Resource by Sam Beh
This past Sunday, we went through Luke 4:14-30 as a church. As part of the sermon, I shared some of the practical wisdom from Heath, Yohan and Quentin on what we can do as the body of Christ to love and serve the poor and vulnerable in our cities. Heath is our Urban Chaplain on the Downtown Eastside, Yohan runs our ten:eighteen ministry, and Quentin is an emergency physician at St. Paul’s who also does a lot of work in the area of addictions and medical ethics. Here are some of the things they shared we can do:
- Learn to love people well, especially people from whom we may have nothing to expect back in return, and especially when nobody is watching or paying attention. Never take the off-script moments lightly!
- Be present in the life of someone suffering and be willing to walk alongside them, especially when it is hard.
- Smile at strangers, especially if they seem vulnerable or poor.
- Ask people their names and if you can do anything to help them.
- Try to restructure your day such that you have time to be interrupted by these unexpected interactions – including taking time to speak to someone/buy them a meal/etc.
- Find a tangible way to bless people, thinking about how to offer something that communicates warmth and generosity. The people in the DTES have more than enough processed cheese sandwiches and granola bars. They need hand-written notes and warm cookies. They need to belong.
- Do your best to learn the language/vernacular.
- Assume the posture of humility
- Frustration is a window into your own bias
- Expect to find expressions of grace in unexpected places.
- Respect in the dignity of others is not earned but rather an obligation in shared human experience
- Love and compassion cover a multitude of sins
For more information on our Urban Chapel, click here.
For more information on our ten:eighteen ministry, click here.
To listen to a podcast on how a Christian response to the problem of addictions, click here.