If the wind goes where You send it, so will I

My desire is to discern God’s voice and seek to serve Him everywhere. 

Since my first mission trip to Guatemala in March of 2023, God has instilled in me a passion to serve Him. I saw poverty firsthand and wanted to combat it. After my first trip, I returned to serve in August of 2023 and March of 2024. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to go back in March of 2025, and I was devastated. I felt as if God had closed a door and would never reopen it. Dorothy, our outreach coordinator, instead encouraged me to serve at Toronto City Mission during that March break. 

At first, I thought it would be unfulfilling. I kept thinking about how, in Guatemala, people “needed” help, and in Toronto, they didn’t “need” it as much. However, the Lord convicted me quickly. My ideas of Missions were extremely clouded, and the Mission Field I had glamorized overseas existed everywhere, in my friend groups, at school, and especially with kids living in Toronto. Through that one week of volunteering, I fell in love with what TCM was doing and their commitment to serving children who were often overlooked. I took every opportunity I could to keep returning to TCM. After hearing about a year-long internship opportunity at TCM, I applied in the summer of 2025. 

Since starting my year-long internship and beginning studying at TMU’s Social Work program, my days have been really busy, and school has not been the easiest. However, my love for the kids and my desire to serve God keep me going. My internship here at TCM has been the most fulfilling experience of my life. 

To summarize the joy I get from the kids, when we go to pick them up after school, I stay with one group of our younger kids while one of the Outreach Workers, Emely, gets four other girls. When they are walking back to meet us, Emely always points me out, and they all run at me, screaming “MADIIIII” at the top of their lungs. 

To serve these kids is all I want to do. On the weekends, I look forward to the next week starting just so I can see them again. I am thankful that God has called me to be here at TCM, and I am excited to see where He will lead.