Faith Like Potatoes

By Rev. Ed Hird

Angus Buchan, a South African farmer, teaches that where there’s love, there’s hope.  His story is so inspiring that the Faith like Potatoes DVD about his life has already sold over half a million copies.  He left a 3,000 acre farm in Zambia in 1976 to start again from scratch in South Africa.  There was no water, no toilet, and no lights.  He couldn’t even speak the native language of Zulu.  Angus was somewhat stubborn and hardworking.  He literally worked night and day seven days a week and made a success of his new farm, paying back his debts.  In the process, Angus went into a deep depression.  He had no peace and no purpose in living.  Anger, fear and destructive choices began to overwhelm his life and his family.

In 1979, he had a spiritual breakthrough and was pulled out of a deep spiritual pit.  Receiving this second chance in life, he had a passion to tell others about what he had discovered.  Angus began by treating his family and co-workers better.  He learned to control his temper and seek inter-racial reconciliation.  Angus now describes himself as a Zulu, saying that he is a white Zulu.  When AIDS/HIV hit South Africa, Angus started an orphanage at Shalom Farm in Kwa-Zulu Natal to care for the children left behind.

Over the years, Angus has seen many miracles, including a maize crop driven to the ground by a hailstorm resurrected itself after three days, and unexpected rain was sent on a cloudless day in the middle of a firestorm.  While speaking at Kings Park Stadium to a gathering of 25,000, he boldly spoke that he would plant potatoes in the midst of the El Niño drought.  The experts had warned the farmers not to plant that season without irrigation.  Many thought that he would lose his farm when the crop failed.  Miraculously large healthy potatoes were harvested, giving rise to the title of the movie Faith like Potatoes.  “We all learned valuable lessons from that crop.”, said Buchan. “The Lord showed us the importance of walking by faith, and not by sight, of trusting him unconditionally and never giving up.” Often like potatoes, faith is just under the surface and cannot be seen until the time of harvesting, the time of testing.  Angus Buchan commented that “Peter Marshall, the great preacher, once said that we need ‘faith like potatoes’ – plain, simple, real faith that will sustain us in our everyday lives. Whenever I pick up a potato I remember those words. That’s the kind of faith I want. When we have faith and act on it, God will come through for us, no matter what our circumstances. “

Just this past month Angus Buchan spoke to a sold-old crowd in Nelson BC.  As our resident Film Producer Stuart Spani filmed the conference, you could obtain DVDs of the event by contacting sales@norlynn.ca

Angus Buchan holds that “there is power in prayer. When men work, they work. but when men pray, God works.”  My prayer for those reading this article is that we too may prove to have faith like potatoes, that is resilient in the various times of drought and challenge in our lives.

Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-an article for the July 2012 Deep Cove Crier

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mailed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

WordPress now tells me which countries my visitors are coming from…

2012-02-09 to Today (350,744 visitors so far)

Country	Views
United States	3,774
Canada	1,551
United Kingdom	1,253
Australia	246
Philippines	225
India	174
Brazil	147
Mexico	115
Turkey	108
Netherlands	106
Germany	104
Poland	97
France	91
Italy	90
Malaysia	70
Sweden	60
Indonesia	60
South Africa	57
Ireland	57
New Zealand	55
Portugal	55
Singapore	51
Spain	51
Czech Republic	49
Norway	48
Switzerland	44
Denmark	44
United Arab Emirates	41
Croatia	41
Hungary	40
Hong Kong	39
Thailand	35
Romania	34
Russian Federation	33
Austria	31
Pakistan	29
Greece	29
Belgium	28
Slovakia	26
Jamaica	23
Peru	23
Republic of Korea	23
Japan	22
Viet Nam	20
Cyprus	20
Israel	18
Sri Lanka	18
Bulgaria	17
Finland	16
Jordan	15
Guatemala	15
Dominican Republic	15
Chile	14
Saudi Arabia	14
Slovenia	14
Ukraine	14
Venezuela	13
Georgia	13
Egypt	13
Lebanon	12
Serbia	11
Colombia	11
Taiwan	11
Iceland	11
Macedonia	10
Malta	10
Puerto Rico	10
Rwanda	10
Lithuania	10
Bosnia and Herzegovina	10
Honduras	9
Nepal	8
Qatar	8
Kenya	7
Maldova	7
Trinidad and Tobago	6
Ghana	6
Nigeria	6
Argentina	6
Panama	6
Bahrain	6
Costa Rica	5
Cambodia	5
Bangladesh	5
Bahamas	4
Estonia	4
Latvia	4
El Salvador	4
Montenegro	4
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	4
Bhutan	4
Guyana	3
Belarus	3
Armenia	3
Iraq	3
Namibia	3
Nicaragua	2
Luxembourg	2
Côte d’Ivoire	2
China	2
Bolivia	2
Benin	2
Ethiopia	2
Barbados	2
Myanmar	2
Aruba	2
Ecuador	2
Djibouti	2
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	2
Belize	2
Mongolia	2
Mauritius	1
Grenada	1
Algeria	1
Paraguay	1
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1
American Samoa	1
Albania	1
Guam	1
Yemen	1
Botswana	1
Jersey	1
Maldives	1
Macao	1
Morocco	1
Cayman Islands	1
Zambia

Gratefully Remembering The Rev. John Lombard

By Rev. Ed Hird

 

The Rev. John Lombard helped many people become ready for the final transition of life.  He did not let the difficult disease of Parkinson’s defeat his feisty spirit.  John was ready to go, ready for the final phase of life on earth. John lived a full life, both in sickness and health. 

 

John was a courageous, humorous, thoughtful, and compassionate man.  It was a privilege to get to know John on a personal level.  At his memorial service, many people shared about the deep humility that John displayed.  To know John was to love John.

 

His dear wife Bev stood faithfully with John ‘for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and health’ in their forty-five years of marriage.  During the difficult last phase of John’s life, Bev kept an online blog where she shared daily about her life with John.  Bev has been a great inspiration to many by the way that she has not let John’s chronic illness defeat her.  Her deep faith kept her going, because she knew that she was not alone.

 

As my honorary assistant priest at St. Simon’s North Vancouver, John was a tremendous help, covering for me when I spoke at various conferences.  In 2004 when I had an opportunity to take a three-month sabbatical, John ‘held the fort’, enabling me to be deeply refreshed and renewed.  Because of John’s covering at St Simon’s NV, I was able to travel to eighteen cities across Canada with 250 francophones and anglophones in a journey of reconciliation called La Danse.

 

In Nov 2004 our 10:30am contemporary service moved, because of overcrowding, to the Maplewood School.   This was made possible because John covered for me at Maplewood School until I could drive there from Deep Cove after our 9am traditional service.  John’s loyalty was a rare gift to me. I knew that you could depend on John through thick and thin.  John was a man of his word. His yes was yes and his no was no.

 

John was not a yes-man.  Many times when John saw a way that we could improve, he would freely share with me his insights.  As his voice became weaker because of Parkinson’s, I had to listen very carefully.  His mind remained sharp, even as his body faced serious challenges.  I remember John’s helpful suggestions about how we could improve the quality of reading scripture on Sunday morning.  His ideas resulted in a very informative Saturday morning Readers’ Workshop led by his wife Bev to about twenty of our readers.  There was a remarkable strength in John’s spirit, even in the final days of his being in hospice.  The last time I saw John, he really enjoyed viewing my iphone photos from our recent holiday in Hawaii.

 

One of my strongest memories of John was at the annual BC Christian Ashram retreats where John would tell funny stories and play harmonica during the talent show.  John was a very gifted harmonica player who with his quirky sense of humour intentionally played the wrong harmonica notes in one song.  John did this with a twinkle in his eye.

 

Born in Montreal and raised in Windsor Ontario, John spent most of his ordained ministry in southern Ontario.  Instead of merely retiring, John and Bev moved to Greater Vancouver to become missionaries with WEC international.  They served at the Gateway Intercultural Training Centre and led short-term mission trips to Fiji, Guatemala, and South Africa.  After St. Simon’s NV adopted John and Bev as part-time missionaries, John wrote wonderful updates about how God was using them in raising up young leaders around the world. As a member of the national leadership team for the Anglican Coalition in Canada, John co-ordinated prayer initiatives for the Coalition, sending out regular prayer updates.  As a leader in VMTC, John prayed deeply for healing of others in body, mind and spirit. He gave and gave and gave.  We miss John deeply. But we are so grateful that he is now with Jesus in his nearer presence.

 

Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca 

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

-published in the May 2011 Deep Cove Crier

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

Captain James Cook: World Explorer

By Rev Ed Hird

 

Sometimes I ask myself: Why is English now spoken by hundreds of millions of people in virtually every country of the world?  Why do most people of English ancestry live anywhere but England?  Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, South Africa, etc.  Perhaps it is because as seagoing islanders, the British were insatiable searchers for that which was beyond.  From the ranks of such inexhaustible seekers emerged the greatest of the 18th century nautical explorers –Captain James Cook.  James Cook had an unbounded curiosity and a deep interest in everybody and everything with which he came into contact.

 

Born on October 27th, 1728 in Yorkshire, Cook’s father was an impoverished Scottish farm labourer and his mother a simple Yorkshire village woman.  Cook began his sea life by lugging coal off the treacherous east coast of England.  There he learned how to survive the storms, fogs, hidden shoals, and tricky tides.

 

In 1758, Cook was master of the Pembroke, a 1,250 ton, 64-gun man-of-war.  In early 1759, the Pembroke joined a blockade of the Saint Lawrence River designed to prevent French ships from carrying supplies to the fortress colony of Quebec.  Cook led patrols up and down the river, charting every hazard, and marking a channel for the warships to follow.  During the British assault on Quebec City, Cook successfully navigated the massive Pembroke up the narrow, twisting, and frequently shallow waterway.  Without the help of Ship’s Master James Cook, it is doubtful whether the British troops could have taken the fortress by surprise.  With only a few years of elementary school education, no one ever expected that a ‘nobody’ like James Cook would one day be chosen as a navy sea captain.  Since the upper class were virtually the only officers, there was little chance of promotion by merit in that caste-bound naval world.  By sure grit and determination, he taught himself mathematics and astronomy, and at age 40, was chosen as captain, an age when most naval officers had passed their peak.

 

After being appointed captain, Cook went on to complete three global voyages from 1768 to 1779, exploring and accurately mapping more of the earth’s surface than anyone else before or since.  He became the first European to set foot in Australia, the first to fix the position of remote places accurately, the first to establish longitude (one’s position east and west), and the first to have extensive contact with all the various peoples of the Pacific.

 

It can safely be said that in his time no man knew the world as well as Captain Cook, and no other explorer had such an impact on the global map.  As a result, the name of James Cook is commemorated across the length and breadth of the vast Pacific: Cook Strait and Mount Cook in New Zealand; Cooktown and Cook’s Passage in Australia; The Cook Islands in Polynesia, and Cook Inlet in Alaska.  With Cook’s discoveries and surveys, the geography of the world was nearly complete.  Only Antarctica remained to be discovered.

 

Upon reaching Hawaii, the islanders worshipped Captain Cook as the god Lono.  Curiously, Lono was envisioned as a white god fated to arrive on a magical floating island during the holiday of Mahahiki.  Cook’s ships’ huge sails therefore were construed to be long staffs bearing Lono’s divine white banners.  When Cook returned to Hawaii from having explored British Columbia, he upset the Hawaiians who had then turned to the season for worshipping the god of war Ku.  Things went from bad to worse, and when Cook attempted to hold the king hostage for the return of a stolen cutter, hundreds of Hawaiians converged on him with deadly effect.  To many of his crew such as the future Captain George Vancouver, losing Captain Cook was like losing their own father. 

 

Captain James Cook as a World Explorer was not afraid to check out uncharted waters. My prayer for those reading this article is that we too as world explorers may be willing to ‘walk in the spiritual feet’ of Captain James Cook.

 

The Reverend Ed Hird, Rector,

St. Simon’s Church, North Vancouver 

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier

Winston Churchill and Baden-Powell: Unlikely Soulmates

    By Rev. Ed Hird   

 

Over the last number of years, I have written several articles about Baden-Powell, the remarkable founder of the world-wide Scouting and Guiding movements.  Both Lord and Lady Baden-Powell were born on February 22nd, a coincidence which has led to the widespread celebrating of their lives every February with events like Parent-son banquets, church parades, and thinking days. 

 

In thinking about Lord Baden Powell, I was struck by the unexpected similarities between Baden Powell and Winston Churchill.  Both, for example, came into international recognition through their miraculous escapes and bravery in the South African Boer War.  Both were courageous, determined men who inspired millions of others to try their best and to never, never give up.  Admittedly, they had many differences as well.  For example, Churchill lived in the world of politics and power, while Baden-Powell lived in the world of boys and backpacks.  As well, Baden-Powell clearly warned against the dangers of smoking and drinking, while Churchill was famous for his cigar and glass of brandy.

 

At a deeper level however, their common determination and perseverance has had remarkable impact on the character development of millions.  Churchill once went to a meeting of students, where he stood up and said: “Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.”.  Then he sat down.  In his 1937 book Great Contemporaries, Churchill included one whole chapter on Baden Powell.  In describing Baden-Powell’s Scouting movement, Churchill said: “It is difficult to exaggerate the moral and mental health which our nation had derived from this profound and simple conception.”  Churchill described Baden-Powell (B.P.) as one of the three most famous generals he had ever known.

 

Churchill first met Baden-Powell while B.P. was acting as an Austrian Hussar in an amateur vaudeville entertainment, given for the British Army in India.  Three years later, Churchill interviewed B.P. for a newspaper article about B.P.’s famous 217-day defence of Mafeking in South Africa.  Churchill said of this interview: “…once B.P. got talking, he was magnificent.”  Churchill commented: “In those days, B.P.’s fame as a soldier eclipsed almost all popular reputations.  The other B.P. – the British Public – looked upon him as the outstanding hero of the War.  Even those who disapproved of the War, and derided the triumphs of large, organized armies over the Boer farmers, could not (help but) cheer the long, spirited, tenacious defence of Mafeking by barely eight hundred men against a beleaguering force ten or twelve times their number.”

 

“No one”, said Churchill, ” had ever believed that Mafeking would hold out half as long. A dozen times, as the siege dragged on, the watching nation had emerged from apprehension and despondency into renewed hope, and had been cast down again.”  By the end of the siege, Mafeking had become so famous that it turned into a verb: “to Mafeking meant to celebrate uproariously”.  Churchill noted that “when finally the news of Mafeking’s relief was flashed throughout the world, the streets of London became impassable, and the floods of sterling cockney patriotism was released in such deluge of unbridled, delirious, childish joy as was never witnessed again until Armistice Night in 1918.”

 

Churchill, too, became an instant hero through his adventures in South Africa.  On May 15th in 1899, Winston Churchill the newspaper journalist was accompanying 150 soldiers on an armoured train, when suddenly it was ambushed and derailed.  Churchill took command in clearing the lines, and took 60 men, many of them wounded, away to safety.  Upon returning to help the other troops, Winston was captured, despite his protest that he was just a journalist.  After 3 weeks in captivity, Churchill escaped over the prison wall, jumped a train, hid in a mine, and finally escaped by train.  In the afterglow of his amazing adventure, Churchill was elected to the British Parliament at the young age of 25.

 

Neither B.P. nor Churchill were particularly successful in their early school days.  B.P.’s school reports read:

1) Classics: Seems to take very little interest in his work

2) Mathematics: Has to all intent given up the study of mathematics

3) Science: Pays not the slightest attention, except in one week at the beginning of the quarter

4) French: Could do well, but has become very lazy; often sleeps in school. 

 

Churchill was described by one of his teachers as “the naughtiest small boy in the world”.  His father warned him: “I am certain that if you cannot prevent yourself from leading the idle unprofitable life you have had during your school days, you will become a mere social wastrel, one of the hundreds of public school failures, and you will degenerate into a shabby and futile existence.”  Both B.P. and Churchill preferred to learn their lessons from nature than from a classroom. 

 

Baden-Powell once said: “Say your prayers regularly, read that wonderful old book, the Bible, and read that other wonderful old book, the Book of nature, and see and study all that you can of the wonders and beauties that nature provides for your enjoyment.  Then turn your mind to how you can best serve God while you still have the life that He has lent you.”  Churchill loved animals and loved to paint the beauties of nature.  After his crushing election defeat right after V-Day, Churchill went to the Mediterranean where he said: “I paint all day and every day, and have banished care and disillusionment to the shades.”

 

Despite the many setbacks and defeats in both B.P.’s and Churchill’s life, neither of them ever gave up the struggle to fulfill their visions.  Churchill described B.P. as a “man of character, vision, and enthusiasm.”  Winston described what he saw as the marks of a scout: sturdiness, neighbourliness, practical competence, love of country and , above all in these times, indomitable resolve, daring and enterprise in the face of the enemy.  “BE PREPARED”, said Churchill, ” to stand up faithfully for Right and Truth, however the winds may blow.”

 

Similarly, Baden-Powell said that it is the stickability of the man that really counts.  Stickability for B.P. was “that mixture of pluck, patience, and strength which we call endurance.”  Stickability “…will pull a person out of many a bad place when everything seems to be going wrong for him.”

 

As I think of Baden-Powell’s and Churchill’s stickability, I am reminded of the words of wisdom: “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  May the God of endurance fill each of us with stickability as we face life’s challenges.

 

 

Rev. Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-author of the award-winning book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier