Winnipeg SERVE Day 4 - Different Ministries in Winnipeg.

Day 4.  Before I begin to comment on the day, Jacob and Fontana wanted to begin today's entry with words of wisdom and wonder.  I think Jacob is in another world with his opening words, but Fontana actually did an awesome job (Jacob did too).  Nice writing you two. I'll have to get you to add more later in the week. 


Jacob's soulful words....: 

As the dew sets on the breathing landscape of the flatlands of Manitoba, my mind turns to the waking nature of the world around me, the cheerful chirping of birds, the happy roaring of lions, and the way the trees sway as if dancing. The smell of young people wafts to my nose, and I close my eyes restfully as I think of my blog. For in the lonely hours of the night, my blog is my sole comfort, my only escape from a distressed world full of pits of despair. Ah, sweet, sweet blogging!

Fontana's thoughts so far......

Greetings everyone, Fontana here. Ron, (aka Ferret face), has challenged me to write something on his blog. So here we go! This Winnipeg trip has been a great experience so far! The long drives are not just chances for our bodies to go numb, but a chance for all of our relationships to grow. I have learned many things about the people I am traveling with! 

I learned that Ron likes to take pictures of everything and put them all on his blog, even if they embarrassed someone, except if the person would be him. I learned that Annette has a passion for storytelling and that Rosy and I could start a business being walking thesauruses. I learned that Ben adores cashews and cashiers. The people that are I am travelling with, already feel like a family to me! 

This trip has already been a learning experience, and it has only been the drive in! The many different things we saw while driving reminded me of God's awesome power. The way the sky changes over the course of the day still amazes me. Ron had us stopping quite a bit to visit different landmarks, and though we whined about getting out of the car every time, the stops were all quite interesting. Even the different places we slept, allowed us to experience many different things. 

Sleeping at the church, allowed us to play outside for awhile, sleeping at the hotel allowed us the use of the sauna and the pool, Sleeping at the beautiful house we are now in allows us to feel like we are at home. 

Speaking of home, I am just starting to miss mine back in Ottawa, if my Mum or Daddy are reading this right now, I love you guys and miss you like crazy! Pet Brent and Okiee for me! Well Ron, I accepted, and completed your challenge, how do you like that! =)

Morning came very quickly this morning.  As I was typing up last night's blog one of our YP became ill.  Annette and I had to deal with this and we ended up getting to bed around 3 am Winnipeg time.  Then, I had to listen to another YP coughing for most of the night, and others talking in their sleep.  It was a short night for sleep,  and I'm feeling it now.  

It seems that Hannah didn't get much sleep either.  That deer in the headlight look as she empties the dishwasher.  We have been blessed already with Shellie and Vince's hospitality, but I am also making sure that we help with the cooking and cleaning up too.   

Here is Chris making gluten free breakfast sausages.   

Annette hard at work making coffee, I think.   

We had eggs, toast and sausages this morning.  
Good food and great fellowship.   

After breakfast, the group settled down for a time to catch up on email, check the blog, and update their facebook pages.  The joys of WiFi.  We didn't have to leave until 11 am.  

 Here's Chris updating his facebook page with his Ipod.

Shellie, Annette and I sitting in Shellie's beautiful sun room talking.   

Here is Fontana writing her great soulful words.   

Fontana and Leah.  Buddies.   

Today was going to be a day to introduce our group to the inner city dynamics of Winnipeg.  I have done 3 mission trips to Winnipeg's innercity during my tenure in Sarnia, so it was good to be back.

Annette stayed behind with our recovering YP and graciously did laundry, cooked dinner for us, and did some house cleaning.  Thanks for serving in this way Annette.  

   Winnipeg has a large population of Aboriginal people and there are many ministries trying to minister in the downtown core.  

One of those is Debbie, a long time friend of mine.  She has been in Winnipeg for 20 years now, and lives in a huge house just inside the red zone.  The red zone is a place where there are no banks, no large supermarkets, and houses that are not insurable.  Lots of gang activity.  It's the area where we did ministry when my Sarnia group came here.  

Debbie has had this house for about 5 years now.  It's old, and filled with character.  Debbie runs a ministry out of her home and lots of kids come to visit her and be ministered by her.  

One of her bathrooms is amazing.  It's huge and has what looks like a real live tree inside it.   

We sat down with Debbie and she shared her life journey with the group and why she has been doing ministry here for so many years.  They have not all been easy years, and there is much poverty, violence and nonsense that goes on where she lives.  I have always been amazed at what Debbie has done during her time here.  I know she sometimes wonders if she has made a difference, and I know that she has because she has simply been a positive presence in an area where so much negativity exists.  

 Here is Debbie relaxing in her comfy chair


  

Debbie has a large back yard which she uses for kids to come to play and experience a positive role model in their lives.  She has backyard VBS' that go on, and regularly hosts kids for dinner.   

Chris found one of the tricycles in the back yard and tried to be a kid again.   

Debbie and Shellie.  They get along well.   

We had a quick lunch  and Fontana cooked it.  Thanks Fontana.  She only dropped one sausage on the ground.  : ) 

Our next stop was the Indian Family Centre.  A place our Sarnia group had done work in years ago.  It is a place that the Christian Reformed Church supports through its ministry shares, and that makes me proud because some very good stuff happens at this centre.  Aboriginal people are treated with dignity and respect and much healing has taken place in the lives of those who have walked through its doors. 

 This is the front foyer.  A place of meeting, which is very important in Aboriginal culture.  

This is Michele, the new director of IFC.  She's been here for about two years now, replacing the old director who died of cancer.  Michele is a wonderful person who understands what it takes to bridge the racial divide that still separates whites from Aboriginal people.    

Our group formed a circle in a room in the IFC.  This circle began with a Smudging, or the burning of sweet grass.  The smoke of the sweet grass is placed before you and you may use that smoke to cleanse yourself and prepare yourself for worship, or sharing and confession in the circle.  Here you see Hannah doing this.  

We spent some time sharing with each other, starting with Ruth, an older Aboriginal lady who shared how the IFC helped her heal from the residential school issues she faced.  It was touching to hear.  Then the rest of us shared a bit about ourselves in the circle.  

As we left the circle we were shown a beautiful drum that was donated to the centre by a funeral home.  It's used there now for ceremonies and the painting on the drum skin was just amazing.   

 We toured the centre and here is a painting of creation depicted by a famous aboriginal artist.  

There are several murals on the outside of the building as well.  The centre is located in a place that is not so safe, but there are no bars on the windows and no one has yet broken the windows of this place.  A testament to what this centre means to the people who live around and near it.  

Michele was able to hire 8 summer students this year. Four are from local CRC churches in Winnipeg, and four are from the neighborhood. I'm curious to know how these YP will have changed in their outlook of life and relationships after their summers are over.  

Next stop was Hope Centre Ministries.  They have moved now, and share space with the Mennonites.  

I took some time to take some pictures outside, and ended up getting locked out of the building......  : ) 

 Here is the boardroom where we sat while Shellie explained a bit about the centre and what it's about.  She heads up a ministry that began years ago as a CRC church outreach project and has grown into 3 separate ministries.  

Shellie has a summer intern as well.  Here is Carla in Shellie's office.  We will see more of her next week during SERVE.  

The sign in her office window explains what this ministry is about.  

The building houses a chapel where services take place every Sunday night.  Shellie leads these services -- they have between 30 and 40 regular attendees. Many of the individuals who attend are individuals who live with disabilities.  Hope Centre Ministries is a faith community.  They  worship together at night so that they can encourage individuals to join/attend local churches as well.   

Our final stop for the day was to Covenant CRC to help set some things up for SERVE.  I met Ken, Youth Pastor at the church, and Carol, the director of Winnipeg's SERVE.  

It's a nice building with a gym, which we will use for eating in and fellowship.  

 They have a very nice front foyer.  

An equally nice kitchen which will serve us well for the week.

Our mailboxes for writing nice things to people.   

A larger shot of the kitchen.   

We began setting things up pretty quickly after we got there.  I confess I took a short snooze while they all worked.  I needed it.   

Here's a picture of the sanctuary.   

The theme for this year is the Amazing Race, so we put up all kinds of flags of different countries.   

The amazing race finish line will greet the participants when they arrive.   

Here are Chris and Zachary together.  Seems Zachary has taking a very keen liking to my son.  Chris has never had a brother, but he's beginning to get a sense of what it would be like if he did.  Neat to watch.   

We returned home  and continued the final touches of dinner preparation.  I went with Shellie to get some groceries and other items and we were ready to eat meatloaf and perogies and vegetable and ice cream for dessert.  As usual, Fayth was helping out.  Way to go Fayth, I can always count on you.    

Others in the group did some strange stretching exercises.....  

Hand stands......good job Hannah 

Good try Fontana.  : )  

After supper the group settled down for a game of Apples to Apples.  They had a very good time doing this.   

Then it was time for another swim.  Jacob has a very interesting towel to say the least.... : ) 

The group is now at the park again having fun.  They will soon return and we will have our closing prayer and reflection time from the day, and then it's off to bed.  We have a long day tomorrow, and won't be back until 11 pm, so more than likely the next blog entry will be two on Saturday, not one for tomorrow.  You can check early in the morning on Saturday if you'd like.  

Today was a good day of introduction for our kids.  I hope they got a sense of the makeup of Winnipeg and the issues that are going on with the Aboriginal population here.  I hope they see the great things that people are trying to do to be a light in a dark place and how this changes the lives of all involved. 

I will end this blog as it began, with comments from Jacob and Fontana as they reflect about their experiences today.  After that will be a video of some of our youth smudging.  Enjoy, and until next time......God bless you.  

Jacob's comments:  

Apparently the pieces that Fontana and I have been adding to the blog have had an impact on Ron, as he has asked us to reflect again, this time a little more seriously than before. I personally enjoyed the day, as it is not often that I get the opportunity to see the type of things that the Aboriginal community as a whole experience as a result of the horrors that have been imposed on them by past governments, and indeed, an entire society. 

As Canadians, and especially as Christians, we need to realize and accept the Native community, on whose land we live and work, and do our best to help them. Most of these people do not graduate from high school, and end up living in second-rate apartments and spending all of their money on drugs or alcohol. I have heard the issue well-defined by former Prime Minister Paul Martin in an interview, where he observed that we are so concerned with helping people in Africa or in Haiti or Japan, which is a very good thing. However, when we as Canadians go to these places, the world meets us there. No one else is going to solve the problems within our own country. As Christians, we know that Jesus came to heal and to minister to all people of all nationalities, and we should reflect that in our lives. That's all I have to say.

Hannah's Comments:

I decided to add my comments of the day to the blog as well...when else do I get published on the blog? ;) I think the most interesting thing that we did,  for me, was visiting the house of an old friend of Ron and Shellie's, Debbie. On the way there, Shellie told us that the area of Winnipeg that we were approaching was the area that we hear about on the news a lot. For her, she said, it was a culture shock, coming from Ottawa where we don't experience the same amount of things this area in Winnipeg does. The area where we went was more a run down, down town kind of place. There were graffiti on the doors, lots of smoking, etc. 

The crazy thing is, Debbie's house was in the middle of this area! We entered her house and she began to tell us about her life, her dreams, her experiences. I found it so amazing that she was willing to live in a neighborhood that had completely different living conditions than we were used to, following God's calling for her life. 

Kids from around the neighborhood drop in at her house all the time and she forms tight relationships with them. Groups of people come to her house, and visit. Personally, I think it would be hard to live in an area like that, and yet Debbie is doing it. Although times may be hard, she keeps up a close relationship with God and listening to his call, even though it may be tough. I think that we should all do things similar to what Debbie does, stepping out of our comfort zones. It challenges us, makes us stronger and helps us grow in our relationships with God. I enjoyed writing on this blog ... hoped you enjoyed reading it. Hi Daddy, Tobie, Lucy, Samantha, Ella, Calvin, Zoe, Molly! Well ... that's all folks! :)

Fontana's Comments:

Hey everyone! It is the second time today I am writing on this blog, I'm starting to feel like I should start my own. Today was a very informative day, we were able to see three different ways people served the same God. Our first stop was at Debbie's house, which served as her own personal ministry center. Her house was beautiful, as was the work she did inside. Debbie is one of the most selfless persons I have ever met. She work's with people who sometimes don't want to work with her. The fact that her house stands right in the same neighborhood as the people she is ministering to, shows me that she has a lot of passion for serving others. Her trust in God is amazing. Her house is decorated in scripture and every one I saw gave me strength just by glancing at them. 

The next ministry we visited was the Indian Family Center. I could see how to some people this stop would be shocking and a little uncomfortable, however since my Aunt is married to an Aboriginal man, I have experienced this culture before. Our group seemed a little out of place, but everyone inside the center greeted us with smiles. The first thing our "guide" did as soon as she came into the room, was to move our chairs into an unbroken circle. The circle, as Michele explained, is called a sharing circle and when they gather for their worship they sit in this circle. Ruth, an aboriginal lady who visits the center told her story. She was involved in the residential schools, and told how at first she hated the white men but as she kept attending the Indian Family Center, her hate faded and she learned to trust white people. 

This story was very moving, My Uncle was also involved in the horror story that is residential schools, however he did not find God, he found hatred. It made me feel like there should be something like the Indian Family Center in Ottawa. The work that they are doing moved me greatly and I find it very disturbing the way that aboriginal people have been, and even still are, treated. 

God made every single person on this earth spending the same time on each person, putting the same thought to each character trait, and loved all people the same. If God can love billions of people, why is it so hard for us to love the people that live in our community? 

Hope Center Ministries was the place we visited next. Shellie is the director at this ministry and it is very close to her heart. The way that Shellie talked about each and everything she did, showed the passion she has for her job. It is not an occupation in the slightest, it is one hundred percent a vocation. God is working in a big way at Hope Center Ministries, and I'm very excited to do SERVE this week as a sort of extension from this ministry. Overall the day gave me a lot to think about. God is absolutely amazing, and everyday I learn about the ways that people serve him and I get fired up, and ready to serve. 

We as Christians are designed to serve others. People forget this often, but we are human and we do make mistakes. As long as you strive to spend your life devoted to God, and to God's people, you shouldn't stray.  It is late now, so I think I will head to bed because there are going to be some great but long days ahead of us! God bless. 

           Smudging at the Indian Family Centre