Outreach Perspective | Fall 2024
Karen Hirji | Outreach Worker
The past 6 months have been some of the most interesting moments in my ministry career. In late 2023. I felt like the Lord was calling me to take a leap of faith. I didn’t fully understand what God was calling me to because my ministry at Jesse Ketchum had been going extremely well. We were hitting our capacity numbers and I was becoming comfortable with my role as an OW, the children, and their parents. As a result, I pushed the feelings away and continued to serve in the JK community. As months went by, I was feeling more of this call from God while also having external factors that confirmed it. Yet, I couldn’t quite understand why He would call me away from a ministry that was doing so well. It wasn’t until a few months into 2024 that I was presented with the opportunity to begin a new Toronto City Mission site, Don Valley Village (known as DVV) at the host church, Don Valley Bible Chapel. I realized at that moment that I was preparing for external opportunities when God was preparing one that was still within the organization.
The First Sonshine Day Camp at Jesse-Ketchum in 2022
The Last week of 2024 Sonshine Day Camp at Jesse-Ketchum
As time passed, after much prayer and consideration, I accepted the position at DVV and began to prepare to leave Jesse Ketchum. Within that time, I realized that I had experienced numerous emotions based on this one event. Consequently, when I was presented with the idea to write a curriculum on the different emotions people experienced in the Bible, I was more than excited to do so.
The curriculum that we will be teaching the children in the Fall of 2024 is Emotions in the Bible where we look at all the different feelings that people had throughout scripture and what are the Biblical ways to approach them. We have found that many of our students experience big emotions and don’t always know how to handle them. Likewise, we also realize that many adults (like myself) have the same feelings as children but aren’t always aware of the Biblical ways to understand them. Our goal is to remind our leaders and children that God created us with many different emotions that we will experience throughout our lives and that God isn’t afraid of our big feelings nor does he condemn us for having them. Yet, He gives us Scripture to help us understand them and practical ways to manage them.
The feelings of happiness, anger, sadness, fear, trust, surprise, and anticipation are all topics that we discuss in our Fall/Winter curriculum. However, I realized that these emotions are not lost on me when I think about this transition to DVV. I’ve realized that emotions can co-exist and that it is OK to accept them all as they come. I understand that I can be grateful that I’ve completed my work at JK to the best of my ability but I can also experience grief because I’m moving away from the families that I care so deeply about. I sometimes feel angry that God would call me from a site that I love but I also trust that He will fulfill His plan at DVV like He did at JK. As I’m taking steps closer to DVV, I wait in anticipation for what will happen and the families that I will meet; yet, I am surprised and in awe that the Lord would call me to another amazing opportunity to begin a new site.
Having said that, we look at the Bible and see that the Psalmist in Psalm 136 experienced gratitude towards the Lord whereas Jesus, Mary, and Martha grieved the loss of their brother and friend, Lazarus. Jonah felt resentment towards God because He was gracious to the people of Nineveh while Job trusted God amidst his suffering. Lastly, Abraham and Sarah were surprised when the Lord finally gave them a baby, meanwhile, in Isaiah 9, Isaiah waits in anticipation for the Messiah to come. The emotions we feel are not new. They have been around since the beginning of time. Yet, sometimes we feel as though we can’t be open and honest with people and the Lord about how we feel.
Humans are complex beings. Our experiences can bring up many different emotions at one time. Nonetheless, the Lord is not intimidated by the way we feel. He created us with emotions and even experienced them Himself when Jesus was on Earth. Consequently, our goal this semester is to remind ourselves not to shy away from the big feelings we have but to take them to Him because He is not scared of them and welcomes us as we are. Likewise, I would challenge you to look inward and begin to take note of the different emotions that you feel and remember that the Lord walks with you in them. Know that the people in the Bible also faced a variety of big emotions and the Lord was faithful to walk with them too. Therefore, learn to rest knowing Jesus can bear all the big and scary emotions in our lives because His yolk is easy and light.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”