Good Evening Prayer Warriors
It's that time again to bring you our day 3 update from our Missions Trip Week One Team.
Today was a different day in that we split into two groups to be able to share in two different locations during the day.
Half of our team - Bill, Lise and Alice headed to Door of Hope.
Door of Hope is an organization here in Meadow Lake that is a daytime shelter dedicated to providing a safe, welcoming space for those in need.
Along with the Executive Director from Turning Point Youth Center (Belinda), our little team there dug in with kitchen support to get things ready for serving lunch to over 40 people who came to seek community, and sustenance at the shelter.
Door of Hope
Door of Hope
In helping to prepare lunch and then assist with the clean up and general upkeep of the center, our team was able to experience the important impact that the shelter is having daily. It was heartwarming to hear that people came to Door of Hope today with the intention of meeting up with old friends from SCCEFC that they had interacted with on previous missions trips and were so happy to connect with again - we look forward to more of those reunions.
The opportunity to serve and support the ministry at Door of Hope also brought some times of personal reflection and heartache today. Sadly many of the people that seek shelter and food at Door of Hope are struggling through various life events and addictions - our team was impacted by the sadness and state of some of those at the center today. It served as a reminder that the tendency to seek to numb the difficulties in life isn't only shown in the homeless and those with addictions but many of us seek our own way of coping by distracting ourselves through other worldly things (entertainment, gaming, food etc). Instead if we were to fix our eyes on the creator and healer of our hearts how much more He can correct our path and restore our peace.
If you are curious about the work happening at Door of Hope - I've included the link below. Experiences such as these truly remind us to be grateful for what we have been blessed with in our lives and have us considering how we can further support and bring impact to similar organizations closer to home as well!
The other half of our team (Emily, Jenny and Jackie) headed out to Bethel Gospel camp to assist in the kitchen on a busy camp day! The head cook for the week Rochelle welcomed us with open arms and fresh aprons for us to take on the day with her preparing lunch and supper for over 70 campers and camp staff!
The camp and kitchen are very well run and organized with an order of events per day - focused on making sure food was prepared for that day and preparations were happening in advance for the days to come.
Snap, Crackle and Pop (the Rick Krispie Characters) would have been very proud of us for our first great success of making Rice Krispie treats on the stove (and not the microwave) - stirring a Very Large Pot of Marshmallows and then mixing in the cereal to create a snack masterpiece. We learned a great baking idea today for anyone cooking with marshmallows in that way - putting cooking spray on your spoon before stirring them and it isn't half the mess it usually is!!
That Huge Pot went back to work after prepping Mac and Cheese for Lunch with home made bannock - we had the chance to serve the food to each of the campers cafeteria style and were so impressed by the manners and friendliness of the campers. Many of the campers even expressed excitement for the peas we had at supper alongside fried chicken and rice - but the favorite of all for that meal......... Pickles - we saw kids coming for seconds and thirds of them!!
We really appreciated the opportunity to work along-side of Rochelle and her heart for camp kids and the importance that each role plays at camp. While we might not have had opportunity to sit down and really share with the campers, we know that the food we helped prepare could fuel them up and allow them to be present for the work that God is doing in their lives through their experiences this week! We all have our part to plan in supporting and encouraging the work of the kingdom!
We had an amazing volunteer Chantelle who was doing our dishes throughout the day - we so appreciated her willingness to keep things clean with all of the preparations underway. She had been a camper previously at Bethel and shared with us some of her experiences living as an Indigenous person in Meadow Lake and working with other cultures that were disrespectful and racist. It was a reminder to us that each and everyday there are obstacles and challenges that so many are facing just to do the day to day things we take for granted.
We had a time of prayer and devotions in the afternoon that was from a devotion book that Rochelle has had for a long time called Disciplines for the Inner Life. We reflected on Gratitude and the fact that there is no in between - you are either thankful or you aren't. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a hope for tomorrow.
As we returned to Tim and Judy's home we were reunited as a team and spoke about how we had missed one another that day while ministering in different places. God truly has formed us into a cohesive small team where each member plays such an important part not only in ministering to those we encounter but also as a key component of encouragement and support for one another.
We are so thankful for this time we have together and we remain excited about what God has in store as the week continues, we are trying to continue to be flexible with the plans we have made to make sure that we are open to encounter more God surprises along the way.
Thank you for your prayers for our team!
