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Winters in the small, rural community of Iron Springs, Alberta can be cold and isolating for its senior citizens. That is one of the reasons why the deacons of Iron Springs Christian Reformed Church (CRC) have a tradition of buying a gift for each of its senior members and delivering them during the Christmas season. In 2011, however, the seniors didn’t get their traditional flowers or fruit baskets. Instead, they received goats – and they couldn’t have been happier.
“We give gifts to approximately 23 families at Christmas,” said the deacons at Iron Springs CRC. “The gifts go to widows, widowers, and seniors. This past year, we wanted to use this opportunity as a time that would enable our church and CRWRC to work together to do work in God's Kingdom. We purchased goats for CRWRC’s programs and let our community members know that that was how the money was spent. To a poor family, a goat can mean a big step towards financial security. The offspring can also be sold for extra income, or given away so that even more families can be helped. Our community members really appreciated this gift and we were encouraged to continue this project in the future.”
This support for CRWRC from Canadian deacons is not an isolated case. In fact, for the first twenty years of CRWRC’s existence it was CRC deacons who drove CRWRC’s presence and support in Canada. In Ontario, for example, the All Ontario Diaconal Conference (AODC) was started in 1959. It brought together the deacons of four CRC Classes with the intent of helping the churches have a greater global impact by working together to help neighbors next door, the destitute, the hungry, and the forgotten.
When CRWRC was started in 1962, the AODC recognized the ways that their mission overlapped with CRWRC and pledged to do its part to motivate deacons to support CRWRC in its endeavors. They started with a project called “Operation Manna.”
“Operation Manna asked every Christian Reformed family in Ontario and Eastern Canada to donate one bag of highly nutritious Bulgar wheat – the equivalent of about $3 – to help the hungry in Korea through CRWRC,” said Peter Zwart, a CRC deacon and early advocate of CRWRC.
That first year, Operation Manna brought in $24,000 or 8,000 bags of wheat for CRWRC’s programs. It became an annual tradition on the first Sunday in May of each year. From 1963 through 1995, support from Operation Manna was given to CRWRC projects in Korea, the Philippines, Bangladesh, East Africa, Haiti and Central America with donations ranging from $24,000 that first year to $150,000 in later years.
Canadian deacons were also busy in other ways. In 1965, Peter Feddema, a deacon from the AODC, left to serve as CRWRC’s first agriculturalist in Korea. And in 1966, the AODC started to collect new and gently used clothing that could be sent to CRWRC programs. Clothing was processed on behalf of CRWRC at clothing depots in Kitchener (operated by the Mennonite Central Committee) and Toronto (operated by the United Church of Canada). By the time the collection of clothing ended in 1976, more than 12,000 lbs of clothing had been collected, sorted, and shipped to CRWRC’s programs in Korea.
By 1969, the support for CRWRC from CRCs across Canada was so strong that CRWRC decided to fill out the paperwork and become officially incorporated in Canada as well as the US. The incorporation occurred in 1970 and allowed CRWRC to issue Canadian charitable receipts for income tax purposes. It also enabled CRWRC to apply for grants from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
While CRWRC’s application for incorporation was successful, it didn’t create a vast increase in the number of Canadian CRWRC staff.
“I was CRWRC’s part-time representative, while also operating my horticultural and greenhouse equipment business,” said Zwart, who volunteered in this role. “A corner of my office was designated for CRWRC business. My wife, Anna kept the records and did all the receipting and I represented CRWRC interests when someone was needed to speak to CRC churches, CIDA, or other Canadian churches and agencies.”
The Canadian incorporation also didn’t cause great changes CRWRC practice. Donations were received and receipted in Canada, but passed along to the US bank account for disbursement. Similarly, CRWRC board meetings continued to be held in the US. According to Zwart, he would attend the meetings in the US and “hold the annual meeting of CRWRC-Canada for the first half-hour to satisfy the Canadian government incorporation authority.”
In the early 1970’s, Canadians began to push for a change. By that point in time, the AODC had added four additional classes to their mix. Diaconal conferences had also been started in Western Canada and were supporting CRWRC in a major way. These deacons had a passion for CRWRC and felt that there should be a greater representation of Canadians on CRWRC’s Executive committee. They also felt that they needed a bit more administrative support.
“By 1979, CRWRC-Canada administration had increased to a point where help was needed,” said Zwart. “Sandy VanRijn was hired and became the first paid, part-time staff member. She took over receipting and administration from my wife. Later that year, CRWRC also hired Harry Veldstra who became the first CRWRC Canada Director, and in 1983 I joined the staff as a full-time Diaconal Ministries Coordinator.”
These staff moved into a home office location in Burlington, Ontario in 1980. CRWRC increased its Canadian representation on its executive committee, and began to rotate meeting locations so that the board would meet in Canada every other year.
In the mid-1970’s, CRWRC also began applying to the Canadian government for funding. They received their first grant, in the amount of $3,800 in 1976, to develop a fishery project in Korea. Unfortunately, that project never got off the ground and CRWRC had to return the funds.
Instead of souring CRWRC’s relationship with CIDA, however, the honesty of returning the funds paved the way for a long-standing relationship between the two organizations. Currently, CRWRC has contribution agreements with CIDA that amount to over $7 million for the next five years.
As time went on, CRWRC-Canada added more staff to include a variety of new positions including a Ministry Partnership coordinator, CIDA grants officer, and Fundraising staff. CRWRC also became a founding member of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and greatly increased their international disaster response efforts. Yet the role of CRC deacons in supporting CRWRC has never diminished.
“To me CRWRC is the ministry of deacons of CRC churches both at home and world-wide,” said Zwart. “I often think that much of what happened in Canadian diaconal ministry development – the commitment to serve and the compassion for the needy – had its roots in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. They have been known for their diaconal ministry and outreach. As emigrants, members of those churches, found a new home in Canada. They took that love with them and expressed it through CRWRC.”
Today, CRWRC receives roughly 64% of its support from Canadian individuals, churches, and grants. Much of this can be traced back to deacons, like those in Iron Springs, who find innovative ways to keep CRWRC’s ministry in front of their church members.
Rev. Klaas Hart, the first pastoral advisor to the AODC, nicely summed up the role and value of deacons when he wrote this poem that was published in the AODC newsletter in 1969.
Deacon
To be God’s deacon is to draw His power
Into the homes where perished every hope;
To bring God’s light where men in darkness grope;
And into withered lives his gracious flower.
Our lavish world does not excel in nursing
The ailing victims of its cold routine.
Veiling are the tears and sores of the unseen,
Who roam the twilight between prayer and cursing.
Teach me to help the helpless and the lonely;
Man of this age lost God and has no friend.
Into this world of Cain, Lord, do send
Your deacons, full of grace, for Christ’s sake only.
~ by Kristen deRoo Vanderberg, CRWRC Communications