CHRISTIAN FARMERS TAKE LEAP OF FAITH
The Dutch names still line the head table; four kids is
still a small family; and you won't find a greenhouse
open on Sundays. But the complexion of the Christian
Farmers Federation of Ontario is changing heading into
1996.
The CFFO's annual convention at the Italian Canadian Club
in Guelph always has a flavour of a Sunday service
without the pews, opening with a boisterous hymn, and
peppered with Scriptural references throughout.
"We always wear our faith commitment on our
shirtsleeves," says Oxford county dairyman John Markus,
who stays at the CFFO helm for a third term this year.
Markus, and vice-presidents John Deelstra, a Lambton
dairyman, and Oxford pork producer Jasper Vanderbas, make
no apologies for their faith. But Markus and his
executive say the CFFO under farmer registration has to
reach a wider range of farmers.
"Make no mistake about it," Markus told CFFO delegates
last month, "CFFO's chief mandate is to support the
family farm...and honour God. This very fact is the
heartbeat of our organization.
"Yes, I'm accountable to my membership, but at the end of
the day, I'm accountable to my God....There isn't a
meeting that I go to that I don't spend time with Him
first."
"I will take my task sincerely and prayerfully," said new
vice-president Deelstra, calling CFFO "a unique part of
our Christian life. We do seek to honour the Lord and our
farming careers through CFFO."
Vanderbas, however, urged CFFO to branch out from its
Christian Reformed Church roots. After two years under
farmer registration (stable funding), membership has
ballooned from 600 largely Dutch Christian Reformed
farmers in western Ontario to 3,300 across the province.
Markus says only 20 per cent of members today are
Christian Reformed; more than 500 come from eastern
Ontario. The organization now numbers several Roman
Catholics, or "Rough Carpenters" as panelist Ted Zettel
jokingly referred to himself.
"Let's be firm in our faith and not overbearing.
[Otherwise] we will have a tough time defending our
stable funding," said Vanderbas, who with his wife Marja
is a long-time foster parent, with "three children plus
whoever shows up on our doorstep."
With the new members has come new money, another
challenge for CFFO. Last year's fiscal results for the
year ending Dec. 31 were unavailable at press time, but
the organization took in $463,842 after refunds in 1994.
Markus says the 1995 results are almost at par, with just
over one-third of registrants asking for their money
back. Spending in 1996 will rise to $483,000, a $23,000
increase over the '95 budget. Markus says the extra will
go to a series of province-wide workshops.
Markus is confident his organization will meet all the
criteria when re-accreditation takes place in 1997. "We
have a lot of grassroots participation," he says. "We've
established credibility in the past." Rather than
competing for members with the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture, he sees CFFO's role as "complementary...an
alternative" to OFA.
Still, CFFO is not afraid to take a controversial stance.
Markus says he's lost members over the group's
anti-severance policy. CFFO also took heat for calling on
the government to scrap the GRIP program, which Markus
calls "a white elephant, an illusion", quickly getting
"built into the cost of doing business." CFFO says the
$14-million government contributions would be better
spent on research.
Markus said the NISA income insurance program has a lot
more promise, with farmers and government building up a
nest egg which grows like the "multiplication of
rabbits". On his own farm Markus enrolled in NISA in
1990; after last year's $4,900 contribution, his account
will stand at $25,000 at year end.
NISA should be run by the farmers, he added: "We just
can't afford...inspectors and bureaucrats."
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