Fundraising Dinner – ON

Local Chapter Fundraising Dinner

On May 5, the Oxford ARPA chapter held their annual fundraising dinner for the year. The day started out with some challenges as the venue informed us that it had no electricity and probably would not have that turned back on until the evening or next day. Several hours were spent desperately searching for another venue. Fortunately, we were able to find another, and the evening proceeded. A message was sent out to those who had signed up for the dinner, and although our actual numbers were slightly lower than anticipated, we were thankful to have around 120 supporters come out to join us.

This year we invited Dr. Cornelius Van Dam, professor emeritus of Redeemer University as our guest speaker. After dinner, Dr. Van Dam gave a short lecture highlighting the issue of immigration and the appropriate Christian response to immigrants. In a biblically grounded message, Dr. Van Dam demonstrated that immigrants who come to a new nation should be willing to conform to the values of that nation. If they are, then they must be accepted as new members of the state with all of the rights as citizens of the state. However, if they are not interested in conforming to the values of the state, they should not then receive the same rights as citizens of that state. Dr. Van Dam based his conclusions off the way that Israel was commanded to treat strangers and foreigners who came to their land.

Once again, as ARPA Oxford we have felt that this annual dinner has been a success. We thank our many donors for their gifts and our supporters for coming out to enjoy this evening with us and be edified with Dr. Van Dam’s insight.

Andrew, Norwich