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| Rick, Janine, Jacob and David Allen Jordan Much needed reinforcements from Down Under |
As we entered 1995 with Scripture Union, all
we needed now was someone, other than me to run the Durham project, as my hands
were full trying to spread myself across all the various SU Canada needs. For
the first time, since we had started with SU it looked like we might have the
makings of a ministry that had potential to grow and reach out meaningfully to
young people and encourage all age groups to read the Bible daily. We began the
year with a sense of optimism and hope.
I had been scouring the SU world for
potential staff members who, would not need to be trained from scratch, would
be a self-starter, and could lead the team in the role of Durham Director. Towards
the end of 1994 I was talking to Rick Allen Jordan, an Australian, from New
Zealand. I had sent Rick a video, explaining what we were trying to do in the Durham
Region Pilot Project (DRPP). Rick had worked for SU in Australia and then New
Zealand for several years and had the kind of background that I was looking for.
He came well recommended by SU New Zealand. On my recommendation, the Board
made the decision to hire him. We somehow found the money to pay for Rick, his
wife Janine and their two boys to make their way over from New Zealand.
Once Rick and Janine were settled in, it
was time for me to start orienting Rick to the work in the Durham Region. I had
to introduce him to the Durham Region SU Committee, chaired by Nancy Smail. We
also had our summer ministry activities to plan and work towards, so there was
no shortage of opportunities to get him exposed to the various components of
the DRPP.
Billy Graham was coming to Toronto in June
of that year to run a week long crusade at the Skydome. The organizers were
looking for a Children’s Captain and SU was approached to see if we could fill
that role. I was a bit mystified by the title, but it sounded like a good
opportunity for SU and what a privilege to be on the outreach team of a Billy
Graham crusade, so I accepted the request. As it turned out it was a big deal.
The Children’s Captain had to train the hundreds of volunteers that it was
expected would be needed to counsel the children who might come forward when
Billy made an appeal at the Saturday morning kid’s program. We had to teach
them how to lead a child to Christ. Ouch – I was not sure I was in that league,
but I was stuck with it now, so got on with it. I vividly remember the night at
Willowdale Baptist Church when I shared with a few hundred volunteers how to
lead a child to Christ.
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| Billy Graham Toronto Crusade 1975 - Sold out crowds every night. It was a privilege to be part of the team |
We attended most nights of the crusade,
attended by sold out crowds. The Sky dome was filled to capacity, with people overflowing
onto the field in organized groups most nights, leaving little room for folks
coming to the front to be counselled at the end of the evening. Sometimes there
were tens of thousands of people standing outside watching the program from big
screens. Billy Graham was ill for the
first half of the week but was well enough to speak at the Teens evening to a
capacity crowd. He arrived at the podium wearing a suit and tie and said, “They
told me tonight that I had to dress like a teenager, so I did. I wore just what
I felt comfortable in – a suit and tie”. The stadium, mainly filled with teens,
erupted into a standing ovation for at least five minutes. It was a wonderful
moment.
On the Saturday morning it was the Kid’s
Program. The total attendance was about 20,000, mainly kids and parents. I and
our team of a few hundred counsellors, were pumped and ready for action. When
it came time for the appeal, we could not believe our eyes. At least 6000 kids
stood up and came forward. Our carefully planned one on one counselling sessions
went out the window as each volunteer was swamped by 20 – 30 kids each. The
noise all around was deafening. Meaningful conversations were out of the
question. Despite all the chaos and confusion, it felt like these kids were
sincere in their desire to follow Jesus. I trust that many of those kids, now
adults, are faithfully following the Lord today and leading their own kids to
follow him. Being part of the 1995 Billy Graham Crusade Toronto has been one of
the highlights of my life to date.
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| Staff Retreat (L. to R.) Nan Ford, Tara Bailey, Elaine Martins, Dianne Forrest Chan, Lynn Ellis, Rob Cornish, Nellie Cotnam, Dan Ryan. |
Each year, we had a staff retreat at which
we set our goals and coordinated our plans for the year ahead. Dan Ryan had been
a volunteer with us at beach missions and single parent family camps. His
particular skill with kids was as a magician. He had an impressive performance
and kids loved his presentations. In 1995 Dan was with us at tbe Salvation Army
Conference Center at Jackson’s Point. We also had John Dean, the SU
International Training Director with us. We had finished our work for the day,
when someone suggested we all go down to the Airport Vineyard for the evening
to enjoy the program and worship. That evening the theme of the speaker was
that they were asking God to release creative gifts into people’s ministries.
Dan went forward and was prayed for. He subsequently started a ministry under
SU’s banner called Creative Ministries, which Lynn Ellis then adopted in BC, as she also
had many creative talents and drama skills. Julia, our daughter and her two
friends Karmen Giesbrecht and Sheena Stevens joined Dan’s team. The girls were
15 or so. Dan would take them to various presentations, and they would run VBS
programs. This program eventually died when the girls all took off for
universitys, with Dan continuing on his own. Also, that evening, at the Airport
Vineyard, John Dean, a staunch Baptist, and not very enamored with the
“Vineyard approach” went forward to be prayed for. I happened to walk past him
while this was happening, and it was a hilarious sight. Each prayer team had two
people, one to pray and one to catch those who might be slain in the spirit,
which was clearly expected. Well, there was this rather comical vignette; John was
staunchly standing his ground. He was not going down that was for sure. He was
accompanied by the prayer team both of whom, were drunk in the spirit. They
were on their feet, but only just, as they bobbed and weaved trying to stay upright.
It looked like they might fall at any minute. The Airport Vineyard was a phenomenon
which attracted its fair share of controversy, but I saw enough good coming out
of it in individual’s lives that I am certain God was working, sometimes in
extraordinary ways.
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| Creative Ministries - the official poster |
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| Creative Ministries - Karmyn Giesbrecht, Sheena Stevens, Julia Cornish |
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| 1996 Travels - SU Regional Conference, Ecuador |
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| 1996 Travels - I got stand astride the Equator in Ecuador |
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| 1996 Travels - with Rose and Roy in Bogota, Columbia |
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| 1996 Travels - Hong Kong and Singapore on a Staff Development Program |
In the words of our June 1996 newsletter,
“1996 it was turning out to be one of those years one would rather skip over if
given a chance”. What was happening in 1996?
In March of that year I attended the SU
America’s Regional Conference near Quito in Ecuador, which was a good start. I
got to stand with one foot on either side of the Equator which was a novelty.
It was another good meeting and I felt privileged to be having these travel
opportunities. At that time, Rose and Roy were working with Wycliffe in
Columbia. I was so close, I decided to add on a leg to Bogota to visit them for
a few days. In those days Colombia was heavily into its civil war, the drug
lords ruled, and kidnappings were common. I felt safe enough in the big city
with Rose and Roy, but there was always an uneasy feeling that I could easily
be mistaken for an American Gringo who might fetch a handsome ransom. The one
time we were downtown Bogota which has a large, modern city core. We noticed a
large old church a few blocks off the main street and decided to go and
investigate. As we left the hustle and bustle behind, a man approached us,
shaking his finger vigorously and chased us back. It turned out, later that we
were wandering into a high crime area where a pack of street kids could attack
and strip you down to your underwear in minutes, before disappearing back into
the shadows. We were grateful to have
been warned off.
Linda van Leeuwen our Bible Reading Coordinator
had left some time prior as she and her husband Neil, were moving to Cambridge
for Neil’s work. We had gone back to selling our SU Notes as opposed to asking
for a donation. This was showing signs of promise. Also we had begun to
actively market the SU Sunday School material and we were meeting with some
success. Earlier in the year I had invited Diane Forest Chan to join the staff to
work on promoting our literature products. Diane was just getting settled in. I
was at a Board Retreat, when I received a phone call to say that Diane and her
daughter, Amanda, had been involved in a tragic car accident on the 401 and
were both seriously injured. They had both survived, but their injuries were
severe, and would require months of intense therapy to fully recover. This was
another body blow, coming so soon after Brent’s death. I could feel my energy
draining away. I began to talk to the Board about taking some time off for a
Sabbatical.
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| Dianne Forrest Chan, husband Roger, and daughter Amanda. |
Rick worked at the Durham Region Pilot
Project for a couple of years, but it was hard going because we were building off
of a close to zero base. Everything was new to Rick and most things we were
trying were new. Rick and I also were different personalities. Rick struggled to meet my expectations. He and
I, it turned out had quite different work styles. Ultimately our differences
led to him resigning SU in late 1996, even though I tried hard to make it work
with him. This was a third body blow for me as I had pinned all my hopes for
the future of SU fieldwork on this Area model concept. I could not face the
prospect of continuing having to do all that I had on my plate and keeping the
pilot project going too.
Lynne Ellis on Vancouver Island, had been
doing a wonderful job, but had run into some health issues which had slowed her
down a lot, and there was some question about whether she would be able to
continue on. I began to feel that all I had worked towards for six years was adding
up to naught.
This left me at the beginning of 1997
pretty much back at where we had started six years earlier. We had tried so
many things and been going hard at it for so many years but nothing much
sustainable had really come to fruition or worked out. Bible guide circulation
continued to decline as our readership aged and we had stopped beach missions
to try other things. Emotionally I was spent and exhausted and looking back I
was approaching burn out if not already there. I decided it was time to call it
quits and move on and reluctantly handed in my notice to the Board.
In my February 1997 newsletter to our
supporters, I wrote, “ ..I have found that all my best efforts to recruit
one or two key staff have come to nothing. This has left me with a feeling of
helplessness and not being able to see my way forward for myself or SU. To cut
a long story short I have decided to resign from Scripture Union. It has been a
difficult decision because we have poured much of our lives into this work over
11 years. However, I am at peace about my decision. I now have to decide what
to do next…”
The Board granted me a long notice period
which gave me time to do some studying towards becoming a Financial Advisor. I
was heartbroken at stopping ministry because this was all that I had ever
really wanted to do.
Leaving SU was a difficult thing for me,
but God is good. He gave me a job which I have thoroughly enjoyed for 18 years
working with people, helping them to manage their financial pictures. It has
been very satisfying. In SU my life had revolved around achieving things for
God. The lesson I had to learn was that God is much more interested in us
enjoying Him and vice versa than any achievements we can notch up for Him. This
seems like a basic truth, but I guess I am a slow learner and God had to grind
this false notion down on the rock of disappointment. Perhaps this is why God
brought us to Canada, so that He could teach me this lesson. It was hard but I
am grateful to Him who has taught me that He does not need my service so much
as He desires my joyful relationship with Him.
I am delighted to see that 18 years after
leaving SU, that the work is flourishing. Subsequent directors John Irwin, Rob
Szo and now Lawson Murray have all done a great job of sustaining and developing
SU as a viable ministry in Canada. Under Lawson Murray’s leadership, young
people are being reached in increasing numbers with the gospel via sports
camps. SU Bible Reading Guides are being written by Canadian authors and are
available online via The Story.
Postscript – to my time with SU
Canada.
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| Farewell - I was given a good send off by my fellow workers had labored with me over six year. |
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| Julia, Cher, Elaine and Rob. I have felt strongly supported by my three girls in good and bad times. |
While going through my various papers to
write this chapter, I found a letter that I had written to myself in 2012,
fifteen years after having left SU Canada. I had had the benefit of time to
heal some of the hurts I had felt at the time of my departure. For the record I
include my synopsis below.
“Yesterday I read the various
correspondence and papers pertaining to my time at SU Canada. It brought back a
flood of memories, some good, some not so good.
My time at SU Canada was fairly
typical for ministry I would say, combining a mix of blessings, along with a
bunch of challenges along the way. It was a particularly challenging six years.
The way it ended in 1997 was not
good. I had reached the end of my tether, having had a series of setbacks and hardships
which pretty much finished me off. These included Diane Forrest Chan’s awful
accident on the 401 and my working relationship with Rick Allen Jordan not
working out. There was more, much more, but I honestly cannot remember what. I
am sure my prayer diaries will shed more light. I was under severe stress, my
memory was blanking out in big chunks and I realized that I needed to get out
for my sake, if not for SU’s and the family’s sake.
I had resigned, and was working
towards a transition of some sort, but then there was a Board meeting at which
the staff, who typically attended, were asked to leave, including me. Alan
Cairnie was bumped as chairman and there was a call from the Vancouver Island
Committee for my immediate dismissal. Alan had been my strongest supporter.
Sometime during that meeting the Board moved from being strongly supportive of
me just a few months earlier, to managing my exit as peacefully as possible.
That was very hurtful to me. I had given it my all and it hurt to be dumped so
to speak. I had become expendable.
Even to this day, fifteen years
later, I still feel the pain of that awful ending. Having said that, God is
good and gracious, and He meets us where we are, lifts us up and puts us back
on the path again. He has given me work which has been a great blessing to me.
He has continued to use myself and Cher to be a blessing to others and for that
we are grateful.
Life is an adventure and we cannot
expect it all to be trouble free. God used my very trying time with SU Canada
to teach me the value of grace, gentleness, and humility. I had come from South
Africa flush with success and no doubt feeling a bit smug and self-satisfied.
God needed to put me through a sifting time to teach me what I had been unable
to learn any other way. At the end of the day I am thankful for that. These
days I strive less and trust God more.
Rob Cornish, March 11th,
2012.
