would you believe it?

July 15, 2003

i'm baaaaaaaack! okay, most of you already knew that. i haven't had a chance to really sit down and contemplate over what has happened in my past 10 days in mexico. i feel like a part of me still clings to all that happened there, thus my suitcase is still sitting upstairs, unpacked. i've been sharing my experiences with the people that care to know, but i find them very generic. when i sit and wonder what God has done through ME or what God has taught me, i probably wouldn't have much to say. no, i do not mean that God didn't use me or teach me anything, i'm saying that i haven't really thought about it a whole lot. i will, at some point.

but the point of this entry is not to discuss my mexico trip, and if i have to sum it up in a few words, i'll steal rachel's phrase and say it was "amazingly wonderful" :) at which point, i'll discuss that further at some later date.

i had the wonderful privilege of heading DT yesterday with some of the RHCBC crew: steve, syd & bobby. i've been desiring to just really get involved in the 'community' over the past few months, and when i learned that casey and the other guys were helping out at the soup kitchen (ICC) on monday nights, i desparately wanted to join them. but being in my design class, it just wasn't at all possible seeing that i had class monday nights. anyhoo, apparently they not only do soup kitchen on monday nights, but ALSO sandwich runs as well! when i talked with syd yesterday morning, i was really excited :) i've ALSO been wanting to join them on sandwich runs, but class has also gotten in the way!

so we met at bobby's house and put the sandwiches together. now, this in itself was really amazing. these sandwiches weren't like the, "okay, we're doing a sandwich run, we need sandwiches" type. it was like, 'HEY, we're going on a sandwich run today! let's make sandwiches!" not descriptive enough? they made some high quality sandwiches. like these are some good looking sandwiches and you could totally tell that there's thought and effort put into them. along with the sandwiches, were a bag of baby carrots. and of course, a drink to wash it all down with, but wait! you could have a choice of grape, orange OR fruit punch! yup, that's right people. there were OPTIONS for drinks. i was totally amazed by all of this!

when we got to downtown, we prayed at nathan's phillip square and started our run. since syd and bobby are pros, they know that the park beside st. michael's hospital has a ton of people there. so we headed towards that direction. we met up with a guy named ricky and kathy (i believe is his wife?). ricky is an AMAZING artiste! he makes these crazy soap carvings. we watched him make a Jesus soap carving and watched him make a carving of michael with a lightning sword ruckusing satan (we didn't get to see him finish that one). he talked a lot about his thoughts and feelings about everything while he was carving. and from what i understood, he's a Christian. and he delights in making the soap carvings because he gets to tell people about Jesus. the Jesus carving was cool because he uses the "LIFE" soap brand, and so on the back of the carving was the word LIFE (from the soap) and he drew a Cross across it, because the Cross brings life :) how cool is that? ricky was sharing how money wasn't everything, and how sad it was that our society has fallen into materialism. this is coming from a homeless person! so cool.

i learned a lot just by watching ricky carve the soap carvings. it reminded me of how important it is for us to remain in God (john 15:5). i mean, i couldn't possible envision how ricky came out with the final product when he began with a piece of soap. it was incredible. absolutely incredible. but that's how God is with us. He knows what the final product will be like. He knows what to do. He knows how to shape and mold our lives. and so we can't understand all that He does. because we have no idea what the big picture is. so when adversity and hardship comes, have no fear. God is refining you. He's making you into the person He wants you to be! and i believe God delights in the entire process, like ricky did. what's really important to remember, however, is that you HAVE to remain in God. ricky couldn't complete the carving if the soap wasn't in his hands. it would just remain in whatever state it was in. and in the same way, if we don't remain in God, it's bad news. i can't say that God can't mold us and refine us when we are far or away from Him, because i don't believe that. God is capable of anything. but i do believe when we aren't remaining in God, then it makes the process that much more difficult and much longer.

we eventually said goodbye to ricky, and moved onto the park. what i learned was, that there are homeless people that don't look like homeless people. their clothes look fine and their appearance would be the same of that of you and me. but appearances are deceiving. we gave out all of our remaining sandwiches (18) in the park. people in the park would see that we were giving out food and they would come and approach us asking for food. at one point, we met a lady named penny. and she shared a bit of her story with us. it broke my heart. her husband passed away recently. and the night before, they had a big fight and she threw him out of the place they were living at. the next morning, she found her husband dead. my heart broke for her. while we were praying for her and her friend, she broke down in tears. she didn't stay long with us, because a guy named tim wanted to go for a walk with her or something. so they left right after we finished praying for them. so please pray for her. that God's love would overwhelm her heart and she would know that there's a loving Savior that cares about her so much that He died for her.

we also met a guy named brian. he told us something that really opened my eyes. he told us of how he's been in and out of the streets. and at one point, he wrote an article for CBC (i think), outlining the conditions of the homeless in toronto and how he felt about it. we learned that some of the hostiles are so run down, that the homeless people CHOOSE to live on the streets instead of being in the hostiles because it's SAFER for them. what in the world are the point of hostiles if they are so run down that people are choosing NOT to stay there? brian was saying how there needs to be more control in hostiles, of how people are admitted into them and what not. who would of thought? when brian left, he was saying that the only reason that he's off drugs and that he's been taking his medication (he's got bi-polar personality) was because of God. it's only by God that he's been pressing on despite all that's happened and all that he's seen. amen.

we headed over to ICC after resting for a bit at eaton's centre (sitting is great!). we took out their garbage for them and just hung around and talked with some of the people. i didn't really do anything to be honest. i didn't want to disturb people while they were eating. i mean, i don't like being disturbed when i'm eating, so i figured they'd think the same. i'm probably wrong on that one. anyway, i sat with a guy that bobby was talking to. his name was earl. and we just sat talking with him for probably an hour or so. about everything. it was cool! y'know the thought of just sitting down and talking with homeless people has NEVER occured to me. like asking for their names and learning their life's story. i don't think we've ever done that on any sandwich runs i've been on. but why don't we? they are people too. God loves them just the same as He does us! and i think they appreciate having someone talking to them and listening to their stories. so i'm excited for the next mondays to come. :) VERY excited :)

Posted by Leo Chan at July 15, 2003 10:39 AM