SURPRISING MOMENTS: Experiencing God’s Light at Camp

Written by: Anson Lau

This summer God has allowed me to work as an intern at TCM Sonshine Day Camp. I heard of this opportunity last year through someone I met at school, and the idea of signing up for it stuck with me until summer 2024. As a Sociology student, I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn more about underprivileged communities and the diverse people who live there. I had also been praying for quite some time for work related to Sociology, and surely enough this was in the ballpark.

In this blog post, I will share two moments I had with campers that surprised me. These moments stood out because I prayed for new experiences working at this summer camp. Since this was my first experience I had no expectations in terms of how the children would interact with me.

My first surprising experience happened during lunchtime when I was sitting with the camper named Andy. Out of curiosity and spontaneity, I decided to ask him if I looked happy. He responded by saying that I looked 49 out of 100 happy. At that moment, I thought his response was due to my strictness or constant reminders about his behaviour. To my surprise, he said the opposite of what I thought! He said that I looked 49 out of 100 happy because I have a lot of work to do, such as doing bible lessons, leading games, and planning various activities. Hearing that made me feel appreciated for the work I do at summer camp. It showed that the kids recognize and value the hard work we interns put in and that our efforts don’t go unnoticed. I felt that it was God's way of encouraging me to continue to put in my best effort as an intern. Andy also said that his two favourite staff ever was a former Outreach worker named Lincoln and me.

“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.”

— Isaiah 41:10

My second surprising experience happened again during lunchtime, and this time I was with the camper named Alex. From my conversation with Alex, I learned that it was his first time at TCM Sonshine Day Camp, as well as the rest of his siblings that came. I also found out that he attended another camp in the community with his siblings in the previous years. When I asked why, he mentioned it was because we go swimming twice a week, have free time, and “overall it's just a better time here”. That made me very happy and surprised, as this was a reflection of our team's efforts and God's work in us. God really showed his providence by giving us wisdom on how to make things enjoyable for the kids, such as the fun ideas that we came up with, like making slime and lava lamps.

“And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

— Romans 8:28

Moreover, I want to talk about the changes I saw in Andy since day one at camp. I had already met Andy in the after-school program, and during that time I would observe and help out in any way I could. There weren't too many behavioural issues from Andy at that time, but it started showing up when camp started. At first, I was quick to address his problems hoping that I could be on top of things and that he would respect me more. I would direct him to the camp rules that were set out and explain what he did wrong. However, he brushed things off and agreed with whatever I told him. It wasn't until week 4 that I noticed he started taking ownership of what he did wrong whenever I asked him about his disruptive behaviour. I didn't have to point it out to him because he would confess what he did wrong when I asked him, “ Andy do you know why I’m talking to you?” From that instance, I could see how God was able to work in him because he is more open to taking responsibility for his actions instead of denying them.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ”

— Ezekiel 36:26-27

Lastly, I will talk about how God has changed me and what I’ve been shown. I know God has been showing me that I need to have a heart of patience, because working with kids requires a lot of energy, and oftentimes I help them out with completing tasks such as crafts or cleaning things up. God is also changing me into someone who takes more initiative such as being more vocal to help lead the kids. This has been important to me because it will help me serve God in future opportunities, and from a career standpoint when it comes to leadership and taking initiative.

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

— Philippians 2:13

Learn, Serve, Love

Written by: Pheobe Cheung

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. ”

— Ephesians 4:2

This is my first summer interning at TCM’s summer Sonshine Day Camp, but before this, I was volunteering at their after school program. The reason I started volunteering was because I saw someone I knew shared stories of him working as one of the summer interns in the past and he told me he enjoyed it. Volunteering previously allowed me to build relationships with some of the kids, I felt like this summer camp has allowed me to build a deeper relationship with the kids by seeing and spending more time with them. God has given me this incredible opportunity to show these children more of His love, and with His power, I would say that my faith and patience have grown significantly. I am able to be clear on my expectations for the kids on how they treat one another and the team but also be someone they can count on. As a team we develop an environment where everyone can be and should be accountable to one another - even with the leaders too, as we all make mistakes and are not perfect. As I continue to serve at TCM, my love for these children continues to grow stronger and being away from them becomes more challenging each day. 

There has never been a dull moment with these kids. A memorable experience was the day I taught on the topic of ‘anger’ during Bible class.  After small group discussions, I asked the kids to share what they had learned and each of them shared how Christians are supposed to act when they get angry such as forgiving them, walking away, turning the other cheek, talking to someone they feel safe with, etc. Furthermore, there is a camper who regularly resorts to violence when they get hurt or angry. That day, after small group discussions ended when another camper said something that upset them, instead of resulting in violence, they went to the safe space room (space for campers to calm down when they are angry or upset) to calm down and spoke to me about the situation. I was so proud of them for applying what they had learned and changed their response towards their fellow campers. Praying for continual growth for this particular camper! 

A funny memory I had was when I was making Perler beads with a few of the campers. I told one of them ‘Sharing is Caring’ because we only had one container of beads and she answered funnily, “This isn't coco melon, Phoebe”. There was another time when the same camper asked me if I was Chinese and when I answered her yes, she asked me, “Can you bring me sushi?”. That is to say, I always find myself laughing at a lot of the unexpected things that these kids say.

Growing up in Cambodia, I was surrounded by those who lived in poverty but I would say that this is the first time I have worked directly with kids who are impacted by poverty. Furthermore, my studies in Social Work have allowed me to understand how the development of children who live in impoverished families can be significantly affected. Being able to serve these children firsthand reminds me daily about God’s love, His grace, and His patience for all of us. It is also a daily reminder that we do not know what the kids have gone through and what they are going through but by treating them with love, approaching them with curiosity and spending quality time to get to know them, we can build strong meaningful relationships with these kids and support them in the ways we are able.

Lastly, I wanted to say a special thank you to my prayer and support network that has encouraged me during camp throughout these few weeks. I am also appreciative to those who financially support me to cover my daily living expenses and to sustain this ministry. The messages from some of my supporters are very encouraging and get me through tough and tiring days. I pray that God will continue to work through me and that I can serve faithfully in the upcoming weeks ahead.

It’s Better to Give than Receive

Written by: Maya Bissessar

My decision to join Toronto City Mission didn’t begin as a divine utterance from God nor was it an intentional move to advance my career. It came from a place of weariness. As a fourth year student in university, I was on track to graduate in Fall 2024 but the Lord let certain events happen and my spring semester was disappointing. I didn’t have it within me to keep going another semester so without much thought, I decided to work during the summer. My friend who interned here recommended that I apply and by God’s grace, I secured the job as the Office Intern. 

My responsibilities are to develop effective strategies to share TCM’s work with the public, some administrative tasks and photography/videography. This job ‘checked all the boxes’ for me but there was something more that God desired from me, and it required obedience, compassion and humility. He wanted me to get out of the comfort of my air-conditioned office to visit the sites and see His work being done. I resisted at first but slowly and surely, I gave in. 

I spent some time at the Kingston Galloway site since it is close to home and I was overwhelmed by how in need this community was. I thought to myself that as the office intern who only showed their face at camp once a week for no more than an hour or two, it was not my responsibility to be a ‘big sister’ to these children. After all, these kids are no strangers to ‘revolving door relationships’ where people would come and go out of their lives and it would be selfish to show them love, and ultimately walk out of their lives. It would be like adding salt to an open, raw wound plus, I serve in a kid's ministry at my home church and that’s good enough. But masquerading behind my pathetic excuse were these thoughts: I had nothing to benefit from helping these children, at times I felt morally not good or competent enough to mentor them, other interns at the site could step up and do my job perhaps even better than I could and I feared that my efforts would be in vain. My understanding of generosity was anaemic, but the Lord taught me that being generous with our time, talents, and treasure is something Christians are called to, and it is a true gift from God. 

So, I decided to get out of my way and to remove my hands which were blocking the blessings of God. I chose to participate in day trips and outings and though they were fatiguing in every way imaginable, I do not regret them. Instead of choosing selfishness and engaging in conversations that would benefit me, I chose to talk to the kids, be a good listener, answer their never-ending questions, challenge them to think outside the box and be slow to anger when they would test my patience - which was a lot more often than I expected!

If I could sum up my experience in one bible verse it would be Proverbs 11:24-25 which says One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. My prayer is to cheerfully give without counting the cost, labour without the need of a reward, and serve without the need of recognition. 

“One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. ”

— Proverbs 11:24-25

GOD’S WORK: Patience, Love, and Humility

Written by: Olivia Mo

I first heard about Toronto City Mission (TCM) through Elliott Shin when he gave a sermon one Sunday as a guest speaker at my church. I later learned that many of the members of my church had previously served as a summer intern at TCM’s Sonshine Day Camp. When I learned more about TCM’s ministry and the camp through the stories that the previous interns shared with me, I felt the incentive to support TCM’s ministry as well by applying as a summer intern myself to serve the children in underprivileged communities. I was eager to join an organization dedicated to supporting children in need and creating a safe, fun, and loving camp environment. My hope is to help bring these children closer to God and be a witness of Christ to them. 

Before camp started, my biggest concern was “Will I be able to lead well? Will the Bible lessons, the craft activities, and the games I prepared and organized, all be executed well enough for the children to understand and have fun learning and doing them?” However, despite my little experience in teaching children, I believe that God uses whoever He wants to use, regardless of one’s level of experience and skills, and as seen in the Bible, the Lord often used those who had greater weaknesses than strengths. Moses was “slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10), and David was a young shepherd boy when he defeated Goliath and later became King of Israel. I too, thus felt anxious and doubted in my heart that I would be able to teach and lead the children well.

However, right from the first day of camp, I could already sense that God was working in me, on me, and through me. I was in charge of leading the craft activity that day, and as a person who has a quiet voice and is not a confident speaker in front of people, I had doubts that the kids would listen to me. It was a challenge to instruct the kids on how to make the craft when many voiced their frustration or some did not listen. However, this experience has taught me PATIENCE. It ultimately helped me prepare myself for the next time I lead any activities and to not let myself be discouraged by the results.

““That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” ”

— 2 Corinthians 12:10

As the first week of camp passed and the second week started, I began to build more relationships with the kids – talking to them, listening to the stories they shared, and even disciplining them gently and at times firmly – all of which made me LOVE these children, as I could see their innocence, goodness and genuine joy when they were at camp. That is why I felt more nervous and at the same time eager to teach the children my Bible lessons. Teaching and leading the lessons and small groups was a challenge, but I was surprised and grateful when the children tried to listen to what I taught, even if they may not have understood everything. Upon reflecting on my lessons, I was reminded of what God told Moses in Exodus 4:12 – “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” I truly believe that God helps us proclaim His word by putting the right words in our mouths or giving us the courage and boldness to preach to others. 

“Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.””

— Exodus 4:12

Many of the children’s innocence and pure hearts have also taught me HUMILITY, as their innocent faith in me as a leader who they could trust has really humbled me and once again reminded me of Jesus’ teaching that we too, although grown up, should still have a faith like that of a child. This childlike faith that I see every day at camp has taught me that I should in every situation and circumstance, have security, hope, and certainty that God is always there for me, protecting and guiding me, and being the gracious and loving Father He always is, without room for doubt.

My experience as a summer intern at Sonshine Day Camp has taught me many other things as well, all of which God has used to help me grow and become a child again myself, and as a Child of God I will continue and strive to exhibit patience, love, and humility to the children at camp, my team members, and everyone else who God wills for me to show and learn patience, humility, and love from.

““Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.””

— Colossians 3:12

His Power Through My Weakness

Written by: Frank Zhang

I’ve done many summers of camp in my life, both as a camper and a counsellor, but this summer has been a new experience for me all together. I’ve felt very humbled leading these kids in day camp and it’s shown me how much more there is for me to grow as a leader and a role model. One of the biggest learning experiences for me has been the struggle to love and lead kids who are so against authority. My typical tactics of using my voice and warning of consequences worked seldom with these kids and getting them to cooperate turned out to be one of the biggest challenges of this whole internship. As a result, building relationships with them also turned out to be much harder than I anticipated because for anything meaningful to be built, I had to overcome my struggle of loving them unconditionally and through all the hardships they gave me. But God had a purpose for me here and I am now starting to see His vision of showing me His power perfected through my weakness. 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

— 2 Corinthians 12:9

A very recent experience of mine was humbling in a different way as we encountered a lady on the public transit who had a lot of things to say. She spoke many insults and racial slurs to our whole group as we boarded the bus. The reaction of our kids was anything but fearful though as they immediately took up arms with their own retorts and insults. I had to be a barrier between the kids and the lady, trying to settle both sides down simultaneously along with help from some of my colleagues. The result of the whole ordeal was that we had to exit the bus and leave from the situation because the lady was not backing down or removing herself from the situation. I felt very powerless in this situation as I felt a total loss of control of the kid’s behaviour on the bus and also a failure for not being able to do much to protect our kids from many of the unacceptable comments made by the lady. We eventually boarded another bus at the next bus stop, and I sat at the back of the bus with the group who was part of the confrontation with the lady. The atmosphere felt very different in a very peaceful way and the conversations I took part in were probably the best I’ve had all summer with this specific group of kids. As I reflected on how much I enjoyed listening to these kids talk about their hair, I knew that this experience had God’s fingerprints all over it and that He is at work in our hearts and building a relationship between me and these kids even if it hasn’t seemed like it in the day to day. 

My time here has been very difficult, to say the least, but I’ve gotten to see God at work in me so tangibly. As God loves us unconditionally, I am learning to love others in the same way, especially with those who truly seem like they are out to make my life so miserable. He has shown me that He will provide the experiences and opportunities for me to build positive relationships with people in His sovereign timing and that all I am required to do is follow His lead. My ultimate weakness is simply not leaning on God more and I am grateful for the learning experience that His power is perfected through my weakness.