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Domestic Poverty

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SERVEing in an Urban Community

Nestled in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan sits LaGrave Avenue CRC. Over thirty years ago, LaGrave was the very first church to host SERVE – a week-long mission trip experience for high school students run by ThereforeGo Ministries (formerly known as Youth Unlimited)  – and they have kept that momentum going. Due to their location in the very center of the city, helping the unhoused and disadvantaged is the very heartbeat of the church. 

Homelessness, drug addiction and the world climate crisis

During Anders' time at Bates College in Maine (he just graduated), he often went to Lewiston, Maine’s downtown skatepark, where he met with several young people. He learned a lot about their lives and struggles, especially those related to homelessness and substance abuse. Many of these individuals shared heartbreaking stories of friends and family lost to overdose or living on the streets. 

Engaging Across Experiences for a More Just Society

I have had the privilege of participating in several conferences this spring, each of which touched on a different aspect of my work on poverty in Canada. They explored issues including housing, reconciliation, polarization, income security, and climate change, and brought together church folks, academics, advocates, people with lived experience of poverty, service providers, and government representatives from across the country. 

Engineering to Youth Work: Embracing God's Unexpected Path

Host Chris Orme welcomes Greg Houldcroft, founder of Cross Town Impact, a ministry dedicated to serving at-risk youth. Greg shares his journey of faith and the challenges faced in establishing the organization. Cross Town Impact provides safe spaces for children, offering support and mentorship. Greg highlights lessons he's learned along the way especially for churches.

The Other Side

Seated around a solid wooden table beside a cozy window streaming with sunlight, a close-knit group and I were enjoying pastries, warm coffee, and gentle camaraderie. As we caught up on each other’s lives, a woman shared about a vacation she had recently taken.

When booking her hotel, she hadn’t realized that right across the street was a large encampment where numerous unhoused people were staying. From her high-up hotel room window, she had a bird’s-eye view of the people below. She said this had given her a “clearer picture of how the other side lived.”  

How Saying 'Yes' Transformed Gateway Church

In this compelling episode host Chris Orme sits down with Dan Veeneman and Marcel de Regt from Gateway Community Church in Abbotsford B.C. Together, they delve into the church's transformative journey of hosting an extreme weather shelter for the homeless. Dan and Marcel share stories about the realities of participating in this ministry. From confronting addiction to offering hospitality, their experiences underscore the power of saying 'yes' when someone knocks on your door.

Justice Prayers - February 6, 2024

The rulers of the earth plan, and scheme, and make laws, and change laws, and war, and pull down one, and raise up another. But they little think that they rule only by the will of Jesus, and that nothing happens without the permission of the Lamb of God. - J. C. Ryle

Child poverty is on the rise in Canada, putting over 1 million kids at risk

The Person in Front of Me

Mother Teresa once said this: “I do not believe in the big way of doing things. I only believe in the person in front of me.”

Those words shape the life my wife Diane and I live. Eight years ago, we left a large church in a wealthy part of Aurora (part of the Denver metroplex) to go to the poorest part of Aurora and serve among the broken. No plan. We just went.

Justice Prayers - December 13, 2023

Blessings to you as you reflect on hope during advent.  "But the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed." - Psalm 9:18 NLT 

They Don't Understand

“They don’t understand what it’s like, they’ve never been there.” 

Last week I attended a small town’s community dinner to talk to the regulars there, and this is what one lady said in response to a decision that the City Council had made not to support a specific service for the homeless.

I admitted to myself and to her that, in fact, I’ve never been in that place either – of needing to access a weekly free dinner, the food bank, or in serious danger of losing my home.

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