By Carmen Tan, Kingston-Galloway | Outreach Worker
As the city is slowly starting to open up in Toronto, it feels like quarantine is slowly ending. Norms of life have changed, I have been cooking a lot at home and enjoying the occasional take out days. My day to day routine remains relatively unchanged on a weekly basis, working from home, running programs online, helping at the food bank and attending Sunday service through Zoom and repeat. The past few months have been quite an adjustment and finally, I’m getting a hold of everything.
The beginning of quarantine was difficult, I found it hard to be home all day without going anywhere and really missing going to the gym. After a few pounds later and learning to be flexible, I have found a lot of things to be grateful for.
I want to pray and give praise to God for all the goodness that happened over the few months.
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
#1) I give thanks to God for keeping me safe and healthy.
It is so easy to take granted for our health and being able-bodied. I give God thanks for keeping me safe as I have been volunteering at the St.Stephen’s Food Bank and shopping for families.
#2) I give thanks to God for the joy I have experienced through my family.
When you are quarantine with 6 other people at home, it can go really wrong or really well. For the past few months, my family has been doing well. We have enjoyed projects like preparing our garden beds, eating meals together and for the first time, making Chinese dumplings altogether. I thank God for working in my family and may they one day know God personally.
#3) I give thanks to God for giving us wisdom on how to minister to families.
In March, all our sites had to cancel March Break Camp and programs due to the pandemic. All our lessons and ideas were all put on a pause and we were sad we weren’t able to run the camp. Camp at Kingston-Galloway is something the kids love and always looking forward to. We felt discouraged because we were doing really well, building relationships with the children and youth. When the pandemic happened, we had to cancel everything. But God reminded us, His love does not just stop because our programs stopped. I thank God for giving us the wisdom to find creative ways to outreach to our families. During this time, we run 2 weekly virtual programs, tutoring sessions, prepared care packages and phone calls to all our families. Through these activities, God has allowed our relationships with our families to grow deeper than before!
#4) I give thanks to God for community partnerships.
Earlier this year, I was volunteering at the public school where my kids attend and loved every part of it. When the school closed, I had some extra time and decided to help out at St.Stephen’s Food Bank where we run our programs at. St.Stephen has been a partner with us for many years, providing us with a building and resources to continue to minister to the families in Kingston-Galloway (KG).
They run a weekly food bank all year round and I had the pleasure to serve alongside them. The food bank has my eyes to food security and how many families are in need. We were serving 40 families during the beginning of the pandemic and now 105 families as of June 17.
I am so grateful this has also allowed other churches and individuals to help out at the Food Bank. It’s always exciting to see other churches (Elevation Church, Mississauga Christ Life Community Church) who reaches out to the communities in need. I hope we can continue to be mission-minded all year round!
I want to encourage everyone to also practice to rejoice, to give praise and give thanks to our Lord in all circumstances because God is good - all the time.
Reflection:
What are you thankful for during this quarantine?
What have you learned about God during this quarantine?
What are some ways you can be more mission-minded during this quarantine?