WEBVTT 00:00:03.689 --> 00:00:05.849 Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode 00:00:05.849 --> 00:00:09.189 of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla, and I am so 00:00:09.189 --> 00:00:13.150 glad that you are joining us today. And I am 00:00:13.150 --> 00:00:16.070 also so glad to have Scott Cochran here. Scott 00:00:16.070 --> 00:00:18.609 works with World Vision, who is, of course, a 00:00:18.609 --> 00:00:21.210 partner of Trinity Streetsville. And so, yeah, 00:00:21.269 --> 00:00:23.829 we're really glad to hear from you and to get 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:26.170 to learn your story a little bit more. Thanks, 00:00:26.170 --> 00:00:27.929 Kyle. It's really good to be here. You know, 00:00:27.949 --> 00:00:31.100 I mentioned in the service today that. My initial 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:34.539 connection with this church was over 25 years 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:36.820 ago. So there's always been a little piece of 00:00:36.820 --> 00:00:39.759 me here, even though I'm from British Columbia. 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:42.719 I've got a very special place in my heart to 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:44.600 Trinity, not only because of World Vision, but 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:46.500 just my own story is often intersected here. 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:49.079 Yeah, yeah, for sure. So maybe do you want to 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:51.479 start by just giving a little bit of an introduction 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:55.399 to sort of who you are, what your work is, what 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.649 brought you to World Vision? Sure. Well, so again, 00:00:58.710 --> 00:01:01.969 my name's Scott. I'm from BC and I have been 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:05.750 in ministry work most of my adult life, but that 00:01:05.750 --> 00:01:07.810 wasn't the direction I was going down. Okay. 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:11.599 In fact. I hope this is okay to say to a lot 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:14.099 of people who are in Ontario, but I'm such a 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:17.060 sports guy. And because I'm from BC, I wanted 00:01:17.060 --> 00:01:19.799 to work in media and I want to do anything to 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:22.040 do with the Vancouver Canucks or the BC Lions. 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:26.459 That was my thing. So I studied in university 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:29.180 and communications and I got jobs in media and 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:32.620 so on. I had no intention whatsoever of being 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:36.489 in ministry. But things just kind of happened. 00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:38.730 I ended up starting a marketing business. And 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:41.829 one of my early, I guess you'd call it pro bono 00:01:41.829 --> 00:01:44.469 accounts, was a ministry that would eventually 00:01:44.469 --> 00:01:47.209 be called the Willow Creek Association. And after 00:01:47.209 --> 00:01:48.909 that, it became known as the Global Leadership 00:01:48.909 --> 00:01:51.349 Network. And it was all about supporting churches 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:55.189 through leadership development. And that's probably 00:01:55.189 --> 00:01:57.689 the first place I would kind of park in terms 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:01.709 of who I am is I'm a local church guy. I just 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:05.599 love the local church. And I love to see her 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.479 flourish in all that God wants to do in and through 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:11.039 the church. And so I worked in that ministry 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.560 for more than 20 years. And for a part of that 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.020 time, for about 12 years, my wife and I lived 00:02:17.020 --> 00:02:19.360 in Chicago. That's where this ministry was based. 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:23.439 But we came back to BC. Our kids were getting 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:25.159 married. They were getting grandkids and all 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:26.580 this kind of stuff. We thought, okay, it's time 00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:28.900 to go back there. Now, during those years, I'd 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:31.219 always been closely connected to World Vision 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:33.919 because there was also a big chunk of my heart 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.060 that was involved with World Vision. We partnered 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:38.340 together. We did lots of things together. So 00:02:38.340 --> 00:02:40.280 when I moved, back to bc they asked hey do you 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:42.439 think you could help us out here as well and 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:45.400 what kind of sealed the deal for me is they wanted 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.819 to me to play the role of helping connect World 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:51.259 Vision and the resources and the opportunities 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:53.680 with World Vision with churches across Canada. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:55.620 Sure. I said, hey, if this is going to help churches, 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:58.400 I'm in. You're right. So it finally all came 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.000 together just earlier this year, earlier in 2025. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.740 And so I remain based in British Columbia. Right. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.340 But of course, our office is not far from Trinity 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:09.400 Church right here in Mississauga. So I come out 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:12.539 here quite a bit. And as I mentioned, when I 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:14.840 do as often as I can, I try to get to Trinity. 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:18.199 This is a wonderful partner church with World 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.500 Vision and it's just a wonderful church. Yeah. 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.240 Yeah. So can you tell us a little bit more about 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.860 like your faith journey and how this sort of 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:31.520 move from sports into church leadership? And 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.139 yeah, what was Jesus doing in your life through 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:38.150 all of that? I love how every one of us have 00:03:38.150 --> 00:03:42.310 a unique faith story. And God can intersect us 00:03:42.310 --> 00:03:45.430 at any part of the journey. I was one of the 00:03:45.430 --> 00:03:47.590 people that I consider very blessed to have been 00:03:47.590 --> 00:03:51.250 raised in a household of faith. In fact, my whole 00:03:51.250 --> 00:03:54.210 world was faith when I was a child growing up. 00:03:54.370 --> 00:03:58.270 I probably didn't know. Until I was about 12 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:00.469 or 13 years old that there were people who were 00:04:00.469 --> 00:04:02.349 not Christians. Sure. Because my whole world 00:04:02.349 --> 00:04:06.409 was a very insulated sort of bubble. Yep. But 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:10.530 I think I gave my life to the Lord when I was 00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:15.430 a child. But something very profound happened. 00:04:15.469 --> 00:04:19.550 It was initially tragic, but God used it for 00:04:19.550 --> 00:04:21.790 good. And that was when I was about eight years 00:04:21.790 --> 00:04:25.430 old, my father died. And my mother was 30 years 00:04:25.430 --> 00:04:28.910 old. And now found herself with five children 00:04:28.910 --> 00:04:31.689 all under the age of 10. Yeah, that's a lot. 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:33.810 That's a lot. That's a lot when you're married, 00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:36.230 never mind when you're on your own. Yeah. And, 00:04:36.230 --> 00:04:38.790 you know, I didn't even realize, I don't think 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:40.930 that the impact of that, because when you're 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:42.850 a child, it's all about you anyways. Sure. Later 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:45.449 on, I remember when my own daughter turned 30, 00:04:45.490 --> 00:04:48.389 I said, oh my goodness, that's my mom when she 00:04:48.389 --> 00:04:49.949 lost her husband. You know, we were all these 00:04:49.949 --> 00:04:52.519 little kids. But here's where the intersection 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:54.699 of the church story comes in. So again, I was 00:04:54.699 --> 00:04:58.680 already a person of faith, even as a child. But 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:04.480 the way the church rallied around us and protected 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.480 us and preserved us was something beautiful. 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:11.180 And I think God used that to imprint something 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:15.199 in my heart, not out of payback, but I realized. 00:05:15.930 --> 00:05:18.350 the beauty of the local church. There's an expression 00:05:18.350 --> 00:05:20.509 that I came to learn later in life that was, 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:22.670 there's nothing like the local church when the 00:05:22.670 --> 00:05:25.310 local church is working right. And so in some 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:27.629 way, I don't know that I ever formally declared 00:05:27.629 --> 00:05:30.310 it, but I knew in my heart, I wanted to dedicate 00:05:30.310 --> 00:05:32.850 my life to seeing the local church flourish. 00:05:33.069 --> 00:05:35.029 And I think it started when I was a child for 00:05:35.029 --> 00:05:37.410 that thing. And so I've been able to do that 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:41.009 through the Global Leadership Network and now 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:43.879 through World Vision as well. You know, I had 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:48.000 another, I guess, experience that helped confirm 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.399 my journey into World Vision. Sure. In 2023, 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:53.639 so I was still working with the Global Leadership 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:58.199 Network, I was taken as a guest by World Vision 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:01.339 into northern Uganda. And I got to see the work 00:06:01.339 --> 00:06:04.519 they were doing there, particularly through Chosen, 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:06.779 which is part of the way they do sponsorship. 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:09.899 And to make a very long story short, I had a 00:06:09.899 --> 00:06:12.040 really profound experience with the Lord there. 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:15.699 And again, with no idea, no knowledge that I 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.000 would ever actually work with World Vision. But 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.540 I knew two things. First of all, that what World 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:24.220 Vision is doing, there needs to be more of it 00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:26.579 because I could see this impact is profound. 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:28.579 You know, the impact that Trinity Church is having 00:06:28.579 --> 00:06:30.660 through World Vision in Honduras. It's profound. 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:36.439 But I also knew this is that any church. who 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:38.660 gets involved in this is going to be changed. 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:41.240 Any church that gets involved with World Vision 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:44.139 in doing this kind of work, God will work in 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:46.259 and through that to help that church to flourish. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:48.660 And because in my heart of hearts, I'm a church 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:51.439 guy, right? That really softened me up. And so 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.519 by the time World Vision invited me to come in, 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:55.920 I think God had already prepared the soil in 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:57.560 a sense. And I say, yeah, I could see myself 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.139 helping out because I've seen the work for myself 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:01.879 and what that can mean for the local church. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.120 Yeah, yeah, for sure. So when you think about 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:09.399 the way that World Vision works, both with Canadian 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:11.220 churches and with international churches, like 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:13.699 what what does that look like for a local church? 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:16.759 I think one of the there are, of course, a number 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:19.779 of ways that that World Vision can serve churches. 00:07:19.899 --> 00:07:22.360 I think I'd start with the posture we have. And 00:07:22.360 --> 00:07:25.439 I always say is we serve churches with a white 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.939 serving towel over our forearm. You know, we 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:30.660 are committed to seeing the local church flourish. 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:34.470 And so we want to do everything we can. to see 00:07:34.470 --> 00:07:37.470 that happen. Now there are various programs and 00:07:37.470 --> 00:07:40.310 offerings. We have the, the global six K for 00:07:40.310 --> 00:07:43.990 water is, is one, the 30 hour famine. Often youth 00:07:43.990 --> 00:07:46.649 groups will do things like this as well. But 00:07:46.649 --> 00:07:49.550 I think where we're really seeing God work through 00:07:49.550 --> 00:07:53.050 world vision to help churches flourish is through 00:07:53.050 --> 00:07:57.000 chosen. So the traditional sponsorship model, 00:07:57.100 --> 00:08:00.920 of course, is where a church decides, yes, we 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:03.459 want to sponsor some children in Honduras or 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:05.319 in Uganda or in Kenya or wherever the case may 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:10.589 be. And through that. they will get some pictures 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:13.470 taken of some children in that country. Those 00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:15.509 pictures are sent to the local church here in 00:08:15.509 --> 00:08:18.829 Canada. And then in the fellowship hall or some 00:08:18.829 --> 00:08:20.750 room in the church, the people of the church 00:08:20.750 --> 00:08:22.970 who want to participate, they choose a child 00:08:22.970 --> 00:08:25.370 and say, that's the one that we want to sponsor. 00:08:25.550 --> 00:08:28.970 What World Vision now does through Chosen, though, 00:08:29.069 --> 00:08:32.129 is it flips the script on that. And instead, 00:08:32.269 --> 00:08:35.149 what happens is when a church in Canada says, 00:08:35.190 --> 00:08:38.360 yes, we want to support a village in, Honduras 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.159 through, uh, through sponsorship. What happens 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:43.639 now is that those pictures of those children 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.419 are not sent to the Canadian church. Instead, 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:48.659 the people in the church who want to participate 00:08:48.659 --> 00:08:51.860 in Canada, their pictures are taken and they 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:54.299 are sent to the village in, let's say Honduras. 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:58.080 Okay. Now the children in that village, they 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.440 go into the town hall of their village and they 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.620 see these pictures of these Canadian families 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:07.899 and they choose their sponsor. And, you know, 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.120 the sense of empowerment that provides for children 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:15.919 is really profound. Yeah, for sure. One of the 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:19.259 best definitions, I think, that I've heard for 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:23.620 poverty is poverty is the inability to make choices. 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:26.980 See, when you're a person of wealth, you can 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:29.279 make many choices. Where do I want to live? What 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:30.940 do I want to do? What do I want to eat? Where 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:33.720 do I want to vacation? The more you go down the 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:37.080 poverty funnel, in a sense. Yep. When you're 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.720 at the poorest point, you don't have many choices 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:41.700 at all in terms of what you're going to eat or 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:43.000 where you're going to go. You have almost no 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.340 choices. So when a child for whom that is their 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:49.980 experience, they've simply lived not ever recognizing 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:53.039 that they can make choices. Now they know that 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.379 they can actually choose their sponsor in Canada. 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:58.120 That's a profound experience for that child. 00:09:58.669 --> 00:10:01.549 It's also a profound experience for that family 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:04.629 in the church in Canada. Right. Because, and 00:10:04.629 --> 00:10:06.710 I've been there, my wife and I, we sponsor children 00:10:06.710 --> 00:10:10.389 through World Vision in the Chosen program. And 00:10:10.389 --> 00:10:15.049 there is nothing like the experience of sending 00:10:15.049 --> 00:10:17.529 your pictures off and then wondering and waiting 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:19.429 and praying. Sure. Are we going to be chosen? 00:10:19.590 --> 00:10:22.110 Sure. And then you find out, like in our case, 00:10:22.210 --> 00:10:25.769 there were two boys in Honduras, in our case. 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:29.879 that chose us. And when we opened the envelope 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:34.159 that had a letter from these boys and they said, 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.580 we've chosen you to be our sponsors and here 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:38.500 are the reasons why, based on what we saw in 00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:41.539 your picture and so on. It's a profoundly moving 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:44.379 experience and it makes a... tremendously deep 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:47.259 heart connection between us, the person in Canada, 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.259 and those children in the other part of the world. 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:53.799 So that's one of the, I think, the most compelling 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.440 ways that churches in Canada can get involved 00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:58.919 with World Vision is to explore the possibility 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:02.059 of chosen. You know, I met with a pastor not 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:06.360 long ago, and I asked him about his own church's 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:10.240 connection with global missions work. And all 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.490 he said was, I understood this. He wasn't being 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:15.610 critical. He says, all we do is write checks. 00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:18.970 I wish we could do more, you know? And of course, 00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:20.990 writing checks is an expression of wonderful 00:11:20.990 --> 00:11:24.309 generosity and that matters. But what he longed 00:11:24.309 --> 00:11:26.350 for, for his congregation, I think many pastors 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:29.909 long for this, is to connect the hearts of his 00:11:29.909 --> 00:11:32.470 people in his church with the hearts of the people 00:11:32.470 --> 00:11:34.129 where they're serving kind of thing. Totally. 00:11:34.289 --> 00:11:37.429 And Chosen facilitates that. Chosen through World 00:11:37.429 --> 00:11:40.570 Vision. allows a church to not only support a 00:11:40.570 --> 00:11:43.309 wonderful work, a transformative work in a community 00:11:43.309 --> 00:11:46.330 in another country, but it can knit the hearts 00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:48.929 of the congregation in Canada with the hearts 00:11:48.929 --> 00:11:51.009 of the people they're serving over there. And 00:11:51.009 --> 00:11:53.909 that can be transformative for that village overseas. 00:11:54.049 --> 00:11:56.549 And it's transformative for the people and for 00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:58.590 the church here in Canada. Totally. Totally. 00:11:58.789 --> 00:12:01.889 Yeah. And what about like, so you talk about 00:12:01.889 --> 00:12:03.990 being a local church guy, like the local church 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:06.129 internationally, like how does World Vision work 00:12:06.129 --> 00:12:09.799 with? A local church in Honduras or Uganda or 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.820 wherever. Well, World Vision, let's start right 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:16.080 there, is a what I would call it's a Christ centered 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.620 organization. OK, so we work all over the world. 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.019 But at the heart of everything we do is the gospel. 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:26.419 The heart of everything we do is the lordship 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:30.120 of Christ. That will have different expressions 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.039 depending on where we are. OK, so in a country 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:36.960 that is. and receptive to the Christian faith, 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.720 then we will work and empower local churches 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:42.019 wherever we go. We'll work and empower local 00:12:42.019 --> 00:12:44.820 churches to help in the distribution of the resources 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:47.779 and so on. So we are committed to partnering 00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:49.860 with local churches. But it has to be acknowledged 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:53.019 as well that World Vision serves the poor in 00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:56.320 places where Christianity is not welcome. And 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.799 in those contexts, we have to be respectful to 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.840 that culture as well. We are still in our hearts 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.139 doing this in the name of Jesus. But we won't 00:13:05.139 --> 00:13:07.879 risk the work that we're doing in these communities, 00:13:07.899 --> 00:13:10.980 in countries where the Christian faith is not 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:13.620 welcome. We won't jeopardize that by inappropriately 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:18.960 proselytizing, for example. So the heart of World 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.399 Vision. The very center, the essence of World 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:24.320 Vision is that it's Christ -centered. Christ 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:29.059 is our motivator for all that we do. And in Christian 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:31.019 -friendly countries, we will do that joyfully 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:32.840 with local churches. We will work with them. 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:35.840 We'll partner with them to see them empowered 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:38.519 as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:42.299 I think it's that sort of two -way transformation 00:13:42.299 --> 00:13:46.139 that I think is so important about the work that 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:49.179 you're doing, right? That it is... And often 00:13:49.179 --> 00:13:51.220 we think about generosity towards the poor and 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:53.080 saying, oh, well, I'm going to go help them. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.620 Right. And like, give it, give it all so that 00:13:55.620 --> 00:13:58.379 they can have a better life. But like when it's, 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:00.639 whether it's through this chosen and sort of 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.919 flipping the script or whether it's through some 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.840 other means, right. Like just the ability for 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.480 the Canadian church. to also be transformed by 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:12.460 this act of generosity is so important. You know, 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:14.320 we talked today in the service about God's economy 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:16.500 and that's one of the, what that's one of the 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:18.940 hallmarks, one of the distinctive features of 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:22.379 God's economy is multiple blessings. Right. And 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:26.100 so, yes, when I write a check every month or 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:28.320 my bank account comes out every month for a support 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:31.159 of, of world vision, my wife and I are blessed 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.179 by doing that. And my church who supports world 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:38.480 vision, is blessed by doing that. And the community 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.360 in Honduras who receives that, they're blessed. 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:43.340 So you see these multiple blessings happening 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:45.799 all over the place. You're quite right. It's 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:48.299 like everybody wins when you're in a kingdom 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:50.100 venture like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:52.740 So when you think about this work that you do 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:55.299 with World Vision, like what brings you the most 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:58.440 joy or what feels most meaningful to you in your 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:00.960 work? I appreciate you asking me. And again, 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:02.960 this is not going to be the official World Vision 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.320 answer. This is the Scott Cochran answer. OK, 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:09.539 that's good. Because I there's nothing better 00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:13.860 than knowing that some child overseas is now 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:16.740 thriving. Right. There's nothing better than 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:20.120 knowing that a community overseas is now able 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.059 to provide fresh drinking water and sustainable 00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:25.980 agriculture, for example. That fills my heart 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:28.629 with great joy. But as you asked me, if there's 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:30.879 the one thing that drives me. It's the local 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:35.039 church in Canada. And these are not easy days 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.320 to be a pastor in Canada. These are not easy 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:40.600 days to be involved in local church ministry 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:44.279 in Canada. And I just feel compelled in any way 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.100 possible to leverage the resources of World Vision 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:50.500 to help support, sustain the Canadian church 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:53.360 and to see her flourish. So that's really what 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.840 drives me. I wake up in the morning and one of 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:57.580 my first prayers is, Lord, can you use me today 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.299 to help the church in Canada to flourish? And 00:16:00.299 --> 00:16:02.179 again, in God's economy, he's going to do that 00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:04.460 by helping children overseas flourish and churches 00:16:04.460 --> 00:16:07.519 overseas flourish and so on. But for me, it's 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:09.779 what can happen in the church in Canada. Yeah. 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:13.159 And I think one of the things that I have often 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:18.759 seen is local churches in the Canadian context, 00:16:18.779 --> 00:16:21.139 in many contexts probably, but specifically in 00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:23.799 the Canadian context, when they are thinking 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:27.559 outside of their walls. whether it's locally 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:29.399 or internationally, when they're thinking outside 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:32.360 of their walls, that's when life and flourishing 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:35.000 and joy happens. Absolutely. Right? Absolutely. 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:37.480 It is. You're right. It is a tough time to be 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.840 in local church leadership as a pastor or a lay 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.059 leader or whatever it is. But if you can get 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:46.179 your congregation thinking. Not just about their 00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:49.539 decline, but thinking about, OK, how do we use 00:16:49.539 --> 00:16:52.279 what we have, whether it's, you know, some minimal 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:55.100 financial resources, some people power, whatever 00:16:55.100 --> 00:16:56.899 it is. How do we get that outside of our walls? 00:16:57.100 --> 00:16:59.820 Absolutely. Yeah, it renews life. Absolutely. 00:17:00.059 --> 00:17:02.559 And I think you painted that picture very well, 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:06.019 too, that often if you're a local church here 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:08.839 in Canada, if it's in a season of struggle right 00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:13.119 now. We can become very inward focused and we 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.539 can become very, we'll put the walls up and we're 00:17:16.539 --> 00:17:17.859 going to raise the drawbridge because we've got 00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:20.740 to take care of ourselves. And yet God has still 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:23.339 put things in every congregation that he can 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.799 use to bless the community and to bless communities 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.619 overseas as well. You know, I often think of, 00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:33.819 I think a good way for pastors and local lay 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:36.079 leaders in their church to look at things is, 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:40.980 you know, when Moses was unsure, how he was going 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:44.140 to stand up to Pharaoh, to let the people out. 00:17:44.220 --> 00:17:46.019 He says, I'm nothing. I can't even talk very 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.680 well. I can't do anything. And God said to him, 00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:50.619 okay, well, what's that in your hand? He said, 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:52.480 it's a staff. And God said, well, if you give 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:54.960 me that, I can use that. And I think that's the 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.180 posture we want to have in the Canadian church. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:00.359 We may not have much, but God says to us, what 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:04.200 do you have? And you might say, well, we... We 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:06.799 have this congregation. You know, we have these 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:08.480 resources. We have whatever it is. We have a 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.400 building. We have a building. That's exactly 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:14.279 it. We have favor in the community. And just 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:17.180 as Moses says, well, you can use my staff. When 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:20.240 we say to the Lord, you can use all of these 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.019 things that we have. Well, now God's got something 00:18:23.019 --> 00:18:25.319 that he can work with. And once again, those 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:28.589 multiple blessings follow. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. 00:18:28.589 --> 00:18:31.130 So you've done this work with World Vision. You've 00:18:31.130 --> 00:18:32.650 done all this work with the Global Leadership 00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:35.690 Network. As you reflect on this sort of career, 00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:40.450 how have you seen the impact of generosity like 00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:43.769 sort of overflow? Is there a story or two you 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:45.369 can share with us as you think about what that 00:18:45.369 --> 00:18:47.950 looks like? That's a very, very good question, 00:18:48.109 --> 00:18:51.849 because all of these organizations. That I've 00:18:51.849 --> 00:18:54.309 been a part of. The only reason they exist is 00:18:54.309 --> 00:18:56.730 because God has tapped people on the shoulder 00:18:56.730 --> 00:18:59.529 and asked them to give, asked them to support, 00:18:59.730 --> 00:19:02.089 asked them to be generous, often very sacrificially 00:19:02.089 --> 00:19:08.789 as well. When I sit down with people in across 00:19:08.789 --> 00:19:12.730 Canada or around the world, I sometimes even 00:19:12.730 --> 00:19:16.009 think that there is another chair in the conversation. 00:19:16.069 --> 00:19:18.190 There's another chair there and that belongs 00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:21.059 to the person. who provided some of the funds 00:19:21.059 --> 00:19:23.319 to allow us to do what we're doing right now. 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:28.000 So generosity permeates just everything, everything 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.339 that we're doing. In the service today, I talked 00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:34.839 about some experiences I've had in Burundi, which 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:38.099 is a small country in East Africa, and it has 00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:39.740 the distinction of being the world's poorest 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:42.039 country. Often if someone's asked, what's the 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:43.900 world's poorest country, you might say Haiti 00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:46.000 or Bangladesh or one of these places. The actual 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:52.019 answer is Burundi. I met a young man. He was 00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:54.519 actually my interpreter in some of the teachings 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:57.440 I was giving over there. And he told me his story 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:02.640 of how he had lived in abject poverty. He's now 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.059 in university. He speaks multiple languages, 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:09.970 including English. his community has supported 00:20:09.970 --> 00:20:12.230 him. So you talk about generosity. There's a 00:20:12.230 --> 00:20:14.950 group of people who don't have much in themselves, 00:20:15.170 --> 00:20:18.029 but they were willing to support this young man 00:20:18.029 --> 00:20:21.369 in his education training. Well, when I asked 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:23.549 him what he wanted to do with that, he wants 00:20:23.549 --> 00:20:25.349 to become, I think he called it an agricultural 00:20:25.349 --> 00:20:28.150 engineer. He knows he'll have to go away out 00:20:28.150 --> 00:20:30.630 of Burundi to continue his education, but his 00:20:30.630 --> 00:20:33.460 plan is now to come back. and to improve the 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:36.059 agricultural sustainability of Burundi as well. 00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:38.799 So you can see that cycle of generosity repeating 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:42.339 itself. The village was generous, and now he 00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:44.160 in turn wants to be generous by coming back to 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.420 serve the community as well. And again, that 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:49.140 to me, that's a picture of how we talked about 00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:51.579 in the service, how God's economy works, because 00:20:51.579 --> 00:20:55.000 there is an ongoing growing cycle of generosity. 00:20:55.690 --> 00:20:58.269 It starts here, but God says, I can use that 00:20:58.269 --> 00:21:00.710 seed of generosity and I can grow it and multiply 00:21:00.710 --> 00:21:02.650 it in ways that we can't even imagine sometimes. 00:21:02.769 --> 00:21:07.369 Totally. Yeah. Yeah. It's that. I think I like 00:21:07.369 --> 00:21:09.849 this sort of cyclical imagery of it, right? That 00:21:09.849 --> 00:21:13.250 like sometimes we think if I give something away, 00:21:13.309 --> 00:21:15.589 then like I'm done with it. It just goes out 00:21:15.589 --> 00:21:19.069 there. But like it does come back around. Absolutely. 00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:22.730 In God's time and in God's ways. Yeah. But every 00:21:22.730 --> 00:21:25.470 gift God will bless. That's one thing we know. 00:21:25.569 --> 00:21:27.910 We don't always know how, but God will bless 00:21:27.910 --> 00:21:32.089 every gift. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So as folks are 00:21:32.089 --> 00:21:34.349 sort of. listening to this conversation and thinking, 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:36.089 you know, maybe this sounds very inspirational, 00:21:36.190 --> 00:21:39.190 but maybe it also sounds very challenging. And 00:21:39.190 --> 00:21:42.569 there's probably some questions about like, how, 00:21:42.670 --> 00:21:46.009 like, what does this look like? So if you were 00:21:46.009 --> 00:21:48.509 to sort of think about that person who's asking, 00:21:48.630 --> 00:21:52.029 okay, I want to lean into this posture of generosity, 00:21:52.029 --> 00:21:54.130 but I don't know what that looks like. What would 00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:56.829 you sort of say? So very practically here would 00:21:56.829 --> 00:22:00.309 be my. My first answer, my first step on that, 00:22:00.390 --> 00:22:04.150 I believe that our first giving responsibility, 00:22:04.390 --> 00:22:09.509 if you like, is to the local church. OK, so wherever 00:22:09.509 --> 00:22:12.170 you wherever a person receives their primary 00:22:12.170 --> 00:22:14.190 spiritual nourishment, I believe that's where 00:22:14.190 --> 00:22:17.500 giving begins. OK. And I would also say that 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:20.079 in a church like Trinity and many other wonderful 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:22.359 churches, when you're giving to a church like 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:24.920 this, you are also giving to the ministries that 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:26.859 support the community and even beyond as well. 00:22:26.900 --> 00:22:29.880 So in other words, it's a safe bet when you invest 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.920 in a church like Trinity Church here in Streetsville. 00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:35.700 So that's number one. Number two, and I'd pick 00:22:35.700 --> 00:22:37.859 up on one of the themes that we mentioned in 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.880 the service today, and that is Jesus calls us 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:44.339 to sacrificial giving. not giving when all the 00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:45.920 bills are paid at the end of the month. Sure. 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:48.960 You know, someone has told me that that's sort 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.880 of giving God a tip, you know, like all the obligations 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:53.839 are done. So here's my, here's my tip guide. 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:56.400 You did a good job this month, right? What Jesus 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.240 calls us to, and I think where the blessings 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:03.099 kick in is when we say, no, I'm going to give 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:06.960 sacrificially. You know, Jesus called it, Jesus 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:08.960 said in the parable we read today, sell your 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.799 possessions and give to the poor. Well, that 00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:14.440 means it's our giving needs to come from a place 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:16.660 of sacrifice. It should actually, if we're going 00:23:16.660 --> 00:23:20.019 to give to the poor, it should affect our lifestyles 00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:24.259 somehow. Right. We should operate our lives differently 00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:28.200 because we want to be generous to the poor. How 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:32.059 that. How that works, again, it can start with 00:23:32.059 --> 00:23:35.500 your local church. Certainly a person can get 00:23:35.500 --> 00:23:37.599 involved directly with World Vision, and there 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:39.660 are other wonderful agencies that do terrific 00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:41.960 work as well. We never pretend to think that 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:43.940 World Vision is the only game in town. Sure. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.500 But I do know that World Vision is a ministry 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:49.970 of... of impeccable integrity as well. And with 00:23:49.970 --> 00:23:51.930 a track record of doing really, really good work. 00:23:52.089 --> 00:23:56.009 So a person, if they're a part of Trinity, they 00:23:56.009 --> 00:23:57.910 can certainly explore supporting World Vision 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:00.410 through Trinity. If a person is not necessarily 00:24:00.410 --> 00:24:03.349 a part of Trinity, check to see if your own church 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:05.549 is already connected with World Vision. Sure. 00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:09.309 And if not, go to the World Vision website, worldvision 00:24:09.309 --> 00:24:12.210 .ca, and there's opportunities there to support 00:24:12.210 --> 00:24:14.930 the work that we're doing. Yeah. Yeah. I think 00:24:14.930 --> 00:24:18.180 one of the things that I, comes back to mind 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:19.759 for me and that I still sometimes struggle with 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:21.460 in this, you know, selling your possessions, 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:26.160 going and giving to God first is like, I've heard 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.119 sort of stewardship people talking about like, 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:29.980 you know, pre -authorized giving because that 00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:32.559 forces, it takes the money out of your bank account 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:35.920 before you pay the other bills. Yeah. And just 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:38.259 thinking about how that is a really practical 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:40.059 step, but a really challenging step. Sure it 00:24:40.059 --> 00:24:44.609 is. Right. That, that, yeah, it is. Yep. You 00:24:44.609 --> 00:24:46.910 know, you asked about things practical. I think 00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:49.430 we're coming into a season where we can get very, 00:24:49.490 --> 00:24:51.369 very practical on this. Totally. And I'm not 00:24:51.369 --> 00:24:54.950 just talking about Christmas. My wife and I, 00:24:54.970 --> 00:24:57.890 we've been married for 40 years. And for 40 years, 00:24:57.930 --> 00:25:00.829 we have sat down in the month of December to 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:02.869 make our household budget for the following year. 00:25:02.990 --> 00:25:05.950 Sure. Okay. Here's what I know. If we don't put 00:25:05.950 --> 00:25:09.130 generosity in our budget, it won't happen. Sure. 00:25:09.210 --> 00:25:12.890 You know, life will just take over. Yep. For 00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:15.250 us, one of the expressions of sell your possessions 00:25:15.250 --> 00:25:18.549 is when we make our budget, our giving is in 00:25:18.549 --> 00:25:20.950 there first. Right. So everything else gets built 00:25:20.950 --> 00:25:23.829 around that and we follow that. So pre -authorized 00:25:23.829 --> 00:25:25.990 giving is certainly a very practical digital 00:25:25.990 --> 00:25:28.349 way to do that, you know, and I support that 00:25:28.349 --> 00:25:31.130 fully. But I also think that as we're coming 00:25:31.130 --> 00:25:33.609 into the December season, it's a good time for 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:36.890 all of us, even regardless of generosity, make 00:25:36.890 --> 00:25:38.849 a good budget for your household kind of thing. 00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:42.029 Make sure it makes sense. Yep. And in the heart 00:25:42.029 --> 00:25:44.970 of that budget, trust God with the first line 00:25:44.970 --> 00:25:47.190 to be, this is how generous we're going to be 00:25:47.190 --> 00:25:50.970 this year. And God will honor that. God says 00:25:50.970 --> 00:25:55.029 in scripture, test me in this. And sometimes 00:25:55.029 --> 00:25:58.029 it can be very nerve wracking to say, oh my goodness, 00:25:58.109 --> 00:26:01.130 if we put that much generosity into our budget, 00:26:01.329 --> 00:26:03.990 what's that going to mean? God will take care 00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:07.789 of you. And it does mean you know you've gotten 00:26:07.789 --> 00:26:11.740 it right. when it does mean we've got to make 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:13.980 some changes in our lifestyle. One of the things 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:15.960 we talked about in the service is that, you know 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:18.880 what, we've got four streaming services, you 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.220 know, maybe we only need two. Sure. You know, 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:24.059 we go out for dinner four times a month. Maybe 00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:25.660 we're only going to go out once or twice a month. 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:28.519 Sure. Because we've already committed in our 00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:30.539 budget, we're going to be generous people. Right. 00:26:30.579 --> 00:26:33.799 Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a really practical 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:35.579 step. And it really, yeah, like you said, sort 00:26:35.579 --> 00:26:38.880 of timely step as, as we think about, the Christmas 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:40.740 season, but then even beyond that, how we think 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:43.140 about setting ourselves up for the rest of the 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:46.039 year. Absolutely. We can decide right here and 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:49.759 right now. that 2026 is going to be our most 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:52.740 generous year ever. Sure. Right. And, but it 00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:54.940 starts now because let's face it, once we get 00:26:54.940 --> 00:26:57.579 into February, March, April, I'm not saying you 00:26:57.579 --> 00:26:59.799 can't still be generous, but what an advantage 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:02.019 it is when you've already got a household budget 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:03.299 set up. Right, when you plan it all ahead. You 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:05.400 plan it out and you say, here it is. And by the 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:08.740 way, I would add too, it's very important that 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:12.259 it, that the preparation of that budget makes 00:27:12.259 --> 00:27:16.109 sense financially, but also prayerfully. When 00:27:16.109 --> 00:27:19.089 you bring, when we bring our household budget 00:27:19.089 --> 00:27:22.430 before the Lord and lay it before him, we talked 00:27:22.430 --> 00:27:24.430 in the service about open hands and say, Lord, 00:27:24.470 --> 00:27:27.809 we're trusting you with our finances this year. 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:29.730 And it's reflected in the generosity we want 00:27:29.730 --> 00:27:32.170 to have. God will honor that. Yeah. Yeah, for 00:27:32.170 --> 00:27:34.730 sure. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Scott. I 00:27:34.730 --> 00:27:37.450 think this has been a really helpful conversation 00:27:37.450 --> 00:27:40.190 just to like. hear some of your stories to get 00:27:40.190 --> 00:27:42.289 a sense of the work that World Vision is doing, 00:27:42.349 --> 00:27:44.690 but then also to sort of bring that home to how 00:27:44.690 --> 00:27:48.329 this work. can be part of our lives, part of 00:27:48.329 --> 00:27:50.789 our blessing ourselves and our community and 00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:53.390 across the world. So thank you for your time. 00:27:53.490 --> 00:27:55.609 Thank you very much. It's a real joy and privilege 00:27:55.609 --> 00:27:57.589 to be back at Trinity. I've loved this conversation 00:27:57.589 --> 00:27:59.990 with you. Yeah, thank you. And thank you for 00:27:59.990 --> 00:28:02.630 tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. 00:28:02.650 --> 00:28:05.170 I hope that through these stories and reflections, 00:28:05.390 --> 00:28:07.529 you've been able to think about some ways that 00:28:07.529 --> 00:28:10.670 you can begin to express generosity, whether 00:28:10.670 --> 00:28:12.970 that is just through sharing with your neighbors 00:28:12.970 --> 00:28:15.529 or through looking at your budget, whatever it 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:17.869 is. is, I pray that you can find those ways to 00:28:17.869 --> 00:28:19.849 be generous. And I trust that God will bless 00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:22.390 you in that. And we will see you again next week.