Classis In The News

CROSS CANADA WALKER TARGETS WORLD HUNGER

By Sophie Vandenberg

Wearing out shoes at the rate of one pair per 1,500 kilometers (930miles), heart attack survivor George Zondervan of First Christian Reformed Church, Barrie, Ontario, is walking across Canada to raise awareness of world hunger.  He set out on March 29.

Despite freezing temperatures, snow, rain, and a fall that broke her arm, George’s wife, Betty, a breast cancer survivor, is accompanying her husband for the Vancouver to Halifax trek in a small van.

Along the way the Zondervans have received donations from truckers, school children, farmers, and even a couple of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a Christian food aid and development organization.  When a single mother pulled $10 out of her wallet, George told her Jesus’ story of the widow’s mite.  “She loved the story!  It was the first time she’d heard it, for she was not a Christian,” said George.

Lanching the 5,991 kilometers (3,714 miles) walk with a worship service in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, Rev. John Koster of First CRC, Richmond, British Columbia, preached about casting one’s bread upon the waters.  “Betty and I actually cast bread upon the water.  We expect that it will be returned to us in the form of many donations to feed the hungry,” said Goerge.  George expects to arrive in Halifax some time in November.

 For more information see www.foodgrainsbank.ca/walk

From The Banner, September 2003.  Used by permission.