Experience in Mission

It’s not something we contemplate often, but what comes to mind when you think of mission? Helping others usually pops up- whether they live overseas, in poverty, or lack basic needs. Usually it involves traveling somewhere new. This is true, but I have come to see mission as a broader term; it’s about being present in the lives of others, encompassing everything from volunteering physical labor to sitting and reading to someone old or ill, whether it be afar or in your own community. Mission involves moving outside yourself to share your time and talents, but it also includes giving and receiving love.
I spent 12 days this summer on the GO Project in Toronto. It was an experience of living and serving in a community totally different from my own back home in rural Alberta. Islington, where we stayed, is no stranger to change. Once a small village, it was swallowed up by Toronto. Now it is home to a myriad of different people. To one side of Islington United Church live upper-middle-class people with beautiful houses, beamers, and escalades. Right next door stand a series of apartments where people from all corners of the world call home. This juxtaposition between culture, wealth, history, and class create a unique challenge.
Part of our experience involved running a children’s day camp. This was free for any of the kids in the neighborhood, and for many, a highlight of their summer. They were amazing kids and I know they captured the hearts of all of us on the GO Project. One youngster, Qwabie, was a bundle of three-year-old adorableness. Even when he was causing ‘trouble’ you couldn’t help but love him, his smile and bright eyes. Twice he fell asleep, and he was so cute!! Adla was another young girl whose story stands out in my memories. She arrived in Canada in May. Her English was excellent considering that, but she was quite nervous to talk at first. While there may have been a few things lost in translation, she shared something very special with me. One afternoon we were creating ‘wanted’ posters . I had envisioned the kids drawing evil bad guys, but many of them instead drew things that they truly did want. Jessica wanted her dog back; Bethany wanted her friend from Serbia to return to Canada; Adla wanted to see her friends and a teacher who still live in Bosnia. It almost broke my heart to realize these kids, far younger than myself, have faced such real struggles in their lives already.
Along with the Children’s Program, we also visited three mission sites throughout Toronto. On one such morning, we found ourselves at the Maybelle Food Program, just a couple blocks from Islington United Church. Every Wednesday, a group of volunteers set up the food in a local gym. It arrives from Daily Bread, which is like a massive warehouse for all the food banks in Toronto. It is then arranged on a loop of tables, transforming the gym into more of a community grocery store. Each of the volunteers was paired up with a client to walk through the food. While there were limits set on the food as to how much each person could take, they had some choice- Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs? This created an element of community between clients and volunteers alike because everyone was working together; it wasn’t a here’s-your-bag-of-food type atmosphere.
Like the kids at the day program, each of the clients at the food program taught me so much. Many of them were immigrants who knew very little to no English. As I took one older Ukrainian lady through, we ran into some confusion with translation. Yes, she wanted soup but no, she didn’t want beans in sauce, and what on earth is Brisk Green Tea Apple Juice??? As we waited in front of the pasta ‘selection,’ she reached around and gave me a small hug. Love is truly universal. It seemed to say, ‘don’t worry, everything will be alright.’
These stories are only glimpses into the depth of what I experienced on my mission trip in Toronto. I was most certainly challenged, especially when I tried to think of how I would bring home what I had learned and find opportunities for mission in my little, rural community. Oyen, as you may have guessed, holds completely different challenges from Toronto. Which is why I had to think of mission as ‘being present in the lives of others.’ Otherwise, I couldn’t think of one thing my community needed. But mission doesn’t have be working in a soup kitchen, or going to Africa, or on a trip to Mexico (although that is still important). Mission isn’t necessarily ‘doing,’ but ‘being.’ It’s about being in the community, in your community; being present in the lives of others.
So stop reading for a moment and think. Where does your community need you? Could you be needed playing with kids, or reading at a senior’s home, or helping your neighbor paint their fence? Encourage others to join you. Mission is about working together, loving, and caring for one another. I had to travel across four provinces to learn this valuable lesson; now I’m being a positive influence in my very own community- and it’s still mission.
-Charley Switzer