From Germany to Toronto – My experience as an Intern with TCM

My name is David and I am a intern from Germany. I came to TCM on a one year short term mission program through the Liebenzell Mission. Together with my team partner Leon, we work in Kingston-Galloway, Flemingdon park and at with the Men's Basketball program in St James Town.

To be honest, it took some time to get into the rhythm of things here in Toronto. Language was a barrier and I had difficulty initially. But I'm really grateful for the patience of the staff and how they included us. I got used to everything–from living in a city like Toronto, to improving my English. Most importantly, I started building relationships with the kids and their families.

After a few weeks, something very special happened. A mom wanted to talk to me after our program. She gave me a Tim Hortons gift card and told me that she really appreciates my tutoring with her son during EPIC. It was so encouraging and I was so thankful! I learned that even if what we do doesn't seem special to us, it can be really special to the kids or families in our programs.

As a volunteer from Germany I automatically compare a lot to my home country where I also volunteered as a youth group leader at my local church. And of course it was way less professional, structured and it only took place once a week. But there was something else that was different, something I didn't experience in my home youth group. It was the focus on the gospel. We taught our kids and youth stories from the Bible and lessons about Jesus. But working alongside my colleagues at TCM has helped me to be more bold and confident in sharing the gospel with children. We really can’t be ashamed of doing this because scripture tells us that the gospel is really "the power of God to save".

I'm glad that God brought me to TCM and I’m thankful for the opportunity to grow and develop through meaningful service to those who really need it. I really look forward to my last few months of service with the kids and in this city.

Blessings

David