Week Three

We are just finishing our third week at Wilderness Edge Retreat Center in Pinawa, preparing for our first Urban Plunge experience in Winnipeg. The past three days we've had the pleasure of hearing from Tara Bishop who has lots of insight into the field of urban mission.

Tara is the associate pastor at 614 St. Jamestown church in Toronto. She took some time to teach us about her community and the ways in which her church is able to work there. The St. Jamestown district is one of the most densely populated regions in all of North America, with approximately 28 000 people living in just under 20 apartment buildings in only a few small city blocks. In St. Jamestown, white people are a visible minority since the area attracts new immigrants looking for low rent housing options. 614 churches take their mission statement straight from Isaiah 61:4, focusing on the verbs "rebuild", "restore" and "renew".

Through her lectures and workshop-style activities, we learned about the challenges people (especially new immigrants) face living downtown, and the need to address social issues. Through her personal stories, we got a better picture of how to react when we meet people who are living on the street, (and how not to react) in order to give them dignity. Perhaps one can never be truly prepared for a short term mission assignment, but Tara helped direct our thoughts to be in a humble state of mind when we begin our mission - realistic and optimistic about the impact our service can have.

We also began preparing for our mission to South Africa by learning about culture shock. We learned how to recognize and deal with (as a group and individually) the transition between cultures both when we arrive in Africa and when we come home. Many of us were surprised to realize that aspects of culture shock can be felt whenever we find ourselves in a significantly different setting and routine, even while we are still in Canada. The opportunity for community conversation about what we're learning and struggling with was also helpful as we continue to grow as a group, learning to understand each other and grow together in discipleship.

Michelle Metzger