Tag: Missions

From Calvin College to Navajo Chairman – Part II

From Calvin College to Navajo Chairman – Part II

This blogpost continues the story of Paul Jones. He had become connected to Christian Reformed Church in the early 1900s, as a boy and young man at the residential school and CRC mission in Tohatchi, NM. He had lived in New Jersey with a CRC 

From Calvin College to Navajo Chairman – Part I

From Calvin College to Navajo Chairman – Part I

This blogpost is part one of two on Paul Jones, a Calvin College preparatory school student from 1917-1918 who became chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council in 1955. But first a few observations about the photo that inspired the two blogposts. *** The “cover” image 

A Hausa Boy at Heart – Calvin University’s New President

A Hausa Boy at Heart – Calvin University’s New President

A significant number of students at Calvin University are “third-culture kids” (TCKs). Calvin’s newly-appointed president, Wiebe Boer, is one of them. Boer will be inaugurated this Fall, succeeding Michael le Roy who served as president since 2012. Many TCKs at Calvin are also “missionary kids” 

Navajo Missions and Glass Slides

Navajo Missions and Glass Slides

Heritage Hall has several small collections of glass slides, sometimes called “magic lantern” slides. A couple of the collections seem to be the product of traveling in Europe, the traveler buying the slides (perhaps for use in a classroom) rather than photographing sites himself or 

Navajo Voices and CRC Missions

Navajo Voices and CRC Missions

Edward Becenti (1882-1929) was a Navajo who converted to Christianity and worked with the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) as a missionary. We don’t have many of Becenti’s own words on record. But we know that his was a fluent, compelling voice. I first came across 

J.C. Morgan and Failure to Listen to Native Voices

J.C. Morgan and Failure to Listen to Native Voices

Individuals often don’t fit the categories we use to identify groups of people. Jacob Casimera “J.C.” Morgan (1879-1950), a Navajo (Diné) leader, is a good example. Was he “traditional” or “progressive” in response to white efforts to assimilate Native peoples? Neither and both, perhaps. Morgan 

When Canada was  a CRC Mission Field

When Canada was a CRC Mission Field

When most people think of missions, they don’t think of Canada. In the 1920s, Rev. Henry Beets did. Beets was the director of missions for the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). He “traveled the globe several times to inspect missions and advice missionaries in Africa, China, 

Inseparable Partners in China

Inseparable Partners in China

In our last blogpost, “Early Chinese Leaders in the Christian Reformed Church,” we looked at the Christian Reformed Church’s domestic mission among Chinese Americans. This time, we will treat some of the CRC’s mission work in China from 1925 to 1951. The CRC had multiple 

Early Chinese Leaders in the Christian Reformed Church

Early Chinese Leaders in the Christian Reformed Church

Dutch immigrants probably come to mind when people think of the ethnic history of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC). But that history is an ethnically diverse one, and not just in recent decades. Chinese communities in the CRC date to the 1950s 

Bessie Vander Valk and Missions in Cuba

Bessie Vander Valk and Missions in Cuba

Bessie Vander Valk was an unlikely candidate to church plant in Cuba. She was from Paterson, New Jersey, and did not speak Spanish.  Nonetheless, she felt called to evangelize the island nation despite opposition from her family and home church of Bethel Christian Reformed Church