By Carmen Tan, Outreach Worker in Kingston-Galloway
This upcoming June, I will be finishing my 2nd-year term with Toronto City Mission. As I reflect on the past year with the change in the mission; our sites and staffing, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness.
Faithfulness comes from a place of trust and loyalty. Hebrews 11:1 says,
“Now faith is a confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
I am reminded that God’s promises and faithfulness will always remain. God promises that if we remain in Him, He will remain in us.
Faithfulness requires us to submit our ways to God. It comes from a place of realizing that we are in need of a Saviour and that He is in control of our lives.
Proverbs 19:21 says,
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
We are to be faithful to God, because He is faithful to us.
The past year has been a year of prayer, waiting and listening to see what the next plans are for the mission. We went weeks without talking about anything related to the ministry, but instead, learned what it means to listen to God through the “Hearing God” series by Pastor Ray Duerksen.
We changed the way we ran staff meetings. Instead of only focusing on the ministry, we also incorporated a time of prayer and sharing. We changed our urgency of executing things; to take our time and put thought before taking action.
Through the storms of life, I held on to God’s promises. He is always with me. He will provide all my needs, He will comfort me, He is in control of every element in my life. In times where I felt I wanted to give up, my small group would pray for me and remind me to persevere. When God calls you somewhere, He will always make sure you are taken care of.
Little did I know–after all these occurrences–my mind was never focused on how crazy those storms were because of the constant reminders of God’s grace and love. Through these storms, God has taught me what it truly means to persevere and hold onto the truth; to fight the good fight.
In programs, we have recently been blessed to work with new families in the neighbourhood. One of our new kids, *Katie, joined us for the summer and school year.
When Katie first started attending programs, she was having difficulty getting to know her peers and listening to instructions. Some of the children would avoid her and not want to play with her. There were times where we had to talk to her family about the incidents and problems at programs. There were days when leaders felt so drained out and lost in how we could love Katie. We turned to God in prayer and asked for wisdom on how to nurture His beloved child.
We persevered, did not give up and depended on God to give us strength, love and grace.
After a year in programs, Katie has been growing so much! Katie is now able to go to school and learn according to her needs. When she attends programs, she is always playing with her peers and finding joy in learning about the Lord. The children around Katie also stopped avoiding her. Instead, they welcome her and even ask about where she is when she’s away.
The relationships we’ve built with Katie’s family have been so impactful and positive over the past year. We have not only seen them grow and mature as people, but in turn reciprocated maturity and growth within us.
Source: https://www.gcu.edu/blog/spiritual-life/weekly-devotional-fruit-spirit-faithfulness
(*Name changed for privacy)