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Here we are, guys.

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Hello.

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Thank you for joining me and thank you for giving up your time in gingerbread decorating.

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You've made it, like you said, it's a big sacrifice.

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Glad to do it.

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But we're really happy to have you all three here for our Trinity Talks podcast.

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This is our first Sunday of Advent, so it's a pleasure to have you joining us for this

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important Sunday.

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As we heard today that we are working through the Advent conspiracy, which is going to be

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our theme that carries us throughout this season of Advent, we learned that the Advent

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conspiracy is a movement where we're really challenged as people to move away from overt

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consumerism and busyness and stress of the season and refocus our hearts on relationships

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and love and worship and giving and generosity.

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That's why I'm really happy to have you three here, because one way that we can focus our

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hearts is through acts of generosity and through giving.

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Something that Trinity has always really put an emphasis on every Christmas.

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We're partnering with three different groups and organizations this Advent.

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I was hoping that over the next maybe 20 minutes or so, we can chat about some of the opportunities

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that we have here at Trinity.

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Jen, you are working closely with the Trinity Care Fund, right?

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Lynn is here with us and she's the executive director of The Open Door.

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She was just telling me actually that we as Trinity has partnered with The Open Door for 39 years.

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And then Mike, you're president of World Vision Canada and we do have a great program that

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we're going to be supporting as well this Advent season.

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So I was hoping we can talk a little bit about our ministries, but before that, it is Christmas

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time and Rob was talking about turning on the radio.

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What is your favourite Christmas song at Christmas time?

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So my favourite is Oh Holy Night.

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Okay, so a reason?

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I just find it to be a super worshipful Christmas carol, I guess.

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And yeah, it just gives that sense of the holiness of Christmas.

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Holy Day instead of holiday.

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Yeah, I think I'm going to think that now too, right?

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Holy Day.

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Yeah.

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What would you, Lynn?

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Mine is Oh Come All Ye Faithful.

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And I just love it because it's a real call to worship and it's just jubilant and triumphant.

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So full of joy.

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And I love the words, especially the chorus, Oh come let us adore him, Oh come let us adore

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him.

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And I find that the words in that carol really speak about who Jesus is.

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And I really enjoy that because it just really brings me into a place of worship.

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Thank you.

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And Mike?

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Yeah, for me, I mean, I love Silent Night and I think that's my favourite carol.

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I will say though, and this is maybe going to take us in a different direction, my favourite

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Christmas song because it triggers that it's the start of the Christmas season.

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And it's a joke that shared with my daughter and me whenever we hear this on the radio.

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Not everyone's heard it.

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It's Dominic the Christmas Donkey.

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It's the story that started in the 1960s and it starts chickadee chung, hee haw hee haw.

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It's Dominic the Donkey.

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All right.

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I'm making a note to share this with Luby for next Sunday.

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Yeah, it may not be on there, but it's the craziest, kind of stupidest song.

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But it makes us laugh every time and whenever one of us hears it on the radio for the first

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time, we know it's a story of a donkey who helped Santa out because the reindeer can't

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climb the Italian mountains.

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Believe it or not.

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It's a story that needs to be told.

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It's a story that needs to be told and it will make you laugh.

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That's great.

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Oh my goodness.

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All right.

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Well, I will keep my ear out for all of those songs this Christmas.

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But Jen, we did mention that you work with the Trinity Care Fund and that you've been

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volunteering with this fund.

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I think it's gone by a couple of different names over the past.

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But what led you, because it is volunteer work, what led you to decide that you wanted

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to serve in this way?

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So in the past, it was called the Christmas Wish Fund.

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And we've decided to rename it the Care Fund this year so that we can keep it going throughout

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the year.

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And so traditionally at Christmas time, we've had people from the church giving to the fund

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and then we take from it to bless families at Christmas within the congregation and broader

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community around the church who have needs at Christmas time.

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So we have, it's been a great blessing in the past and I've been involved in that and

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I've seen people receiving the gifts that we've given and it's just, I've seen people

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so blessed by that.

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That's so beautiful.

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Yeah.

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It's such a beautiful thing to be able to tangibly help people like that.

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And I think it communicates not only love and compassion, but also a sense of worth

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to people.

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And right within our own family.

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Yes.

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Right.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Right within our own family.

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And I mean, I myself this week, my husband's mom died last week and so we've been getting

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the meal train this week from Trinity and just getting those meals every night has been

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such a beautiful thing.

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And that is just another tangible sort of way that we bless and help one another and love

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one another.

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And I've just being a recipient of that.

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I've been like, wow, I feel so loved.

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And I imagine that's how people feel when they receive financial help from the church

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in their time of need.

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I love that.

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And so what called you?

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What called you to sort of step into this role?

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I guess just seeing needs that have emerged in my own sort of time in ministering and

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working at the church.

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I've just seen people come with different needs.

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And yeah, just seeing the need and just seeing like, what can we do here?

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And we can do more to help one another and bless one another and love one another.

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Yeah.

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And I've known, I mean, I've known you for many years now.

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And I would say that's one of your gifts is to be in tune with people in that way.

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Yeah.

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And to build relationships.

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That's lovely.

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That really does fit your gifting.

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Thank you.

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And I think it's things sometimes we don't see it right within the congregation.

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Someone kind of looks fine on Sunday morning, but you know, we don't really see the need

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that's there within our own congregation and within the community around us.

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Sometimes people come to Trinity looking for help from the church and we can do that.

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Yeah.

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We can help.

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Well, that's so great.

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And so at Trinity this Christmas, is it financial gifts that would be the most beneficial?

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Yes.

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So the care fund is a fund.

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Like it's a money fund that we'll draw from not only at Christmas, but we're going to

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roll it out to do throughout the year.

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So we can continue to help people because people have needs beyond just Christmas.

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That's very true.

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And something that sometimes might get overlooked at the Christmas time.

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So I think that's wonderful that this does continue.

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And is it just you or do you have a group of people that you're working with?

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So we have a committee, the care fund committee, and we are actually at the moment creating

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a whole policy and best practices around how to manage the fund year round.

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And so it's a committee and then there'll be, I don't know how we'll exactly roll it

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out.

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There's a staff person and one person from the committee who kind of ongoing manage it.

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So that's exciting.

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Yeah.

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It's a new thing.

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Perfect.

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Wonderful.

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Thank you very much.

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And now, Lynn, you are the executive director at the Open Door.

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And what, as you said, you've been there for 39 years.

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Why did you start with the Open Door?

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What called you into that type of work?

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Well, I really feel that it was a process of being led by God into the ministry and

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just to come to love him and to love his people.

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And then kept having all kinds of ideas for the ministry and the selection committee invited

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me to be a part of it.

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But the reason I feel I love to be there is because I just really feel God's presence

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in the ministry.

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And I just see how he really orders circumstances and just how he meets with people in the most

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wonderful ways.

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And so it's really, it's just awesome to be able to be a part of that, just to be able

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to witness all of that.

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And then to me, and befriend all the beautiful people that come in that are going through

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such difficulty in their life.

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And we have an opportunity to just really listen to them and emotionally support them

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to pray with them.

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And we can actually offer material help as well.

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So that's a huge thing.

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And then another huge thing that draws me is that the wonderful interaction that you

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have with the churches and especially Trinity all these years, and also all the volunteers

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that are so wonderful and the volunteer groups that come in.

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So all those relationships that you form with them and all the prayer that we have every

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day with people.

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Like what an opportunity to be in the middle of the city and huge shopping mall and having

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the freedom to speak of the Lord and to pray for people and encourage them in that way

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too.

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So it's been an incredible opportunity and especially to, I think another thing that

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really appealed to me was also that the churches together can be so visible where the people

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are to bring help to the people and to say, we're here and we want to help you and God

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loves you and cares for you.

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So I just find all of that and many other reasons, it's just so inspiring to be there.

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So that's what calls me and keeps me.

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That's wonderful.

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So, and I like that you said it's in a busy mall.

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It's for those of you who don't know, it's right in square one mall, right?

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So that's right in the heart and center of Mississauga, which is an ever-growing city.

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So probably ever-growing needs as well.

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So could you tell us just a little bit more about what kind of work is done there?

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Okay.

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Well, I'd say the most important thing that we do is befriending and caring for people

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who are going through all kinds of different difficult situations in their life.

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So we do like a lot of emotional support and a lot of praying with people every day.

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But also we do, thanks to Trinity and others, we are able to provide right now, especially

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winter coats and all that gear for winter.

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And we have meals that people join us that we invite them to.

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Some people really need that meal just to survive and others are coming for fellowship

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because they really need just that encouragement of being with us and other people, too.

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They're kind of like we're their family for now until we can get them planted into churches

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or other.

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And some we never can because they're not going to be able to for different reasons.

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And then back to school, we do all the supplies for kids going back to school and we make

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sure everybody has a thermos.

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So they get leftovers from the night before for dinner to take.

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And just so many different things.

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I'm probably forgetting some of them actually.

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But also, of course, at Christmas time, which is really important right now.

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So we will be providing people with the ability to have gifts and dinner in their own homes

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for Christmas where they're able.

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So like that's probably about at least 200 people, maybe 300 people this year.

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And then for about another 50 or 60 people, they're not able to either cook their own

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meals or they might be in a room or also they may be in circumstances that they need to

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have a Christmas dinner for them.

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So we will have a Christmas dinner in the open door for a smaller number of people to

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help them celebrate Christmas, too.

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But the biggest thing is just loving people and just, you know, if people can just know

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that God sees them and that people care about them, they can face anything, no matter what

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it whatever your circumstance, whatever you're going through.

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So that's what's so important in the ministry that we do there.

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Well, so much.

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Oh, and I should say, too, just the opportunity to offer like all our volunteers like we've

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got so many volunteers from Trinity, for instance, and groups and stuff like that.

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But to offer an opportunity for our churches to be able to come in and do hands on ministry

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and to be a part of reaching out to people that wouldn't just come walking into their

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churches.

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So I think you mentioned that the senior youth from Trinity are coming.

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Yes.

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This week.

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Yeah, they'll be here on Wednesday night to start clothing and helping that way.

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And a small group just did provide a meal and served it.

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I guess a couple of weeks ago now, and we have actually people in Trinity that are on

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our board of directors, two people on our board of directors and our boards only a very

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small board.

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So a large majority.

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Yeah.

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And of course, with me there full time and a Trinity person and we have part time person

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to and then and that and then also all kinds of people in the congregation that also even

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head up programs for us.

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For instance, you know, right now I know people helping with the Christmas program.

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Tammy does that every year.

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And there's all kinds of people that do so many things for the open door.

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Well, I'm helping so many ways.

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So I think Trinity is very happy to be a part of it again this year.

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Yes.

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Thank you.

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Yes.

242
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Thank you.

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Now, Mike, you are president of World Vision Canada.

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And I'm wondering just maybe you could tell us what brought you to that role.

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But what do you love about that role?

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Well, it's very much a chance to lean into and live out my calling.

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I think, you know, one of my favorite quotes is by a Christian author named Frederick

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Bietner, who said, the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and

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the world's deep hunger meet.

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And I feel like every day in my role and in my organization, I get to live that out.

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So any chance where I have a chance to live out or share our gifts and experience in a

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way that makes a difference in the world, it's powerful.

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And I've been given a sort of slice of mission that I followed and really glad to be part

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of World Vision and this partnership with Trinity to have that joy in your work.

255
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Exactly.

256
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You're following in the right way.

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Joy and purpose.

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Joy and purpose.

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All right.

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So here at Trinity, we have supported World Vision in the past.

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And you mentioned that we're partnered right now with the Nueva Frontera, which is a village

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in Honduras.

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But then you mentioned a specific project that if we do give financially this Christmas,

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then it's going to support a special project over at our partner village.

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Can you tell us a little bit more about that and what kind of impact it's going to have?

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Yeah, of course.

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So we've had a partnership with Honduras, Nueva Frontera for more than a year now.

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It's more than 60 children and families, 60 families here at Trinity sponsor children

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within the development programming in Nueva Frontera.

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And that's on top of other support.

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But this is a special initiative for that same community that we've already built a

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relationship with, and it's a women's empowerment group.

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It provides some training, training on things like gender equality.

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They're meeting their specific needs to provide support and encouragement, but also brings

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women primarily together to focus on savings and empowerment around small businesses.

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One of the key issues is the lack of economic opportunity.

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And for women in this community, and a quarter of them are headed by single moms, they need

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particular support.

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And there's something about coming together where they can pool resources.

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It's a savings group, cooperatives, and they're getting training on business opportunities

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like chicken farming and other initiatives like selling clothing in the market and so on.

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So they're provided support and training, as well as a scheme to pool their resources

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to make a difference together, all for the benefit of the children that we serve in the community.

284
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That sounds very important, very exciting.

285
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You had the opportunity to go to Honduras and meet some of these women.

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Do you have any stories that you may have seen or witnessed while you were there that

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you might want to share with us?

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Absolutely.

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I had a chance to go with Trinity.

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I've been in Honduras and a number of other places where I've seen this same program in place.

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These savings groups are really quite powerful.

292
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We think of it in Canada.

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We have access to credit, credit card in our bank.

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For many of these women, they're facing so much poverty that they really don't have access to credit.

295
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They're very small ways.

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They gather together.

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They're taught financial literacy.

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They are supported.

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When I see come together and you see how they have this whole way of everybody puts some

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money in every time.

301
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They report on how they're using their funds and how those are tracked and they encourage each other.

302
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:21,880
It's really, really powerful.

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You hear these stories about women who say, thanks to the savings I had here,

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when I faced a difficult moment, and this is often where the stress comes.

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For example, my child fell ill.

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I remember hearing one mom in Honduras talk about this.

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I was able to access resources to take her to a hospital that I wouldn't have otherwise

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been able to save for.

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I could build that back.

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I had my business that is supporting.

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I can then pay that back in.

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Those same funds can then multiply and be used for others in moments like that.

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Things that we take for granted.

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Often, people who are living on the margins, resilience is really what you want to build.

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That chance, if there's a shock of some kind, economic or cultural or personal or health,

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that there's a way for them to have a little bit of margin to be able to tackle that.

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That savings group in that mom's life and that child's life was the difference between

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being devastated by a health scare like that and actually being able to get through and

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get beyond that, and then giving back and supporting others.

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It's really a powerful story of community.

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We get to extend that community right from here all the way to Honduras.

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It's fantastic.

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Those devastations in anyone's life are inevitable.

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They're going to hit us in so many different ways.

325
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:42,600
To equip and to empower people that we may never meet is such a beautiful way to touch

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00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:43,600
our greater world.

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I think this is really exciting that we have these opportunities here at Trinity.

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00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,320
I know that there's going to be some giving messages going across the screen.

329
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:56,360
If anyone feels inclined to give right now, I know that there's definitely ways to do

330
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that online.

331
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,280
Before we go, I need to play a game with you guys.

332
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:01,280
All right?

333
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:08,560
I can't leave without a game.

334
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:09,880
I used to run a summer camp, guys.

335
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,120
I used to be a primary teacher.

336
00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:15,040
This is the inner teacher, summer camp director in me.

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00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,780
I've come up with this beautiful, for those of you who are watching, you can see it.

338
00:18:18,780 --> 00:18:22,180
If you're just listening online, I've got a little Christmas tree here with some Christmas

339
00:18:22,180 --> 00:18:23,180
ornaments.

340
00:18:23,180 --> 00:18:26,040
Attached to each ornament is a little question.

341
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:32,040
This idea was actually inspired from the family kit in the Advent Conspiracy.

342
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,120
We're encouraged as a family to maybe get some Christmas decorations.

343
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:38,800
I think they even suggested jelly beans or candies.

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00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,080
Associated with each one of those be a question that might inspire some conversations around

345
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:44,480
worship.

346
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,480
I was wondering if you guys wanted to pick a Christmas ornament.

347
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:48,880
Then I'll read you the question.

348
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:49,880
We're ready.

349
00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:50,880
All right.

350
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:51,880
Jen, which one?

351
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,320
We'll start with you, Jen, first here.

352
00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,520
Just describe each ornament, which ornament you'd like.

353
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,760
And then I'll read the question.

354
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,640
I'll have that little pine cone or the red pine cone.

355
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,240
The red pine cone.

356
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:05,240
Perfect.

357
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,760
And I've learned from doing this earlier that I do need scissors.

358
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,840
I wrestled for about five minutes with the tape earlier.

359
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,160
So all right, Jen.

360
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,160
Here's your pine cone.

361
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:19,160
Okay.

362
00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:20,160
Thank you.

363
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,160
Oh, I get to keep it.

364
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:23,160
Of course.

365
00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:24,160
Thank you.

366
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:25,160
Okay.

367
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:30,480
So Jen, this question is, who can you show gratitude to this week?

368
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:31,760
Who can I show gratitude?

369
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:36,640
I can write a little note of thanks to every lovely person that made a meal for our family

370
00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:37,640
this week.

371
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:38,640
Oh, that's right.

372
00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:39,640
That's right.

373
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:40,640
That'd be lovely.

374
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:41,640
Oh, I'm sure.

375
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:42,640
So yeah.

376
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:43,640
Thank you.

377
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:44,640
And thank you to everyone who does contribute to that fund.

378
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:46,240
It's a great way to bless people here at Trinity.

379
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:47,240
All right.

380
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,000
Lynn, what ornament just really gets your goat here?

381
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:58,760
I can't choose, but I'll take the red one.

382
00:19:58,760 --> 00:19:59,760
This one?

383
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:00,760
Sure.

384
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:01,760
This one?

385
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:02,760
Sure.

386
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:03,760
That's fine.

387
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:04,760
Anything.

388
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:05,760
She doesn't care.

389
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:06,760
I like them all.

390
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,840
They're all Dollarama's finest.

391
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:11,840
There we go.

392
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:12,840
Heirloom quality.

393
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:13,840
Exactly.

394
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:14,840
This will go down.

395
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:15,840
Pass on for generations.

396
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:16,840
There we go.

397
00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:17,840
Okay.

398
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:18,840
Thank you.

399
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:22,760
Okay, Lynn, what is one of your favorite Christmas treats?

400
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:23,760
One of them.

401
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:24,760
Turkey.

402
00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:25,760
Turkey.

403
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:26,760
Good answer.

404
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:27,760
Good answer.

405
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:28,760
All right.

406
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:29,760
All right.

407
00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:30,760
You pick.

408
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:31,760
Me?

409
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:32,760
Oh my goodness.

410
00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:34,960
Well, I think we're going to have to go with the one at the top.

411
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:35,960
Okay.

412
00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:37,960
Mostly because it's the most accessible.

413
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:39,800
All right.

414
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,040
There we go.

415
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:45,040
Thank you, Jen.

416
00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,080
All right, Mike, your question is.

417
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:48,480
Thank you.

418
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,400
What is one of your talents?

419
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:53,760
This isn't even a Christmas question.

420
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:54,760
This is just a guess.

421
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:55,760
One of your talents.

422
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,320
Well, we might learn something here.

423
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:03,420
Well, I play the piano and the ukulele, and so that comes out.

424
00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:05,920
It's helpful at Christmas carol time.

425
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:10,240
I don't play the piano nearly enough, but I always seem like when carol time comes,

426
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,520
I'm the guy at the piano playing for the carols.

427
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:14,520
That's great.

428
00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,360
And again, we don't have a ukulele right now on our worship team, so we might make room

429
00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:20,360
for one more.

430
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:22,760
But anyway, I do want to thank you guys for joining me.

431
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:23,760
This is great.

432
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:24,760
Thank you so much.

433
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,000
Thanks for the generosity of Trinity during this incredible conspiracy.

434
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,000
We'll keep this all under wraps.

435
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,000
All right.

436
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:31,000
Okay.

437
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,000
Now I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Trinity.

438
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:46,500
Yay.