Community Engagement Coordinator, Joel’s Update

Overview: 

Despite starting as ETCBC’s Community Engagement Coordinator less than two weeks ago, I have already had the opportunity to participate in ministries both inside and outside the walls of our church building. Namely, through our NextGen Sunday program and Homeless Connect’s Home-ness Week initiative respectively. Through both of these programs, I have continued my journey of learning about how to most effectively serve different communities. Thus far, my most significant takeaways are the importance of meeting people where they are at and how serving is just as much about learning as it is about doing.

NextGen Ministry:

Following our orientation on July 2nd, Trista and I had a brief meeting with Pastor Janet and Pastor Sam in order to outline overall tasks for the summer. In order to give myself a bit more structure, I created a daily agenda for myself on a spreadsheet. Our first week on the job was mostly focused on planning the NextGen Sunday programs throughout the rest of the summer. The four Summer Program Assistants also began work on ETCBC’s KidsCamp during August. Our preparations consisted of reviewing the OneStory curricula, finding and practicing new worship songs, and creating and adjusting interactive activities. To kick off the planning, we decided on a KidsCamp theme which guided our exploration of new worship songs. Throughout our experiences as KidsCamp volunteers and campers ourselves, games have always been popular. The possible theme of “Kingdom Quest,” which includes graphics similar to pixelated video games, stuck out to us as one that could help engage campers. The new kids’ worship songs that we found related to the theme are “I’m Trusting You,” “God is Good,” and “Full Armor of God.” The first two have adventurous, quest-like qualities while the third focuses on how God protects us similarly to armour in games. After modifying and practicing new actions, we sang “I’m Trusting You” and "Full Armor of God” during our Sunday worship on July 6th. 

Teaching two new songs with actions proved to be too much for the kids as most zoned out or refused to participate by the end of the worship session. Going forward, we decided to alternate between each of the new songs while singing the very popular “Every Move I Make” every week. During our July 13th Sunday school on God’s loving character, we asked the kids for an example of how God showed love in the Bible. What we got in response was an account of Joseph’s story more detailed and more accurate than what I could even remember. Whether this says more about my lack of biblical knowledge or their memory, I’m not too sure; But what I do know is that young kids are way better than me at remembering and processing Sunday school stories. Another phenomena that the interns discussed in our post-Sunday school debriefs was how attentive the younger kids were when a video was played on the TV. We talked about how many kids up to around grade 2 and 3 will only have ever known a post-COVID world where screens are everything. The ability that electronic devices have to control them is honestly a bit scary. Although the videos provided by the OneStory curriculum have some interactive elements, we found they were ineffective at creating opportunities for the kids to think critically. Going forward, we’ve decided to try and completely eliminate screens during Sunday school. If the kids are able to remember and extrapolate upon a detailed account of a biblical story, they deserve more than to simply sit there and consume media. As teachers and helpers, we have learned that we should be promoting active learning through discussion over passive absorption of knowledge. Even though screens have proven to be the most effective tool for classroom management, I think it’s important to make sure we are empowering kids to take a more active role in their own learning even if that means more disruptions, reminders, and headaches for us.

Homeness Week:

During the second week of work, Rebecca, Mei, Trista, and I attended every day of Home-ness Week along with either Pastor Janet or Pastor Sam. This initiative aims to help residents of a WoodGreen Community Services seniors residence feel more comfortable in their homes. Many tenants were previously unhoused or may not have the capacity to freshen up their own living spaces. The first two days were for cleaning and decluttering while the rest were for painting. On the first day, the unit that Pastor Sam and I helped clean was relatively uncluttered but had a few major stains and a good amount of dust and dirt on the floor. We, along with one other volunteer, focused primarily on the kitchen, particularly behind the refrigerator and stove. The resident explained how he had tried to clean some of the grime underneath the fridge, to no avail. He was very grateful when we were able to get much of it off and asked about where to get the cleaning products that we used. As an aside, one thing that I noticed was that he kept his shoes on in the house, even lying down on his bed with them on. While I don’t know too much about his background, it’s possible that he was previously unhoused. During our debrief with Auntie Doret on Thursday, we talked about how unhoused individuals often have little stability. At any point they might be required to move for one of many different reasons. Despite living in the same unit for over twenty years, he may still keep his shoes on because of discomfort or habit. In any case, housing alone does not provide stability. 

Day two proved to be the most eventful. After hearing from the resident what she wanted for her unit, we spent about an hour decluttering her room and sweeping up hundreds of dead cockroaches. One of the changes she wanted was for the doorstop to be moved slightly further. For this, a handyman was recruited. Unfortunately, after looking around the room for a bit, he found bedbugs. Even though we were midway through cleaning the room, our entire team was promptly rushed out. Because of this, the unit was in even worse condition than when we found it. Lots of bags everywhere, the bed pulled out from the wall, and piles of dead insects around the room. I was glad when we were able to finish the job in the afternoon after a quick trip to Value Village and with the help of protective full-body suits. Wednesday and Thursday of Home-ness Week were spent painting. In contrast to Tuesday’s room, both units that we worked on were quite clean. The first unit belonged to a family who only spoke Cantonese so I wasn’t able to learn much about them. We, along with several members of a corporate group, gave the entire home two fresh coats of paints. On Thursday, we were tasked with painting a single wall of a unit lived in by a man who used to work at a record store downtown.

Each morning of the week, Pastor Bill, one of the organizers of the Home-ness Week initiative, would give the day’s volunteers a short pep talk in order to encourage us. Recurring themes were the importance of relationship-building and long-term implications. He emphasized that it was more important to listen to people’s stories and walk with them through life rather than to perform a one-time task. The cleaning or painting was simply how we were to develop those relationships. As someone who lives in the neighbourhood of the WoodGreen seniors home that we worked at, I found myself greeting familiar residents during my commutes to and from the building. From Home-ness Week, I’ve learned that outreach within my own community can and should exist beyond “working” or “volunteering” hours and the importance of emphasizing relationship-building over kind deeds alone.