Coming up: Theology of persecution seminar

Dr. Sudhakar Mondithoka

VOM Canada, along with The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), is pleased to announce a two-day seminar on the theology of persecution.

The seminar, led by Dr. Sudhakar Mondithoka, will focus on religious freedom and the global persecution of Christians.

Sudhakar Mondithoka is the Director of the Hyderabad Institute of Theology and Apologetics, located in Hyderabad, India. Ordained in the North American Baptist Conference and published in several journals and texts on missiology, Sudhakar served with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries from 1994 to 2006. Sudhakar also pastors the English congregation of Centenary Baptist Church in Secunderabad, India.

The Theology of Persecution Seminar 

Tuesday, September 27 & Wednesday, September 28

Cost:

$60.00 for registrations received before September 16

$80.00 for late registrations

Location:

The Life Centre

2214 Innes Road

Ottawa, ON  K1B 4C4

All recipients will receive a copy the book In the Shadow of the Cross by former VOM Canada CEO Glenn Penner and a DVD copy of the teaching as recorded at these seminars. Breaks and lunches are included in registration cost.

To register or for more information, please visit EFC’s website.

Scott Cairns’ The End of Suffering

One of the best books I've read this winter is the small but powerful The End of Suffering by poet, memoirist and essayist Scott Cairns (so small that I somehow managed to misplace my copy after finishing it, and so powerful that I ordered myself a new one immediately!)

In 2006, while attending my first Master of Fine Arts program residency, I had the pleasure of hearing Cairns give a keynote address at an annual arts workshop which ran alongside the residency. Cairns spoke on that year's theme: "Love and affliction: The paradox of art and suffering." The address was the seed of what Cairns calls a "study of suffering," in which he draws from the life and works of a wide variety of individuals--from prophets and poets to early church thinkers and classic literary authors.

I find Cairns’ book to be a profoundly moving meditation on the questions raised by human suffering, including the relationship between God's purposes and our pain. In fact, so rich was my experience of reading it that I suspect it will be fruit for some future blog reflections, especially as I've had some more time to consider how Cairns’ insights connect to the particular affliction of Christian persecution.

I thought it worthwhile for now, however, to simply bring this beautiful little book to your attention—and if any of you have read it I would love to hear from you. If you're interested in learning more about it, you can read an excerpt on the publisher's website. I'd also encourage you to check out the musings of another blogger whose entry on the book I happened upon recently and really enjoyed.