Patience and Gratefulness

Written by: Abigail Agyem

 This summer God has led me to serve with Tcm. So far it has been an amazing and growing experience! I heard about Tcm through a church friend who had served here before, she encouraged me to apply. 

Prior to this internship, I had never worked in a camp before, so everything felt new. This summer throughout the training I was filled with hopeful anticipation. ‘What will it be like?’  It was so exciting to finally get to meet the children and to finally see all the discussions we had as a team come to life! I planned for the first week to be simply a time of observation for me, to see how the children are, and see how the previous staff usually run things. I was patient and did not expect to bond with any campers so soon.

But I was blessed to receive such a warm welcome from many of the campers. Within the first week alone, I had the privilege to bond with many of the younger girls in my small group and on the first day I was already bringing home bracelets and necklaces that they had made for me. The children at KG are so energetic, lively, inquisitive, unique, bold and playful. 

Due to this being my first time, I have also had many challenges. When I first arrived, I felt as though everyone else knew what to do, having been returning for the second time, or had worked with the campers in our other programs before, where as for me, not only was I new to the team, but I hadn't worked in a setting like this before in general. Commanding a room in this way was something I never had done before. This brought discouragement and uncertainties on if I was really meant to be there. Do I fit in? Am I doing things correctly? This led to me often hesitating to do things first and taking a step back in times I wanted to step forward.  But God has been helping me realize that he promises to lead us and that that is why we are all here to support each other.

My favourite times throughout the day so far are upstairs free time before the day begins in the morning, Worship, or lunch. Most of all, the times when campers share with me questions about the bible, or comments on the bible lesson that day. During this time I get the opportunity to sit down and speak to them and learn more about their interests, hobbies, and personalities, or play games with them. It is so exciting to see what the children enjoy and to get to know them more. Making them laugh and smile is always such a joy and keeps me motivated for the next day despite the challenges. It is also a time when I get to speak to them in a calmer setting before the busyness of the day. Worship time is precious, to see the children dance and sing praising God.

Other challenges have been seeing how the campers treat each other at times. For a lot of the children, losing a game can be received as a great calamity and this can lead to disputes and challenges for the staff. This was something I was not used to, how easily disputes can happen, and how some of them react, it is in these moments I have had to rely on the Lord's patience and strength even more. 

Something I have learned about our kids at KG is that they don’t easily open up, it takes time to make them comfortable. Lately, I have been seeing new and newer sides of them. Especially one of our new campers. In the first two weeks, he appeared to be timid, and when conversing with him, I would often receive just two words back. Now, our conversations consist of me sitting patiently while listening to him go on and on about his Pokemon cards, love for animals, Godzilla and appreciating his Kindle attempts to start playing a game with you at any given moment!

The other day I got to hear his story of how his hamster supposedly used his remote to search up for hamster videos on YouTube and play them. “and with perfect spelling too!”, he added. 

It seems that will have to be another bible lesson for another day… 

In these past few weeks, I believe God has been teaching me more about patience. That sometimes we may not know a seed has even been planted until we see the sprout appear. My desire has been to impact even one child, and in moments where they don’t listen, it’s easy to think nothing has been done. But I am often encouraged and reminded throughout the day hearing the children ask about the bible lesson, or treat each other better, or even tell me that I make them happy God is truly working in them, and also in me. 

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything. ”

— James 1:4

Experiencing God in the Present

Written by: Mercy Kim

I have always heard from mission teams that their ministry is just as much a blessing to the community as it is to themselves, and I am learning how true that is every day at Sonshine Day Camp. This is my first year with Toronto City Mission, and when I first started, there was an adjustment period over the first couple of weeks. I realized that many of my struggles were not related to behaviour management or relationship building as I had anticipated, but instead God is calling me to be present and surrender to His perfect plan for me.  

On Mondays and Wednesdays, the team comes a bit earlier to spend personal time with God before we start our day, and my initial approach to it was to ask God what He wanted me to do so that His will could be done. I wanted to focus on my role at day camp and how I could glorify God with everything that I do. But as the weeks went on, I started realizing that God was telling me to open my eyes and look at what He was doing right in front of me. My worries about my performance and being able to follow God’s plans for me ended up clouding my vision of the real transformational works happening in the present. God is love, and the amount of love that fills up the Jesse Ketchum site is undeniable. I see it in the way the kids play with each other, the way they help each other up when one falls, and how they sing and dance with abandon during worship. Now when I spend my quiet time with God, I praise Him for these small moments where he touches the hearts of the children and leaders. I am learning to listen to God by tuning in to what is happening around me rather than what is happening in my head. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. ”

— Proverbs 3:5-6

One moment from camp that sticks in my mind is when I sat down to eat lunch with some of the kids and did a quick prayer before my meal. They asked me why I did that and told them that I just thanked God for providing me with my food and asked Him to give me strength and nourishment for the rest of the day. Later that week I sat with one of them outside by the park, and she asked me if I could pray again. It was such a heartwarming moment because even though she said she didn’t know what she wanted me to pray for, something about talking to God intrigued her or brought her joy. It’s moments like these where, even if it’s quiet, God is there moving in our hearts. 

I am learning to find God in the present, in big and small moments, and in the very air I breathe. As much as I am watching God transform the community, He is transforming my heart and calling me to submit to him in all my ways.

Lean on GOD’s grace; Live by GOD’s truth

Written by: Mbabazi Okafor

I began writing this blog post with no solid ideas for a topic. All the other intern blogs I’d skimmed seemed simple, but profound and beautiful. With little inspiration, I decided to pray. Within minutes, the Holy Spirit helped me realize that this is exactly what I needed to write about. I needed to be honest: I had nothing. However, good inspiration for anything I’ve ever done has never come from me but the LORD.

Lean on GOD'S grace.

Now halfway through camp, I began to feel like I wasn’t doing enough to share the gospel with the kids. Instead of beating myself up over missed opportunities, I'm grateful that the LORD has shown me that great things don't happen “by might, nor by power, but by [His] Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). For example, the 12 year old boy who exclaimed, “yes!” when we gave him his very own Bible. Or 4 other kids who asked for Bibles in the first week of Camp. Or a 7 year old girl confessing that she's been praying for an older girl who was being mean to her. Or the conversation I had with a TLC (teens leading communities) about our experiences with faith. 

Live by GOD’s truth

I am excited and touched by the 5 kids who received Bibles. I came to faith through reading a Bible given to me by a guest speaker at church. I think it’s important to have one to call your own. One of the girls told me she had been doing the recommended reading plan that came with the Bible, another says she reads every morning and evening. In this way we trust in the LORD for big things to happen in their lives. 

Although we are not GOD and cannot move someone's heart towards Him, we still must take a step for little miracles to happen. Being faithful in prayer, faithful in presence, and faithful to the Holy Spirit’s promptings is equally as important . In other words live by GOD's Truth found in His Word. 

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ”

— 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. ”

— John 14:6

For God Loves us so Much, I Shall Love Likewise

Written by: Luther Cheung

Not so long ago, did it feel like I was just volunteering here at the Toronto City Mission. Back then, did I make anything out of it? Probably not as I just wanted to get my volunteer hours ASAP. Yet each year since my freshman year of high school, looking back, time after time when I was able, I looked forward to coming back and being a helping hand at one of TCM’s sites: Kingston-Galloway whether it be for tutoring or after-school/summer programs.

Like delicious food at a restaurant, something about TCM just made me always want to come back, which is why this year, I realize that it was not by fate, but by God’s calling for me to serve this summer at Kingston-Galloway. I believe it was so I could not only find community here at TCM, but also be a leader in a community where circumstances are not the most optimal for a child to grow up in with considerable levels of gang violence, crime, and discrimination. Here, I learnt that even personally as a kid growing up nearby, you either act a certain way or be left behind and get picked on. Yet this summer, God is always teaching me on how to step up and be a positive force in these kids' lives encouraging some, more than others, to not count themselves out yet in this life. In the end, I choose to unconditionally show love even on the toughest of days.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. ”

— John 13:34-35

While camp can be lots of fun and full of its moments of joy, sometimes I may find myself face-to-face with situations that I’ve never experienced before, or have never crossed my mind. Yet, this verse serves as a reminder for me to be someone of Christ and continuously show up for these kids who are so different and unique in their own ways and love them all equally yesterday, today and the day moving forward.

Some campers can be the most disruptive handful of people I’ve ever met, and others may only give you the occasional one-liner and at times refuse to participate in activities. But once again, as time went on, I continued to show each of them love as God continued to show me love and appreciation and I was able to foster relationships that made it possible for both returning and new campers to truly open up to me. I’d initially thought that some of these campers were going to be much harder to reach out and talk to, yet God has shown me that my willingness and effort already mean so much to even those around me in general. For me, it is an absolute miracle that the once quiet ones are now so much more expressive, and the once “disruptive” ones although not perfect, are more willing to listen to instructions such as during bible time and various craft/cooking activities.

 Understand that everyone including me is a work in process, and at the same, I cannot rely on my strength to get me through all my hardships and the same goes for these children I am serving this summer. I hope that I can continue to build everlasting relationships and touch the hearts of every one of each child at camp this year. Finally, I also wish that together we can foster a closer relationship with God and be people who can express qualities from the fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

— Galatians 5:22-23

Fear is Nothing When God is in Your Corner

Written by: Emely Castro

“So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

— Isaiah 41:10 

I started as a placement student back in January, I saw how God led me to Toronto City Mission. During my time in the school year, I was perfecting my skills in working with children and leading a team. I didn’t know where or what I would be doing after but that is when the opportunity of becoming an intern came up. In June, I felt God’s call for me to be a Summer intern. 

Even though I had the experience and time to work with some of the kids, I still felt an inner fear of not being able to do well as an intern. I was scared of becoming burnt out or not planning more exciting activities, nervous that I would do something wrong. I was afraid and began to worry, which soon led to me to overthink everything. Before I knew it, I was in my head questioning why God brought me here, I’m not perfect and I make mistakes. 

I asked myself “Why would God bring me here?” 

“Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives. 
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

— John 14:27

We sometimes get into our heads and start creating answers to our questions, forgetting that God has a plan, he knows what’s best for us. Once we submit and surrender, we are then able to see the greater good He has planned for us. If I hadn’t let go of my fear and worries, I wouldn’t have been able to be a part of such a great mission. Being with these kids brings such a joy and blessing in my life and I am so happy to be able to be a part of their lives, showing them through my actions how God works. 

God has brought me here to help and serve others, however, he also brought me here for me to learn how to trust His process and His plan for me. God continues to show Himself through these kids and my team, I am so grateful to be a part of a mission that is greater than my fears, that is bigger than my worries and stronger than my doubts. 

If I listened to my thoughts and leaned on my doubts, I wouldn’t have been able to be here, fulfilling what God’s plan is for me. It’s alright to be scared but it’s important to give it to God and trust that He is in our corner always supporting us and rooting for us, because he loves us. 

God is with me and you.