ARE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AS INTERESTED IN REFUGEE MINISTRY AS I AM?

 

 

Remember being introduced to my 20 favorite characters last year? I thought about doing an update and if there are any changes to the line-up. I'll probably wait at least two years before tweaking this line-up. (If you want a reminder who they are, you can put your cursor over the photo and it will remind you.)

One ministry that fascinated me since I first learned of it was ministry to refugees. By the way, I read just yesterday the difference between a refugee and a displaced person - the latter has to move but still remains in his home country, while the refugee relocates to a new country. 

Well, one of the most reminders of this interest was skimming through a bio about an author and finding out that one character was actually a refugee. 

So I looked at my collection of characters, asking myself if the characters I like reflect my interest in refugees. How many of these characters either aided/worked with a refugee, married a refugee, or was either temporarily or permanently a refugee?

Would you believe six? That's 30%. Considering that refugees were not a major theme in most stories I read, I'd consider that a notable number.

Let me list those six, starting with the back-row and going left to right.

1. Brennen Caldwell (second from left, back row), from the Firebird novels by Kathy Tyers. His wife, Lady Firebird, willingly became a refugee from her home world Netaia. On that planet, rulers were allowed two heirs, and following children were called wastelings, who were obligated to die and were assigned to suicide missions for that purpose. Lady Firebird was the third-born. Having failed on her suicide mission, she became a refugee.
2. Fightmaster Loretus (sixth from left, back row), from Tales of the Infinite by R.J. Larson. Kien Lantec, normally a diplomat, was exiled from his homeland, and Loretus was assigned to help him in his fighting skills. 
3. Crusader (first from right, back row), from Numb by John Otte. Crusader was a hit-man who became expendable and by the end of the story he relocated to another planet.
4. Arvandus the griffin (first from left, front row), from The Firebrand Chronicles by J.M. Hackman and
5. Dorann the tracker (fourth from left, front row), from Tales of Faeraven by Janalyn Voigt had similar experiences. Their home countries were captured by the bad guys and found themselves as refugees in other territories until the good guys reclaimed their territory.
6. ...No, I'll wait to reveal the final one.

I will add that other characters, while currently not involved in refugee work, would be quick to help. Suppose someone came to the dinner where my twenty favorite characters were and told them a batch of refugees were arriving and were in need. Father Antony (back row, fifth from left, from Donna Fletcher Crow's Monastery Murders) would immediately be heading out the door to aid them. Felix McClintock the Zealot and Arianna Sloan (front row, seventh and eighth from left, respectively from The Merely Mortal by J.P. Leck and the Teen Mission series by Jill Williamson) would be right behind him. Vythian Blix (back row, fourth from left from Paul Regnier's Space Drifters trilogy), after learning what they were doing, would desire to join them, but was discouraged from going because they didn't want Blix to scare the refugees (Arvandus probably was the most effective in discouraging Blix). Meanwhile, Drew Farthering (front row, second from left, from the Drew Farthering Mysteries by Julianna Deering), Duke of Marshington Ryland Montgomery (back row, fourth from right, from An Honorable Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter) and Agatha Christie's world famous detective Hercule Poirot (front row, sixth from left) would be making sure that any funding needs were fully covered. 

By the way, here's a fact you might not know. Post WWI England had refugees from other countries, including Belgium. Ah, the light comes on. Yes, Agatha Christie was aware of those refugees. Yes, when she created a detective for her first novel, that detective was a Belgian refugee. 

So maybe Hercule might be encouraging me to consider working with refugees, with assistance from the others. (And if Loretus gets involved, I'll make haste.)

 

WE ALL NEED A BRYCE AND A LORETUS

This was originally a "note" on Facebook. Well, today, I found out that the notes section was missing. I was able to dig this up, and hope this is a more permanent form. It's one of my favorite blogs that I've written, and so I wanted to share it. I did edit it a little.

At the end of King, the finale of R. J. Larson's Books of the Infinite trilogy, she had a question on our favorite supporting characters. I mentioned four, and shared it with the author. One was a Destroyer (an overgrown horse) named Scythe, though a main character chose to call him Pet. Larson mentioned that was a popular answer. My other three characters got a combined one mention: The lucky one was Tsir Aun, a gentle milatry commander who became a prime minister, and who always commented that Ela the prophetess (the character I referred to above) was always getting into trouble.

One of the other two was Bryce. The other main charater, Kien Lantec, found himself appointed to govern a region of Siphra in the second book, Judge, as a reward to saving King Akabe's life...an unwanted reward. Bryce was assigned as a steward. What I liked is that Bryce was loyal, had Kien's back, but would not hear of Kien backing out of his role. Kien told him not to call him "Lord", and Bryce wouldn't hear of it. Bryce also appeared in King, but it was his role in the first story that won me to him.

The last one was Loretus (pictured above). He also was introduced in Judge, assigned by King Akabe to train Kien for battle. The thing that impressed me -- in King, you can see that Loretus was no less loyal, probably no less fond, of Kien as Bryce was. But he had a different role. Bryce was the companion who fought beside. Loretus' job was to toughen Kien up, a job Loretus relished. And while Kien wouldn't admit it, I'm sure he knew Loretus was a faithful friend as well.

We all need a Bryce and a Loretus in our lives, both in general and especially in ministry. We need someone who has our back and supports us ... except when we want to step away from what God has called us to do. One who will defend us to the death, but will not hear of us retreating or surrendering. And we also need someone who will test us -- not to break us but so we're ready for the real battle.

That's what church is about. It's where we meet with our Bryces and Loretuses. That's why we're not to forsake our assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:24-25). We're supposed to be stirring up one another to love and good works and exhort each other, exactly as Bryce and Loretus have done for Kien.

But whether our church needs a Scythe/Pet is another matter. He's got a bit of a rebellious streak. And he takes up a lot more space.

Do you have any Bryces or Loretuses in your life? (Or a Scythe/Pet for that matter?)