Author: Jim Cantelon

I’ve been rereading “The Secret History of the IRA”. I first read it several years ago when I interviewed the author, Ed Maloney, former Northern Editor of the Irish Times and The Sunday Tribune. It’s a stunning work of investigative journalism. Much of the focus is on Gerry Adams a young man who rose from obscurity to become the dominant leader of the IRA. It’s a study on how a moment in history can reveal the inner strength and leadership capacities of formerly unknown people. As I read I think of Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of beleaguered Ukraine. This former comedian, due to the...

I think most of us have been blindsided by the importance of Ukraine. As Putin’s war continues to commit atrocities the entire world is feeling the consequences of the incremental unravelling of Ukraine’s place in the world. Everything from wiring harnesses for the auto industry to fuel costs to grain supplies has been disrupted. Africa especially is feeling the impact of the shutdown in wheat shipments from Ukraine, and the world food experts are issuing dire warnings about present and future food shortages and disturbing price hikes. We’re very aware of the early rumblings of future...

Recently I was asked to pray for an elderly relative suffering from serious illness. When my wife and I arrived at his home we were met by several of his friends who happened to drop by just before we did. Naturally there was a lot of casual talk and reminiscences. It struck me, as it often does, of the fact that everyone we meet has a history, much of it hidden  (like the proverbial iceberg). We all bear burdens, most of them unexpressed. And we all have need of prayer. I was moved as we prayed for my cousin. Moved not just by his need for healing but for every one of us who gathered...

I’ve just returned from Dallas Texas and Albuquerque New Mexico. In Dallas my wife and I attended the ordination of our daughter to the ministry, and in Albuquerque I guested on a TV show that is released on 15 stations in New Mexico. The ordination ceremony was inspiring and the TV interview gave me opportunity to talk about our work with orphans and widows overseas (wowmission.com). In both of these great cities I was struck with the resilience of the people as they(and us) recover from the Covid pandemic. Resilience is more than toughness. It is rooted in purpose. I recall an old...

My wife Kathy and I had just driven into the state of Texas yesterday when we read the news. 21 people dead and 12 injured in a primary school mass shooting in Uvalde. Our grandaughter’s high school graduation is today and our daughter’s ordination to the ministry is on Saturday. Our hearts are broken and every school gathering in Texas today will not only be subdued but on edge. Flags across the state are at half mast. Feelings are raw. So is the fear. What if it happens again? Today? Jesus said,” Think not what the morrow brings. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”. He was fully...

There’s that well worn adage,“Better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. So true. WOW is doing just that even though we’re a small candle in Ukraine. Our vision is to care for at risk orphans and widows in Jesus’ name. For 22 years we’ve been doing so in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. Through a comprehensive Home Based Care commitment we’ve partnered with local church based champions and volunteers impacting tens of thousands over two decades. The local pastor/church relationships have been key. Indeed, one cannot do any sustainable ministry without that network. When the Ukraine...

I’m not sure any of us can fathom the suffering of the Ukrainian people. The horrors of constant bombing and loss of life, to say nothing of the looming loss of hope, must be truly overwhelming. Yet they refuse to give up. Even in Mariupol, where we’re told that a thousand or more are trapped in a massive steel factory now in the bullseye of targeted Russian missiles, there is defiance. One wonders where these courageous people have found such determination. Perhaps we’re seeing the polarities of the human spirit. On the one hand a demonic drive to seek, kill, and destroy. On the other...

As the war in Ukraine continues we’ve all been horrified at the wholesale killing of civilians. This on top of over 4 million refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries (some even to Mexico!) has confronted our world with man’s inhumanity to man. The raw underbelly of humankind has been laid bare. The Bible calls this “sin”, a word rarely if ever used in our modern world. It says,”All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. That “glory” is our created wonder under God’s design,”in his image”. We’ve been created for everlasting life “ruling and reigning” with the Lord in “new...

UKRAINE ORPHAN RESCUE⁠ ⁠ The war in Ukraine has the world in uproar. We’re all deeply moved by the suffering and heroism of the Ukrainian people. Upwards of 4 million have fled to neighbouring countries, with over 1.5 million of them children, including many orphans ( some not even knowing their fathers have been killed). ⁠ ⁠ WOW “works” for orphans and widows. We need to be engaged in the care of these little Ukrainians. ⁠ ⁠ We have connected with a network of western Ukrainian and eastern Polish churches who have converted their buildings into refugee centres. They are bussing as many as...

I think we’ve all heard of the law of unintended consequences. In the ongoing agony of Ukraine that law is beginning to emerge. “Putin’s war” as it’s being called,  has certainly not gone the way he apparently thought it would. Not only did he not conquer Ukraine in two days but after two weeks the war is becoming a war of attrition where no one wins. Then he miscalculated the Ukrainian strength of heart. A courageous president and people, woefully untrained for battle, are proving to be heroes of magnitude. Indeed historians will write books one day about Ukraine’s resilience and...

I don’t think any of us would have imagined the state of our world these past few days. Yes, we might have anticipated raging wild fires (more in California), floods (East Australia inundated), famines (Yemen and Tigray), and ongoing regional conflicts (Sudan and Ethiopia), but who would have thought we’d see Putin savagely ravaging Ukraine with almost universal push-back from the world? As I write President Biden is about to give his first State of the Union address. Undoubtedly, we’ll hear “The State of our union us strong”, but that has got to be a relative statement. Our world is...

The world seems weary and wary of Russia these days. Whether it’s sabre rattling on the borders of Ukraine or getting away with it again in ongoing Olympic doping scandals one gets the impression that Russia is both schoolyard bully and obnoxious neighbor. At the same time we’re aware of the interdependence the nations of the world share, especially that between Russia and Europe. Not only will all regions (even the world at large) suffer catastrophic damage to life, property, and economy in all out war, but untold sorrow may descend for decades to come. We don’t want this. We fear it. Our...