MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT  

When so many people around the world had such an atrocious 2020, it’s a bit daunting to come up with an inspiring New Year’s message for my Kinship family.  Not one place on this globe has been unaffected by the pandemic, much less the all-too-common bigotry and hate.

When so many people around the world had such an atrocious 2020, it’s a bit daunting to come up with an inspiring New Year’s message for my Kinship family.  Not one place on this globe has been unaffected by the pandemic, much less the all-too-common bigotry and hate. The last year makes us wonder and think of the song, “Where is the Love?” by the Black-Eyed Peas. Listen to the song here. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc&ab_channel=BlackEyedPeasVEVO]  To read the lyrics, click on this link. [https://genius.com/Black-eyed-peas-where-is-the-love-lyrics]

But now that 2021 has arrived for all of us, I’m again hopeful for the future. The production of the coronavirus vaccines gives me hope that if we all do our part by receiving the vaccination when it’s available, and also by continuing to wear masks, socially distance, and wash our hands, we will finally be able to see each other, meet together and, as Kinship is very well known for, hug each other again!

LOOKING BACK INTO 2020

Carolyn and I hope this finds you enjoying the Christmas and New Year’s holidays despite the virus. We pray you could connect in person or through digital media with your special family members.   We also hope you all created some positive and beneficial memories as you traveled the unpredictable paths of 2020.

 Adrift in Ottawa

BY JERRY MCKAY

At age 26, instead of entering a stable period of my life, I was moody, often distraught, and my behavior changed significantly. It didn’t help that I was unemployed, sleeping on a pull-out sofa in my mother’s small apartment, mourning the loss of a meaningful life in Japan, and facing an uncertain future. According to James 1:6, the person who doubts is like a wave on the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. While I was dealing with far more than doubt, in the fall of ’82, the text pretty well summed up my experience. When I wasn’t being tossed about, I felt adrift on a windless sea.