Leading a church in the midst of drought

Borden is a mixed farming community about half an hour northwest of Saskatoon. It’s the boyhood home of John Diefenbaker, former prime minister of Canada, and present home of politican David Orchard, who contended for the Conservative leadership last year.

More important the past few years than its political claims to fame, however, is the reality of drought. For the last three years – indeed, four of the last five years – Borden has suffered from lack of rain. Added to that has been the economic impact of a closed U.S. market for cattle.

Part of the Borden MB Church

Tony Martens has been pastor of the Borden MB Church for almost four years. He’s wrestled with the question, how does one help a church in the midst of drought? How does one help with circumstances beyond human control?

This past May, Tony took a class on Jeremiah at Bethany College, with visiting professor Elmer Martens. He saw how Jeremiah led his people in laments and how he argued before God on their behalf. The church was going through Hebrews. When he came to Hebrews 4:14–16, which calls believers to “come boldly” before God, Tony decided this was something they needed to do, not just hear.

On May 16, the Borden church came boldly before God. Tony introduced this boldness in his sermon:

What does it mean to come boldly to the throne of God?
It means we come without hesitation
because it is a place where we belong . . .

I have told the story before
of calling Dad’s office in Regina when he was in politics
and having the secretary tell me he was in a meeting,
until I told her he could call his son Tony when he was done.
Instant access to his office!
Dad had standing instructions for his secretary
that if his kids, Mom,
or my uncles on the ranch were to call,
they were to be put through immediately,
no matter what he was doing.
Instant access because we are family.
We have that same access as God’s children . . .

Besides praise, prayer for the country and a local ministry – Real Choices – the congregation prayed a lament the adult Sunday school had written the week before. It was, as biblical laments are, raw and honest.

Oh Father,
Will you ignore our prayers forever?
How long will you hide your face from us?
Why does it rain in some places and not here?
When will the rains come?
What is the purpose of this drought?
How long before the grasshoppers leave?
Why is it taking so long to open the border? . . .

It pleaded for rain (lots and at the right time “to grow our fields and destroy our pests”), for a bountiful harvest, for a border cleared of restrictions. It pleaded,

Reveal what you are trying to teach us . . .
You are the creator and renewer of life,

And you can revive plants, hopes and lives . . .

Tony and Michelle Martens

Following in the biblical example of Jeremiah and Moses, Tony, “with fear and trembling,” also argued before God on behalf of the people. Beginning with praise and invoking the words of Malachi 3:10–12, he prayed repentance, reminded God of what they as a church had attempted to do in faithful obedience to God, and asked for God’s “intervention.”

It was “an incredible thing to argue before God,” Tony discovered. He described his deep feelings in a letter to his pastoral mentor, Clarence Peters of Waldheim, later that week.

“I have always shied away from being called ‘pastor’,” he wrote.

“This past Sunday I finally embraced it,” he continued. “Something happens when a person argues with the Creator on behalf of a people.”

And the thirsty earth? Before May 16, there was four-tenths of an inch of rain, which was virtually nothing in the parched conditions. Since that Sunday, more than five inches of rain have fallen. It came about an inch at a time over a few days. It was a wonderful gentle rain with cool cloudy weather that kept it from evaporating.

In response, the congregation crafted and prayed a psalm of praise.

We pleaded for you to rescue us,
But you told us “In His time,”
The season for rain had not come.
So we waited . . .
And you listened . . .
YOU LISTENED! . . .
Perfect, soaking, saturating rains.
Rains which rejuvenated the soil,
Repelled the grasshoppers,
And renewed our spirits.
You listened . . .

—Dora Dueck, with reports from Tony Martens