The Courage to Stay: How to Be Present in the Midst of Suffering
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Description
What if the most courageous act is simply being present with those in need?
In this conversation, hosts Johan Heinrichs and Wendi Park are joined by Emily Dmytriw, community outreach pastor at Anchor Pointe Church and heart behind the Fort Garry Collective. They delve into the profound impact of presence and vulnerability in community. Johan shares his journey from the safety of the stage to the raw reality at the table, while Emily recounts her heartfelt connection with Wayne, a member of the community whose friendship and narrative left a lasting impression. Emily's story inspires listeners to see beyond discomfort and engage with genuine compassion.
Time Stamps
[03:19] The Power of Presence
[07:15] The Journey to Building Community
[09:43] Community Building Through Radical Presence
[15:21] Community Soup Night Connection
[16:09] "Wayne's Welcome into Community"
[19:20] "Helping Wayne Find a Home"
[24:14] "Light Through Compassion"
[28:29] Overwhelm and Embracing Community Growth
[29:51] Seeking Divine Guidance and Community
[32:48] "Live Out Love for Others"
[34:50] Care Lingo
Guest Links
Anchor Point Church: https://youranchorpoint.com/
Emily's Sermon: HERE
Other Links
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Transcript
Yeah. I think he realized that this life wasn't for us to just live on
Speaker:our own, but it's to live with people. This hope
Speaker:that we have is not in the pain and the sadness in this world, but
Speaker:the hope is in joy and what's to come. I think he was
Speaker:able to have some hope in friendship at the end.
Speaker:Yeah. If anything, he was, someone that came and taught us beautiful,
Speaker:beautiful lessons. What if presence is the
Speaker:most powerful form of courage? What if we've
Speaker:mistaken compassion for solutions when what we really need
Speaker:is solidarity? Maybe loving well starts
Speaker:with courage to simply stay. This
Speaker:is Journey with Care, a podcast by Care Impact where curious
Speaker:Canadians find inspiration to love others well through real life
Speaker:stories and honest conversations.
Speaker:It was about twenty five years ago, I used to lead worship at our church's
Speaker:ministry center right in the heart of our city here in the toughest part of
Speaker:our city. There was a lot of visible struggle there, addiction,
Speaker:homelessness, and deep poverty. I told myself that being
Speaker:on stage and leading worship, I was doing my part to serve the community,
Speaker:and to a degree I was. But I also stayed in a place
Speaker:that felt safe. I stayed on the stage.
Speaker:In the room, people were handing out soup and sandwiches at the tables while prayers
Speaker:and worship filled the room, But it took me a long time to make
Speaker:the move from stage to the table. When I finally sat
Speaker:down with those who came for a meal, everything shifted. I heard
Speaker:stories that were raw and real, about family, about
Speaker:loss, and about hope. I even met a guy who is a far
Speaker:better musician than I'll ever be, and probably should have been the one on the
Speaker:stage. What struck me was that I began to see them not by
Speaker:where they were, but by who they were. Our
Speaker:guest today, Emily, lives in that space of presence. She does
Speaker:naturally what took me years and some uncomfortable steps to lean
Speaker:into. Because it isn't about having the right words or the
Speaker:right solutions. Sometimes the greatest courage is
Speaker:just choosing to sit at the table. So today's
Speaker:guest is Emily Demetrew, the community outreach pastor at Anchor
Speaker:Pointe Church here in Winnipeg and the heart behind the Fort Garry Collective.
Speaker:She's not just a leader in community development. She's someone who deeply
Speaker:embodies finding those connections where others might pass
Speaker:by. But what struck me most is the way she talks about friendship
Speaker:with warmth, with grief, and with the kind of hope that
Speaker:costs something. Alright. I'm gonna hand it over to you, Wendy, to get this
Speaker:conversation underway. I would love to. With me here
Speaker:in studio, we have Emily Demetrio, and it's so good to have you
Speaker:here. Emily is somebody that is near and dear to my heart. I I
Speaker:attend her church. She's a community outreach director at Anchor Pointe
Speaker:Church. And before I get started, we're talking about the
Speaker:courage to stay, how to be present in the midst of suffering.
Speaker:And you immediately came to mind about being present
Speaker:with others. And to get us started, I'd love to ask
Speaker:you this question. Can you share a moment recently when
Speaker:someone's presence made a real difference to you?
Speaker:I just I got married seven months ago, and I didn't realize how much,
Speaker:like, presence with someone, like, actually, like, walking with someone and living
Speaker:with someone was so huge and, and amazing and such a
Speaker:blessing. It's probably been one of the things I've loved the most is just being
Speaker:present with my husband, being able to walk through life with him
Speaker:as a partner, as, like, an equal and talking about things and processing
Speaker:things. And then even the, we call it, together alone time,
Speaker:when you're both just, like, sitting there, you don't need to talk.
Speaker:You're either reading or you're both just there in silence. And it's
Speaker:very powerful. It's very impactful just knowing that there's
Speaker:somebody else there who knows you, who knows
Speaker:your needs and how they're met and can just sit there with you,
Speaker:that's been a beautiful, beautiful experience for myself. And
Speaker:then I was also thinking about a while ago, I had to go
Speaker:run some errands and go talk to some, yeah, knock on some doors with
Speaker:some government officials, and I went to three different places. And I
Speaker:took a friend along with myself, one of my dear friends,
Speaker:and it was just having that person with you who could stand in line with
Speaker:you, who probably didn't know what was going on, but was just willing
Speaker:to be there with myself and to, like, encourage
Speaker:me as I was feeling a little bit like, wow. I'm going to know the
Speaker:third place that I didn't expect to go to. And then
Speaker:just a car ride of just talking and them being full of joy and
Speaker:talking about something other than I was dealing with was a really big blessing. And
Speaker:so that was, like, presence that I didn't know I needed
Speaker:until it was met, and it was very
Speaker:impactful. I love that, Emily. And you
Speaker:are out in the community being present with others, and we're gonna get into
Speaker:your stories a little bit coming up here. But
Speaker:to understand what other people mean to you, as
Speaker:caregivers, often we can be the ones outputting our presence and being in
Speaker:those places, and and we can be professional caregivers, and
Speaker:yet you learning to receive and to be
Speaker:radically present with others and them with you in a reciprocal
Speaker:way is very powerful. Because as caregivers
Speaker:with a heart of compassion, you also need the presence of others as
Speaker:well. Right? Yep. So I meet with a group of
Speaker:girls on Wednesday nights, and we just we talk,
Speaker:we commune, we read the bible together. It's wonderful. And I
Speaker:was I was talking with them, and then one of them and we were just
Speaker:checking in with each other, you know, as you do. And then one of them
Speaker:was like, woah, Emily. You probably don't get asked how you're
Speaker:doing because you're always asking. And then it's like, it's interesting when people
Speaker:say, how are you doing? You're like, oh, I'm good. Right? Because you're used to
Speaker:being the one that's asking. And then like you said, when you get
Speaker:asked, it's like you kinda get taken aback, and you're like, well, I'm good.
Speaker:Like, I'm always good. And so that that's cool to have that and
Speaker:to also think about it and be like, yeah. Do you need those people?
Speaker:And I often get uncomfortable when people ask me how I'm doing because I always
Speaker:like to ask. That was also very meaningful.
Speaker:Well, I think your vulnerability invites other people's vulnerability
Speaker:so that it's not just a one way street. It requires a
Speaker:really secure attachment, a sense of
Speaker:belonging to be able to receive other people's help. But I think that's
Speaker:something that we need to learn as we care for others to
Speaker:receive it in equal amounts is is so important.
Speaker:So, Emily, I know you're very involved in Winnipeg,
Speaker:in the Fort Garry area where the church is located.
Speaker:And the church is very community minded, really wanting to
Speaker:invest in community relationships. And you
Speaker:are the heart and the mind behind the Fort
Speaker:Garry Collective, and you've taken on that initiative to
Speaker:help the community flourish. Can you tell me a little bit about your
Speaker:journey into forming the Fort Garry Collective? Yeah.
Speaker:This was a journey that started years ago that I
Speaker:didn't even know this was probably on the path that it was taking me.
Speaker:I actually grew up in the country, so not in a
Speaker:city, not in a a town with that community. So community looked different
Speaker:to myself, and community is when you had to really work to make
Speaker:because you're isolated otherwise. My parents did a great
Speaker:job of us making a community outside of our
Speaker:immediate location. And so I
Speaker:I worked at a number of different non for profits and,
Speaker:a shelter as well as volunteering different places
Speaker:and just seeing the need to bring people
Speaker:together and to have a place where people are are able to
Speaker:share their story. And a gathering spot
Speaker:has always been a a dream of mine. And then I've traveled different places
Speaker:in the world, and I've noticed that there's these gathering places
Speaker:that allow people to feel feel, like,
Speaker:safe and secure there, and then they can just open up. And I find that
Speaker:often it's usually around food. Like, food is a great gathering. So
Speaker:whether it's just coffee or culture. Right? Right. Yeah.
Speaker:And so a couple of years ago, when I first
Speaker:started attending Anchor Point, I was taking
Speaker:this, this course that we do called Journey one just to actually
Speaker:get to know the the community of the church. And I went up to Donovan,
Speaker:and I was like, wouldn't it be cool if we had, like, a
Speaker:greenhouse, art studio, cafe, therapy
Speaker:center? That was just been a dream of mine. I've known how
Speaker:greenhouses, like, just green life around you and plants are
Speaker:super important. And so, I just had
Speaker:this dream for a long time, and I, I so I told Donovan that.
Speaker:And Donovan, he's always, like, gung ho about all this stuff. And so he was
Speaker:like, oh, yeah. That'd be super cool. And he's like, that's kinda been a dream
Speaker:of mine too. And then, I was currently working at a
Speaker:different place. I was working at a woman's shelter as well as working at
Speaker:a school at the time. And then a couple
Speaker:probably a year after that, Donovan approached me and asked if I wanted to come
Speaker:on board and work as the community outreach director at
Speaker:Anchor Point with the hope of starting a charity called
Speaker:Fort Garry Collective in the community of Fort Garry. And
Speaker:I immediately said yes, and I was like, that would be my dream job.
Speaker:And so that's that's where the journey began. Well and
Speaker:I've loved seeing you build that role as
Speaker:you've, invested yourself into the Anchor Pointe church
Speaker:community and in the Fort Garry area. You're continuously building
Speaker:relationships within the community at all different levels, bringing
Speaker:different sectors together, and just seeing this painting this
Speaker:bigger picture than just the church to saying, what if we
Speaker:work together? And and that's being radically present in
Speaker:community. And and along the way, you inevitably
Speaker:build a lot of relationships with people in the community
Speaker:that some might pass by on the other side of
Speaker:the road. Some might say, you know what? That's not
Speaker:really my thing. And yet you have a warmth and
Speaker:ability to be present with these people, not only be present, but
Speaker:it bring inclusion into the community. And, can you tell
Speaker:me a little bit about what that's been like? And and particularly,
Speaker:I was touched by your interaction and your
Speaker:story unfolding with Wayne. Can you tell me a little
Speaker:bit more about that? Yeah. I'd love to.
Speaker:I have always realized that I felt more comfortable
Speaker:outside the church and talking with people than inside the
Speaker:church. And it it wasn't anything to do with the people in
Speaker:the church. I just I loved being out,
Speaker:and there's not a pressure to
Speaker:be right aways in their face
Speaker:trying to evangelize them in a sense. That's a kind of a crass way to
Speaker:put it, and I don't think the church really does that. But maybe that was
Speaker:just how I had kind of assumed things. But whereas when you're not
Speaker:in a church and you're out you're out in creation in the community,
Speaker:you're able to start relationships and friendships
Speaker:without maybe the pressure of something else right aways.
Speaker:And I found that I loved talking with individuals just about their life and
Speaker:getting to know them and being able to
Speaker:build that relationship outside of maybe the church
Speaker:without having that pressure. And we have a lot of people that just walk
Speaker:in, which is beautiful as well, just walking off the streets
Speaker:just because they see the lights are on or the doors are open or
Speaker:they wanna charge their phone or they're looking for coffee. Yeah. That's
Speaker:how I actually met my friend Wayne was one day I was
Speaker:driving. Yeah. Can I just ask you a question? I wanna
Speaker:get into Wayne's story, but something you've been describing has
Speaker:caught my attention here. Talk to the listener,
Speaker:to the average individual that may be hearing this story
Speaker:for the first time and saying they're walking down the street, approaching that
Speaker:person at the bus shelter, the person in the tent city,
Speaker:or the person doing life on the park bench outside your
Speaker:church just needing that cup of coffee, they're not feeling
Speaker:that inclination. They're not feeling that warm and fuzzy. They there
Speaker:may be a a sense of should. I see them, but I'm I'm
Speaker:I'm scared or I I don't know what to do
Speaker:or I'm not naturally like Emily. I'm gonna hide in your
Speaker:shadows. Talk to that individual. How can you
Speaker:ease their discomfort if they're standing right beside you
Speaker:with Wayne right now? Yeah. A smile
Speaker:and body language goes a long way. So if you're walking up to an
Speaker:individual that maybe honestly makes you uncomfortable, and that's fair, you
Speaker:gotta know, like, safety and have wisdom. But
Speaker:if you are, like, back towards them not even willing to
Speaker:engage, that already speaks volumes. But if you're, like, turn
Speaker:toward them smiling, and if you catch their eye sometimes people
Speaker:just wanna be left alone, and that's fair. Mhmm. But if they're like
Speaker:you catch their eye and you're smiling, and you ask them how
Speaker:they're doing and you genuinely care how they're doing, not just, like, the polite, oh,
Speaker:how are you? But, like, you actually care and you're willing to listen,
Speaker:that goes a long way. You can ask the questions. You can
Speaker:be willing, and sometimes the other person isn't. And that's okay.
Speaker:But to already be willing to listen and to be present
Speaker:for however long you have speaks volumes. It
Speaker:speaks volumes. And it's very easy to look at
Speaker:individuals and not feel that warm and fuzzy, like you said, when you're when you're
Speaker:only focused on yourself and you're maybe discomfort or I don't know
Speaker:how to interact or all these, like, questions of, like, oh, is it gonna be
Speaker:helpful? And to maybe just stop thinking about yourself
Speaker:for that little bit and to actually just think about the other individual
Speaker:is is really big. Thank you for sharing
Speaker:that. And I think what I've appreciated observing you and how you
Speaker:have just so naturally brought people into the community
Speaker:is that there's not this sense of I need to
Speaker:fix people or solve their situation. You you
Speaker:wanna respond and you're responsive, but there's there's
Speaker:this kinship, this family, this you and
Speaker:me. We're human together, just journeying life and that
Speaker:presence that really brings us into this story with Wayne and how
Speaker:tell us a little bit of how you, first met Wayne and
Speaker:and and how that unfolded.
Speaker:Yeah. Wayne was, at a street
Speaker:corner as I was driving by, and I had just missed talking
Speaker:with him. So I'd actually just yelled at him to come
Speaker:meet me at the church. And I wasn't sure if he heard me, and I
Speaker:didn't wanna sound rude. I was like, wow. I feel bad. I just yelled at
Speaker:him. But half an hour later, there he was in our in our church
Speaker:entrance. And that evening, we were having a soup and buns
Speaker:evening for just prayer room or anyone in the community who wants to
Speaker:come in. So he joined us for a meal, which was amazing, and I was
Speaker:able to talk with him. And it was a first short interaction.
Speaker:It was very much just like yeah. Like you said,
Speaker:Wendy, not seeing an individual for their problem or being a
Speaker:project, but for seeing them for who they are and that they're they're a
Speaker:person like all of us. And so that evening, I got
Speaker:to I got to know Wayne and just hear a little bit of his story,
Speaker:and that just brought on the conversation of the
Speaker:situation he was living in and that he really just
Speaker:wanted friendship. He just wanted to talk with someone. And
Speaker:so I invited him back in a couple of days to come and talk. And
Speaker:the invitation's out there, and you never know if people are gonna take it. But
Speaker:he he took it, and he came. And, yeah, that
Speaker:started a beautiful time of Wayne and myself
Speaker:just honestly, it was him talking and just sharing his life
Speaker:story, and he was such a good storyteller. And we got
Speaker:to know each other. I got to meet his workers and
Speaker:work alongside them trying to find him housing and,
Speaker:work with just different parts of his life. And just knowing
Speaker:that no matter what situation he came from, he was
Speaker:always he was always welcome to either just use the bathroom or their microwave.
Speaker:And then individuals in the church community started recognizing
Speaker:him, which just warmed my heart so much, and they would invite him
Speaker:in and where they would see him, like, somewhere
Speaker:because sometimes I wouldn't see him for a while, and then I would get a
Speaker:a a text from someone saying, I just saw Wayne in this part of the
Speaker:city. And so then I would drive over there, and then I would find him.
Speaker:So it was really help. It was like a beautiful network that kinda came
Speaker:together. So that's how Wayne and I got to know each other and got
Speaker:to become friends and walk alongside each other.
Speaker:Yeah. I remember Wayne briefly. I did have coffee with
Speaker:him one time when he was in the foyer, and we got to to share
Speaker:coffee. And I love that we could
Speaker:just sit and have coffee, but I don't think it would have
Speaker:happened just randomly had you not reached out.
Speaker:And I know sometimes that it it is unconventional. You're like, oh, should I have
Speaker:yelled at him? They're like, hey. Come to the church. But you don't know those
Speaker:those those chance encounters of connection. Just putting yourself
Speaker:out there. You made yourself vulnerable, actually, by,
Speaker:inviting him. And I think a lot of people might be fear of rejection or
Speaker:fear of coming across wrong, but there was something in there.
Speaker:Obviously, he felt your heart in it. You weren't like, get over to the
Speaker:church. You know? You were like, you're welcome. You're that sense of
Speaker:belonging, your body language, and your your tone
Speaker:was calling him in to community. And
Speaker:isn't that what we all long for? It's not just Wayne out there.
Speaker:Aren't we all longing for that come, that invitation?
Speaker:Isn't that what Jesus does when he invites us? Come.
Speaker:And when Jesus invites us to come, there's a sense of
Speaker:urgency and longing and hunger that you shared. I
Speaker:think that's beautiful. I know there's more to his story, and it's not
Speaker:about fixing. But what was that journey like as you continue
Speaker:to create space for Wayne in your life?
Speaker:Yeah. Wayne, I gave him my number so he could
Speaker:call if there is any any times that he needed help or anything.
Speaker:And sometimes, depending in kind of mood he was in, he would he
Speaker:would call and just check-in and say like, hey, Emily. I'm, like, sleeping here
Speaker:tonight just to let you know I'm safe. And that always warmed my heart, and
Speaker:my husband and I became really good friends with Wayne. We'd have
Speaker:coffee with him often, and he almost was able
Speaker:to have Thanksgiving with us. It was hard when, he didn't have a phone at
Speaker:times, and he would Mhmm. He would have a bike, and so we would try
Speaker:to find him when we could. But, yeah, Wayne ended up sleeping
Speaker:on our property on the Anchor Point property for a while, which,
Speaker:we loved it. It it kinda was nice because I got to know where he
Speaker:was lots of the time, and his workers would come and meet with Wayne
Speaker:at the church, and we would work together. We did quite
Speaker:a few apartment applications, and then I
Speaker:did, like, some some applications for, like,
Speaker:referring him to certain apartments. And so we became really good
Speaker:friends. Yeah. And then when winter started approaching, then, you know, the needs
Speaker:kinda get more serious where you're like, hey. We really would like to find a
Speaker:place for this gentleman. And sometimes different
Speaker:search different situations aren't always the best in certain
Speaker:areas and knowing his history. And then,
Speaker:I got an email at the December,
Speaker:yeah, that, Wayne had passed away.
Speaker:And in that moment, it was very interesting. I was in the middle of
Speaker:a meeting exactly talking about finding transitional housing and
Speaker:working through these problems in our community, which Fort
Speaker:Garry probably doesn't look like it has that many
Speaker:needs in that sense, but there are a lot of hidden needs. They're not
Speaker:as obvious. There's a lot of hidden needs. If we could just
Speaker:bookmark that, in community development. We often maybe
Speaker:categorize certain parts of our cities or certain cities as,
Speaker:oh, they're the the poor ones or this this sector, and and there's a lot
Speaker:of truth to that. But poverty and
Speaker:suffering knows no bounds in postal
Speaker:codes. There's some more intensity, more vulnerabilities in certain
Speaker:areas, but this isn't an area that has a
Speaker:Thermea Nordic spa Yeah. And a
Speaker:private expensive private school Mhmm.
Speaker:And also has intense poverty
Speaker:hidden in plain sight. We can't underscore that. I'm
Speaker:curious, though, in that moment when you got that email.
Speaker:You've said it. Wayne is your friend. He's become part of the
Speaker:community. And you were part of his journey of
Speaker:finding housing, and then this happened where
Speaker:where he passed away. What did that do
Speaker:for you? What was going through your mind and your heart, your
Speaker:soul in that moment when you've really
Speaker:loved on this person in the community and it
Speaker:came to this tragic news? Initially, my
Speaker:heart dropped, you know, when you feel it in your stomach.
Speaker:And, the sadness of losing someone you care
Speaker:about and you were hoping for a better future for them.
Speaker:You had this hope and this anticipation of
Speaker:finding a place and Right. You know, continuing
Speaker:to have this friendship. And when you talk, you're like, oh, next Thanksgiving
Speaker:and all of these things. And then to find out that it's
Speaker:suddenly all over, it's a big
Speaker:shock. I don't ever wanna become numb to those
Speaker:because there's been other times I've lost individuals in my life that I've been walking
Speaker:with, especially through addictions. And you don't ever want
Speaker:to become numb to that and just be like, okay. Well, there's another one.
Speaker:But there was also this this sense of, like,
Speaker:oh, he's no longer suffering on the streets. He's no
Speaker:longer in the cold. But it doesn't ever outweigh the
Speaker:sadness of losing a friend and of realizing he's
Speaker:gone. But it also kinda just was suiting that
Speaker:it was exactly that meeting talking about transitional housing that
Speaker:we had this email because it was just like, yeah, it reminded
Speaker:me why we were fighting for what we were and why we
Speaker:want to keep working towards community
Speaker:and the health of a community and the
Speaker:places of gathering that allow people to feel
Speaker:loved. And so it wasn't a defeat.
Speaker:It was like a, okay. This is why we're doing it. This is
Speaker:why we're doing it. So to all those listening to
Speaker:your journey, would you tell them it was worth
Speaker:it? Even if you would have known the tragic end or the
Speaker:short journey that you had with them, those moments, those fleeting
Speaker:moments now, but at a crucial time in his life,
Speaker:was it worth it? That was a question I think I had to ask
Speaker:myself quite a bit, especially right after it happened.
Speaker:And probably years past when I have lost individuals I've worked
Speaker:with, you almost kinda say it's not worth it, and you
Speaker:can get bitter and hard. But that's not a
Speaker:lifestyle I wanna live and one that actually
Speaker:provides life and joy. And so in that
Speaker:moment, you're like, it's actually so worth it all. It's actually
Speaker:worth it all. Well, in Isaiah fifty eight ten
Speaker:says, if you spend yourself in behalf of the hungry and
Speaker:satisfy the needs of the oppressed. It doesn't say if you fix and solve their
Speaker:solution if you're their savior. If you spend yourself in
Speaker:behalf of them, then your light will rise in the darkness.
Speaker:There's a light that comes in those spaces that
Speaker:defies darkness even that this world cannot overshadow
Speaker:the light within you, Emily. And I've seen it. I can testify
Speaker:that it radiates in those places and you keep going
Speaker:back. You keep going back into the lives of others and inviting
Speaker:other people to journey alongside, some really
Speaker:difficult situations, the verse finishes and your night will
Speaker:become like the noonday. Isn't that what our world needs a
Speaker:lot more? I I just wonder back to our our whole series, the cost
Speaker:of indifference. What would it have looked like? What would it have cost
Speaker:us? What would it have cost Wayne in his his last
Speaker:days knowing he was had belonging, he had friendship with you
Speaker:and others that you introduced him to? But what would that have cost
Speaker:him and and our church community if we would have just said we were
Speaker:indifferent to him and just kept going on without him?
Speaker:Oh, like, he actually gave me so much.
Speaker:It wasn't even, like, me just pouring. It was actually him
Speaker:pouring into me so much as well as a friend
Speaker:and as a storyteller. And his his memories,
Speaker:those times of laughter and joy with him, like, those those I
Speaker:will never lose. Those I won't lose. And he taught
Speaker:me so many lessons, and I think individuals around him
Speaker:him lessons. And to see how he
Speaker:helped those in need as well and was so willing the amount of
Speaker:times he would come, and he would bring food to the church to give to
Speaker:people. I was, like, blown away.
Speaker:Yeah. I think he realized that this life wasn't for us to just live on
Speaker:our own, but it's to live with people. This hope
Speaker:that we have is not in not is not in the pain and the sadness
Speaker:in this world, but the hope is in in the joy and what's to
Speaker:come. I think he was able to have some hope in
Speaker:friendship at the end. Yeah. If anything, he was,
Speaker:someone that came and taught us beautiful, beautiful lessons.
Speaker:That is the beautiful thing in this
Speaker:upside down kingdom that God invites us into. It's not a
Speaker:should care for the poor, the oppressed, those going through
Speaker:suffering. But God is close to the brokenhearted.
Speaker:Matthew 25, when did you see me hungry or in prison? All these places that
Speaker:we wouldn't wanna naturally go. We might not be as inclined
Speaker:as you are, Emily, to say, hey. I I wanna get to know them.
Speaker:But that's where God is, and sometimes we're looking for God in the wrong
Speaker:places. Yes. We can find him in worship and together
Speaker:as a church, but there's a depth to understanding
Speaker:God when we can journey with others that it's not just
Speaker:about caring for. We should care for and and
Speaker:have acts of mercy and justice. But God is in those places, and
Speaker:it you'll never be the same, I'm sure, Emily. The church has
Speaker:been impacted and has been edified, and we
Speaker:are so grateful for that time that we could have with
Speaker:Wayne. Thank you for bringing that to light. So, Emily,
Speaker:you and I can look all around us. Our listeners can look all around
Speaker:ourselves and see a lot of opportunities
Speaker:and a lot of overwhelm, actually, of the crises around
Speaker:us. You you just look at the news. You look out on the street. And
Speaker:then not to mention, we also said there's so much hidden, actually, more
Speaker:hidden than what is apparent. There's a lot of suffering
Speaker:in our society. And how do
Speaker:you engage meaningfully without overwhelming
Speaker:yourself in all the needs and and, like, flurrying around, we've
Speaker:gotta do something, and and burning yourself out in the process?
Speaker:Are there some practical ways that you could suggest that we can engage
Speaker:without that overwhelm, seeing that one person in front of us?
Speaker:To be honest with you, Wendy, I don't have any social media, and I don't
Speaker:ever look at the news because I know of the overwhelm.
Speaker:Mhmm. And, yeah, you look around you, and it can be really easy to
Speaker:get disheartened, especially driving down certain streets
Speaker:in the city and even just kinda listening
Speaker:to the way that some some areas of our,
Speaker:community are going. But you had mentioned this before,
Speaker:and I wanna just echo what you said that we aren't the savior.
Speaker:We aren't the ones that are meant to swoop in and save the
Speaker:day and have all the answers.
Speaker:That's been a big learning for myself. Something I've learned a lot is
Speaker:that we don't have all the answers and that
Speaker:we actually can't have all the answers because otherwise, you kinda take that
Speaker:away from individuals who need to learn and
Speaker:grill themselves. And the community has a lot of
Speaker:resources. We're not a a one man island
Speaker:here. We're not just a lone island. We're we're trying to reach the
Speaker:community and gather the people that are willing and wanting to help.
Speaker:And so to realize that it's just not on you. Right.
Speaker:You personally can do so much. But when you try to take
Speaker:on needs of the world, you're gonna get crushed. Yeah. Because it was
Speaker:never our place to take on the needs of the world. And it really
Speaker:becomes, what has God called me to do? How does God want
Speaker:me to respond to this? And it's
Speaker:not a failure or a deficit to say I need
Speaker:help too. So if God has called me in such a way to be
Speaker:relationally present in this way, who else do we need to invite to the table?
Speaker:Who what village do we need to create, to create
Speaker:belonging and wholeness and and and support an individual
Speaker:who self identifies certain things as people going through
Speaker:when I'm in vulnerable situations, there's a sense where I
Speaker:think I know what I need or I what I need to advocate for.
Speaker:I don't want people just telling me what to do, and I'm gonna fix
Speaker:you. It's listening to that individual. They are part of
Speaker:the the pathway forward as well. But looking to
Speaker:the greater community, it takes a lot of humility. Now talk to
Speaker:a church, that is part of that is
Speaker:situated in area that is there's government, there's schools, there's
Speaker:nonprofits and businesses that aren't necessarily
Speaker:faith aligned. How do you do that? You're you're doing that.
Speaker:What does that look like for you, as you're developing Fort Garry Collective?
Speaker:I think at the core of it, you gotta remember that
Speaker:we're both trying to love the person. And
Speaker:when you take the person out of the equation and you just see maybe the
Speaker:circumstance and the problem, it can be easy to have your differences with
Speaker:different people you're walking with or different organizations. But when you come down
Speaker:to it and you remember like, oh, no. Our main purpose here is
Speaker:to help the individual and to care for them and to love them.
Speaker:For myself, I see that I see that God is at the center of that,
Speaker:and I know that's not what everybody sees. And I would never wanna force that
Speaker:upon anyone as something that I think is what
Speaker:they need to see. But when you can both agree that
Speaker:the individual that you're walking with, that you both have their best needs,
Speaker:then it makes it a lot more beautiful to walk with them. And the
Speaker:differences will come up, but that's okay, actually, because people are unique,
Speaker:and people have different amazing, yeah,
Speaker:resources. And it allows actually all these
Speaker:different individuals that maybe have different takes on things to come together
Speaker:and to work together. And there's gonna be differences, but to
Speaker:realize when you're you're like, no. It's not about me and what I
Speaker:think. It's about what that individual needs and how can we actually
Speaker:help them and walk with them. That's a tough line to
Speaker:walk. But one, when everyone is on the same page that it's about that individual,
Speaker:then that's the way you go forward, which is not always the way it
Speaker:happens, but it's the way you hope you hope you move forward and walk with
Speaker:it. Thanks so much for sharing your story, Emily. Before
Speaker:we let you go, though, do you have a a challenge for our
Speaker:listeners for this week? Something practical that they can take into this week
Speaker:to be better present with others around them.
Speaker:This is kind of a twofold. I would love,
Speaker:and this is a challenge for myself as well, for
Speaker:everyone to maybe stop being so
Speaker:self aware of themselves when they're walking up to someone or approaching someone,
Speaker:and and actually taking their eyes off of themself and looking
Speaker:at the individual and not being concerned with our discomfort, but actually
Speaker:being like, I wonder what how they're uncomfortable.
Speaker:And then also, if we lived out of how loved we
Speaker:are. And I talked about this in my sermon, but it's like,
Speaker:man, if we actually knew how loved we are and how
Speaker:much life is worth it, wouldn't we wanna share that with
Speaker:others? And wouldn't it actually be a lot easier to step out of our comfort
Speaker:zone because we knew how loved we were? And we knew,
Speaker:yeah, how good it felt to be loved, and we want others to experience that
Speaker:as well. So that that's my challenge to to live out of how
Speaker:loved you are. That's great. Do you have any links you
Speaker:wanna share with the listeners for them to visit if they wanna hear more about
Speaker:the Fort Garry Collective and stuff that you're doing? We're still
Speaker:working on getting our website up. But if you want
Speaker:to go on to, anchorpointchurch.com, and you can kinda
Speaker:follow what's going on in the community and in the church. And
Speaker:then once the Fort Gary collective website gets up there, it will be linked
Speaker:on to that website, and you guys will be able to follow along the different
Speaker:events we're doing or the different opportunities that come up and just
Speaker:really hearing stories and seeing, yeah, how
Speaker:we're living and walking with our community. And if you'd like
Speaker:to hear more about Emily's story, her heart, I would like
Speaker:to also include, Johan, a link to the sermon that she
Speaker:preached just several weeks ago that, will challenge
Speaker:you in a good way. It will warm your heart. It will want you to
Speaker:to seek more of God in community. So thank you so much,
Speaker:Emily, for for being here today. Thank you. It was
Speaker:a joy. Alright. Now it's time for
Speaker:Care lingo. Wendy, you sent me this word this
Speaker:week, and I had no idea what you were sending me. So,
Speaker:I had I had a few thoughts that came to my mind when I when
Speaker:I got sent this word incarnational. Incarnational.
Speaker:Like, is that even how you pronounce it? You you got it right. I I
Speaker:loved how you first thought it was incarnational. And I'm like, you have
Speaker:not heard this yet, but I was sitting in Toronto. I was at these meetings
Speaker:in Hamilton, actually, and they were talking about incarnational ministry. And
Speaker:I'm like, oh, Johan's gonna love this one. This will be great for
Speaker:Carelingo, but I thought you would know this one. Yeah. I I don't You're a
Speaker:Christian boy. Yeah. My dad's a pastor, but I I don't think
Speaker:he's ever used this term before. So two thoughts
Speaker:that came to my head. The first was obviously, like, the root
Speaker:word carnation. My wife loves
Speaker:flowers, but she hates carnations. So this might be something, you know, when you
Speaker:walk into a flower shop, you're getting a mixed a
Speaker:mixed bouquet of flowers. And they'll say, do you want this to be a
Speaker:incarnational bouquet or or not?
Speaker:Do you want carnations included in this mixed flour bouquet? And
Speaker:I would obviously say no because my wife doesn't like them. So
Speaker:incarnational. The other one that came to mind
Speaker:now okay. So this would be someone that, you
Speaker:know, is temporarily trying to just eat
Speaker:meat. You know, like, I'm in carnivore mode.
Speaker:It's like I tried being a vegetarian, but I smell the bacon. Now
Speaker:I'm fully incarnational again. Like, I am all in on
Speaker:meat right now. I mean, that's me perpetually anyway. I'll I'll never be a
Speaker:vegetarian, but, you know, incarnational. Fully in on
Speaker:meat. Emily, do you have any thoughts of what first of all, have
Speaker:you heard the term before? And if you haven't, what would
Speaker:you think it means if you heard it? I have never heard
Speaker:this term before. Oh, Wendy. It's for two. It I think
Speaker:you guys are just younger than me or something. Wendy I think Wendy made it
Speaker:up, actually. But Help me out, guys. Listeners, if
Speaker:you've heard it, put it in the, respond to us on Facebook.
Speaker:Oh, man. Incarnational. It it sounds like it and maybe this
Speaker:is just me because my mind always goes to plants as well there,
Speaker:Johan. But I just think of plants and in
Speaker:nature, incarnatural. But I I don't know. That's just where my
Speaker:thoughts go. It sounds like a beautiful word, but it sounds like a beautiful made
Speaker:up word. Yeah. What's so what what's your made up word mean,
Speaker:Wendy? It is not a made up word. It's in community development Christian
Speaker:ministries when it's it's around incarnate, like, in
Speaker:the Latin word in in flesh. So God moved into the neighborhood,
Speaker:kind of idea. What does it look like to embody
Speaker:Christian values and ministry in community with
Speaker:people? That is incarnational ministry.
Speaker:I didn't realize it was so weird, but you put me in a group of
Speaker:geeks like me. It's just vernacular. And,
Speaker:there you go. Incarnational. It's like
Speaker:being in presence. Present it's
Speaker:being present in community, doing ministry, living out
Speaker:ministry with others in a very community
Speaker:way. Okay. That sounds a little bit more familiar. I've used the
Speaker:term incarnate, but not incarnational
Speaker:or incarnational. I already forgot how to pronounce it.
Speaker:Well, there you have it, incarnational. Even if it's made up, we are
Speaker:all educated on, new words made by Wendy, but
Speaker:probably not. Yeah. Alright. Until next time, remember to stay
Speaker:curious.
Speaker:Thank you for joining us on Journey with Care. To get more information on
Speaker:weekly episodes, upcoming opportunities, or to connect with our
Speaker:community, visit journeywithcare.ca, or find Care Impact
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Speaker:faith and purpose. Together, let's discover how we can make a
Speaker:meaningful impact.
