Inspire, Winter 2000

16 Winter 2000 Alumni Profile: Ruth Yuen Bliss ’90 W ords, words, and more words! Language arts consume the world of Ruth Yuen Bliss ’90. Professionally, Ruth works for Mission Network News. On the personal side, her hobby and ministry is poetry. The rest of her world revolves around her husband and toddler son. Mission Network News (MNN) is a five-minute international news feature, focusing on current events and how they impact worldwide missions. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, MNN can be heard on more than 900 stations internationally, including CDR Radio (5:45 p.m. weekdays). Ruth produces that broadcast. “That means I interview, edit, and write the news stories,” she explained. “When the broadcast is assembled, I fax the sheets to our anchor, Peter Brooks. From there, I load the sound for the netcast and update the text for the Web site.” Ruth loves her job with MNN. “This is the best of both worlds—journalism having an impact in God’s kingdom, making a difference, and (my own mantra) giving the body of Christ the tools they need to effect a change in their community/world.” One of the most challenging aspects of her work involves multiple time zone deadlines. She noted, “Sometimes we can’t reach an international number because it is in a warzone. That means we punt when deadline comes and goes and we don’t have our story.” To escape from the stresses of broadcasting, Ruth releases herself through poetry. She says the poetry scene in Grand Rapids is a mission field. “I come up against all sorts of interesting characters, mostly hostile to my faith.” she said. “I am taking very seriously the idea of being ‘salt and light’ in my community.” She defines her poetry by saying, “You touch the innermost stuff of your soul, stretch it out on paper, and let other people invade that part you would rather keep hidden—that means everything you are in character, deed, and thought is exposed. If you have the light of Christ, that’s in the mix.” Through the writing process, Ruth has discovered that putting her pain into words can reach the unsaved. “I don’t write metered, Christian poetry,” she said. “I write about real life events—issues with my mother, childhood, faith, family, husband—and God has made sure that it comes across in ways that I never could have predicted. I always try to end with hope. Even my darkest work has a move toward light, and unsaved people respond because they don’t have a hope like that.” Ruth says she got into poetry as a response to a difficult situation. “I came face to face with myself earlier this year in a rather abrupt emotional implosion (nervous breakdown/severe clinical depression),” she shared. “The incident tore all my defenses down, and I had very little energy to hide anything. I dragged out all my writing stuff to capitalize on this rare time when I couldn’t lie and pretend anymore.” Ruth says that everything she wrote was a way to make sure she didn’t forget what she had come through. “I wanted everyone else to know that this little Christian also had ‘issues’ to deal with—and to see how I dealt with them,” she added. Ruth partially credits her poetry with helping her make a quick recovery from her emotional struggle. She says it makes excellent therapy. “I think David [in the Psalms] was writing what he may not have been able to vocalize, and I can be much more honest about my struggles on paper,” she stated. “[I] still have rough patches, still say things I wish I wouldn’t say, and do things I wish I wouldn’t do, but then, who doesn’t?” To help her through those rough patches, Ruth says she draws strength from II Chronicles 20:15-18, which reads in part: “This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, march down against them ... You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.” More Than Words You touch the innermost stuff of your soul ... and let other people invade that part you would rather keep hidden ... If you have the light of Christ, that’s in the mix.