Ken Herfst
Ken Herfst is assistant professor of ministry at Redeemer University. Married to Jackie for over 30 years, together they have five children and six grandchildren. In his spare time, Ken enjoys baking artisan bread and in addition to regular watercolour painting, he has tried his hand at Moku Hanga, Japanese woodblock watercolour painting. After an extensive and varied ministry in Guatemala, he and his wife currently make their home in Cambridge, Ontario.
Bio last updated August 5th, 2020.
Articles by Ken Herfst
Gathering Far from Home
By Ken Herfst
October 1, 2015
The movement of workers across borders need not be as brutal as human trafficking for it to have severely dislocating, even debilitating, effects.
Given the challenges in Mesoamerica as well as the dangers and anxiety incurred in trying to reach the States or Canada as undocumented workers, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, begun in 1996, is a wonderful opportunity for those who have no recourse but to find work elsewhere Given that places such as Canada have been built by immigrants, perhaps it's time to consider allowing migrant Mexicans to bring their families to Canada The monthly remesas — payments migrant workers send back to their families — with accompanying dreams of a better life, never materialize Some men find that they are ostracized by their own communities when they return to Mexico and are forced to live off whatever money they sent home during the time they worked in Canada Driving up to a farm involved in Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, it isn't hard to fi nd the bunkhouse where the Mexicans live English-as-asecond- language classes help, yet some farm owners admit that they prefer their workers not learn English: "It makes them cocky and they start thinking about rights In all my discussions with migrant workers, anxiety and depression over being apart from their families is the theme that looms large