Still here...

I’ve been a part of The Mustard Seed since 2001.  I can remember the first time I served a meal with my church as if it was yesterday.  I remember being surprised by how polite everyone was as I offered them a bun with their meal. I remember laughing at the jokes the people told me and how safe I felt despite the warnings from my parents to be careful.

After that night, two friends and I started volunteering.  We served lunch and then helped clean up and chat with people.  That’s when I met George* who ALWAYS had the biggest smile on his face and never said anything negative. Ever.  Then we came on Saturday nights and just talked with people as we watched Hockey Night in Canada. That’s when I met Carl* who spoke candidly about his addiction, loneliness and what it was like to live on the streets.

In May 2004, they hired me as a Summer Intern after finishing my 2nd year of university.  I spent four months working in the kitchen, food bank, clothing centre and playing baseball.  i. loved. It.  This was the first time in my life that I had a job and actually liked it. I guess you could say that I found a piece of myself at The Mustard Seed that summer.  Although I worked with people on a daily basis who had encountered so much pain and heart ache they still had hope that things could change.  They inspired me and made my faith look trite and surface.  I was forced to ask the tough questions such as “how can people say God is good in the face of such trial?”, “What does it mean to see God in everyone?”, “what does success look like in the eyes of God?”

It’s now 2011 and I am still here.  I could write a long list of the jobs I’ve had since 2004 but that’s not important.  The reason I am still here is because I still believe that I can be a part of bringing the Kingdom of God to earth as it is in Heaven.