Toronto Adventure March 09

Joanna's Thoughts

2009-03-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

Anyone who's spent a bit of time with me probably knows that I LOVE Toronto, so spending a week here loving on the WMB youth and on the people of this city has been a joyful experience.

I appreciate the rhythms, sounds, and customs of life in TO, but I have definitely been challenged and encouraged spending a week serving amongst the city's poor. God is at work here! I see Hope in this city and in the faces of many of our houseless brothers and sisters. I am always struck by how we are much more similar than we are different. Our acts of arrogance and pride or oppositely, self hatred and abuse stem from the same core need- to know that we are the Beloved.

My heart this week for the youth and for the people of TO has been to grow in my ability to see them as the Beloved of Christ, and remind them of this hope.

Pray for us to love on people well on this, our last full day here in TO. The team is tired and processing a lot, but our goal is to finish well the task that has been put before us.

Josh's blog

2009-03-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Oh

Josh Here
man, am i pooped, i am sooo tired. it's been loads of fun here and i have definitely learned a lot. its been really good getting to know the group, considering i didn't even know half of these people's names at the beginning of the trip. Josh and Josh have been having some issues, but we're getting used to it.
Josh is a really good teacher too, and i am having my eyes opened to many of the realities of living on the street. it's incredible how the world of the rich can be so oblivious the poor and desolate world around them. on the first day we were here, Josh took us on a prayer tour, and we went to see a place called the K.C. House, right outside of the Rogers building. There were so many windows looking out onto tae street. Yet, although the people were looking straight at it, the people working there were completely blind to the world outside of their lives.

After that, and after we had seen many other dark and terrible stories and places in the heart of the city, we went to look out on the entire city. this was the typical post card picture that many people see when they think of Toronto. However, after having seen the heart of the city, it was unbelievable to see that there was such "grandeur" around something so dark and saddening. it was almost as though it was made to hide the true story of Toronto, and that is what we are here to unveil and help to correct this hidden side of the City.

"He Said 'son,
have you seen the world?
What would you say,
If i said we'd won?"

Rise Against-Hero of War

Josh out

Captain Hook and the Island of Lost Boy...

2009-03-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

We're wrapping up another exhausting day here in T dot, and I'm learning so much each day. im beginning to realize more and more each day, and find that God is really opening up my eyes to new things. we are volunteering at Saint Francis Table, where we do a series of jobs each day from food prep to folding napkins. the past 2 days, i had the privilege of serving and waiting on customers who come for a hot meal. during these 2 days, i met a nice man named david. David is an older-ish man who is very opinionated with a very open mind, and enjoys sharing his view points with others. this was really easy to make conversation with him, and during out chats, i learned that he enjoys travel and learning new things. he has told me he has a gold mine in california, he scuba dived near the Titanic's sister ship and has visited Mexico. he is definitely an interesting fellow, along with a very interesting contraption on his right hand. he has lost his hand, and in replace, are 2 metal claw-type-things, but that does not take away from the character he is. he is a very calm and collected man, and easy to talk to. i look forward to his chats and they always seem to enlighten my day. he's thinking of writing a book called " Captain Hook and his Misadventures". i think i'd buy that book, and would have a fantastic time reading it :)
as my week proceeds, so does this blog, if you have gotten bored, i apologize, but it will keep going, and i dont apologize.
another place we visited was the Good Sheppard. it is a place for houseless men, who get a room, bed and 3 meals a day. here, i met a man named mark, who is doing a "test" on houselessness. he's living on the streets for about 2 months, then going to U of T. he will most likely make a documentary on it as well. i pray that his mission will give him all he is searching for and more.
im wrapping up now, so you can exhale and continue with your day. i am having an amazing time here, and feel right at home interacting with new people each day, and hope that my experiences here will affect me back home.

candid (scary) Pete

2009-03-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

the Birthday girl!

2009-03-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's Leah's 17th birthday today. Here is a photo of her with a child from St. Francis' Table last night. Leah just lit up when this little girl was at the restaurant.

Danielle's thoughts (sounds so smart!)

2009-03-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

So We have been seeing and meeting a lot of nice cool people. We have been destroying houses, mopping, sweeping, serving at soup kitchens, trying to inter act with people that we are serving. My favourite parts have been in St. Francis table, the soup kitchen we are serving at fro the week. The first time we went I was feeling really sick and I could barley function. I stayed home that evening and couldn't experience the street walk that our group went on. So yesterday when we went to the soup kitchen I didn't know what to expect but I had a great time!!! We met a lady and her daughter and Leah F and I connected with her like right away. I was talking with her mom and there is so much love there it is amazing!
We are all tired. There is a girl in in our room and she kept us up with her snoring. Having lots of fun lots of fun!!!

Sleepy in Toronto

2009-03-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,
It's Thursday morning and we're heading downhill towards the weekend. It has been a busy week and I am so proud of all these young servants. We have spent time serving at so many different places. Yesterday we served at a place called Booth Industries where mentally handicapped people work in a factory packaging things. It was awesome! I worked with Edna , an Asian lady, who accepted me just the way I was...and that truly impacted me. She didn't evaluate me, she didn't judge me or even put me in a category and from her...I have learned that i need to do the same thing. Thank you Lord.
Today is Leah fast's birthday. She turns 17 today and we sang happy birthday and gave her a chocolate little mermaid...not easy to find things at midnight...o well.
God has been good to us, and he has been faithful and we are learning and growing and certainly being stretched....
Please continue to pray for us as a team and thank you for being faithful...
Pete

2009-03-18T04:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we learned life skills from our host Josh. The first time we've seen stuff on paper, yet we still didn't understand the instructions. As frustrating as it was to go to the Eatons Centre trying to do what ever our host Josh expects of us, it wasn't until we applied the actual lesson part of life skills to our walk at the mall that the confusion was gone. The sum of Living In Faith Everyday is to stay in prayer, and put working to make someones day connected with faith. With the change of perspective, to serve people as if they were Jesus, social and cultural habits melted away. An older gentleman sat alone in the mall-normally looked past and thought that he likes his on space- but when we joined him he told us everything in his life;The countries he's lived in, his work experience, his political opinions, his family and friends. He explained to us that he used to meet with 6 others at the mall every day, but now all his friends in Canada have passed away. He told us he was lonely, and hoped to move to his family in Australia. The cultural trend we are in to not approach others-to be individuals in a community instead of being a community-should be broken. We made Harry Pine's day because we broke it.
Natalie

Dirty, Dangerous but Alive

2009-03-17T06:25:00.001-07:00

With people, shops cars and ads, Toronto is a city full of movement and stories. Looking from the sidewalk up at a brightly lit skyscraper to the CN tower with elevators constantly going up and down, you wonder how somebody could go from a life of luxury to being homeless sleeping on a ventilator grate, spewing heat and fumes from the heated building beside it into the street.
Toronto is dirty, dangerous but alive... by Nathan

The Snoring Man

2009-03-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Toronto is great. Everything we are doing. Yesterday we tore down a house for a church. That was so much fun. Also last night we did a sandwich run and gave out bag lunches. It was sorta depressing because there were huge beautiful skyscrapers, then a group of homeless people. On the other hand there are other people from Indiana and Ohio. The one leader snores like a monster!! Pete thinks its great, but its not because the boys cant sleep. But it is fascinating. We also go to Tims 3 times a day. But its such a blast!! ... bt Nick

Toronto - We're walkin the streets and serving

2009-03-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well. We are here and we are serving. Yesterday we arrived and spent a little time at the lake and then into the church to set up. We went to the Real Jerk for dinner and then out for our first taste of the city - the Prayer Tour. It was thoughtful and wonderful and we learned so much about the Heart of God in this city. We learned about the very difficult gap between the haves and the have-nots here in the city. We prayed in areas where people are hospiced as they die from hiv/aids, or where people sell their bodies because they are poor or addicted. We learned about mental health issues and the concept of showing dignity on the street. It was very sad and heart breaking and it was very powerful!

Today we got up and were off to serve at a church - Bloor Landsdowne Christian Fellowship. They have purchased a house at the back of the church and we worked at removing the plaster and latte. It was dirty work and you would have been proud of these young missionaries. they did an amazing job.

This evening we ate at the New Haandi Indian Restaurant and then went off on a sandwich run/street walk through the downtown...We met people who were preparing to sleep on the street and we offered them a bag lunch and some conversation. Again it was a powerful experience! We probably handed out 50-75 bag lunches. One of the groups was even serenaded by a fellow who sang Elvis Presley songs...we have just begun to scratch under the surface here. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we go to serve at our core site - St. Francis table. Blessings to you all and please continue to pray for this team - that our hearts would be broken for the poor here and frankly...the poor everywhere.

Check the page down on the right for some pictures of the trip...

CSM Toronto Video

2009-03-12T06:52:00.001-07:00

The Youth

2009-03-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our amazing youth at WMB!!!!!
Yes, this is a "youth" mission so we have our youth...10 of them. It's exciting to be going to Toronto and we are all wondering where and how we will engage in God's Will on this trip... Here's a pic of the team...

Back Row from left to right is - Devon, Leah, Laura, Nathan , Jordan,
Front Row from Left to right is - Leah, Joshua, some leader, Natalie, Nick, and leader, Shaun.
missing is leader Joanna and youth member Danielle (seen here)

The Leaders

2009-03-03T17:02:00.001-08:00

Here are the leaders for the adventure. First, there's Pete... Pete looks old but he's young at heart and loves the inner city. sometimes mistaken for a homeless guy when in Toronto, he's hoping that the youth will look out for him and maybe give him some spare change...

Then there's Joanna...
Joanna works at WMB as "la directeur" of young adults, the next step for our youth so she'll be interviewing them as we go. Joanna loves the big city too and although she dresses funny...she's very cool.

Last but not least is Shaun... Shaun is just a big giant kid and is great if you need a playset for youth to play on...just use Shaun. Highly trained in youth ministry, he works undercover right now as a volunteer alias burger guy but several countries have their eye on him. Shaun is the leader, on this trip who will be responsible for the fun and smiles of the group.

As a leadership team we are honoured and excited to lead these young people on this adventure and are looking forward to seeing God work in their lives in Toronto.

We prepare to go

2009-02-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

We have assembled a team of youth and leaders from Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church to travel to Toronto to serve during the March Break 2009 from Mar.15 to Mar.21. We will be serving with Centre for Student Missions through International Teams.

The plan is to stay at an old Missionary Church on King Street and from there set out each day to serve in the inner city...to serve the poor. We will have a core ministry site that we will go to each day. We will go on prayer tours looking for where God is at work in Toronto. We will experience various cultures, their food and religious expressions, areas to pray for, sandwich runs and serving opportunities.

This will be an exciting opportunity for some of the youth of our church to experience first hand what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 25 when he spoke about serving the poor.

Please pray for us as we prepare to go, for traveling mercies, opportunities to serve and opportunities to grow. thank you for joining us on this journey. check back in regularly to this blog to follow the progress of this team. peace and blessings to you...