Hey people,
Last week was a busy week where we spent some time in downtown Vancouver! I think it’s the most beautiful city I’ve been to; both the physical aspect and the people. I loved that there was so much greenery everywhere, even on top of buildings and I enjoyed the amount of friendly people! ..Must be a coasters thing :P
We spent a total of 5 days downtown, each night staying at the Jericho Beach Hostel. Over the first 2 days, we were led on a church plunge by J. Janssen where we attended different church services held at various denominations of churches. I think it was very cool to see the different styles in which people come together and worship God. Some churches were very intriguing and enjoyable, while others were uncomfortable or just not something that I’ve experienced before. We went to 8 churches in total, ranging from your traditional Catholic Church to a jazz music church or even a Gregorian chant (this one freaked me out a bit), a few different Mennonite Brethren churches and an Anabaptist church. Everyone in our group had a different reflection on each church experience, which ones they liked or didn’t like, but personally if I had to pick a favourite it would be the churches that gave off a strong sense of community. I felt that the churches where people knew each other deeply and took the time to get together outside of the service, whether that be for socializing or for bible study/home church, had a stronger presence of Jesus among them. I think a sermon and worship music is awesome and important, but the time taken out of your week to get together with your brothers and sisters in Christ definitely ranks the highest on the level of importance of what church actually is. Because after all, the church isn’t the building it is the people.
After these first few days, we had a morning of debrief then we were sent to roam the city and explore on our own time. Some people went to Stanley Park where they enjoyed hikes or tandem biking. Others of us headed to the downtown core getting a true taste of the city life. I think that Vancouver is a very unique city in that it has some of the richest and the poorest people in Canada right next door to each other. At first I was intimidated by being downtown, but after being there over a period of a few days I realized it really wasn’t that bad. Yes it’s busy and I don’t think I could live downtown, but it a very lively city full of diversity.
The next two days we participated in another urban plunge, this time through the organization YWAM. The first day we did a learning tour, where we set off in small groups of 3 to interact with the people of Vancouver and learn more about the level of poverty and homelessness that exists. I really enjoyed this day, but it was hard to process how I felt about everything I saw. The “shady” part of town is East Hastings as this is where the most poverty and homelessness exists. I noticed that unlike Winnipeg the area of poverty was concentrated into a much smaller area but still contained a large amount of people. I have to say, compared to the more developed side of Vancouver, these people with next to nothing had a much stronger sense of community. They knew each other, each other’s situations, and didn’t pass judgement on each other’s story.
The most impactful moment of this day for me was talking to the security guard at the Carnegie Centre in East Hastings. This place is an old building that functions as a place to grab a hot meal, has a library, community and rehab programs, and staff that will help people find jobs or housing. The security guard confidently took to talking to us about this community centre and the work they do there. I was inspired because although his job wasn’t glamorous, he still loves it and takes it very seriously to make people feel important and valued. You could tell by talking to him that his passion to help people came straight from his heart and that he was proud of his job and genuinely cares about the lives of the people he interacts with each day.
At the end of this day we went for an awesome Chinese food supper in China Town and then headed back to the Vancouver YWAM office. We did a debrief of our day and then watched a video on human trafficking and participated in a prayer activity. This impacted me really deeply because before this I didn’t realize how much human trafficking was a problem here in our own country. I also didn’t put into perspective that this is straight up a form of slavery. Prostitutes and strippers have a bad wrap for the situation of their lives, but in reality 70% of them are actually being forced into human trafficking. Part of our prayer activity involved praying for the facilities such as strip clubs that prostitute these women for their own gain. There is so much that needs to be done to have this stopped, but I honestly believe that one of the ways God can reach these women is with the simple of act of our prayers.
On our last day in Vancouver, our group was split into smaller groups and we volunteered at various homeless shelters and mission organizations. I went to Union Gospel Mission where we spent the morning learning about what they do at this facility and also listened to a man tell his inspiring story and how UGM was a big part of how he got his life back on track.
After being served an amazing lunch, we spent the afternoon helping clean the cafeteria. This is the largest cafeteria I’ve ever seen at a shelter, and it’s crazy that they serve over 800 people everyday.
Overall, it was a very impactful but exhausting week so I was glad to be back in the woods at Camp Squeah where we are spending the next few weeks.
Thanks for reading,
Kiera & Noah
