concept came from the movie Dead Man Walking, in which a convicted murderer on death row (Sean Penn) approaches his final days and a nun (Susan Sarandon) leads him to recognize the brutality in his actions and the […]
Last autumn, my well-ordered garden kept producing, even after most of the crop was declared “finished.” Despite my springtime efforts to create an orderly and predictable garden, by October, my neat and tidy rows of vegetables were made unkempt by the throngs of “volunteers” that decided, without informing me, to populate the patch: gourds wending […]
To say that times have changed is an understatement especially when it pertains to the short-term missions phenomena. I am very excited about some of these changes, yet others leave me a bit conflicted, even wondering if the value of our “one-week trips to Timbuktu in order to paint a school” honestly matches the price […]
Service, community service, and service learning are buzzwords that describe the good work of people who want to meet the needs of others. For the church worker, the community activist, and the educator, service to others would seem to be a way of life, or second nature. For the Christian, service to others is easily […]
The opportunities for students serving in God’s world have exploded in recent years. Mission trips, community service requirements, and service days are commonplace in middle schools and high schools as well as churches across the continent. This spirit of service carries over to the college years. Trinity Christian College student Kelly Vanden Berg recounts her […]
Part of the vision statement for Cedars Christian School states: “Both teachers and parents unite to help the child to: develop his or her unique potential internalize spiritual values live a life of service, fellowship, stewardship, discipleship, and obedience to God.” In this article I’d like to focus on the phrase “teachers and parents […]
“They are so poor, but so happy.” I was talking with someone about a mission trip to Honduras and those are the words chosen to sum up the trip. “They are so poor, but so happy.” I merely smiled and nodded in response. What could I say? For this person, that phrase represented what […]
CEJ Archives are available to on-line subscribers. No worries, just click the Register tab from the menu and register with a user name, email, and password. Already registered? Login from the menu above.