I'm finally entering the 2020s and shifting my newsletter to an email-first format. I used PDFs for a long time because it made them easy to print, but that's less and less relevant, and this format is more flexible and doesn't require people to click a link to access content. Let me know your thoughts! I would also love your feedback on the content itself - is there anything you particularly like or dislike, or anything I could add moving forward? Also, if this is your first time getting the newsletter, welcome! I went through the mailing list and realized there were a number of people who should be receiving it who weren't. If you don't want to be included for any reason, please unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of this email! 

"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." -1 Corinthians 10:31 (CSB)

In my opinion, 2002's Minority Report is an underappreciated film. It raises a surprising number of debates that are relevant today, such as whether we should sacrifice our privacy for safety, whether we have free will or can know the future with certainty, and the relationship between technology and the corporatization of our society. Out of all the themes, however, it's the one that lends the movie its title that I've been thinking about a lot lately. The term "minority report" refers to someone calling attention to something that most people are ignorant of or intentionally suppressing. This is a role that Evangelicals tend to assume. We see ourselves as a small group that possesses a hidden truth: that Jesus is Lord and Saviour. We expect people to resist us when we proclaim it, but believe we're called to do so regardless. This is a product of our Fundamentalist roots. It's also a common theme in scripture, partly because Christianity originated as a countercultural Jewish sect within a hostile empire. It shapes how we approach other debates, like the science of evolution or the ethics of abortion. I think it also makes us more likely to believe others who claim to be a minority witness. When someone claims insider knowledge that's being suppressed, we want to believe them, especially if we can see a connection between their truth claims and ours.

Growing up, I remember hearing stories of people being hurt by doing something fairly common. One example of this is reading the Harry Potter series. Many of my friends' parents forbade them from doing so because they heard of people becoming involved in witchcraft after reading them. It was even thought that Rowling herself was a witch. As it turns out, she's a Christian and drew on her faith throughout the writing process, making the series akin to The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, or The Once and Future King - magical settings in which Christian themes are explored. The majority of the people I know who have read it, Christians included, had a positive experience. Nonetheless, many Evangelicals still avoid the series. I've encountered something similar in my work with First Nations people. During the colonial era, traditional practices like smudging and sweat lodges were forbidden. In recent decades, many indigenous people have started using them again, including Christians. For many Evangelicals, however - including indigenous ones - they remain taboo. This is because they've heard stories of people being possessed by demons or corrupt leaders abusing people through these practices. This isn't what most indigenous people experience most of the time, but the fact that some have makes Evangelicals wary of partaking at all.

This begs the question: What should we do when faced with a minority report like "I know someone who got into the occult after reading Harry Potter" or "I know a community where the shaman controlled everyone through the sweat lodge?" I think there are two bad responses. The first is to simply discount negative experiences as fake or bad luck. This is the normal progressive response, and leads to recklessness. The second is to allow them to outweigh everyone else's positive experiences. This is typical among conservatives, and leads to legalism. I think we need a third option. In pursuing this, I've found Paul's teaching in Romans 14:1-10, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, and 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1 helpful. In these passages, he addresses the question of whether Gentile Christians should eat food that was slaughtered in pagan temples. His response? That if they can do so while remaining devoted to Christ they should feel free, but if they or someone they're with will resume idol worship as a result they should abstain. In other words, there's nothing inherently dangerous about the meat despite the way that it was prepared, it's the effect it has on each individual and community that's important.

With this in mind, if someone asks me whether they should read a particular book or adopt a particular worship practice, my tendency is to encourage them to go ahead, while being mindful of the effect it has on themselves and the people joining with them. If it leads them closer to Christ and his way of life, it's good for them. If it leads them to sin, it's not. Of course, some things are strictly sinful. Paul doesn't want anyone engaging in idol worship. But in most cases, context matters and wisdom is needed, rather than a hard and fast rule. This is especially important when a small group of people say that something common is dangerous. We should take minority reports seriously, but also interpret and apply them carefully. That way, we won't limit our freedom unnecessarily, but can test every spirit and submit every idea to Christ!

While we weren't able to run camps again this summer, an amazing ministry opportunity emerged in Nemaska in August. A friend and fellow pastor reached out to me in July asking if I could teach a do a teaching on First Nations ministry. He and a friend were planning on taking a team of youth and young adults to a First Nation in northern Alberta, as part of a discipleship program. I agreed, of course. As the training date approached, some barriers emerged and my friend asked if I knew of an alternative service opportunity. Since we still needed to finish the cabins in Nemaska, I reached out to Nellie and made arrangements. The end result was that right in between spending a week as Elim Lodge's Missionary of the Week and my sister Naomi's wedding (more details on both below), I ended up going to Nemaska with a team of fifteen people! Our plan? To work on the cabins during the day and run after school programming for kids at the camp.

Two things quickly became clear. The first was that we didn't have all the supplies needed to finish the cabins. The second was that this wasn't important, because the team was keen on doing more than what we originally planned. Despite the long trip on Saturday, they asked if we could go to the local church on Sunday and see if they needed any help. They led worship and I spoke on the power of forgiving others. There was also a baby dedication, so we got to mingle with people afterwards. Then, we arranged to do a youth drop-in and worship night at the Nemaska Youth Centre that evening. This went well enough that they asked if they could do more activities at the Youth Centre alongside the after school programming. The end result was that they ran three youth drop-ins and five evenings of programming for 20+ 8-10 year olds. Oh, and they led a Bible study at the church on Wednesday evening. While they did this, I spent most of my time communicating with parents and meeting with people in the community who I've developed a ministry relationship with over the years. Needless to say, I wasn't too disappointed that we failed to acquire windows beforehand and ran out of stain and caulking partway through the week. We'll have to do another trip to finish the cabins, but it was nice to finally do some ministry in the community after three summers without camp!

At Curve Lake Christian Assembly, we're continuing to work through the Bible over two years. This means that I've been preaching and leading studies on Paul's letters for the past couple of months. It's been interesting to revisit these, since certain themes, like racial reconciliation, have become more prominent in my thinking. A lot of Paul's teaching revolves around this topic, but it's easy to miss unless you approach it with that awareness! This fall has also brought more normalcy for the community. This means more opportunities to participate in public events and get to know locals. One such opportunity was the first full Pow Wow in three years. We set up a table for our church, gave out many free resources, and had a number of meaningful conversations with passers-by. Similarly, this was the second year that Curve Lake hosted a march on Truth and Reconciliation Commission Day, which my family and I participated in. I also arranged a TRC Day teaching at the Sister's of Saint Joseph convent near my house at the invitation of a friend from Auburn Bible Chapel. This teaching was conducted by Sarah, one of my indigenous friends, who has helped me out with a handful of opportunities like this over the past few years.

Of course, much of my work with the church takes the form of private conversations as people invite me to share in their life journey. There have been stretches where this is easier or harder. In recent months grief and conflict resolution have been two common themes in these discussions. These aren't easy to navigate, especially since they touch on the intergenerational trauma carried by all indigenous people, but they do seem fruitful. All in all, my work with First Nations people continues to be a source of joy, and to stretch me in a good way.

This fall has brought some significant changes within the campus ministry. The biggest is that the student group I helped launch in 2013 has now joined Intervarsity. This was largely the initiative of Jackson, a young man who spent the past couple of years studying abroad. He had a positive experience with a sister agency and asked about starting something similar here. Since the group was at a low point due to COVID I encouraged him and the remaining student leaders to give it a try, and it's gone well so far. Intervarsity has provided the students with an extra layer of support and accountability, even though the students are still the ones on the ground ministering to their peers. The group has grown quickly as a result.

The events themselves are pretty similar to what was taking place last year: they had a table at Clubs and Groups Day and an intro barbecue shortly thereafter, and since then they've been meeting weekly on Thursday evenings to discuss faith and life issues. This semester, guest speakers have been asked to address topics that were raised by students in a survey. While this means that many of the topics assume some interest in Christianity - for example, "What does it mean to follow God's will?" - the student leaders have done a good job of keeping the activities and tone of the conversations friendly for people with less faith experience. Every week it seems like at least a few people there are in that "less experienced" category, and they have always engaged in the talks eagerly.

As always, my primary role with the group is to coach the student leaders and meet with students one-on-one to support them throughout their time at Trent. This fits in with my role as a volunteer chaplain with Trent Spiritual Affairs, so that's how I typically introduce myself to students these days. I've also continued corresponding with churches about serving students. While we haven't been able to restart the meals for international students yet, a couple of churches collected donations for a Trent International winter clothing drive. Shoshanna, Aliyah, and I are also serving as a resource family for a refugee student for the second straight year, which is a neat opportunity to get to know someone from another culture and provide practical, as well as spiritual, support.

Every fall I like to share a brief profile of the campus ministry leaders so you can pray for them throughout the school year. This time around, I asked them what their favourite books were as a fun twist. It's a small but capable team leading the aforementioned reboot, and I'm sure they appreciate knowing that you're supporting their efforts at a distance!

As mentioned previously, my sister Naomi got married this August, and I had the amazing opportunity to be the officiant! Although she had already asked one of her childhood mentors to lead the ceremony, she asked if I could do the legal part and share a brief message. I admit, I teared up a little as I started to talk, but apparently that didn't ruin the moment, since many people told me afterwards that they appreciated what I said. This is one moment I will cherish forever!

I would also like to introduce you to Luna, our second cat. We got her to keep Clara company. We came to the decision to get a second cat instead of another dog in light of Sam's passing in June. While we all love dogs, caring for cats is much easier in our current life phase. It took the two cats a little while to adjust to each other when we got Luna in September, but now they play together and sleep and eat in the same spaces. Luna is more snuggly than Clara, which is especially nice for Shoshanna and Aliyah as they go about their day around the house!

Like me, Shoshanna and Aliyah have been enjoying the more normal pace of this fall. Ali is now doing Grade 6, which has been made easier thanks to more frequent field trips with her homeschooling friends and activities at the YMCA. Shanna enjoys these outings as well, and extends and receives support from other homeschooling moms who participate in those activities. She also continues to play a vital support role in my ministry. As an example of this, she pulled together a lovely Thanksgiving dinner that we enjoyed with Danielle and Gerrit as well as the refugee student we're supporting. While she didn't have the challenge of cooking a turkey this time around, it was only because she had to research what she needed to do to make the meal Hallal. I never would have considered that stuffing often has chicken or turkey as an ingredient, but she didn't miss any detail in her preparations!

One of my side gigs this year is to serve as the Portfolio Advisor to two students in the Tyndale Doctor of Ministry program. My task is to coach the students through the process of finishing their Research Portfolio (the equivalent of a thesis). They have to combine multiple documents they wrote over the course of their studies, then shore up any weaknesses in those papers so they can defend their research before a panel. My duty is to ensure that they are as prepared as possible before proceeding with that hearing. It's a fun mix of personal ministy and academic thinking.

I also thought it was worth mentioning that in September, I ended up driving to and from New Brunswick to retrieve two friends who were stranded there by a hurricane. Your support made this possible. If it weren't for the fact that my work is so flexible, I wouldn't have been able to take the time to do it. And, if it weren't for the fact that you all helped us acquire our wonderful truck last year, I wouldn't have felt safe making such a long trip spontaneously. Similarly, I recently drove to Kemptville with a Youth for Christ leader that I mentor to help with the Change Conference, which allowed him to leave his car with his pregnant wife. Thanks for making that kind of practical service possible!

Our work is supported by donations from local churches and individuals. God always provides through you in ways we couldn't ask or imagine. One recent example of this was my time at Elim Lodge as their Missionary of the Week. I spent a week sharing about my work with First Nations people and those present gave $4,510 to cover three trips to Nemaska this ministry year. My stretch goal was $4,500... I'm excited to see what God does with the extra $10! Thank you to everyone who chips in like this. For more information on our ministry, including how to receive this newsletter via email or contribute financially, send me an email at [email protected] or visit www.benpeltz.ca. All donations are processed through Vision Ministries of Canada.