Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we have a very special episode
for you as we welcome Allison Alley, who is the
President and CEO of World Vision Canada. And
Allison is going to be sharing a bit of her story
with us, a bit of World Vision's story, but really
all about Jesus' story. How Jesus calls us to
take one small step at a time to share what we
can to have a huge impact all around the world.
Today's reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter
6, verses 5 to 13. When Jesus looked up and saw
a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip,
Where shall we buy bread for these people to
eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already
had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered
him, It would take more than half a year's wages
to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite.
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother, spoke up. Here is a boy with five small
barley loaves and two small fish, but how far
will they go among so many? Jesus said, Have
the people sit down. There was plenty of grass
in that place, and they sat down. About 5 ,000
men were there. Jesus then took the loaves gave
thanks, and distributed to those who were seated
as much as they wanted. He did the same with
the fish. When they had all had enough to eat,
he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that
are left over. Let nothing be wasted. So they
gathered them and filled twelve baskets with
the pieces of the five barley loaves left over
by those who had eaten. The word of the Lord.
I get the great pleasure of introducing our guest
speaker for today, who is none other than Alison
Alley. And it was just about a year ago, just
maybe over a year ago, that Alison took on the
role of CEO and President of World Vision Canada.
And prior to joining World Vision, Alison, I
think, spent some 12 years in various... leadership
roles with Compassion Canada. And so I can't
think of a better person that we could welcome
on this day. And I, for one, am looking very
forward to hearing from her. So would you join
me in giving a warm Trinity welcome to Alison
Alley. Thanks, Rob, so much. I mean, let's be
real. You can think of a better person. His name
is Tony. Plan A, right? So Allison is definitely
plan B. But folks, it is... pure joy to be with
you today. I have to tell you, I have heard so
much about this church over the years from a
family named Michael and Yvonne Messenger. If
you know them, they've been going to this church
for quite some time. Also, the former president
and CEO at World Vision Canada. I've heard about
this church from Dave and Diane Toyson, who have
been going here for quite some time. Also, the
other former president and CEO of World Vision.
So I can't believe that I finally get a chance
just to sit with you and be with you. Because
I've also heard about you, forget those other
guys, from our staff here in Canada and our staff
in Honduras. And I thought I would start by sharing
a moment for me 14 years ago where everything
changed because of one seemingly small moment.
It was 14 years ago that I was sitting in my
basement holding my new baby daughter. And my
toddler was in the corner of the room with my
husband playing. And in this moment, I was overcome
with emotion, like undone with emotion. And it
was perplexing to me because at the time I had
everything I had ever hoped for and imagined.
A marriage with an amazing man of God for 10
years. Still in that marriage with that amazing
man of God. Two healthy children. I had a career
that I loved in the finance industry. We were
connected to a church that we loved. And yet
there was this void and this pit in my stomach
that I felt at the time. And it was there that
God met me and impressed upon me a question that
changed everything. And it was, what about the
rest of them? What about the rest of them? And
it was as if like my blinders were removed and
I could all of a sudden see my life and my family
and more to the point, those on the perimeter
of it more clearly. I began to recognize in new
and sobering ways that I had been so focused
on my own little world, right? On working hard
for my kids to thrive and flourish while ignoring
the needs of other kids around the world. Not
just kids, but other moms around the world that
just wanted their kids to survive another day.
And it was in that season that God gave my husband
and I what is now our life verse from Luke 12,
48, that says, to whom much is given, much is
required. And to whom much is entrusted, even
more will be asked. And we recognize that we
had been entrusted with a fair amount, right?
We have been entrusted with a fair amount. And
we enter this path of discernment. And the point
of the story is that we took one small step.
You know, the answer to the question, what about
the rest of them? This vast and big question
was one step for our family. We sponsored one
child, a little boy from Ecuador. And slowly
over time, everything changed. Our prayer life
changed. The conversations we had with our kids
changed, and over time, what I never would have
imagined is that that one seemingly small step
would contribute to a path of me standing here
on behalf of World Vision with you today. But
indeed, the path towards the rest of them was
just a path of one step, and then another, and
then another. Fast forward to today, and every
day, I'm not sure about you, certainly in my
world, there's another headline that kind of
brings us to our knees. In Sudan right now, tens
of millions of people are caught in the world's
largest humanitarian crisis. In Haiti, half of
the country is facing acute hunger while violence
has reshaped daily life. In the Dominican Republic
of Congo, families are navigating displacement
and disease and instability all at the same time.
And of course, there's ongoing wars in Ukraine
and Lebanon and Gaza, and these are just a few
of the places, right? Because what we're experiencing
globally right now is not just widespread need,
but it's stacked. It's things like conflict and
climate shocks and economic pressures and displacement
and this thing called fragility. And it's like
all of it all at once. Right? Not just happening
side by side, but stacking on top of one another
and amplifying the crisis. What's starting with
one crisis quickly becomes five. And what's beginning
in one place is kind of moving to the surrounding
areas. And the result is this heaviness in the
world in this moment. Do you ever feel it? Certainly
in my world, it feels like everything is kind
of happening everywhere. And I know that's dramatic,
but it feels that way at times. I think if we're
honest, we see it, right? We feel it. It's in
our minds. It's in our hearts. And sometimes,
over time, something starts to happen in us because
of it. We start to feel a little bit or a lot
overwhelmed. We start to feel perhaps a bit numb
to the need. Or maybe for some, this sense of
uncertainty or skepticism about the mechanisms
by which we could possibly respond. And underneath
that, whether we say it out loud or not, this
question begins to form. You know, if the need
is this vast, and it is vast, and even though
I know and I care, Does that small thing that
I can do actually matter? You know, those who
walked with Jesus certainly knew that feeling.
You know, we read in the Gospels that Jesus had
been teaching and healing, and eventually he
and his disciples withdrew to this remote place
up a mountain, we're told. And it was late in
the day. You know, evening was approaching. And
in Mark, the Gospel of Mark's telling of the
story, we learn that Jesus actually wanted his
disciples to rest. But the crowds kept coming.
And it made sense that they were coming, right?
Because, you know, we know that Jesus had compassion
on them. It says elsewhere in Matthew that they
were harassed and helpless like sheep without
a shepherd. We're told in this story that, you
know, he's helping heal the sick. And so this
crowd is following Jesus on foot because he's
bringing help and he's bringing hope in his teaching.
And yet in this moment, they're just hungry.
And they're not just hungry. I would imagine
that walking on foot, listening to teaching,
all the dramatics of the day would make you a
little bit tired, perhaps restless. Maybe this
is where we start to say not just hungry, but
a little bit hangry, this crowd of thousands.
And Jesus sees them, right? And doesn't just
see them. He sees the unspoken need and he wants
to respond. And so he turns to Philip, one of
his disciples, right? And it says in John 6,
6, he says, where shall we buy bread for these
people to eat? Now, Jesus knew exactly what he
was going to do, but the disciples didn't at
the time, right? And so they did what any human
being I think logically would do. They assess
the need. They calculated. They ran the numbers
and quickly realized this is an impossible problem.
Then Philip said in verse 7, it would take more
than half a year's wages to buy enough food for
each one to have one bite. Every person, one
bite. Can you imagine that? Imagine offering
a crowd of thousands, one bite each. I would
tend to think that this would stoke their anger,
right? Not meet their need. And so they arrive
at this completely reasonable conclusion. We
learn in Mark's telling of the story that they
say, you know, send them away so they can go
and buy themselves something to eat. In other
words, there's nothing we can do. They're going
to have to just figure this thing out themselves.
And it's not that the disciples didn't care.
Of course they did. It's that the need existed.
exceeded their capacity. There's no way they
could feed thousands, and so why try? And then
Andrew, another disciple, speaks up. He notices
something small, and someone small. It says in
verse 9, well, here's a boy with five small barley
loaves and two small fish. Five small loaves,
two small fish. from one small boy. And if I'm
honest, I don't know about you, but I'm a little
surprised that Andrew said this, right? It's
kind of an embarrassing suggestion that's like
a little bit ridiculous, right? 5 ,000 hungry
people, and he's pointing to this one little
boy's basket of food. And so, of course, it's
no surprise that, you know, quickly after that,
Andrew comes to his senses and says, but, you
know, how far could they go among so many anyways,
right? It's like, just kidding. Like, of course,
that's not reasonable. It's too small to make
any difference. And we don't know much about
this child. Maybe, you know, I would imagine
that he was hungry too, looking forward to his
dinner. Or maybe, maybe. There was 10 loaves
to begin with, and he had a stomachache from
eating five of them. You know, we never know
the circumstance of this child. But what we know
is the little boy offered his basket of food.
And Jesus took the loaves, and he gave thanks,
and he began to distribute it. And somehow, in
the hands of Jesus, what was seemingly not enough
became. And not just barely enough, not rationed,
as we were reminded in the reading, and it says
in verse 11, that they had as much as they wanted.
And there were leftovers. You see, Jesus does
what only he can do, and he multiplies what was
offered. Not all at once, but hand by hand, person
by person, one step at a time. Here at World
Vision, our vision, which you've probably heard
before, but allow me to remind you, is for every
child, life in all its fullness. Our prayer for
every heart, the will to make it so. You know,
every child not just surviving, but experiencing
fullness of life. And this is what Jesus said
he came to bring to everyone. It says in John
10, 10, I have come to bring life, life to all.
It's fullness. This is about dignity and empowerment
and protection and growing healthy minds and
healthy bodies and healthy relationships. It's
about being able to experience the love of God
and to realize one's God -given potential. And
every heart, to not just see, to not just stop,
to not just care. But to have the will to move,
right? The will to make it so by doing something.
Not one heart, every heart. And here's the thing,
if I can be real with you. When you hold this,
you know, every child and every heart against
everything that's happening everywhere, it can
feel just a tad bit overwhelming. You feel pretty
heavy at times. And frankly, in my world, sometimes
it feels like you're swimming upstream and the
currents are surrounding you. But here's what
I've come to learn. That we were never meant
to carry the weight of every. We were meant to
faithfully focus on the one. And then the next
one. You see, the disciples didn't feed 5 ,000
people. One disciple saw one child. And the little
boy didn't feed 5 ,000 people. One boy offered
one basket of food. And in the hands of Jesus,
it was multiplied. And 5 ,000 were fed. You know,
this is what we see. time and time again at World
Vision that when someone says yes to one child,
we connect them meaningfully to that child, right?
To pray for them and to encourage them and to
champion them as they become an agent of change
in their life and in their community. And at
the same time, we in turn partner with the broader
community to address the context around the child.
Because we recognize that if you want to change
the whole life of a child, you need to change
the world in which the child lives. And so we
walk alongside families to help them strengthen
their livelihoods so parents can provide food
for their kids. We work with community members
to ensure they have access to clean water so
kids aren't walking for hours for basic needs
to survive. We invest in health care and nutrition
so children can grow and develop, and we support
education so they have this tangible hope for
the future and opportunities to pursue. And we
help build systems of protection and care so
kids are safe, they're known, they're valued
by their neighbors and by society at large. And
when this... cumulatively begins to change in
relationship to one another, the child begins
to change. And as the child begins to change,
they in turn further begin to change the world
around them. They impact their family and their
peers and their community. And it becomes this
mutually reinforcing, unstoppable ripple effect
of change in the community, in the nation. And
we believe in time in the world. Because what
begins with one child doesn't stay contained
to one child. God multiplies it. And he mobilizes
others to join him to realize that multiplication.
You with me? So a few months ago, I was in Honduras.
I was hosted by Tony, the hostess with the mostest,
so I can affirm that he is exactly that. And
I was able to visit the community that you had
been partnering with for some time, Nueva Frontera.
What a joy that was. And of course, it was the
kind of community where we heard about the hard
choices that the families still had to make.
You know, one of the realities that we were sitting
in was the reality of child labor. Kids who were
working with their parents in the fields because
the parents didn't have another option. And specifically,
this was quite relevant in the coffee fields.
And so the community came together because they
were supported by World Vision and supported
by a church like Trinity to realize a different
vision and future for their community. And they
worked together to create a simple alternative.
A place where children could come together to
be cared for. So they didn't have to be in the
fields with their parents. They created a place
they call a holistic child development center.
Where kids could come and be known. They could
play. They could grow. They could gain new passions
and skills. And the parents they discovered in
time were able to work more effectively. In fact,
they were more productive and were able to earn
more because they weren't distracted by the kids
along their side. You see, it was one small shift,
one change initially, but it didn't stay that
small. Eventually, in time, they began working
with local coffee buyers and with the Ministry
of Labor so that farms in the area were expected
to operate without children in the fields. They
secured local funding to keep centers running
long after their ability to personally sustain
it. And the children themselves are now creating
art using coffee paint, homemade coffee paint,
and selling it. That's what you're seeing here
was them teaching me. I was terrible, by the
way, so they were laughing is what you're seeing
in that picture. So they can earn an income.
And again, what began as one simple change meant
that one child left the field, and then another,
and then another, and then another. The impact
multiplied. I also met one little girl from the
same community. Her name was Anna Victoria. And
Anna Victoria is joyful and she is confident
and a ball of energy. And she was also born with
Down syndrome. And her story is that her father
died from gang violence when she was about one
and a half years old. Her brother then fled the
area because his life was at risk. And so her
mom was raising her as a single mom. And the
medical expenses and need that Anna Victoria
had were significant. But again, because of the
local community coming together, supported by
a community and a church like Trinity, there
was hope and opportunity in this household. Anna
Victoria initially, by the way, couldn't walk.
So she was provided surgeries, medical care,
socio -emotional support, a wheelchair. And over
time, through the interventions in place and
through the support that her mom was trained
to help her with like physiotherapy and training,
in time, Anna Victoria started walking. An answer
to her mother's prayers and her mom was clear
with me that what brought her joy is that she
was able to hand back this wheelchair to the
next person in the community that might need
it. Her mom also, by the way, was gifted a few
chickens, taught how to raise them, how to sell
the eggs for income. They have multiplied over
time in ways that allows her to provide for Anna
Victoria. Anna Victoria is now also a child that
I sponsor. Couldn't leave without that happening.
One choice towards one child that I trust God
will continue to multiply. So what do we know?
When we know that we can't do everything, but
we can do one thing. And we know that we can't
address needs everywhere, but we can invest somewhere.
And I'm incredibly, not just grateful, but in
awe of this church's long -term investment in
Honduras and in particular in the community of
Nueva Frontera. And so the question for you today,
I would suggest, is just what's that one next
step for you? What one faithful step might God
be calling you to next? Perhaps for some of you,
it's the opportunity to sign up to be chosen.
To say yes to one child and be one small but
important part of their life transformation story
in ways that I'm telling you from experience
will transform your life as well. Perhaps for
others of you, it's the opportunity to say yes
again to being chosen a second time, perhaps
a third time, because you have more to give to
those who need it. Perhaps for others of you,
it might be something different. Maybe a prompting
that God has placed on your heart to make something
so in the world, whether it's through prayer
or a social enterprise that can support the area.
I've heard some of those stories already today,
which is remarkable. But whatever that one step
is, in the context of a world that is so desperate
for help and for hope, I encourage you to not
miss the opportunity and to certainly not dismiss
what may seem seemingly small in relation to
the need. Because in the hands of Jesus, I'm
here to remind us that it is multiplied. Let
me pray. God, what a privilege it is to be among
your children. Those who love you and love their
neighbors locally and globally. And to be reminded,
God, of the ways that you are at work in and
through this church and in and through every
life represented here. God, we thank you for
the way that you are at work around the world,
the way you're at work in the country of Honduras,
the way that you are at work in Canada and at
work in this church. And God, we just... Continue
to offer all that we are and all that we have
and that next faithful step that you are calling
us to, to you, God. I pray that we would continue
to faithfully follow you as you lead and guide
and direct. And that God, that you would do immeasurably
more than all we could ever ask or imagine in
Christ Jesus. We pray this in the name of your
son. Amen. Thanks for tuning in to this week's
episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded
at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga,
Ontario on May 31st, 2026.