Stories

Our youth centre thrives on stories. They're what break our hearts, what keep us going, and what make us laugh. We often hear stories over a long period of time, a piece here, and a piece there. The struggles, successes and experiences that we all experience become intricate parts of our stories.

Aaron has been working on a video project with a coworker, Jeremy, over the past few weeks. We often use videos in our discussion with the youth as a way to foster deeper thinking on many life, character, and faith issues. Aaron and Jeremy have a desire to produce some of our own, so that they reflect the needs and perspectives of the youth we are working with. They are making it highly collaborative with the youth, and have teens involved on every level from video production, to writing original music, to even writing the scripts and stories that will evolve into short films. With that in mind, Aaron asked one of our young men simply to write a story. He did not assign a topic, length, or give any limits. Last night, this young man came up to us at the snack bar of the youth centre, and said, "It's eight pages, I did it this afternoon."

Once we recovered from the initial shock of his submission (keep in mind that many of our youth do not show strong initiative or desire in school), we read his story. It is a story about life after high school, and is a mix of his current life and circle of friends, struggles he has experienced recently, and dreams for the future. It is raw, honest, and gives huge insight into his world. Some parts have been exaggerated, others idealized, but let's be honest, that is often what draws us into movies and books. His story is a springboard into the much bigger picture that is his life.

It is both a privilege and an honour to share in his story. We hope that the discussions that come out of his written story will lead to opportunities to add value to his life in the bigger story. We pray that we can encourage him in these dreams, reveal the hope that Jesus Christ has offered him, and support him in the journey. Before last night, I was interested in the project that Aaron had begun. Now, I am truly anticipating the opportunities that it will allow us, and if there are some videos produced along the way, they are icing on the cake.

We returned today from our Eastern Regional Retreat, with fellow YFC staff from Ontario and Quebec. We still have lots to process, and God is speaking to us in some pretty amazing ways. Our National Director closed with the following Scripture, and I haven't stopped thinking about it all day. This is such a good sense of both our cry to God, and our calling to reveal God's presence in the lives of our youth.

Psalm 90:14-17 (NLT)
"Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants, see your work again; let our children see your glory. And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!"

More to come on this I'm sure, especially as we reflect and listen to what God is speaking to us about The Door's ministry in Collingwood.

I'll leave you with some pictures of our latest adventure: dogsledding, one of the perks of hanging out with YFC staff.

Hope Is Where We're Starting From

Lately we've been thinking a lot about hope. We see small glimmers of hope everyday that we are at The Door, and were looking for a way to share this with you. Last week, hope was found in a courthouse, next to one of our youth whose mother didn't go to court with her because she knew what the outcome was going to be. Hope is found on the streets of Toronto, where our youth are disinfecting sleeping mats for the patrons of Out Of The Cold. Hope is found in a youth who wants to start going to school next semester, because they finally have a dream for college. This week, hope is found in kids giving their change and spending money towards the relief work that is happening in Haiti. The Door thrives on hope, the hope that is found in a warm relationship, and threaded through everything we do is the hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

So consider this a record of our stories from the road. Some are amazing. Others are hard to read. Some will make us laugh until we're crying. But hope is where we're starting from, and that is what will move us forward.