Day 3!!

This was our first day of actual ministry. We were so excited to finally be able to be involved in helping the homeless of Toronto.

We started out our day by visiting the Good Shepherd Men's Shelter. We all stepped out of our comfort zones and started conversations with many of the men who were enjoying the bountiful breakfast provided by the shelter. The men provided us with so many wonderful stories about their lives. Your children learned so much during these conversations. You have to ask them about these experiences.

After our time in the dining room we were split into three groups. Mr. Savidge, Becca, Carlie, and Morgan were assigned the task of changing the beds in two of the dormitories. Aaron and Jake had an interesting time peeling potatoes~ two sou chefs in the making. Ashlee, Josh and I first cleaned the walking refrigerator shelves and then had the challenging task to disassemble the contents of smaller sugar packets into a larger container. We only had 1,500 packets to empty. It was a mindless job, but it felt good to know what each job performed by our team was helpful and appreciated.

From there, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at New Haandi 2000, an Indian restaurant in the heart of the New India section of Toronto. Everyone tried something new today and got a taste of the spiciness of Indian cooking.

In the afternoon, our guide for the week, Steve, trained us in L.I.F.E Skills- Living in Faith Everyday. We then took those skills and put them to practice in Allen Park. There we passed out water to those people we found in the park. In small groups, we got the opportunity to speak with many of the homeless and simply spend time with them to listen to their stories, or in some cases, share the gospel.

We spent our evening off by venturing into the downtown area (similar to Times Square, NY) and enjoyed a meal at Johnnie Rockets. We walked around that part of the city for a little while, and then headed back to the church where we spent some time together enjoying each other's company in some very interesting, and dare I say, creative ways.

All in all, we are all pretty pleased with our day. We are looking forward to tomorrow's opportunity to worship the Risen King with the congregation of Calvary Church. Then... it's off to more ministry opportunities at Yonge Street Mission.

More tomorrow!