1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,600 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. This week we are here at the 2 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:15,200 Open Door, which is in the Square One Mall in Mississauga. And I'm super happy to be 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:21,180 joined by Lynn and Krista, who are the director and assistant executive director of the Open 4 00:00:21,180 --> 00:00:23,080 Door. Thanks for joining me, ladies. 5 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:25,760 Wonderful to have you guys here. 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,960 So maybe you could just start by telling us a little bit about what is the Open Door? 7 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:35,320 The Open Door is actually the churches of Mississauga, and the community is involved 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:40,400 as well. So we actually started off with 12 churches. Trinity was one of the founding 9 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:48,760 churches. That was 50 years ago. So many churches participate now in so many different ways. 10 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:54,160 Everyone is welcome that comes here. We're obviously Christ-centred, but we believe we'll 11 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,440 raise a child of God. So everybody is loved the same and served the same. And I think 12 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:05,200 some of the important things to know about us is that everything here is absolutely free. 13 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:10,240 God has kept us somehow. We don't have any government grants or anything like that because 14 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:15,040 we want to be able to say we are the churches in the community. So that's why. But somehow, 15 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,720 like 50 years, we're here. Moved quite a few times, different locations. 16 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:26,000 Yeah, so at this time, the Open Door has operated as a food bank in the past in different ways. 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:31,160 But at this point, we've kind of reshaped and we're focusing in as a clothing bank. 18 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,200 And we also do a lot of meals, hot meals for people through the week. And those are our 19 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,040 two kind of ministry vehicles that we use the most. 20 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,880 And then there's, of course, other things we'll show in the way, like we do backpacks 21 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,040 and take care of all the Christmas families that you're a part of and other programs. 22 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:54,080 So there's other programs as well. But also, the main thing is just being it's just anybody 23 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:58,600 that can come for any reason. So some people, there's all different people in all different 24 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:04,340 kinds of crises. We have like homeless people, we have new people new to the country. We 25 00:02:04,340 --> 00:02:10,840 have moms going through real difficulties, maybe six kids and all kinds of stuff. So 26 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,360 and some people are just lonely. So people can come here for any reason. So a lot of 27 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,240 our main focuses is, like, for instance, when we do clothing, it's not just about giving 28 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,440 away clothes, right? It's, you know, meeting the people, befriending them, what more can 29 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,040 we do for you? So just tell you one little quick story right now, give you a little bit 30 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:34,880 of an illustration of that. So we have a beautiful family. The father is blind, and the mother 31 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,540 has health problems. And then they have three children as well. So they come for various 32 00:02:39,540 --> 00:02:46,240 things such as clothing, back to school backpacks, they come for meals here together and lots 33 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:52,280 of loving. And we will be taking care of them for Christmas as well. But if we this is a 34 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:57,760 family that we will be journeying through for a period of time. Part of what's happened 35 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,840 right now is that he's just spent this last year having a really rough time. Because the 36 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:08,760 reason he's blind is because he had a brain tumor years ago. And he's been fine. And 37 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,400 then all of a sudden he started having seizures and everything. So of course, he's terrified 38 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:20,240 that this brain tumor is back. So probably our main ministry at that point is praying, 39 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,640 right? Yeah, praying with people and just journeying with them. So they're not alone 40 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:29,720 with whatever circumstances are going through. You know, so many people in this world don't 41 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:35,920 have someone to just listen to them with compassion. But also to be able to offer prayer in a very 42 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:42,120 safe way is just been such a really important part of the ministry and ways that we journey 43 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,920 with people. It's huge. So if we walk you through, we can tell you more on the way. 44 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:52,040 So we're going to take you to the chapel first. You're going to see as you go by our 45 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:59,520 Nativity displays and things like that, that we do here. And Krista, you should be talking 46 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:04,680 about the chapel because you spend most of your time in here. But anyway, just if you 47 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:10,160 want to see what it's like, here's our little chapel. And in another, it's humble, 48 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:18,400 but it's well loved and well used. So every day that we're open and everything, we would 49 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,960 have people in here that we'd be praying with them. And but a lot of it to his privacy 50 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:28,040 to talk about all their difficulties and stuff like that. So, you know, so we spend we spend 51 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,880 every day like praying with people all the time and just talking with people about different 52 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:38,280 things. And then as a staff and whatever, every morning when we come in, we always start 53 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:44,040 with prayer here with staff and volunteers and basically just really the main part of 54 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:50,040 it is just like asking God to equip us to to welcome the people that are coming in to 55 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,640 be his hands and his feet. And so they would end up they'll feel his presence in this 56 00:04:54,640 --> 00:05:00,080 place when they come here for help. So that's a lot of what it's about. And then also, 57 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,120 our volunteers and people, they also have some real things going on in their lives, 58 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,720 too. And so we also can pray for each other and stuff like that in the morning. But then 59 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:14,320 this one is intercessory prayer now every Thursday morning. And that started more than 60 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:20,360 50 years ago. Yeah. And but we've kept that faithful to that. Yeah. You know, with the 61 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,520 chapel, we you know, we do a lot of praying, but because we're working with people from 62 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:29,600 all different backgrounds and all different walks of life that so much of what we do here 63 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:34,360 is just very gentle of getting to know people and helping them to be safe with us and start 64 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:39,560 to share more themselves. So this is also just our quiet, safe spot. Because often your 65 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:44,640 journey with someone for a very long time before you would ever pray with some of our 66 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,800 guys, you know, we can know for almost a year just loving them and just being with them 67 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:55,560 and humor and connection. And then they start unpacking and and start revealing. So we've 68 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:01,280 been able to really go deep and journey with a lot of vulnerable people that wouldn't 69 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,560 normally be open to that, which has been really special. So it's it's our special spot. We 70 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:10,400 do a lot of prayer in the hallway, too. But that's ground zero. It's nice to have that 71 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:16,080 dedicated space where you can just sort of get away from things and build those relationships 72 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,960 with each other and with God at the same time. Yeah, absolutely. Some of these wonderful 73 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:24,000 part of this is some of these people have actually journeyed into faith. You know, just 74 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:29,040 as Christa said, it's taking time, but it's just it's just amazing to see how God touches 75 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:33,440 people in the most wonderful ways here all the time. Yeah. Yeah. And it's often it's 76 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:39,480 just the little things, right, that God does to show people he sees them. I'm with you. 77 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:44,000 And that makes all the difference because we find if people just know there is a God 78 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:49,640 and sees him and he cares and that we care, people care, churches care, they could get 79 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,800 through anything. Yeah. The bottom line, like no matter what's going on in your life, right. 80 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,880 So a lot of things they might not change, but everything changes when they know that 81 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:04,400 they're not alone, that God is with them. So that's a very important part of our ministry. 82 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,200 And I think, too, is letting people be safe to be who they are and to journey towards 83 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:14,200 that because we have, you know, some of our guys are are outspoken atheists and they love 84 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:19,280 a good debate and conversation. And they know that that's just fine. And they're safe with 85 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,580 that and that they're just loved where they're at. And I think there's no defense for pure 86 00:07:23,580 --> 00:07:31,580 love that doesn't have an agenda. And so when we're just here loving, it just slowly, slowly 87 00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:36,920 opens up hearts and slowly brings that healing. And it's amazing the directions that that 88 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:41,840 can go. You know, but it just starts with that that love, just that slow soaking of 89 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:48,200 love. It's incredible. You know, there's so much loneliness and so many people go without 90 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:55,480 touch, without safe touch. And to actually come into a place where you're safe to let 91 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:00,360 someone embrace you and hold you, especially when you're feeling vulnerable or you're 92 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:05,720 hurting is just a powerful thing. And so, you know, a lot of places are very alarmed 93 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:11,240 about hugging. And we're definitely very careful about boundaries here. And we always ask before 94 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:18,080 hugging, we never just go in and reach. But hugging seems to be just such a powerful 95 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:23,960 thing that's developed here because of that. It's nonverbal, right? And so many of our 96 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:30,080 people are just so starved for wholesome touch and for the safety of a hug. And that's been 97 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:36,880 really just been noted and craved and asked for by a lot of our clients. 98 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,360 I think some people like everything just, you know, always reverberates with scripture 99 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,460 in your mind, right? But I think so much about the fact that some of these people, they feel 100 00:08:44,460 --> 00:08:48,760 like lepers. Like, nobody would like, you know, go near them and everything. And it 101 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:55,080 just reminds me again how Jesus reached out and he touched the lepers. You know what I 102 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,920 mean? And so I think that's one of the reasons it's so powerful because people really feel 103 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:06,440 like that. They're so isolated. So like, you know, yeah, so it's interesting, isn't it? 104 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,880 Yeah. So let's turn it on. We can peek. I don't know if you want to peek in here. I 105 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:17,520 think I mentioned that that's just back to school stuff. We do backpacks and stuff, backpacks 106 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:22,280 and everything for about, I don't know, 150 kids. But even during the year now, like people 107 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:28,080 still need school supplies and stuff like that. So that's just a little sidebar. And 108 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:34,760 then an important part is in here, there's two rooms. And this is where we serve our 109 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:41,360 meals. And free meals is really an incredibly important thing here that we find. We just 110 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,920 find that this is this is something that's been growing and growing more and more. So 111 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:53,420 we've always had meals at the open door for like, basically, 50 years. And but as we decided 112 00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:59,080 to phase out the food cupboard, because we found the need was more for clothing, and 113 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:04,920 then also for the fellowship and meals. We're really good this ministry, right. So even 114 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,520 the people that come to get their clothing now, which is about well, we give away about 115 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:16,040 100 bags. Yesterday, Wednesday, another 100 on Thursday. Okay. And then Saturday, we don't 116 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:21,800 count it. We just give it away. And of course, when people come in and they don't have whatever, 117 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,680 right? Yeah, this is bone grab stuff. But basically, that's the numbers for that little 118 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:29,040 bit of an idea for how many people like that. And when people come in for something, that's 119 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:33,800 a symptom that something's going wrong in their life. So we befriend them. And then 120 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,640 we invite anybody that wants to come and stay for lunch. They're welcome to join in with 121 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:42,680 all the people that are already coming for various other reasons. Right. So how often 122 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:48,720 do you do meals here? Tuesday, Wednesday, every other Saturday. Yeah, sorry. Yeah. And 123 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,720 there's beautiful stories like to be told for all that I can just say about one person 124 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:58,560 that when she was being bombed in Syria, her son, who is just a beautiful guy, we've met 125 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:05,200 him to he would cover her with his body. And she was a no son. You need to be safe, you 126 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,680 need to be safe. But he refused and he would cover his mom to protect her. So they managed 127 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:15,440 to escape to here as an incredible story of how they got here. But she was afraid when 128 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:20,520 they first got here, she was afraid to even go outside of the apartment. So her son would 129 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:26,120 bring her here, she would said to us, it was so beautifully said, This is my safe place. 130 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:30,920 You love me. You're with me. And she's just a really beautiful Christian woman. And so 131 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:36,440 again, we would pray for her a lot. But then she would pray for she prays for us. Right. 132 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:41,240 I remember when you know, she was first here, not long after she was first here, the fire 133 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:46,680 alarms go off in here all the time. But she was actually sitting right about over here. 134 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:50,960 And when the fire alarm went off, and she started shaking so hard, she almost like and 135 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,640 she was looking up at the ceiling like this. And I went and put my arms around her and 136 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,520 said, Habibi, you're safe. It's okay. You're in Canada like this. Just see the incredible 137 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:05,080 trauma that these people carry inside them. It's neat how community builds as well because 138 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:10,400 with with that particular lady being her her her English has improved over the time and 139 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,720 she's been able to communicate more and share more of her own heart. But she's ended up 140 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:19,720 reaching out to different clients that have come in where the different countries but 141 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:25,880 the trauma resonates in similar situations. And so someone else was breaking. And there 142 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:31,240 she was and just really understood in a very powerful way and came alongside and prayed 143 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:36,560 in another language while we were praying in English. And it was just beautiful how 144 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,440 the community builds in that way too. And people are there for each other, which is 145 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:46,280 lovely. So we have on those days when we have those meals, we have we're kind of got up 146 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:52,440 to around 80 people now at each meal, many of them new because we invite as I said, the 147 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,840 people that are there getting close, they can come too. They don't sit here, right? 148 00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:08,160 So come with me. So this room is full as well. So that room full and this room full. We've 149 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:15,920 always dealt with a lot of people who are not housed, but they've been in shelter situations 150 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:21,320 or a lot of our newcomers who come to use the clothing, they are in hotel situations 151 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:26,200 and different precarious situations. But what we've seen growing this year is a community 152 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:31,800 of people who are not housed in any way. And so they're not able to get into the shelters 153 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:41,240 even. So we have a community of over 17 people right now, two women, the rest are all men. 154 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:46,400 And they are currently living out and about. And so they're sleeping in stairwells, we 155 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:53,720 give out tents and sleeping bags. And they are living makeshift. And so it's been a very 156 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:59,720 hard year for homelessness where we have people not just homeless and precariously living 157 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:04,520 in shelters alone about but literally trying to survive outside, which is just a horrible 158 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:11,360 increase to see in Mississauga. But this has been a real lifeline. The meals were one more 159 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:16,200 spot in the city. And we try to spread out so that there's something going on all the 160 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:21,800 time. But especially that weekend meal, so many things are shut down on the weekend. 161 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:27,320 And so this is a warm safe place. Some of our people we let in a little bit early, most 162 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:32,560 days we'll let them in at 11 and put their head down and just relax. But one of the hardest 163 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:38,680 things is never being safe, never getting that full sleep. And we know how that affects 164 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:43,600 our mental health so quickly. So you can imagine if you're already struggling, and then you've 165 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:50,400 got all these things. You know, one of those really hard things is just that lack of safety 166 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:56,160 and lack of sleep. So we just try to be aware of that and be a safe place. But there's a 167 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,560 real community here that's built and we have a couple of our guys that are sort of unofficial 168 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:07,720 outreach workers. And they're just constantly bringing in more, but also then, or when somebody 169 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,440 presents themselves, they come alongside and will sort of say, do you know about this place? 170 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:19,040 Do you know about this place? And just kind of help each other to find what they're needing 171 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:23,720 and support each other through that time. So yeah, now these are people basically that 172 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:31,560 have lived, worked in Canada all their life. And then through different circumstances of 173 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:37,440 different kinds, illnesses, all kinds of things, they end up finding themselves on the street. 174 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:41,480 So we work very hard trying to connect with all the resources that we can to get help 175 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,680 for them to different places, like calling around trying to get them in different places 176 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:46,560 and stuff like that. 177 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:53,120 We've seen four that we were journeying with since May, I think that they were out on the 178 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:58,480 street and journeying and really watching the decline happen physically and mentally 179 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:08,480 and emotionally. And they are now placed. It's one by one and it's been really interesting. 180 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:09,480 Quite a journey. 181 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:10,480 Yeah, quite a journey. 182 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:11,480 With God's help. 183 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:18,880 Yeah, to see what God does. But it's neat to see the camaraderie and the community. 184 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:24,400 Sometimes it gets territorial, but for the most part, yeah, and that's all ages, which 185 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:31,780 I find really interesting. So there are people in their 20s that are struggling and homeless 186 00:16:31,780 --> 00:16:40,820 and then right up to I think Michael's 75. And he is now housed. But yeah, the age range 187 00:16:40,820 --> 00:16:44,160 and the cultural backgrounds are across the board. 188 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:50,560 Yeah, we had two elderly gentlemen in their 80s. And so they would come here for lunch 189 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:57,680 every Thursday and Thursday. Yes. And so one of them was going blind. And the other one 190 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,240 was a real jolly kind of fellow and everything. But he had health problems as well. They both 191 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:06,540 had health problems extensively like that. And again, this was like their family became 192 00:17:06,540 --> 00:17:10,600 like a family for them. But they needed the food. They also needed things like even and 193 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,280 you'll see down the other storage room, they needed like adult diapers. We provide them 194 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:18,000 every time they come in, they take some more home because some people can't even go outside 195 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,940 of their apartments without help. Right. And they came for a long time. We're so thankful 196 00:17:22,940 --> 00:17:26,880 we had them last Christmas actually, because we didn't realize it was their last Christmas. 197 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:32,760 He fell, his head ended up in the hospital, then he died. And so the healthy ones gone. 198 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:39,160 Right. These gentlemen have been together for 68 years. And so you can just imagine 199 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,960 the grief and the loss. And so we're still really walking with the other gentleman. He 200 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:48,520 was here on Saturday for Christmas lunch, and he sobbed through part of it. But that 201 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,840 was okay. And he was safe to do that. And we held them just to walk with them through 202 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:58,360 the grief and help them to process it. And it's just really neat how God brought them 203 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:03,960 here for such a time because now we're in place enough relationship that we can really 204 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:11,520 walk alongside them. Two weeks ago, he's just started to pack up and process some of his 205 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:16,480 partner's things and he's been bringing those in. So those are like sacred donations. When 206 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:21,200 someone comes in, it's part of their grief, it's part of their process. And, and it's 207 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:26,000 been a big thing in his life to be able to give it. So you're really you're really journeying 208 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,960 with people, right? Not providing this stuff, but providing like, absolutely, relationship 209 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,680 and comfort and all that. Absolutely. There are people that come through that are just 210 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:40,240 for a time and they are they're just wanting a few meals and you know, pass them on to 211 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,920 resources and they find what they're needing and move on or they they come in for clothing, 212 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,960 you know, once in a while and it's just light. And then there's those ones that we really 213 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:53,320 journey with. And so it's just always watching for that, you know, that opportunity to go 214 00:18:53,320 --> 00:19:00,240 deeper with people. Right? So if you were here, what you were looking in this room, 215 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:08,480 you'd see little babies, lots of little kids, and people of all ages coming for various 216 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:14,440 reasons. You'd see people in their mobile chairs, you'd see like people in all different 217 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:18,640 kind of difficult circumstances, they come in here and then kind of extend together. 218 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:23,280 And so some people like they've, they've had their own business. That was another one where 219 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:28,680 the father, he developed brain cancer, right? And then the wife had a heart attack. And 220 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:32,440 now all of a sudden, they've got kids and now all of a sudden, there's no business, 221 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:40,800 no nothing. There's mortgages. There's half of us, all of us walking back down the hallway. 222 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,360 And then there's a room off to the side here where you have all the clothes. Yes, but also 223 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:50,480 in here, there's walkers, canes, all kinds of stuff like that, too. But you're able to 224 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:55,240 give away. Yeah, like one of our homeless guys, he was just so like he he was in the 225 00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:00,320 hospital twice for falling. All right. We kept offering him a walker, but he'd no way. And 226 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:05,280 after his second time in hospital, he decided he'd like the walker. Yeah, what happens in 227 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:14,640 here? So this is the clothing bank. And the great joy is that everything that is donated 228 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:21,880 can go back out free. And that is such a beautiful freedom to be able to provide. It is so used 229 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:28,960 in the community. We get referrals from schools, from the hospital, social workers, a lot of 230 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:35,600 word of mouth. This year in particular, there's been a real influx of foreign students as 231 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:42,960 well that are in really hard positions and not having coats, not having footwear. And 232 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:49,880 so that has really increased in this past year, where we've been also seeing that clientele 233 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:55,640 coming in. We had a lot of from the Ukraine and then we had a lot from Nigeria. And that 234 00:20:55,640 --> 00:21:02,680 made the numbers just really go up in terms of needs for the clothing. We often see so 235 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,960 many interesting things, too. So this is a pastor from one of our churches that volunteers 236 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,160 every week. But this particular week, she was not feeling well, so she almost didn't 237 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,920 come in. So the amazing thing that happened was if you can imagine how many people we 238 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:22,680 have here and then all the people there for lunch, she went and sat down with someone 239 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,720 just to chat with them and everything. She said when she was in Kenya that she'd gone 240 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:31,520 to a school that she'd been taken in when she was a young girl and went through the 241 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,360 school and now she'd gone to university and graduated and just come to Canada. And 242 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:41,600 then she said about this couple, this lady that started the school, and Pastor Bev went, 243 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:49,360 that's my mom. That's my mom and dad. So it turned out that she, it was actually, 244 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,920 that's exactly who it was. She almost didn't come in. Of all these people, she sits down 245 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:58,280 and talks to this lady. She was just so willing to get in touch with the mom and the dad and 246 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,400 everything, who moved up north now. So Bev put them together and all the rest of it. 247 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:07,160 It was just lovely, right? But we see things like this all the time. It's just incredible. 248 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:12,120 We call them God incidences instead of circumstances. And then here, we also have high school students 249 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:19,680 that do their hours here afterwards, but also we have large groups. So we just had 30 students 250 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,520 from one school that were from their religion class. It was a spiritual day for them really, 251 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:29,240 but they came in to serve, but just to get their eyes opened about it. We were having 252 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,960 on hands-on like that. And hands-on is important. And that's one of the things we didn't mention 253 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,680 when we were talking about the dinners in there. So all our dinners are brought in by 254 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,080 churches. We have a roster of all different churches. Trinity has actually been a part 255 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,560 of that in the past too with some of your life groups and things like that. So they 256 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:50,600 come in and bring the food and then they get to serve all the people as well. So our churches 257 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:56,320 love it because they get hands-on, as I said, and to be very visible here in this big city, 258 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:01,440 right? We're here to love you and care for you as a church. Again, it's people having 259 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:06,800 an opportunity to have hands-on coming in to really experience and to be able to see 260 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,120 God at work in people's lives and touching people's lives in such beautiful ways. 261 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:15,880 A couple of Saturdays ago, we had two hockey teams come and it was so much fun. They brought 262 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:20,600 so much energy. They were roughhousing and all over each other, but then they had gone 263 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,520 around and they collected a lot of clothing and they were able to sort of unpack some 264 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:29,240 of that, be putting it out. And it's just, it's really beautiful to be able to be a 265 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:35,920 part of people having those experiences sometimes for the first time. It was fun because they're 266 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:40,840 a younger hockey team, right? And they were like rolling over the clothes, doing stuff 267 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:45,380 like that before they started to do this, right? They'd say, okay, bottom lines guys, 268 00:23:45,380 --> 00:23:50,720 no checking, no taking anybody into the boards. No like this, right? Okay, now you can help 269 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:56,240 do the clothes. And the coach goes... 270 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:01,760 How often do you accept people to come in to get clothing? 271 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:06,800 So we make appointments now for that. And we just do that in order to kind of make sure 272 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:11,240 that we don't have too many coming at once. And so we make appointments and they can come 273 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:17,280 on Wednesdays and Thursdays that we book those. And today we have a smaller group coming in 274 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,320 because we're still recovering from our Christmas lunch and we're doing our Christmas family. 275 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:27,120 So we have a smaller group today, but normally, yeah, it'll be about a hundred bags that go 276 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:34,840 out from this room in one setting. And then like we said, on the Saturdays, we don't book 277 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:39,560 anything in. We tend to do that more in-house. And so that's where we're looking after the 278 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:44,320 needs of some of our regular community, especially that some of that homeless population we were 279 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,880 talking about. That's a quieter private time where we can just make sure that they've got 280 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:53,920 sleeping bags and warm coats. So we just hit emergencies more at that time. And yeah, we 281 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,840 don't bother making appointments for that. We do make appointments, but we also have 282 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,400 a lot of mercy because people are coming. So we just assess every situation. There's 283 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,920 always mercy. That's just our framework of making appointments. So it's not a madhouse. 284 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,680 No, it is mercy, but you can imagine if you have more than a hundred bags going up, like 285 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:11,680 it's too... 286 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:12,680 Yeah, it can be a lot. 287 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:17,280 Yeah. And plus, which because we have deliveries coming down, which we use grocery carts and 288 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,760 we have to run upstairs and meet people at the curb, bring them down the elevator, one 289 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,920 elevator, right? And then we also have all the people coming down. And then we have the 290 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,160 people going up with the big bags, because they're garbage bags when we say bags, right? 291 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,120 But just in here, you can probably see, probably you've already seen, so there's shoes and 292 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:39,600 boots and all the different clothes and coats. We have toys and stuff like that for kids 293 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:40,600 too. So... 294 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:45,000 A large collection of books too, which is really special. Yeah. A lot of books that 295 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,600 go out. 296 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,320 So this, we have to have people sorting clothes. Yes. If you imagine a hundred bags going out 297 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:57,720 today, and coats, and you've got that many people again the next day, you have to have... 298 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,160 And you've got deliveries coming in, you've got to have lots of volunteers to be unpacking 299 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:07,800 and sorting and restocking by the next day. So that's all going on behind the scenes. 300 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:15,360 And in here, excuse our mess, but it's actually fairly organized considering the turnover 301 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:22,240 we have, right? So as we mentioned earlier, this is adult diapers, which are really important. 302 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:27,520 And we have feminine supplies. And then we have all the babies, because we do diapers. 303 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:33,440 So you can see all the babies are there. And then if you go that way, Alex, you'll see... 304 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,400 Well, first of all, there's cupboards over here that we're sorting in the middle of sorting. 305 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:38,400 Yeah. 306 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:44,960 Bags coming in over here. And then here, you'll see we do toiletries as well. And also we 307 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,000 do cleaning supplies. You'll see on the bottom there's... Especially things like dish detergent 308 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,320 are really in demand. And hand wash is incredibly important. 309 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,800 Because if you've got three or four kids, a bar of soap isn't such a good idea, you 310 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:02,880 know, passing it around. So you really need to get a lot of liquid hand cleaners for that. 311 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,040 And then up top you saw there was... There's sleeping bags, there's blankets, and we've 312 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:12,600 got people that knit for us, and beautiful new baby outfits, and also knits and gloves, 313 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:13,600 all that kind of stuff. 314 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:19,320 It's probably important to note that it really is a ministry of volunteers. And so there's 315 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:27,560 two and a half staff, and the rest, all of this, is just a labor of love. It is all volunteers. 316 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:33,200 It's from our churches. There are people who come regularly, and this is their... They 317 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,560 put in many hours every week, and then there's people that come in in groups and do hits 318 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:43,080 and pieces. But it is a labor of love in the community, because each piece of clothing 319 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:50,520 is personally donated, and all of these things. This isn't large company donations. This is 320 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,840 the community coming forward for each other. So it's beautiful. 321 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:58,960 So as you know, you've just met two staff. So we're the two full-time, Krista and I. 322 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:05,600 And then we have Annette is our part-time office administrator. She's actually training 323 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:10,720 from Trinity as well, too. So yeah, that's it. As Krista said, it's all volunteers. 324 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:15,880 It's volunteers, and it's part of the beauty of the place. It's part of the strength of 325 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:21,200 the place, and it's neat because it is all the different churches coming together. And 326 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:26,720 so that's kind of a powerful witness, too, to see that cooperation happening. And yeah, 327 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,120 it's beautiful. 328 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:32,800 We had one of our ladies that will be here probably today. She started volunteering with 329 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,360 us for quite a while. Now she's actually a pastor's wife, and it was her first day in. 330 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:41,920 The lady was in a wheelchair, so she had to have a jacket. You can't have a coat. And 331 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,760 we didn't have the size that she had because when people are on medication, sometimes they're 332 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:51,920 very oversized, right? And we didn't have it. So we just like said, like we always do, 333 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:57,040 Lord, this lady really needs this coat. And the next thing that happened is somebody actually 334 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:03,400 arrived with an oversized coat to say, can you use this? Right? And our volunteer for 335 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,840 the first day, she brought it in. When we got finished, we said we knew that someone 336 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,800 that was a person of faith. So we were able to say, would you like us to pray for you? 337 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:16,000 And she said, yes, please. And so when we got finished, she said, can I pray for you? 338 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,440 We always say, oh, yes, please. Right. And so now she prayed the most incredible prayer 339 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:25,440 for us. Right. And this is our volunteer. So I look up and our new volunteers got tears 340 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:30,000 running down her face. Right. And I thought, oh, she's okay. Right. So after this lady 341 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,120 ran, I went and said, are you okay? To her like that. And she said, it's okay. It's 342 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:40,480 okay. She said, they're just Holy Spirit tears. So now we nicknamed that. So often 343 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:45,560 when we see beautiful moving things that we see so often here, we always say Holy Spirit 344 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,400 tears. And many of our volunteers, we didn't mention it to a lot of our volunteers are 345 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,920 actually from Trinity. Right. And of course, some of your groups that come to help. So 346 00:29:54,920 --> 00:30:00,360 what we're doing is we weren't able to have our big dinner anymore because we used to 347 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:06,960 have 300. Right. But since COVID, every Christmas people would be really sick. So at the last 348 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:11,080 minute we had to again, transfer them to the smaller one. What we missed so much was a 349 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:15,960 pageant because we tell people the real meaning of Christmas. And then we would dress up all 350 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:21,520 the kids and then Dave would tell the Christmas story and they'd act it out impromptu. Right. 351 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:26,400 And it was sometimes the first time that hurt. So, but God always finds a way no matter what. 352 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,760 But what we do is we've got the costumes over here from Trinity, by the way, you can see 353 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:35,320 there. So we dress the kids up. They're allowed to pick their costumes that they like. We 354 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:40,160 found out we have an awful lot of big kids too, because a lot of the adults, they want 355 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:45,760 to be in the picture with their kids as well. So we dress them and then they can come and 356 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:52,240 stand over here and they are in the Nativity scene. So the heart of everything is to always 357 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:58,720 get that message out. So we have coloring sheets and stuff like that and Nativity things 358 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,840 for the kids. And then as you can hear, we try to do, we can incorporate everything that 359 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:09,280 we can by having everything around. So, so we're really thankful that we can be in this 360 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:15,280 huge mall in the middle of the city. Right. And we can, the churches can be here. Yeah. 361 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:19,920 Just showing that, you know, all the different churches and we're here to love and serve 362 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:25,800 you the people that are coming in here. So that's what it's all about. Yeah. Is there 363 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:31,720 anything else that you wanted to share with the folks at Trinity? No, just that welcome. 364 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:38,140 There's a lot of opportunities to be involved. So like we said, we're a ministry of volunteers. 365 00:31:38,140 --> 00:31:46,720 So from sorting to baking to praying to coming in together with a group to do a meal, there's 366 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:52,480 just so many ways to be involved if you want to be hands on as well. Yeah. And I just want 367 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,400 to, I think on behalf of all of us to just to say an incredible thank you because as 368 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:02,880 you've heard Trinity's been part of this for 50 years and we're so really deeply grateful 369 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:08,040 for that. That's for sure. The most important thing we ask above everything else is your 370 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:13,080 prayers. So just to keep us in prayer is really important to us. And we're so thankful that 371 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,760 we know we have like so many of our churches are praying for the open door as well all 372 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:25,440 the time too. So it's huge. It's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. No, thank you. Thank 373 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:30,460 you both for taking us through and just sharing so many stories, sharing the impact of this 374 00:32:30,460 --> 00:32:39,360 ministry and yeah, your beautiful heart behind it all. Thanks to God. Yeah. And it's beautiful 375 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:45,400 that we really truly see God and feel his presence every day here because we really 376 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:50,280 do see him touching people all the time. So it's an incredible place to be. You know, 377 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,920 and I know people that come in here, that's one of the things they always say is, you 378 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,360 know, when they see it, they're just wow. And just to thank you as we get like all the 379 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:01,280 time from the people and also people that interesting enough, I told you run by donation, 380 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,680 right? Some of the people that we've helped right in the past, all of a sudden, like literally 381 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:10,960 10 years later or more, they'll come walking in here and they want to make a big donation 382 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:16,480 to the open door. And we're like, and they say, my life, you know, is so different if 383 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:20,680 you hadn't, if I hadn't had the open door to come to and that help. Right. So anyways, 384 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:26,080 yeah, going on. No, that's all right. Yeah. Well, thank you for tuning into this week's 385 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:30,320 episode of Trinity Talks. I hope that you've been able to take some learning from this 386 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,840 and some encouragement. And maybe you can find some ways to reach out and serve others 387 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:39,380 this Christmas, whether it's here through the open door or through financial donations 388 00:33:39,380 --> 00:33:44,360 or donations of clothing or wherever you are. If you can find ways to reach out and love 389 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:50,600 your neighbor. I'm all year round. All year round. Of course. Yes. Yes. Okay. Well, we'll 390 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:57,600 see you again next week.