Hey its Tori! I have been having an amazing week here in Winnipeg and I have learned a whole lot about myself, the Church and about inner-city. After doing a lot of learning and processing the team has had many chances this week to put our passions and desires into action. On Tuesday morning we hung around the drop-in right here at the Vineyard. We got the chance to talk with a lot of people and to hear some great stories. For most people, all they need is someone to listen and they will begin to pour out their life story. They have incredible stories and lives. The evening was spent at Inner-City Youth Alive, where we hung out at their youth drop-in. The kids there are so tough, or at least their masks appear that way. I got the chance to go hang out at the Car Club that was happening downstairs. Car Club is a place where people from the community get to build race cars and ice racers. The kids that are involved in the club are from the community; kids that get picked on or don't really fit in at the drop-in. The atmosphere in that place was so different from the drop-in. The kids loved talk and I made a sweet connection with a girl named Caitlyn. I am excited to see her again tonight at a hockey game that some of us are going to with the kids from Car Club. I love being on the "North Side" and I am going to have a hard time leaving here on Friday. I can't believe there is only 1 1/4 days left!
Nick here,
I just wanted to say how amazing God is... the things he is doing in winnipeg and the way he is working in the lives of our group members is just amazing. We have been all over the place working with all ages and yesterday was one of the best days of the trip. We started off the day with by going to the drop-in centre and drinking coffee and having lunch with some of the people living around the vineyard here, and it was 'meat' day. Once a month the vineyard church gives away meat to the guys and girls around the community that come to the drop-in. They really blessed me, I got to speak with a guy named Bryan and he was a native man who taught me his language. He started telling me some of the bible stories, and he would start off by saying them in his own language and then he would tell it to me in English. He told me the story of Noah, and of Samson, and he wrote down some of his alphabet to share with me. I hope to be able to see him on Thursday again and learn some more of his stories, as well as connect with some of the other people at the drop-in. Then after this in the evening we went to the 13 and up drop-in center, which normally cuts off at 18 but some they let keep coming. Anyway, so they organized a floor hockey tournament and a pool tournament and also have a car club in the basement which Tori has already touched on. I was a goalie in the tournament and it was a real blessing for me, because they really reminded me of myself as a young teen, and growing up in sports and wanting to be all the pros and living in another reality almost. It really blessed me to see these kids as myself looking in a mirror. So that was kind of the day yesterday and with only one full day left I am excited to see what else God has in store for the rest of the trip.
Thanks everyone for reading (This is kelly posting now).. we're really blessed by the encouragements we've gotten from the Bethany staff and community!! We appreciate your prayers and have a strong sense of how important they are. There have been some tough things happening in the North End recently; a couple of shootings affected many of the youth involved at the drop in we were at, and it was such a blessing to hear the staff and regular volunteers discuss how the kids that were present seemed to be gathering together to grieve and escape some harsh realities. One of the kids I knew from a long time ago.. not so much of a kid anymore; a 23 year old woman with a very sweet daughter - was grieving the loss of her boyfriend who was killed on the weekend - joined the drop in youth to catch up with me and we had a great visit as well as a chance to pray and cry together. I was so blessed by the opportunity to be with her!!
More than anything else, the team has had the chance to see where and how God is very much at work in the inner city. There has been as much education and exploration as there has been service and volunteering.
We will be tired by Friday - but I'm not sure anyone is ready to leave!
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