Ken Penner lives on hope, so much so that he has gathered his many newspaper 'Hope for Today' newspaper columns into a book called 'Hope for Every Day."
"'Hope for Every Day' is a daily reader. It's every day of the year. There's a reading there for every day, on one page," said the lay preacher of the nearly 380-page self-published volume.
"Where is our hope? One of the columns at the beginning of the book speaks about it. It is usually, as we say, I hope so. Somebody buys a lottery ticket and they say, well, I hope so. And it's kind of a hope," Penner explained.
"But, you know, there's a hope that I have. Like, I wasn't always a Christian. This is a book based on Christian principles. Bible principles. It ended up once I realized there's a God who created me, created this creation, there's a purpose, and so that brings me to hope."
"The closer I get to know God the more I know there's hope. No matter how hopeless the situation seemed, there's hope. And so where does that hope come from? How do we get to that real hope, even if I have lost my job or have had an accident or whatever?"
"There's still hope because there's a God overriding the whole thing who made me and you and the whole creation. That's where my hope is ... God who rules the whole sovereignty, the sovereignty of God. He's overlooking me. I don't understand it all. I'm 72 now and as I get older I realize I don't have to understand everything fully. I just really need to know the one who does, and that's God."
A surveyor by profession, Penner moved to the region in 1977, settling first in Smithers to work for the highways ministry. He left the ministry in 1985 and became an independent contractor.
But at the same time, he began a street ministry in Smithers, something that grew when he joined with Streetcorner Ministries. His column appears in both the Lakes District News and Houston Today through donations made to Streetcorner Ministries.
He's also worked with a soup kitchen outreach ministry in Houston in a building downtown.
"We would have the food first and then we'd say if you want, there's also some spiritual things here, Bible study, and we'd like to talk and pray with you," Penner continued.
Still active in his writing, Penner recalls a conversation he once had with a fellow surveyor.
"He looked at me said, 'Ken, the difference between you and me is that mine was a job, yours is a calling'," Penner said.
"An I got goosebumps thinking about it. Hey, he's right. I can't help it."
Penner has printed 250 copies of "Hope for Every Day" through FriesenPress of Altona, Manitoba.
Copies are available at the Lakes District News office in Burns Lake, at Countrywide Printing and Stationery in Houston and at Mills Interior Stationery in Smithers.
It's also available on Amazon but, said Penner, a book sold there provides him with just $1.20.
