Before I became a Salvation Army Officer I was going to be a professional photographer. So in some regard, I should be embarrassed by the quality of this shot! So many things wrong with it, from focus to composure to balance…. oh my. But here it is.

I include it because in my last post I said I would tell some of the wonderful stories of ministry.  And quite honestly there are more of these moments and the tough ones. The difference is, the comments intending to hurt seem to be like velcro! They stick so much better than the positive comments.

This was from our first aboriginal round table which we did at The Salvation Army’s camp in northern BC. It was a wonderful combination of cultures and a great reminder to me, and to the those in attendance, that while the indigenous community might be different, it is by no means inferior – and in fact I suspect in many ways it is superior.

Those of us who come from the history of conquering and colonizing need to get to a point of confession, that while we might personally have hurt or stolen land, we are the heirs to this type of behaviour. We possess that which was given wrongly. Time and economics might not be able to restore all, but our confession to this and our admission of that history are important.

This photo, therefore, represents one of those “best moments” of ministry as we found ourselves in partnership with some truly remarkable people. I will look back upon this poorly taken picture with a heart of gratitude for this ministry opportunity.