Toronto part two

Friday, 05 August 2011 21:33

Here’s a peek at our schedule again.  This is what we did this week.  Afterwards, there will be details and personal comments/observations.

Sat. July 30 Rooftop worship and prayer time—walking through the heart of Toronto to see what the city is like.

Sun. July 31  10-2 Oakwood Weslyan Church (Carribbean congregation)

5-7  Sanctuary Church

Mon. Aug 1   9:30-2  Good Shephard Catholic Services

7-9 pm CN Tower Prayer and McMission

Tues. Aug. 2  8:30-12:30—Scott Mission

1:30-4 Frontlines children’s ministry

4-8 pm Bless the Streets

Wed. Aug. 3 8:30-12:30 Scott Mission

1:30-4:00  Frontlines Children’s Ministry

4-8 BLCF Café community Dinner

Thurs. Aug 4 8:30-12:30 Scott Mission

1:30-4 Frontlines

6:45-8:30 Bless the Streets

Fri. Aug. 5  8:30-12 Evangel Hall

Afternoon off (Kensington market)

7-10 Yonge St. Choir (worship on the street)

Busy, busy, busy. That is definitely what we are. While most of us are feeling better today, for the past couple of days we had to fight off the tiredness so that we could continue to do work for the glory of God. Physically, we have had a few aches and pains as well as a trip to the doctor for Mrs. Daly. She is feeling better now but please continue to pray for her. Mentally, we have had spiritual challenges as was to be expected, so we have spent time in prayer before, during, and after each day’s work. What I mean by challenges are things such as: talking to non-believers, controlling small children while trying to teach them about God, and dealing with the seeming  rudeness of some of the people that we have encountered. Now I think that the best thing to do would be just to explain what we have done starting from the end of the last post.

We woke up that morning in a kind of rush because we had to leave at 8:30. We were going to the Scott mission where we served Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It is another Christ- based help center for the low- income and homeless people in the area. They have a food pantry, clothes closet, day care center, and a feeding program.  While there, we split up in order to accomplish various tasks such as: washing dishes, sorting bread, setting tables, bussing tables, putting cans in bags, hanging clothes, peeling vegetables, and working in the daycare. So that is what we did for three days from, 9 till about 12:30. Also in every one of those days we went to Frontlines children’s ministry in order to work with the small children in the program. On the first day, we had the kids design jean pocket magnets and bookmarks. The next day we separated the boys and girls. Each of the groups made rice crispy treats and the girls painted nails and made more bookmarks while the guys played games and danced. On the last day, we had a mini carnival with balloon animals, basketball, sidewalk chalk, 4 square, and face painting. Most of us agreed that that was the most difficult part of the trip. DEALING WITH SMALL CHILDREN IS DIFFICULT!!! It was difficult but extremely rewarding.

On Tuesday evening and Thursday evening we went to Toronto Alliance Church where we split up,  half of us standing in front of the church and handing out free coffee and ice cream and the rest went off in order to do more street evangelism. Moss Park was in a VERY rough part of town and it was another atmosphere from the Town Hall area park.

On the night of the second day we worked at a community church dinner serving and talking with the guests. It was very rewarding to eat with them and talk with them on a personal level.

The trip has been great so far, I’m enjoying it. This is my first mission’s trip and I’m having the time of my life. I have been seeing Christ work through us in many ways. Monday while we were getting lunch in Wendy’s a homeless guy came up to me. He asked for my meal and I gave it freely. He told me his brother just got killed and he needed to eat something before he messed himself up. I felt bad for the guy because I don’t know what I would do it my brother got killed.—Lincoln Cress

Up until this point, this trip has been taxing; crazy kids and lack of sleep kind of do that to you. But it’s forced me to rely on God’s strength instead of my own. I’ve been stretched a lot; I’ve had to talk to strangers (some were very strange), play in front of people I don’t know and make a fool of myself in front of kids I don’t know in a setting I’ve never been in. One of my favorite experiences so far is volunteering at the Scott Mission in the kitchen. I peeled potatoes for almost three hours. It seemed like a menial job, but I know that it impacted many people’s lives. I also chopped onions for the first time (they are brutal!). Overall, it’s a completely new experience with this being my first mission/international trip. I’ve been learning a lot, though, and I hope God continues to teach me, break and mold me closer to Him on the rest of the trip.—Isaiah Inuwa

This trip has been rewarding, and challenging.  Rewarding in that I have been able to pray with people, like today: Jeremy, Colleen, Mike and I prayed with a couple because their 19 year old son had been diagnosed with liver cancer. Challenges: Rejection. When we were street evangelizing and people would just blow past us, and when we would try to call them over; and they just completely ignore us. Overall I would say this trip has been awesome!~Christopher Wienecke

8/5/11   Tonight half of us went Moss Park and half of us were outside of Toronto Alliance  Church giving out free cups of coffee, ice cream, and popsicles.  Those of us who went to Moss Park gave out McChicken sandwiches, apple pies, and bottles of water. And Jeremy baptized Kiwi with a bottle of water!  It was the best moment of my week!  Kiwi was so happy to have Jeremy share the Gospel with her, and to pray with him after reading the 4 spiritual laws booklet, and then really wanted to be baptized.  So, Jeremy asked her if she believed and she said, “yes, with all my heart!”  So, he baptized her with water (declining her offer to use her cup of beer)—in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Best moment today.

We also spoke to Esther who was very welcoming to us and happy that we came to that the park.  She wanted us to pray for her and she is very much wanting to get out of this lifestyle…we prayed and she hugged everyone.  Jeremy asked if she had a Bible; it is somewhere else.  He gave her his, and she was very happy to have it.   Please pray for Kiwi and Esther to be given the opportunity to leave this life and for Kiwi to grow in Christ, and for Esther to come to know him through the reading of the Word. (Chris Daly)

This week has been absolutely incredible. I have been stretched and challenged in many different ways, but it has been really see how God has been working in myself and the other members of our team. One of the highlights of my week was one of our street evangelism excursions. I was part of a “power walking” team because we had a really far way to go in a short amount of time. Josh and Jeremy and I got a box of Timbits to give to the people we were approaching. At first it was a little discouraging because no one was interested in talking to us, even if they did take the donuts. The turning point came with our first interesting discussion. Ironically enough, it wasn’t with a homeless person. We tried approaching a guy who was sleeping on a bench, and when he didn’t wake up a man who was sitting on the next bench over started talking to us. Jeremy commented on his Boston hat and when we started to walk away he called out and tried to start a conversation with us. We talked for quite a while and he told us he was a scientist and an atheist. Jeremy talked with him for most of the time, but then he turned to josh and I and asked us straight out what we believed about God. I got to share my testimony and he continued to challenge me with questions while I was talking. It was very intimidating and challenging for me, but it was very exciting too.

After that we ended up having a few very good conversations with some homeless people in the city hall area. We prayed for a man who told us he had colon cancer and really wanted some prayer. He even wanted us to hold his hand while we were praying. His name is Al, so you can be praying for him.

I’ve also really enjoyed helping in practical ways at the Scott Mission. I was in the kitchen all three days and I loved the work and the atmosphere of the place. Our supervisor, Ali, was really fun, and they all seemed very grateful that we were there. This has really been an awesome week.    ~Evelyn