The Joy of Following

Written by: Carmen Tan | Outreach Worker in Kingston-Galloway

Scripture: Genesis 5:32-10:1

This semester, we have been diving into God’s word, learning about how Jesus has been present from the beginning to the end of the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, everything points towards a Saviour who will come rescue God’s people. 

One of my favourite testaments is the story of Noah - a story of a new beginning. The children have learned sin entered the world, it corrupted our perfect relationship with God and we’ve been trying to find a way back with God again. God cannot tolerate evil and wickedness yet at the same time, God was deeply troubled to see all this evilness in the world. 

God chose Noah to restart the world. Noah didn’t do anything special but God found favour in Noah because of his faithfulness. 

I admire Noah very much. He was a man of God who trusted and obeyed the Lord. He was God’s faithful servant. We learned Jesus was even more faithful serving God and carrying out what God has called Him to do. 

As I reflect on my personal life, I find the times I have found the most joy is being with God. Learning to trust in the Lord, when God calls you to come, obeying and faithfully serving. Trusting we are in good hands because God is a God who cares, who takes care of all our needs, and knows best. 

To become faithful servants, we need to learn to surrender our own plans and trusting we are in good hands. 

What is Your Calling?

By: Mila Abellera | Outreach Worker in Kingston-Galloway

At one point or another, you have probably asked yourself the question “What is my calling?”. For me, I have spent the majority of my life preoccupied with seeking God’s purpose for my life as I yearned to hear God’s call and to know His specific plans for my life. I knew that I wanted to live this one life I was given to serve God, yet I did not know what that practically looked like as you can literally glorify God in all that you do. John Piper said that “the only way we can make our lives count is by making Christ known”. I yearned for clarity as to how I could make Christ known in my life as I wanted to be a good steward with the gifts He has given me. What I learned over the years was that God does not often give us a map with exact coordinates, but rather a compass to direct our paths as we follow Him faithfully. What is faith? “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). 

Sometimes I wish that God would show me the plans He has for my life. Yet if God told me explicitly what He wanted me to do in the future would I run the other way like Jonah? Would I let my fears of inadequacy consume me and make excuses like Moses? Or would I serve Him faithfully like Abraham? “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10). The truth is I am not sure what I would do if God told me what I would be doing now. I would have most likely not believed Him or felt inadequately prepared for serving Him in this capacity. Yet that is why we must trust in God’s sovereign will who prepares and refines us through various experiences and reveals new opportunities in His perfect timing. 

It is wise to seek God's call and direction for your life in order to serve Him intentionally with this short life we are given. Ephesians 5:15-17 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." Scripture also assures us that God will make our paths straight if we trust in Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”. 

As you discern your calling here are some helpful questions that you can ask yourself. Do you have the knowledge, skills and competency to fulfill your calling? Are you practicing your calling? Have you spent time in prayer and fasting meditating on the word of God? Is your calling affirmed by fellow believers? Has God provided opportunities and opened doors to serve in this capacity?

It is wise to seek God’s direction in life, yet we must not let fear of the unknown paralyze us from serving God faithfully as God does not expect us to discover our calling before we act. It is only when we step out in faith and obedience are we able to see him at work in our lives after the fact. I learned that I had to seek first the Kingdom of God and then trust that He will take care of our needs before we know what they are and where we are going.

What is my calling? After many years God answered my prayer in which I believe that I am serving God in the right place at the right time for this specific season in life. God has equipped me with various experiences, knowledge, and skills I believe can be used effectively to serve at TCM as an outreach worker. God has also given me the heart to serve Him locally in the Kingston-Galloway community which fellow believers have affirmed. 

Through years of discernment, I have found freedom in knowing that God does not expect us to find His specific will for our lives before we do it. What God requires of us is our obedience in faith and trust in His sovereign will and perfect timing. Although we may not know our specific call, we know that God calls us to obey his explicit commands. God left us with commands to follow such as to love your neighbor as yourself and to go and make disciples of all nations. We are blessed to be a blessing in which we have both the privilege and responsibility to share the Gospel with those who have not heard.

Instead of being preoccupied with asking God to show us the future let us be instead confident that He holds the future. 

One of God’s Most Important Words to Us

By: Carmen Tan | Outreach Worker in Kingston-Galloway

We are so excited to be back in school year programs with our children and youth. Over the next few months for bible time, all our sites will be exploring and learning about God’s Character. 

We were inspired by the Character of God by Tim Mackie bible study plan. Exodus 34:6-7 encourages us to reflect on one of God’s most important words to us in the Old Testament. It’s God’s description of His own character that is revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus. 

“6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7

As God describes Himself in Exodus 34:6-7 it doesn’t describe Him in abstract terms yet it summarizes based on His actions when He interacts with the Israelites. And as we look at it from a bigger picture, God’s character continues to be revealed throughout the Bible, in every single book. God continues to show us compassion, grace. We see how God is slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness. 

So far at Kingston-Galloway, we have spent some time learning about God’s compassion. God is a compassionate God. He hears the cries and suffering of His people. When the Israelites were in Egypt, God heard their cry and sent Moses to help them get out.

“So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Exodus 3:8

When God promises us something, He never breaks it.  In times when we feel like we are alone, we remind our kids God is always there. We need to go to Him.

God’s ultimate expression of compassion is Christ. Sin got in the way between us (sinners) and God. The only way for us to be together with God again was Jesus dying on the cross in our place. 

As we experience God’s compassion, God also reminds us to show compassion towards others. Compassion means to be deeply moved at something you see, an intense emotion that encourages you to take action. When we are in programs, we remind the kids to be compassionate and be kind to another. Right after our bible lesson about compassion, the kids found themselves in situations where they could be kind and compassionate or mean and rude. It is always easy to say but hard to take action.  

We hope that over the next few months, the children at Toronto City Mission will learn how God is not an abstract God. God is a living God, always with us, and is able to learn to identify what God’s character is like. 

Come join us to learn more about God’s character through Bible Project’s study plan.

My Blood Type: “Be positive”

Written by: Gloria Lau | Intern at Kingston-Galloway

It is not uncommon that we focus on negativity and we hear complaints everywhere we are—complaints about the high prices for products at stores, about coworkers at the office, about heavy traffic on freeways, the list is unending. I am guilty of this at times as well. Reflecting back on the past few weeks at camp, I have been shifting my focus towards things that hold meaning, having a positive outlook and a heart of gratitude regardless of the situation. 

So often we fall into the trap of clouding our minds with things that don’t hold up to our standards or that bother us. But what if we had a little more empathy and thought about how the receiver of this complaint would feel? How about the people who are living in situations that cannot conform to their needs? Working at TCM this summer and serving a community where many low income families reside made me feel ashamed for the small things that I deemed were bothersome. I was humbled by how welcoming the neighbours were despite how loud or rowdy the camp was at times. I was humbled by the fact that many people would stop by and initiate conversations to get to know us better. I was humbled by their generosity despite the fact that many of them did not have much to give. Although they could have complained about our activities, ignored our presence, and kept their belongings to themselves, they instead appreciated the work we did to serve the community and allow the kids to have fun—a much needed boost in positivity during a global pandemic.

Moments that have stuck with me from camp are moments when I decided to look towards positivity and the good. Despite being unsure of how my activities or bible lessons could spark interest in kids who may have never heard about who God is, I was able to see God working in different ways, and this motivated me to do my best each day regardless of the challenges.

And although there were definitely days where some children were easily irritated or unwilling to participate in the activities we took so much time to plan, it was the few children that were willing to engage, who said they had fun, or learned something new, that made everything worthwhile. 

Summer Highlights 2021

Summer 2021 has been a summer to remember! It’s been over a year since we’ve been able to have Sonshine Day Camp in person and what a treat it was to be with campers, TLC’s and staff! Even though camp days were shorter and there was a limited capacity, staff and campers alike enjoyed the time spent with one another. For 6 weeks, campers learned about God’s grace, forgiveness, love and His view on justice. Campers read about creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Jesus’ Death and Resurrection and Jacob and Esau’s reconciliation. Through praise and worship, bible time, games, and activities, campers built a better understanding and foundation of the Christian life. With proper PPE and physical distancing rules in place, relationships between staff and campers continued to build and flourish. Thanks to the generosity of Sparks, churches and families, campers had enough PPE and snacks to last them throughout camp! 

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Throughout the summer, we wanted you to get to know our campers more personally! We made a ‘This or That’ video so that you could learn about what they’d prefer. We also made a ‘Day in the Life of a Camper’ for you to see what it was like to be a Sonshine Day Camper! Check out the videos on our Youtube channel. 

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TCM Summer Interns are an essential part of Sonshine Day Camp. Not only do they plan, prepare and execute camp, but they also work together with staff and volunteers to provide a caring, safe, loving, and fun environment. An environment where they share the love of Christ Jesus through teaching the campers but also through everyday actions. Here’s a story from one of our interns, Gloria from Kingston-Galloway.

“On the first day I met this camper, I thought he was so silly and quite immature. He would constantly bother those around him and get them to chase him around the room. He would express his thoughts aloud and not care how these comments would affect other people. But after a few days/ a week, I saw that he was one of the most mature out of the entire group. Although he did take part in bothering other people, he was never the first to instigate this. And after having discussions with the leaders about his misbehavior, I saw that he really tried to correct his inappropriate actions or comments.

During bible time, he was drawn to the stories and began to ask questions that sometimes caught me off guard. Through him, I saw that God was using our activities to grow this camper’s curiosity towards Him. I was happy that the effort we placed in making the lessons fun and interesting helped him understand difficult concepts and understand God’s love for him/ all of us.

Throughout camp, this camper’s growth paralleled my personal growth as well. He helped me understand that although they are just kids, they still have a concept of justice, happiness, etc. and their misbehaviors are just ways of expressing their innermost needs. Although he was silly at times, I saw him as a leader who took initiative and cared for those around him. I can’t wait to see the person he becomes, or as he told me, a basketball player for the NBA!”

Praise God for all that He has done this summer!