Battling baroness speaks for the suffering

MissionFest Toronto speaker highlights dignity of the oppressed

DOUG KOOP
CW Editor-at-Large
— Toronto —

“We don’t believe in miracles,” says Baroness Caroline Cox. “We rely on them.” The 63-year-old grandmother of 10 seems an unlikely champion for oppressed peoples around the world, but the founder and president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a bundle of surprises.

Cox, who calls herself a “baroness by astonishment,” became a member of England’s House of Lords in 1982 after an “out of the blue” phone call from Margaret Thatcher. Formerly a nurse, lecturer and social scientist, the down-to-earth Cox travels extensively on mercy missions to embattled regions of the world.

“We work for victims of oppression and those who suffer—not just Christians—from human rights

violations,” says the baroness, who enjoys serving in the House of Lords because it gives her a chance to “speak out.” And speak out she does.

The “battling baroness” is an ardent and articulate advocate working on behalf of victims of oppression in such places as Nagorno-Karabakh and the remote areas of Burma. In recent years she has made nearly three dozen trips to southern Sudan to purchase slaves and set them free, frequently working with Cal Bombay of Crossroads Christian Communication.

Miracles of grace

“We don’t take miracles for granted, but we often encounter them in situations of extreme need. That’s when God works most powerfully,” she says. “When we’re self-sufficient, we don’t get as much from God.”

She finds the miracles of grace astounding, and has learned from the suffering that “dignity is a crown of thorns.” In one such “demonstration of dignity,” she asked a wounded Burmese woman how she felt about the soldier who shot her and burned her village. “I love him,” replied the woman. “He is my brother.”

Cox also tells of “a tragedy-ridden, heart-broken little community with nothing” in southern Sudan. “The village had been ruthlessly raided; the chief suffered the indignity of asking us to sit on the ground among the ants.” After providing some medical supplies and showing solidarity, the time came for the visiting foreigners to leave.

“As the little plane arrived a man came running out of the bush to give us a beautifully carved ebony stick,” she says. “This is a miracle of grace, the power of the human spirit to continue loving despite all the man-made suffering.”

Toronto tries

The baroness was in Canada for the March 2-4 MissionFest Toronto, and will return next January as a plenary speaker at Missions Fest in Vancouver.

The Toronto event drew thousands of southern Ontario Christians to the downtown convention centre for seminars and worship celebrations focusing on the persecuted church. “Our goal this year was to make the Christian community aware of the reality of persecution of Christians around the world,” explains MissionFest Toronto managing director Marie-Lucie Spoke.

Cox was part of a strong slate of theme speakers, including Johan Companjen of Brother Andrew’s Open Doors, Operation Mobilization India director Joseph D’Souza, Freddie Sun of Christian Aid and Paul Marshall of the Washington D.C.-based Centre for Religious Freedom. A wide range of concerts (Capstone, Kelita and the Toronto Mass Choir) youth and children’s events enhanced the program.

According to Spoke, MissionFest Toronto works throughout the year as “channel of communication” to make churches aware of global mission issues and opportunities. “We know the world has come to Toronto,” she says. “We want to reach the world in Toronto.”

While organizers were happy with the program and strong level of support from mission agencies and other exhibitors, getting large numbers of people to turn out remains a challenge. “Last year we had 13,000 attend. This year we worked hard to attract 20,000 and prayed for 25,000,” says Spoke. Despite those efforts,however, the final tally stalled short of the goal.