The Mustard Seed Blog

Homeless Man Receives Dinner Invite

2013-10-28T11:40:00.000-06:00

We have a man named Lawrence in our community who lives in a tent. He often will ride his bike with a trailer he built collecting bottles. I remember the day in the summer when Lawrence was passing by our home. He was a sweet man, rugged and smelling of beer. He was respectful and gracious and he had boundaries of never wanting to come inside our home. After giving him bottles, I told him that he could come back anytime to get more. Lawrence now visits us weekly to get his bottles.

A couple of weeks ago, my hubby and I asked him if he wanted to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. We wondered if he would show up, but he did. He had brought a gift for our kids that he had bought from the Sally Ann. I was a little nervous as we had never had Lawrence over before and we had another couple over for dinner as well.

Turns out, it was one of the best Thanksgiving dinners we have had. We laughed, had great conversation and found out many wonderful things about our new friend. I don't know why we are so afraid of the homeless. I do believe caution is necessary, but towards everyone, not just a certain sector of people.

Lawrence left a little teary. Before he left he said, "One of the most beautiful things people can share is a meal together". I was touched by his statement as it is one of my dreams for my home. I dream of a "table of misfits"(you can read more about this here) and I got a glimpse of that on this Sunday evening.

Our homes can be lighthouses, a beacon of hope for those who need it. My kids can't wait to have Lawrence over again. He'll be over for dinner again very soon.

"The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbours, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You'll be - and experience - a blessing. They won't be able to return the favor but the favor will be returned" (from Luke 15).

- Connie Jakab

Check out Connie Jakab's blog at http://culturerebel.com where she blogs about her family's adventures in serving the less fortunate and her continued rebellion to what culture tells us. Be sure to pick up her book, "Culture Rebel - because the world has enough desperate housewives" at http://culturerebel.com/books/. You can find Connie on Twitter at @ConnieJakab

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Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts "96th Street Exhibition"

2013-10-17T15:25:00.000-06:00

Approximately seven community members were placed in the spotlight this month as several pieces of their artwork were put on display at the “Reflecting 96th Street” exhibition at the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts in Edmonton.

Community member Linda, whose Tiger inspired art pieces attracted many spectators at the exhibition, said that her pieces were mainly inspired by a theme of being alive.

“I like to do life, anything that’s alive because I think they’re beautiful,” said Linda.

Rachel de Leon and Laura Foster, the organizers of the exhibition, said that their work with community members in the church began back in 2007 when they started an open Thursday art group for community members at the church to participate in.

“We keep a lot of the artwork with us because a lot of artists have nowhere to keep their art,” said Rachel.

Elanor, who has been working with the art program since its inception, was proud to display her pieces which included, “the colorful Mandela” and the “A perched Owl.”

“I get a lot of the inspiration for the art from magazines,” said Elanor.

With a room full of spectator’s Exhibition Coordinator, David Janzen, said that he believes the future for this event can only be bigger and better.

“Two years ago when we did a smaller exhibition it was a success. This year these folks needed a venue and you can see it’s a win-win situation,” said David.

The art will be on display at the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts until November 1, 2013. Find out more here.

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Taking a Look in the Mirror

2013-07-25T11:43:00.000-06:00

Have you ever caught yourself looking in a mirror and it’s like you’re seeing yourself for the first time? That happened to me recently and I realized that the tall good looking individual that I really never was, no longer existed, even in my own imagination.

It’s almost like for a few brief seconds you see yourself the way the world sees you and it’s somewhat of an eye opener. In fact, there is often a gap between how we see ourselves and how others see us, and occasionally the gap is much bigger than we think. Self awareness, not my greatest strength, involves a kind of brutal honesty that is often difficult to deal with, but it’s really the only way we grow. Sometimes it’s the only way we get better in our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others.

Self-awareness often involves comparing ourselves to those around us. Sometimes what or who we deem as comparative can enhance or deplete our self-esteem, as well as benefit or hurt our health. For example, often in street life there’s a comparison of living situations. A person that is sleeping in a shelter might actually see himself or herself as having an ideal living situation. This, however, might be because he/she is comparing shelter-living to sleeping in a park in minus 30 degrees weather. Knowing what the comparison is can really help us unravel the complexities of street life.

I’m so grateful that God sees past all of that stuff in my life and the lives of others. Recently, a group of employees at The Mustard Seed in Calgary were reflecting on the names of God. Genesis 16:13 uses the name El Roi in reference to God – literally meaning a God who sees. There is great comfort in knowing that God not only sees me, but loves me and accepts me where I’m at. And there is no performance clause! If I get it right, God loves me. If I get it wrong (frequently), God still loves me. Who knew Billy Joel was sharing a biblical truth when he sang, “I love you just the way you are.”

How do the homeless see themselves? Likely not as their public persona, where because of deep hurt and rejection they have developed some pretty amazing self-defense mechanisms complete with corresponding story lines to build themselves up. Furthermore, some individuals experiencing homelessness might actually believe that they’re doing alright, mainly because their situation compared to others in their lives seems more ideal. Thereby making them seem like they’re putting on a brave face. If you’ve never had a bed to compare a shelter mat to, a shelter mat might actually feel like you’re sleeping on a Sealy Posturepedic in comparison to sleeping on the street.

Sometimes their social presentation seems very different than some of us would expect from people living “without,” yet even the stigma surrounding homelessness might influence the identity they present to others. If we expect certain attitudes, we often receive stories. On occasion, however, if you walk alongside these amazing people, you will get glimpses into the reality of the mirror image they see; an image that throws back broken pictures of abuse and rejection or of self-inflicted pain based on bad choices often forced upon them because of circumstances beyond their control. An image that makes them victims or, in some cases, even heroes of their own story. Their image is often no more accurate than ours.

And what about this gap between how we see ourselves, and how others see us? Sometimes our flawed self-awareness makes us bigger and better. Other times, we do not value ourselves as much as we should. Many of the awesome folks we care for at The Mustard Seed see themselves as having little or no value. How often does our attempt to be an encouragement get lost in the false reality of their own self-image? This is perhaps why mental health issues amongst the homeless are so much more prevalent than in other population bases. I‘ve asked it a million times: did the mental health crisis result in being homeless, or did homelessness result in the mental health crisis? It’s a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. We have expectations of the homeless to be broken, and perhaps, in some way, through survival self-defense mechanisms, mental illness arises.

So what’s the point? Simply this: the reality is that we have so much more in common with people we care for in this world. We are not that big of a deal.

It’s in our common challenges that we will often find the bridge that can lead to relationships, and that out of those relationships comes the opportunity to truly make a difference in our neighbours’ lives. We are all just out there doing the best we can; we all have good days and bad days. Some of us just look like we’re more successful at doing it than others.

-Kristen Desjarlais deKlerk, PhD ABD, Department of Sociology at U of C and Bill Nixon, Director of Support Services, The Mustard Seed

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My night of homelessness

2013-05-15T15:20:00.000-06:00

Last week, I left my house with nothing but the clothes on my back and went downtown to our YWCA shelter to spend the night for "Keep A Roof Over Her Head". I can't deny how odd it felt to drive myself downtown to be homeless.

Let me just say right off the top that spending one night in a shelter with others who are there to learn more about homelessness can never, ever truly tell what someone who faces that every day goes through. The CEO of the YWCA (who also slept over) stated, "In the morning, I want you to remember that the average woman who used our shelter over the winter stayed 154 nights in a row. Think about 153 more nights when you wake up tomorrow." This is a thought I couldn't shake all night as I slept on a hard mat with the lights on.

In the morning, I felt exhausted. I couldn't get to sleep because of others in the room chatting and because of the lights. There was no comfortable position for my body on the hard mat. However, I was grateful for a mat, and not to have to sleep on the floor. Dinner the night before was upsetting my stomach. I have a wheat intolerance and the pasta and bun didn't sit well. Reality check: when you're homeless, you eat what you get - even if you have allergies.

However, let me get to what really struck me. Shone Abet Thistle from the YWCA told a story of her imagining she was fleeing domestic violence. She had three minutes to gather everything she deemed important and put it in a plastic bag. What would she bring? She managed to stuff items into her bag quickly, but then just before heading out the door, she saw a picture of her grandmother on the wall that was still in it's original casing. It had been passed down from her grandma to her mother, and now to her. Should she bring it? She broke down knowing she had to leave it behind.

We don't realize how much is lost when a woman has to flee her home. Imagine for a moment losing all you have in the comforts of your own home, only to find yourself sleeping on a mat, eating buns and pasta, and having to leave the building at 6am with no where to go other than wander the streets in the daytime - no matter what the weather. For many, they did not choose to lose everything. How easy it is to become an addict to numb the pain. To choose to sell your body for sex so you can at least sleep in a bed under a roof, even if it means giving yourself to a man who only cares for the use of your body. How lonely must it feel to sleep night after night wondering what will happen to you, your home, your kids, and your life as you knew it?

I can imagine most of these women want to cry out, "This is not who I am!", but her cries are not heard by those passing her on the street. All they see is a good-for-nothing woman who needs to "go get a job". The hard truth is that in my province of Alberta, we carry the 2nd highest rate of violence against women. 905 women and 195 children were turned away due to over-capacity from the YWCA in my city of Calgary last year. Where do they go from there?

There are glitches in our system that keep women impoverished once they get there. For example: women who lose their children due to living in a shelter, often can't afford to get them back because they no longer will receive government funding we all receive for her children, thus decreasing her income. How can she survive on $323 a month?? Even if she has a job that pays $10/hr?

Even beyond issues of fleeing domestic violence, all it could take is one illness to find someone living on the street. How many of us have money saved for emergencies such as this for 6 months of income? 3 months? Even 1 month? With the cost of living, many of us are living paycheque to paycheque. This became very real to me while I laid on my mat that night.

Homelessness is something that we have become used to in our society. It's not odd to see a business person crossing the street along side one carrying a big bag of bottles. We don't even flinch anymore. When we do look, we can easily think of all the reasons how they got themselves into that situation to dismiss their pain from our eyes.

I'm done with stereotyping them.
I'm done with coming up with why they are there.
I'm finding out the truth, and more than ever, I see how we are all the same.
I want to feel their pain, and let it move me to intolerance.
To me, they are not invisible any longer.

Women's homelessness is one of the topics we are presenting in our show, Invisible playing at Theatre Grand Junction June 14-15, 2013 in Calgary, AB. Tickets are on sale. Hungry to know more and what can be done. Tickets are on sale for only $25 by clicking here.

- Connie Jakab

Check out Connie Jakab's blog at http://culturerebel.com where she blogs about her family's adventures in serving the less fortunate and her continued rebellion to what culture tells us. Be sure to pick up her book, "Culture Rebel - because the world has enough desperate housewives" at http://culturerebel.com/books/. You can find Connie on Twitter at @ConnieJakab

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A Poem Dedicated to The Mustard Seed

2013-05-07T09:23:00.002-06:00

The Mustard Seed

Before Care

While waiting here in this lunch line,
I look back when all things were fine.
When work was plenty, when bills were paid.
So Blessed was I –I had it made.

Now waiting here I’ve lost it all,
because one day I had a fall.
Those paid to care, they dealt in fraud.
Yet for this lunch, I thank my God.

After Care

I thank you Father for “The Seed”.
Your people cared to fill my need.
They did so happily in Jesus name.
They proved to me just why He came.

They proved to me my God You give.
They helped me find a place to live.
We know they didn’t have to bother,
yet did this service for you Father.

-Brian, a guest at The Mustard Seed

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2013-05-01T15:33:00.001-06:00

How will they know?

One of my favourite stories took place about one hundred years ago while I was in Bible School. I had been working at a Ski Shop in Grouse Mountain when I discovered that taking the tram on a clear day, is perhaps the most amazing view of Vancouver and the lower mainland one is ever going to see.

One day a friend from work and I decided we were going to hike along the ridge between Grouse Mountain and an adjoining peak called Goat Mountain. If you've ever been to Vancouver, one of the tourist highlights found on postcards all over town is a view of twin peaks called the Lions. Well, the ridge we were hiking that day runs between Grouse and the Lions. It’s a spectacular area to hike in and pretty high up.

As you hike up to the top of Goat Mountain, you come out above the tree line and stand on the edge of a pretty significant drop where you can see Vancouver and the lower mainland, and on this particularly clear day, all the way to Washington State. It was amazing, but I have never forgotten the conversation that took place on that ridge.

I said, gazing out over one of the most beautiful cities in the world, "look what Man has created." My friend Lisa replies, "yeah, but look what God created." Lisa was looking the other direction, over what looks like hundreds of miles of mountain peaks, all snow covered, and going back literally as far as you could see.

In the years I had worked with and known Lisa, she had never mentioned God. Other staff had often sought me out to discuss their personal views regarding faith and Jesus, mistakenly viewing me as a theological sounding board because I was a Bible School student. But not Lisa, until that very moment where she was unknowingly expressing one of the greatest truths found in scripture.

Creation Testifies About It's Creator

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands"(Psalm 19:1). It is impossible to live and breathe in this world without recognizing God. Just observing nature in itself is proof of that. Lisa's declaration of that truth, that one of the greatest witnesses to the reality that God is, is creation itself.

Another great proof that God is real is US.

Loving and Caring People speak to the existence of God

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

In Acts 10, there's the story of the Roman army officer named Cornelius who was described as “a devout, God-fearing man,” who “gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. His prayers and gifts to the poor were as an offering to God.”

The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans mentions a group of Christians who had “eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem” (Romans 15.25-26).

The early church held helping the poor as a core value. In fact, it was one of the greatest testimonies to the world all around them; visible evidence of a people of faith whose belief in God resulted in actions towards the neighbours that God has called them to love.

Jesus himself went so far as to say that how we treat those in need is how we treat Jesus himself. Jesus said, “I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”

So how will they know that God is real??

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

- Bill Nixon, Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed
@billbytheminute

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Four Years and Running: An Interview with Ray

2013-04-23T09:53:00.002-06:00

When it comes to reliability, look no further than Ray! Ray has been volunteering every Thursday at The Mustard Seed for over four years, spending the morning in the Computer Lab and the afternoon in the Employment Centre. Before retiring in 2008, Ray was VP and Senior Engineer at RBC Capital Markets, where he spent 28 years of his career. We caught up with Ray and asked him a few questions about his volunteering experience:

What prompted you to become a long-term volunteer with The Mustard Seed?

I was already familiar with the organization, as I would occasionally walk by on my lunch breaks or volunteer with meal groups from RBC or the Knights of Columbus. I decided to help on a more consistent basis when I retired.

What have you learned since being a volunteer at The Mustard Seed?

Volunteering has expanded my horizons, made me more tolerant, and taught me that appearances are not the whole person. If you have no experience with the homeless, it’s hard to relate until you know someone affected by it. When I would walk by, I used to think, “Shouldn’t they all be working?”, but now I understand how complex people’s circumstances are and how difficult their lives have been.

Tell us about what you do in each of your volunteering roles.

In the computer lab, I primarily monitor people’s time allowances and sign them in and out, and help them with technical questions, job search and resume tips. In the Employment department, I am able to offer more intensive resume and job search support since it is a one-to-one appointment format. I support guests as they work with their Employment Coach to develop a career path.

What do you love most about volunteering?

The Mustard Seed feels like a family environment, and I have met so many inspirational guests and staff while being here. But what I love most is when guests come back and thank me for helping them, and I’m glad that it happens frequently.

What has been your most memorable experience while volunteering at The Mustard Seed?

There have been so many, both tragic and uplifting. One of my best experiences was with a guest who lost his house and was laid off, despite being highly qualified. When he first came he was difficult to help because of his attitude, but after several months it changed for the better. I’ll never forget the look on his face the day when he finally got a job and he came back to shake all of our hands and thank us.

The Mustard Seed is celebrating National Volunteer Week from April 21-27. Join us in thanking the thousands of volunteers who donate their skills and time to The Mustard Seed every year!

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, please visit www.theseed.ca and click “Volunteer”.

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Invisible

2013-04-08T12:09:00.000-06:00

Walking downtown, I notice the strange mix of business suits with those wearing worn out clothing, carrying bags of bottles. Although they walk side by side, they are different. They don’t acknowledge one another. As they walk, the only similarity is their eyes looking towards the ground. I stop to chat with a dog owner when we are interrupted by a homeless woman. Before she can speak, my dog-owner friend cuts in to say, “I have no change”, and walks off. I’m left with this woman waiting for me to reject her as well. I reach into my purse and give her a toonie. I ask for her name and tell her mine. She introduces me to her friend and her friend’s new fiance. They are beaming with pride over the bright blue ring that looks like it came out of a toy box. We exchange in casual conversation about the amazing soup you can get at Red’s on 4th and then say our goodbye’s.

Harmless, really. However I understand how many are afraid to even speak to the homeless. It’s not that we look down on them, it’s more so the fear of what’s unknown. Personally I have wondered about my safety at times or have had thoughts of being followed for more money. We don’t fully understand their situation, making it hard for us to engage even in something as simple as conversation.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of research on homelessness in the last year and a half, and more recently, on women who are homeless. My findings have allowed me to engage in friendly conversation with ones such as these. I have found a few interesting truths in the process; I’d like to share them with you:
-No teeth does not equal axe murderer. It equals someone who has nothing and is probably ashamed of their smile. (If I struggle with a slight coffee stain, how must they feel?!)
-Saying “hello” does not mean unending harassment.
-Giving money may indeed go to booze, but it may remind them that someone cares. Wouldn't you drink if you were on the street in the dead of winter?
-If you have no money to share, I've found finding out their name and introducing yourself brings more than money can buy; it brings humanity back to their existence.

There are many contributing factors to what causes homelessness. Because of how vast the subject is, I would like to highlight a couple of factors when it comes to women you may see on the street who are homeless.
Did you know?:
-Many women on the street have come from situations of domestic violence. If they don’t have children, there is very limited shelter space for them.
-Women on the street will often hook up with a man for survival and a place to live – even if that man is abusive or feeds her substance abuse habits.
-Women only make up 20% of homeless shelters, mostly because of the dangers that exist for them while staying at a shelter.

Some women you see on the street were once just like you and I. Maybe they were trying to support themselves through University and chose an escorting job that led them to a party lifestyle of crystal meth that depleted their beauty and thus their employability. Prostitution was the next best option for them. Some women are homeless due to mental illness and no family that is around or willing to help them. Single moms have a hard time finding affordable housing in Calgary. Imagine working a $10/hr job and having two kids that cost more than that for childcare and your rent is $1500 a month. How does one survive?

Knowing some of these facts has brought their humanity back to my heart. Knowing their name has become important to me. Thinking about where they have come from means something to me. I don’t see them as separate from myself; I see them as valued members of our community, our city.

Seeing value in them makes them visible to me. I don’t need to solve their problems, but having them and the issues surrounding their situation makes them no longer invisible to me. This becomes the start to building a city I want to live in.

- Connie Jakab

Check out Connie Jakab's blog at http://culturerebel.com where she blogs about her family's adventures in serving the less fortunate and her continued rebellion to what culture tells us. Be sure to pick up her book, "Culture Rebel - because the world has enough desperate housewives" at http://culturerebel.com/books/. You can find Connie on Twitter at @ConnieJakab

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I'm Cutting Up My Bible

2013-03-14T14:01:00.000-06:00

I'm cutting up my Bible.

Let me explain that. I read about a university student and his friends who went through all the books of the Bible cutting out the verses dealing with poverty, wealth, justice and oppression. When finished, they were left with a Bible that could barely be held together.

Why would they do this??

When standing in front of a group of people he replied while holding up the mangled Bible; “This is our Bible full of holes. Each one of us might as well take our Bibles, a pair of scissors, and begin cutting out all the scriptures we pay no attention to and ignore”.

Wow.

That really impacted me. I’ve decided to do this. I want this visual constantly in front of my face to remind me what my faith is really about… what this life is really about… what God Himself is concerned with. I want my kids to know this and have it serve our family as a reminder that our neighbor IS our responsibility. That we need to care.   We can’t save the world, but we can reach those who are within the reach of our arms.

So yes, I’m cutting these verses out of a Bible I bought online for $3.   I’m on Exodus (the 2nd book in the Bible) and am already amazed at how much is missing. Some pages I’ve been tempted just to rip out altogether due to the page hanging by a thread of paper.

I don’t want to ignore this anymore. I don’t want to live in my prosperous bubble, blind to the needs not just around the world, but around the corner from my house. God is clearly concerned for the least of these, how can I not be? I want to be a rebel to the culture that screams: ME FIRST.   A culture that says I need "more" when I have so much already

Whether you are a person of faith, or if you’re not sure what you believe in this life, I hope that you can go past all the images of “church” and the word “christian” to hear the heartbeat of God in this demonstration.

Maybe you wouldn’t "cut up a Bible" (I don't recommend we all do that), but maybe it’s time to get back to seeing how much God really talks about caring for others in need, what we are to do with our wealth, and how He longs for us to be the answer to those living in oppression.

You and I hold an answer in our hand.   That is a journey I’m on right now personally asking: What does it look like to live this out?

- Connie Jakab

Check out Connie Jakab's blog at http://culturerebel.com where she blogs about her family's adventures in serving the less fortunate and her continued rebellion to what culture tells us. Be sure to pick up her book, "Culture Rebel - because the world has enough desperate housewives" at http://culturerebel.com/books/.   You can find Connie on Twitter at @ConnieJakab

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Self-Made People

2013-03-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning on the way to work, I heard an interview on the Fan 960 with R.A. Dickey, the new starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. He was telling the story of how he had gone from traditional pitcher to having to learn to throw a knuckle ball if he had any hope of becoming a big leaguer - a transition that he has certainly been successful in making, having won the National League Cy Young as the best pitcher in baseball in 2012. However, in telling his story he said something interesting: “I’m in no way a self-made man.” R.A. then spoke about all of the people who loved him and cared for him in his life and profession - people that made it possible for him to be the man he is today. And I thought, “That is so awesome”.

I know what people mean when they point to someone and describe him or her as a self-made man or woman. But, is it ever truly possible to be that person who is so stable on their own two feet that their family, education, faith and all the amazing people that they have in their lives has not shaped the person they have become? The greatest of people on this earth are in fact a combination of a whole series of influences both positive and negative that allow them to be the man or women that they are.

For example, I am excellent at doing dishes…but I didn’t start out that way. When the lovely Janice agreed to marry me 25 years ago, I was actually very poor at house cleaning. I often say I didn’t know what dirt was until I married Janice, as she just kept pointing it out to me all the time. Now 25 years later I have become quite accomplished at dishes, cleaning bathrooms, and the even the occasional vacuuming of the house. Janice has influenced the man I am today.

I work at The Mustard Seed, an amazing organization that is doing all it can each and every day to build community, grow hope and support change amongst Alberta’s homeless population. Amongst my friends on the street I have truly met some of the most amazing people that I have ever met in my life. Talented people and often terribly intelligent people who had dreams and visions of what their life was going to be. None of these dreams involved being homeless.

Unfortunately, the homeless are often stereotyped in very negative ways. They are described often by people who have never taken the time to hear a homeless person’s story as somehow they deserve what has happened to them, that they must have done something to deserve their situation. Failing to recognize that homelessness is something that happens to good people. That it is, in fact, but a symptom just as most addictions we see all around us are symptoms. The illness is a world that is increasingly so self-possessed that we miss the whole point of our existence on this earth. So how do we finally once and for all kill these misconceptions?

Well, if there is truly no such thing as a self-made man or women – at least in the truest sense, if they are in fact really nothing more than compilation of a series of influences of people and circumstances. We now have an ability to understand my friends on the street. They also are not self-made men and women. They also are more often than not a compilation of a series of influences of people and circumstances; however, in the case of the homeless these have seldom been positive.

We are surrounded by people to whom we could be that source of positive influence or experience, so they too could one day stand up as R.A Dickey did and say, “I’m not a self-made man.” Then they too could talk about all the people who loved them and cared for them in their lives and professions that made it possible for them to be the man or women they are today. The formerly homeless.

- Bill Nixon, Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed
@billbytheminute

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Something Practical Families Can Do For The Homeless

2013-02-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago I saw a sight I hadn’t seen since living in Vancouver. I saw a young man walking in between cars parked at a stop light along one of our city's busiest roads. He was rugged, wearing clothes that were old and tattered. His beard was long and almost ready for dreadlocks.   He had a cardboard sign that he held in front of him as he walked, stating his homeless situation.

I quickly started to look for something, anything I could give him. Nothing. I was panicked, as I was sure the light would turn green and I would miss my chance. Finally I found three quarters. I rolled down my window and yelled for him to come. As I bashfully gave him my measly seventy-five cents he said “Thank you so much. Everyone has ignored me all day”. It was six at night. All day?   All I could think of saying in response was, “Well, I noticed you. God bless”.

Do you ever wish you could go back and say something a little better? It just all happened so fast. As I drove away I said a prayer for him and decided that I needed to get an emergency bag in my van.

What’s that you ask? I read in “The Missional Mom” by Helen Lee about the idea of having a zip-lock bag filled with a warm pair of socks, granola bars, snacks, gift certificates to places that serve coffee, toiletries, etc and a note with a prayer or sentiment. The idea is to have the bag in the vehicle so that when your path crosses with someone such as the young man I saw, you have something truly valuable ready to give them. Beats scrounging around for quarters.

I went home with the best of intentions to get that ready…. and then I forgot.

The next morning, after dropping off my son at school, I was at the gas station and what did I see? Another homeless man out early with his shopping cart looking for pop cans in the garbages. Why didn’t I pack that bag? This time my search for something to give him came out empty. By the time I looked up, he was gone.

You may wonder why the effort? Is it really worth going through all that thought just for a random person who may not even be in need? Or what if they’re just collecting money to buy alcohol?   That’s why I like the zip-lock bag. It’s practical, shows someone actually put thought into pre-planning meeting up with someone in need, and hopefully the thought and the written encouragement inside gives them something they may have not experienced in a long time….. hope.

And hope is something you can live off of for awhile when you haven’t had any.

Here's something YOUR FAMILY can do together!
- take a trip to the grocery store to buy large freezer bags, water, juice, socks, granola bars, gift cards to McDonald's, Tim Hortons, bus tickets, anything else that would help (eg: winter: gloves, hats)
- lay out all the items and stuff the bags with your kids
- write notes of encouragement or draw pictures
- put the bags in your vehicle ready to give away!

Check out Connie Jakab's blog at http://culturerebel.com where she blogs about her family's adventures in serving the less fortunate and her continued rebellion to what culture tells us. Be sure to pick up her book, "Culture Rebel - because the world has enough desperate housewives" at http://culturerebel.com/books/. You can find Connie on Twitter at @ConnieJakab

We Are All in This Together

2013-01-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Melbourne Harbor, Australia

Space travel these days is nowhere near as popular in the public eye as it was when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Today, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is sure helping these efforts as he tweets from the International Space Station (ISS) several times a day. Before he blasted off from Kazakhstan on December 19, Hadfield had 20,000 Twitter followers and today he has over 283,000. I have really appreciated the view from space through his pictures and his short 140 character or less tweets. From the spectacular view of the volcanoes at Mt. Taranaki in New Zealand to the harbor in Melbourne, Australia, Chris is giving us a spectacular view of earth from the ISS. The fact that he can tweet from space and I can read it on my mobile phone moments later still amazes me and I assume this has drawn many of the 249,000 who follow him.

One of his tweets in particular a few weeks ago inspired me and has encouraged me down here on earth:

“The world just unrolls itself for you and you see it absolutely discreetly as one place.”

This statement spurs me into thinking a few things:

1. We are all in this thing called life together, all 7 billion of us
2. The sooner we can love our neighbours as ourselves and set aside our differences, the quicker the distance between us all will decrease

Today our world is divided by so many factors. Language, race, religion, gender, socio-economic status and many other factors. While some of these we are born with or born into, others we will eventually have a say in how they play out in our lives. In my travels around the world and through my career working with people affected by homelessness and poverty I have witnessed firsthand the wide gap between the rich and poor and between the developed and developing world. I see people on the streets of downtown Calgary scurry by the gentleman begging for lunch money or the young lady caught up in prostitution who is only trying to survive in this fast paced and expensive city. When I see them I am reminded of the successful man I met who made $200k+ a year and lost his wife and children in a car accident and could not return to ‘life’. He ended up losing his home, his job and felt abandoned by his friends as they struggled to support him with his newly diagnosed mental health concerns. I am also reminded of a young lady I knew well who hated the reality of sex work but did so to make ends meet and survive the only way she knew how. As she was starting to turn things around in her life unfortunately she was tragically murdered. A close friend said once “these are our mothers and fathers; our brothers and sisters; our sons and daughters.” You see each person is one or many of those. They are a precious person made in God’s own image and they are not only living in our downtown cores or in poorer neighbourhoods, they are living next door to you, across the hall from you and likely in your very own family.

When I have the privilege to speak and educate the public on the issues of poverty and homelessness, I challenge each one from kindergarten to graduate studies that the answers for these issues lay in our hands, in our mouths and in our time. We each need to take a step back and realise that we live in our neighbourhoods right now for a time such as this. We need not travel abroad to see and help brokenness; all we need to do is look out our back window and find practical ways to love our neighbour as ourselves. These efforts will break down borders and fences we put up to keep the those who are different from ourselves or those who make us feel uncomfortable in our society and will help us realize that we are all in this thing called life together, all 7 billion of us.

Byron Bradley, Student Engagement Coordinator, The Mustard Seed
Twitter: @sportsguyB

Follow Chris Hadfield on Twitter @Cmdr_Hadfield

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Downsizing

2013-01-21T14:03:00.001-07:00

Welcome to 2013!

About 2 years ago, my lovely wife Janice and I downsized our housing. We had the traditional 2500-square-foot, 3-bedroom home with a 1000-square-foot unfinished basement that stored mostly junk… I mean, we could have run a season of Storage Wars in our basement! So, we bought a townhouse, 10 units over from my Mom, and let someone else do our yard work for us, leaving us with the challenge of what to do with all of this unnecessary stuff; all that stuff that we must have seen some value in, or else why did we keep it?

Well, Janice saw some value – we lived in that house for 7 years and there were actual boxes that had not been unpacked, along with a broken ping-pong table that one day I was (supposedly) going to repair. Like that was going to happen!

So, choices had to be made, furniture given away, and boxes of stuff had to go.

I wonder if our walk with God can, on occasion, use this same kind of “clearing out” of the basement. I mean, just how much baggage have we gathered that common sense says, “Toss it out, why are you hanging on to that?” What are the priorities, and more importantly, what are the distractions that so easily come to us in this world? How do we avoid the kind of modern idolatry that is so prevalent in our lives, recognizing that for most of us, this will not involve worshiping false Gods. Our idolatry is much more subtle.

Money – Do not store up for yourselves treasures on this earth….. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6: 19-21

The number-one cause of distraction in our lives is often our money and our “stuff”: our physical possessions. More often than not, we are seeking to answer the question of “How am I going to get more money so that I can buy more stuff?” Now, personally, I like "stuff" as much as anyone. I can often be found in front of my 65-inch Samsung Idol watching some kind of sporting event. However, when our stuff becomes more important to us than God or the people in our lives, it is likely stuff that needs to be dealt with.

We are by nature easily distracted from the things that are really the best for us. It’s actually very easy to get off of a first-love relationship with God, and instead focus on things that at first glance are seemingly not a problem. Yet it is those necessary things, and those subtle things, that more often than not interfere with our walk with God.

So maybe that’s where the downsizing needs to take place in 2013 – not the obvious stuff, but the subtle stuff that we have stacked up in our spiritual basements that have prevented us from ‘seeking first His Kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)

- Bill Nixon, Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed
@billbytheminute

Faces and Names

2013-01-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
- Leo Buscaglia

I gave my mom a tour of The Mustard Seed Calgary’s Centre Street location yesterday afternoon. She just so happened to be in the area, which was an almost-miracle in itself, as she is NEVER in the downtown core, due to the outrageous parking prices and confusing one-way traffic streets. She also has never had the opportunity to view the building(s) where her daughter spends 5-out-of-7 days a week, even though she shares the same very strong passion and drive that I do to help the men and women in our city that are in need, so this seemed like a great time to change that. Add-in the fact that I was smack-dab in the middle of a lengthy website SEO analysis when she called and could use a quick break, so I jumped on the opportunity to show her our downtown digs.

As much of an eye-opening experience that this must have been for her, I, too, walked away from the experience with somewhat of a perspective shift. I have worked for The Mustard Seed long enough that I find I am generally pretty comfortable in my surroundings that include daily interaction with a portion of the homeless population in Calgary. I’d estimate that I could pass anywhere from 20-50 individuals who are experiencing homelessness on any given day, whether I’m running back and forth between buildings for meetings, running an errand, or grabbing lunch. These men and women may be lining up for an afternoon meal, chatting among themselves outside of our doors, or simply walking down the streets in our neighborhood. It’s often a highlight of my day to have a brief chat in passing with them – “Hi, how are you doing?” “This is what’s new with my family; this is what happened the other day; man it is cold/warm/windy/sunny out today!”

So, I was slightly taken aback when I noticed the small amount of timidity and apprehension in my mom’s mannerism as guests approached us for a quick chat, as if she wasn’t quite sure how to react to them. It caused me to rewind my mind into the past and consider my own views on homeless men and women prior to my time working at The Mustard Seed. I remember being somewhat nervous as well when I would be approached for spare change while walking down the street or entering a store, and would respond with either a quick “I’m sorry, I don’t have any”, or else by dropping some money into their open hands if I had any available with a quick smile. Needless to say, I definitely hadn’t been Little Miss Suzie Sunshine striking up any lasting conversations!

It’s amazing to compare and contrast my views now, after almost a year and a half of working in such close proximity with our homeless population. If I could summarize what I have learned of my dealings with these men and women in any one way, I would say that I’ve found that these people are really “just like you and I”. They have good days, and bad days. Good things happen in their lives, and so do bad things. They have relationships that mean the world to them, families, hobbies and passions. They struggle in their faith, experience hurt emotions, and also experience moments of happiness and excitement. They are often interesting to talk to, and many of those conversations have come to be a permanent highlight of my day. As one fellow in particular had mentioned to me just last week, “We are not dangerous – we are just misunderstood”.

I made a quiet promise to myself yesterday to become more aware and deliberate in my conversations; to make sure I am relaying this information as much as possible in my daily life. Not just in our social media postings or other digital interactions for The Mustard Seed, but also to my own friends and family. The money that you, our donors, so generously give to our organization and the hours that you, our volunteers, so diligently spend here in service do not just support a nameless, faceless statistic on the street - rather, they support individual men and women, each with a unique story to tell of their own - stories of pain, trials and tribulations, dreams, goals, and hopes for the future.

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart, and head, and hands."
- Robert M. Pirsig

- Jennifer Fast, Digital Marketing & Web Manager, The Mustard Seed
@loveismotion222

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Love in Action

2013-01-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

“For one human being to love another, that is perhaps the most difficult of all of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.”

-Rainer Maria Rilke

The streets are covered in snow. The markings of foot and tire remain etched into its whiteness, tall corporations stand in stark comparison to the blue in the sky and outside the doors of The Mustard Seed, a crowd of people are waiting to be let in for lunch.

One year ago I would have not known a single face in this crowd. I had just returned to Calgary and was far removed from the world that exists on Centre Street and 11 Avenue. All of this changed when I was hired on as an Employment Coach.

I was admitted into this world, into this vortex of pain and loss, healing and resurrection. This street, where the lives of the people who access The Mustard Seed services are lived out, was suddenly my own. Since then I have walked up and down this street, standing with those upon it. I have run from the 102 building to the 106 building, crossing Centre Street multiple times a day. I entered the premises of these lives, that once seemed so separate and unlike my own.

There are moments I look from the window at those faces below, faces that emerge from the black and blue collars of the oversized coats that are worn. Faces full of lines that share where they have been, and I wonder if my place here is relevant. Does my part in their world make a bit of difference? Is it possible that despite my reservations and fears I can find within myself the strength to love them; the love that not only brightens their lives but also my own?

I come face to face with the answer every now and then, it occurs at the pivotal moments when I forget where I stand in relation to them. When I do not view them from the window but when I engage in relationship with them on that street below.

The pivotal moments I speak of orbit around our meagre attempts to love, and at times transform the moments themselves, ergo, the lives that exist within them.

The Moments: Dropping a guest off at an interview and experiencing the nervousness of waiting to hear all about it. Listening with pride as an employer talks about how well the guest is doing in a job they had just acquired. Sitting with a guest and listening to their story. The moments that bring me closer to our guests are those moments that pull me into their world, seamlessly, without effort. This is love in action.

And this I know, for one human being to love another is the most difficult of tasks, and also one of the most rewarding. I have found that to love is to render oneself to equal bouts of hope and fear; to rise and fall with our guests in the mutual experience of their hopes and fears.

So now, as I watch the streets that surround The Mustard Seed, I do not see strangers that exist there in a world that is not my own. I see a man who recently lost his daughter, a woman who just left an abusive relationship, a brother who just lost his job, and a sister who is looking for a second chance, in a world that we share. Through these shared experiences we learn to love. When we learn to love we become transformed.

- Laura S, Employment Coach, The Mustard Seed
Laura S on Twitter: @schoenberglaura

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What I Didn't Enjoy About Serving the Poor on Christmas Eve

2013-01-09T09:56:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve 2012, Calgary: Minus 25 degrees celsius and FREE-ZING. There went our idea of walking downtown handing out our carefully made homemade care packages for the homeless. I was wondering what to do, as its no easy task taking two boys under the age of 6 out on the best of days.

I decided we would drive around downtown and pass out the packages through the window. Easy, right? It was a brilliant plan except for the fact that there was no one out on the streets. I decided to pop into our local homeless shelter and they graciously allowed us to stand at the door while guests entered the building to give out our gifts.

The kids loved handing out our packages to the guests as they came through the door. I was having fun as well, but this nagging thought kept going through my mind as the guests hustled along through the doors after they had received their gift. "Does this truly make them feel special?", I thought to myself. My answer to myself was, "Of course, how could it not!", but the more I saw our little Christmas joy as a do-good assembly line, the more dissatisfied I became.

Don't get me wrong, I know the guests were thankful. It was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces, but I wonder how many people head down to the shelters around Christmas, do their good deed, and then leave? I didn't want to just give and leave, yet that's exactly what we were doing: giving then leaving. On the way back to the van, my six year old asked; "Can we go get fries now?". Good deed done - now lets get fries. Am I the only oddball to not be ok with this?

I wanted to give these homeless guests something greater that day. I wanted to give them my full attention, an engaging conversation. I wanted to give them more than a two second smile before they had to carry on through the door. I would have loved to sit down at a table to shoot the breeze for a few minutes with even just a few of them. I wanted them to feel valued.... noticed.

It took us only fifteen minutes to give all our packages away before we left to go back to our comfy lives.

When it comes to giving to the homeless, I don't do it to be altruistic or to even teach my kids about "giving back". I don't do it so we can be reminded about how lucky we are. I do it because my Savior adores the poor. I do it because I see humanity in them. I do it because within the depths of my soul I care earnestly for their well-being. So you can see why a quick handout isn't enough for me to give. I long to give them more than that. I believe they deserve more.

I pray my dissatisfaction can turn into tangible change in my own life in how I interact with the poor throughout 2013.

- Connie Jakab

Originally posted on January 7, 2013 here.

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All I Want For Christmas

2013-01-02T10:26:00.002-07:00

I have just celebrated my 52nd Christmas. I feel like that makes me somewhat of a “Christmas Expert”. I mean, 52 years of doing Christmas correctly (and more often than not, incorrectly) should at least qualify one to have an “informed opinion”, don’t you think?

The buildup to Christmas is awesome. It is like the ultimate snowball: flying down the hill, gathering size and speed. There are lights, boxes of decorations to haul around the house, and (not one, but two) trees that require decorating. Generally around our house, the official kick-off begins with a Christmas Eve service, followed by way too much food, all in preparation for Christmas Day, which also involves way too much food.

Don’t forget the gifts – most of which have been purchased with a sense of desperation that can only be found in a man dying of thirst looking for water. With the gifts comes the built-in competitiveness that also exists around most decorated Christmas trees. The feeling that you have to “get them something” and that it has to be better than what they got you in order for you to be the official “Winner of Christmas Day”. In 52 years, I have never even come close to winning this competition as documented in the “what were you thinking” look on my wife’s face when she opens that carefully and environmentally-negligently-wrapped box the last 25 years.

After all the “Christmas stuff” is complete, I find myself sitting on a couch thinking, “What was this really all about?” I’ve been known to read the Bible on occasion and there is little doubt we are to tell the story of the birth of Jesus and all that it entails, and there is no doubt that is something to celebrate. I mean, think about it… the Word became flesh and dwelt among us – the incarnation. In Jesus, the eternal, all-powerful and all-knowing creator of the universe became flesh.

But why would God do such a thing? Why would he come as a baby, instead of appearing in power and majesty? Why make himself a true man and live among us, when he knew full well how terribly he would be treated? Well, John 3:16 tells us that His motive was simple: He loves us. Jesus came as an expression of God’s love. Christmas is supposed to be about Jesus. It’s really that simple.

I am as guilty as anyone else of settling for the lukewarm, commercialized version of Christmas. But as I reflect now on my 52nd Christmas, my question is this: Are we in, fact, not settling for much less? All I want for Christmas, I already received in Christ - what else could I possibly need?

- Bill Nixon, Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed
@billbytheminute

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Week 4 of the ADVENT-ure

2012-12-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Week 4 (December 23 - Fourth Sunday of Advent – Christmas, December 25)

An Advent Reflection:

The Mustard Seed in Edmonton calls a 100 year old church its home. Originally home to the congregation of Central Baptist Church, later becoming home to a country and western bar, and most recently home to the Mustard Seed, the building has seen many different types of community happen under its roof over the past 100 years.

Today we see anywhere between 200 and 400 people every day coming through our doors looking for ways to meet their needs. Perhaps they have physical need like food, shelter, warmth, or clothing. They may have emotional need too, perhaps they are lonely, lost, or hopeless and they have arrived to see if they can find the care they need for their hearts. We see all kinds of poverty here. We see physical poverty, spiritual poverty, economic poverty, bodily poverty, mental poverty, cultural poverty, political poverty, and societal poverty. Though we don’t hold a formal church service here anymore, I often say that I think we do “church” here every day, sometimes even kind of like it describes in Acts 42-47.

Advent is drawing to a conclusion this week. Tomorrow, Christmas will be here. For many of our community members, they are wrapped up so deeply in poverty, that this great occasion of celebration that we have spent the last four weeks preparing for, will simply go by unnoticed; just another day. For others will be one of the most painful days of the year; a day of feeling the pain of having no place to call home and no people to call their own.

Today we invite you to have the eyes to see people in poverty in your life. People who are experiencing some type of poverty; physical or otherwise, and invite them into a place where they can belong.

Author and advocate Chris Heuertz shares a beautiful and touching story about seeing Christ here on earth in the clip Remembering Mary and Joseph, check it out: http://vimeo.com/33829623

An Advent Invitation: (an idea for getting active during the advent season)

Help us continue to be a place that provides a place for people to belong. By supporting the Mustard Seed, you are helping us to provide homes for people who need them, and fostering community for those seeking a place to belong. Visit our website for more information: http://www.theseed.ca/christmas.html

Have you had an advent reflection of your own to share? Write a blog for us and submit it to: JenniferFast@theseed.ca to be posted on our blog.

Prayers for Advent:

This week please pray for all the people in our community who struggle with the holiday season. That the love of God would bring peace and comfort to them in difficult times.

Please pray that we would be able to provide a community that everyone who walks through our doors would feel appreciated and accepted in, and that the love of God would be present in our work.

Jesus you are the Prince of Peace, you are the Justice of the Father. Grant us the courage to emulate your ministry by bringing healing to all our relationships. Grant us the wisdom to know what is pleasing to your Father.

A Prayer Excerpt from Common Book of Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Christ is coming. Christ has come. Christ will come again.

Psalm 104:32-37 Isaiah 10:20-27 Luke 1:26-38

Christ is coming. Christ has come. Christ will come again.

Thank you Lord that your promises are not for some distant future but are to be claimed right now, today. Teach us what we must do and say in our local communities and in our larger world to participate in your promise. Amen.

A big Merry Christmas from all of us at the Mustard Seed, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKZcvICpzS4&feature=share

The advent season has come to a close, but follow our twitter feed (@mustardseedyeg) and our blog for more thought provoking reflections throughout the year----- Subscribe to The Mustard Seed Blog via RSS

Systems and Stories

2012-12-17T12:43:00.002-07:00

Working in the Employment Department at The Mustard Seed necessitates walking a fine line between systems that we implement in order to help people find work, and entering into their stories. As a society, we are very focused on systems. It is the way that we garner information and the source upon which we base our successes and failures. In our line of work, it is often very tempting for us to fall into the same mode of seeing things around us and only looking at how many people landed jobs or how many companies in our city have offered to work with us in a given week. Granted, these things are important. We need to have tangible data in order for us to see what is working and what isn’t, what needs to be jettisoned in our program and what should stay. The great danger comes when only numbers matter.

In my opinion, I think that having a “system only” focus keeps us safe. Because society has laid out the “system” for us already, we, as members of that community need only to “buy in”. It shelters us. It protects us from leaning into discomfort. The system tells us that everyone should have a job and that if they don’t, they are “lazy bums”. It says that addiction only happens to people who are weak and if they would only try harder, they would have success in beating their demons. It labels success by monetary means and failure as anything less than the ideal. Unfortunately, when we begin to buy into this way of reasoning or adopt a way of seeing life that keeps us sheltered and protected, we do ourselves a great disservice. As our belief in success vs. failure, rich vs. poor and addict vs. clean begins to widen the gap between us and those around us, I feel that we lose touch with our own story.

As humans, we are born for community. We see it everyday in our shelter in South East Calgary. People who have lived for a long time “on the mats” can sometimes have a problem leaving the confines of those walls, not because the beds are particularly comfortable, but because of the people that they have grown to know and love that share that space. The “problem” with true community is that in order for it to work right, it necessitates vulnerability. Most often that vulnerability presents itself in story. As I have worked in the Employment Program over the past year, coaching many people to move past barriers and find sustainable, long term employment, I have realized one thing over and over again: we are ALL the same. There is no one “better” or “worse”. I have heard story upon story upon story, some filled with great tragedy, others filled with incredible joy and victory. And as I have had to listen to those tales about divorce, addiction, insecurity, and pain, I have been forced to look into my own heart to deal with my divorce, my addictions, my insecurities and my pain.

To see one of my guests beam because he has been two weeks clean and hasn’t exploded at his boss yet. To hear about the pain of Christmas from another who won’t see his children this year. To sit with someone as the arthritis in their knees has forced them, yet again, to leave a job that they loved. To laugh and cry, many times in the same conversation with a man who was forced to carry a gun through jungles at the young age of 12. These are the moments that carry weight. And in these moments, I have realized that for whatever time, I have gained some incredible friends that have helped me see my own flaws and failures, my incredible strengths and telling successes.

This week, I will be leaving The Mustard Seed and even now I feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I think about those I will be leaving behind. It is not the numbers and targets, the paperwork and the administrative tasks that I will take with me from here. For the rest of my life, I will carry those stories in my heart. I will see their faces etched in my memory. And I will remember that while the system only ever gives us data, it is the stories of those around us that help us to face ourselves.

I ask that next time you see that panhandler sitting on the corner, the drunk man stumbling into McDonalds to use the washroom, or the high powered businessman rushing past you to make a meeting, realize that there is a story behind every one of us. It’s a story that weaves us together and perhaps in that realization, it will begin to help us help each other.

- Jay Brazeau, Employment Coach, The Mustard Seed

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ADVENT Week 3

2012-12-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Week 3 (December 16 - Third Sunday of Advent – December 22)

An Advent Reflection:

Last week we reflected on the waiting we do in advent, but also the waiting we experience here at the Mustard Seed as we wait for the kingdom of God to come here on earth. But in other ways, we also see that not only are we waiting for the coming King, we also have some beautiful opportunities to witness that the kingdom has also already arrived. In a world marked by violence, starvation, over consumption, and poverty, how can we still become a community of joy? Matthew 3:2 says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." So we are waiting for the kingdom to come in fullness and glory here on earth, but we are also bearing witness to the many ways the kingdom is showing itself here joyfully on earth every day. This is where we draw our joy and also our hope from; seeing the face of Jesus in our community. In the people who come through our doors for dinner, in the faces of our staff as they comfort one another during a difficult shift, in the hands of our volunteers as they prepare meals and serve our community each night, in the acts of kindness and generosity that we see even amongst our community members. Beautiful acts of love and generosity, the Holy Spirit at work through us each day.

Follow the link for a short clip from Pastor Rudy Rasmus about his view on Advent. It’s called: A Resurrected Christmas and I think you’ll like it.

http://vimeo.com/32450067

An Advent Invitation: (an idea for getting active during the advent season)

Gift giving is a big part of the holiday season. I was discussing Christmas with a friend of mine the other day and she was telling me about how every Christmas she spends hours preparing to get her family the perfect gifts. She takes great joy from watching her family open carefully chosen and wrapped gifts on Christmas day. It is in a sense, a gift to her to be able to see the joy in her family as they open their present from her. She lamented to me the fact that each year one member of her family would not accept a gift from her. She would take extra care to find something she thought they would like, but they would never accept the gift saying, “oh no, I couldn’t, I don’t have any need right now.” Each year she would make a second trip to the store to return the unaccepted gift. “It makes me feel terrible. It’s like she is too good for the gift I have to offer her.” There was so much hurt in her voice as she described the feeling of her gift rejection!

One thing I’ve learned through working at the Mustard Seed is of the beauty of gift giving. The other day one of our community members came up to me and said, “How are you? You look tired! Can I get you a cold drink?” At first I was a little taken aback, I was tired. I had been working all day and it was now well into the evening. I accepted his offer, expecting him to return with a mug of cold water from the kitchen, but he returned with a can of juice he had purchased from the pop machine in our building. I was shocked. Emptied by humility. Filled with gratitude. In a job where we are constantly trying to meet the needs of people who go without, this man had seen a need (perhaps one that I didn’t even recognize in myself), and filled that need with a dollar and tremendous generosity. It was solidarity in action, the kingdom coming to earth, while I was working to make sure his needs were met, he was doing the same for me. It was Christian community at its finest, each of us bringing our gifts and talents and potential together to create community as the hands and feet of Christ.

This Advent Season, I want to invite you to see gift giving in a new light. There is something special about being able to give someone a gift, and perhaps there is something special about receiving a gift too. In a way, when we receive a gift with graciousness and gratitude, we are returning a gift of joy to the person who showing the spirit of giving to us.

May we be conscious of both the gifts we give, but also the not-so-obvious one’s we receive too! Perhaps this is one way we can see Christ in our neighbor this season.

Want to get active in gift giving? We have plenty of opportunities: http://www.theseed.ca/christmas.html

Have you had an advent reflection of your own to share? Write a blog for us and submit it to: JenniferFast@theseed.ca to be posted on our blog.

Prayers for Advent:

This week, please pray for the people in our city who will go without this holiday season.

For those who have no family to share the holidays with.

For the strength of our staff, and all inner city workers, that we would have patience and compassion always.

For all Christians, that each day we would have the eyes to see the signs that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and that our joy and hope from the resurrected Christ would spread His kingdom through fascination instead of fear.

A Prayer Excerpt from Common Book of Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Fourth Century poet Ephrem the Syrian wrote, “The word of God is a tree of life that offers us blessed fruit from each of its branches. It is like that rock that was struck open in the wilderness, from which all were offered spiritual drink. Be glad then that you are overwhelmed, and do not be saddened because he has overcome you. A thirsty person is happy when drinking, and not depressed, because the spring is inexhaustible. You can satisfy your thirst without exhausting the spring; then when you thirst again, you can drink from it once more.”

God of abundance, help us live today trusting that there will be enough for tomorrow. Your sources have no end. Teach us to share our resources, believing that the more we give, the more you will provide for all.

Sign up for our advent email list (paulacornell@theseed.ca) or follow our twitter feed (@mustardseedyeg) and our blog to receive a weekly Advent reflection focused on Justice, Poverty, and the reason for the season; Christ.

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What Being Homeless for a Week Taught Me

2012-12-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

As a little kid, I had an unusually large fear of becoming homeless. Maybe it had to do with overhearing conversations between the adults in my life about paying the bills, and making ends meet; perhaps it stemmed from the nervous anxiety I felt every time I walked or drove past a person on the street who was panhandling for change or pushing a shopping cart full of empty bottles.

Regardless, I resolved at a very early age to never let myself wind up in that position. By the age of six, I was meticulously saving my paper route money, declining to go with my friends and spend my hard-earned cash on Beanie Babies or candy.

This pattern (and my somewhat irrational fear) continued throughout my childhood and teenage years; in high school, I worked for straight As so that I could earn scholarships to help pay for my university tuition, and took part-time jobs so I could pay my other expenses and save for a car.

When I started working at The Mustard Seed, an organization that partners with individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty, a little less than two years ago, my ignorant fear of those on the streets quickly disappeared and, I'm grateful to say, was replaced by love and compassion for those without fixed addresses. However, my cautious lifestyle of saving and budgeting continued. I would consider myself a fairly responsible person, and I think many of my co-workers and friends would agree.

So you can imagine the shock I felt when one week very recently, I found myself homeless.

I returned home one evening after a fun day out with friends to find that I needed to leave the place where I was living due to circumstances beyond my control. I had less than one hour to throw my clothes, textbooks, important documents, special photographs -- in other words, the contents of my life -- into suitcases and duffel bags, unsure if I'd be able to return, and worried about leaving anything irreplaceable behind.

When I walked out my front door and put my belongings in my car, it was close to midnight. I was fortunate to get in touch with one friend who told me that he was not allowed to have people staying in his apartment as part of his rental agreement, but that he could offer me his couch for one night. I gratefully accepted.

I don't think I'll ever forget the emotions I experienced as I was driving to work at The Mustard Seed the next morning. I had gotten a combined total of about 45 minutes of sleep throughout that first night and finally got up with the sunrise. I threw on my staff shirt and got in my car to head to the shelter for a 12-hour shift.

I hadn't eaten since the previous afternoon (my friend, God bless him, is one of those bachelors who survives on fast food, and whose fridge usually contains pop, stale take-out containers, and that random jar of mayonnaise that has long since expired), and I had no money in my pocket to buy breakfast somewhere on the way.

I sobbed tears of frustration and exhaustion on the drive across the city, asking God to give me strength to make it through the day. I knew I had to pull myself together, because a lot of times, our jobs at The Mustard Seed are all about holding it together for other people, whose lives are falling apart in front of them and who are often just looking for some stability in the midst of chaos.

I wiped my eyes and walked in the door with a smile on my face, all the while wondering where I was going to sleep that evening. I eventually resigned myself to the fact that I would be couch-surfing and, if necessary, spending a few nights in my car when it was 15 degrees below zero outside.

The hardest part of that week was trying to maintain some semblance of normality in every other aspect of my life. I had exams to write for school, homework to complete, volunteer commitments to fulfill, and most of all, I had my job at The Mustard Seed.

Throughout the whole experience I told only two of my co-workers, who are also close friends; the rest never had any idea (though if they're reading this, I guess they do now!), not because they are not caring and understanding people, but because I simply couldn't get past the shame of my situation to confide in them that I was in desperate need of support.

I am thankful to have many teammates who would have reached out to me without a second thought, but my own self-esteem simply didn't know how to handle the blow. I have such great joy when I lend a helping hand to other people -- and conversely, I have great difficulty being on the receiving end. I was afraid that it would change how my co-workers saw me or related to me (kind of a ridiculous and ironic fear for me to have, when you consider that the very nature of our work involves being compassionate and non-judgmental).

I tell this story for one reason: to highlight the incredible resilience of those living on the streets. I was fortunate. My experience was fleeting, and yet, that brief stint of not having a place to call home impacted me greatly. Had it lasted much longer, I don't think I would have been able to maintain my daily routine, making it to work each day and keeping up with my schooling.

I also had friends' couches to sleep on, and a car for transportation. Many of the people I know have been experiencing homelessness for months or years, without any of the resources I had to fall back on. And yet, a vast number of them still manage to wake up every morning and head out the doors of our emergency shelter to get on a bus to work.

Whether their job is bottle-picking, manual labour, retail, customer service, or any number of other possibilities, they'll spend as many as 10 or 12 hours a day working before getting on another bus and coming back to the shelter, kicking off their shoes, and collapsing on their mat to get a few hours of sleep before doing it all over again the next morning.

There's this myth that homeless people must simply be irresponsible slackers, and that's why they don't have housing of their own. Some people have the notion in their heads that we live in a meritocracy, where you will succeed if you have talent, ability and a drive to work hard -- if you don't succeed, then you must incompetent or lazy.

Addictions and mental health issues play a critical role in the lives of many who find themselves on the streets, but for countless others -- those categorized as "the working poor" -- living in a shelter was once as unlikely and unimaginable as it is for you who may be reading this. The reality, however, is that a single life event -- the loss of a job, an unexpected hike in monthly rent, a serious injury requiring costly medical care -- can be enough to turn someone's world upside down, and leave that individual in a position which they never expected to be.

My experience has brought me a new perspective at work. I have more patience than I used to, and I take extra time to speak with first-time guests as I guide them through the intake process. Newcomers are often scared, intimidated, and stunned that their circumstances have led them to a homeless shelter. If we can offer them a little bit of comfort, reassurance, and support to ease the blow, then it allows them the opportunity to open up to staff and to process their situation internally.

My ultimate goal is that one day, The Mustard Seed and shelters like it would be merely a stopover in each guest's journey, and that individuals would need to access our services for no more than one or two nights before finding a place to call home. There is a great deal of discussion that needs to take place as an organization, a city, and a country to make that day come. In the meantime, it's back to work.

- Taj Hall, Support Worker at The Mustard Seed, Twitter: @therealtajhall

Originally Posted on Huffington Post Blog, Dec 9 2012:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/taj-hall/homeless_b_2248291.html

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ADVENT Week 2

2012-12-07T13:30:00.002-07:00

Week 2 (December 9 - Second Sunday of Advent – December 15)

An Advent Reflection:

Feasts and Fasts:

“Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance! It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world.” - Dennis Bratcher

We see oppression and injustice here are the Mustard Seed every day. We see the members of our community struggle to get enough hours at their jobs, to save enough money to get an apartment, to resist addiction, to make ends meet, to find food and shelter, to find a place where they feel like they belong. We often see cycles that echo the waiting of advent; there is a spirit of expectation and anticipation as our friends wait to hear back from a job interview or a rental application, there is a longing for a change for the better, a yearning for a new opportunity. Sometimes the employer or the landlord phones back, a bed opens up, a spot on the waitlist becomes available. But sometimes, too often it seems, the employer doesn’t phone back, the landlord chooses another tenant, and the waitlist stays full. And so we continue to wait. We wait for new opportunities each day, for doors to open, and lives to be changed, but more than that, we wait for The Kingdom to come here on Earth as it is in Heaven. We wait for the day when no one will go hungry, when everyone will have a home and a place where they feel like they belong.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Advent has been a season of celebration, but also a season of fasting. The Coming of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament and Judaism was often in connection with themes of oppression and injustice, the longing for redemption from the systemic evils of the world (Rom 8:18-25). Of course, there is the problem of longing for vindication from an evil world when we are contributors to that evil; we long for freedom from oppression but we so easily buy into the consumerism of the holiday season, a systemic form of oppression that contributes to economic injustice all over the world. This is the power of the images of Amos when he warns about longing for the "Day of the Lord" that will really be a day of darkness (Amos 5:18-20). Still, even with Amos’ warning the time of Advent is one of expectation and anticipation, a longing for God's actions to restore all things. Advent becomes a season of both joyous expectancy but also perhaps a time for fasting as well.

Excerpts and Ideas from Dennis Bratcher, read more here: http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html

An Advent Invitation: (an idea for getting active during the advent season)

We invite you to join the hungry in solidarity and spend some time this advent season fasting to remember those who continue to hunger while we sit down for our holiday feasts. Maybe it’s fasting from one meal a day for a week and spending the meal hour praying instead, or maybe its fasting from buying fast food for the advent season, and spending the money on meals for the less fortunate instead. Whatever it is for you, we invite you to fast with us this advent season in anticipation for a day when the Kingdom will come here on Earth, and all will have enough according to their need.

Perhaps you will have thoughts about fasting that you would like to share? Write a blog for us and submit it to: JenniferFast@theseed.ca to be posted on our blog.

Prayers for Advent:

This week, please pray for those that are hungry, that they would have enough to eat not only today, but every day.

Please pray for our meal program at the Mustard Seed, that our meals would be tasty, healthy, and good for our community, that our volunteers and the people coming to eat dinner would experience the joy of community through the experience of dinner at the Mustard Seed.

A Prayer Excerpt from Common Book of Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

Praise to you who lift up the poor: and fill the hungry with good things.

Read Psalm 22:22-25

Lord, when we strive after healing in the world and nourishment for those who hunger, we find you at our side. Whenever we long to see your face, help us not to avoid the corners of our communities where you most often dwell. Stir our hearts that we might seek and find you today in those places where you have promised to be. Amen.

Looking for an advent calendar this year? Have a look at this one:

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/_Crossing/Content/Documents/ac/ac_poster.pdf

a little holiday tune to kick things off!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrNcD34KFhM

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An Invitation to Shine

2012-12-05T16:47:00.001-07:00

Ah, the Christmas season: a time intended to bring us to a point of reflection on what matters most. Somehow though, amidst the shuffle of shopping bags and wrapping paper, glitzy cocktail parties and baking duties, it becomes all too easy to forget to reflect on anything but your to-do list. And so, it is with this in mind that we bring you the 11th Annual Shine-a-Thon!

You are invited to flood your ears with the important things of the season through stories and music filled with hope, and ways to help those who need more of it. On Wednesday, December 12, 88.9 Shine FM will be broadcasting live from Bankers Hall in downtown Calgary from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. for our largest single-day fundraiser of the year and we hope that you will tune in and be a part of it.

If a full day of carols and caring isn't enough to restore you, there will also be a morning and afternoon raffle for two different weekend getaways to use when you really need a break from it all. All the more reason to tune in!

You'll find a link on our website to listen and donate online or even volunteer, all of which will help to put you back into the true spirit of what Christmas is all about.

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ADVENT Week 1

2012-11-30T16:03:00.002-07:00

Welcome to the ADVENT-ure 2012:

We will be posting an Advent Reflection each week of Advent in December. If you want to learn more, visit: http://theseed.ca/advent

Week 1 (December 2 - First Sunday of Advent – December 8)

An Advent Reflection:

Preparing the way:

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 40:3-5 (NIV)

³A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord^[^a^];
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.^[^b^]
⁴Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
⁵And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The season of Advent is all about taking intentional time to remember the God who was, and is, and will come again. It’s about remembering his work and words on Earth, encountering His Spirit and presence here in our lives today, and it’s about preparing a way for Him while we wait on His return.

I love the verse from Isaiah, because it has so much imagery. It speaks of the wilderness. I often go through seasons in my faith where I feel lost in the wilderness, and in this verse a voice is calling out to me in that lost place and shouting, “prepare the way of the LORD” he is coming for you! The next image is of the mountains and the valleys, an image that resonates deeply with me through my work at the Mustard Seed. At the Mustard Seed we walk alongside the valley dwellers, and in Isaiah, I hear the promise that the valleys will be raised up and the mountains will be lowered all will be equal when the Lord returns. This imagery encourages me in my work as I attempt to create opportunities for mountain dwellers and valley dwellers to meet one another and from a relationship of solidarity, justice, and equality as we work to prepare the way for the Kingdom to come more fully here on Earth. The last part of this verse speaks of the glory of the Lord being revealed to all of us together. The glory of his Kingdom will be revealed to all. This image comforts me and gives me tremendous hope that one day, all of us will come to know his amazing love and justice!

May this advent season be one of preparing the way of the Lord in your own life. May you take the time to examine where there are valleys and mountains in your life and make them equal. If you are wandering lost in the desert or the wilderness, above the din of the holiday season, may you hear the voice of the Lord calling for you!

The winter can be a dark season. At times it might seem that our spirits even mimic the season, we may go through a tough “winter” season, and find rebirth as the “spring” reawakens our spirit in faithfulness. I will leave you with a final video, one of Bringing Light and finding renewal in dark times. http://vimeo.com/33949006

An Advent Invitation: (an idea for getting active during the advent season)

Where can you see Valleys and Mountains in your community? Can you work this advent season to level that bumpy area?

How can you be a light to others in the darkness? Think of people in your community that you can be a light to through a random act of kindness today.

The Mustard Seed has many opportunities for you to get involved today and throughout the season. http://www.theseed.ca/christmas.html - Check out the opportunities in your city to be involved with bringing the light of Christmas to the inner city.

Have you had an advent reflection of your own to share? Write a blog for us and submit it to: JenniferFast@theseed.ca to be posted on our blog.

Prayers for Advent:

This week, please pray for people in our community who are wandering in the wilderness, or lost in a desert. Pray that they would see a light this Christmas and hear the Lord calling out for them.

Please pray for all of our community members who sleep outside in the literal wilderness. Pray that they would be blanketed in safety and protection, and that one day soon the opportunity for a real home would become a reality for them.

A Prayer Excerpt from Common Book of Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals:

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Come, let us sing to the LORD: let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

May your justice be a light to guide us: and your mercy a help on the way.

Readings: Psalm 101:1-4 Isaiah 10:5-19 Luke 1:5-25

May your justice be a light to guide us: and your mercy a help on the way.

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Home is Where The Heart Is

2012-11-29T15:26:00.001-07:00

Elvis Presley used to sing a song…
I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow
And mistletoe
And presents 'neath the tree
Christmas eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

Unfortunately a home for Christmas is just that - a dream, for the over 3500 homeless in this city, over 200 whom are children. Christmas looks quite different when you’re homeless.

If you live far from home, some years you will travel far to be home for Christmas. You'll even suffer the indignities that traveling by air or bus presents this time of year to be home at Christmas. You'll gladly sleep on a fold-out sofa.

Every day of the year we long to belong, but at no time is that more true than Christmas. You want to go to some place where everybody knows your name. Your home is where they understand you. As Robert Frost put it, "Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in."

I think Jesus understood the homeless…

Jesus, whose birth we celebrate at this time of year, knew what it was to be homeless. He once said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Luke 9:58) When he began his earthly ministry, he really had no place to call home for very long. He wandered throughout Galilee and Judea. He had some friends who gave him a place to stay. There were Martha, Mary and Lazarus in Bethany. But a place of his own he did not have. He was homeless.

In fact he was kind of homeless at birth if you think about it, in that he was born away from his home. And when he got to Bethlehem there was no room at the inn – so he was born in a stable.

The homeless that I know are amazing people, with amazing stories, and often amazing gifts. Life has happened to them in ways we can sometimes not even comprehend, but they have become my friends, and in some cases, part of my extended family.

They are those who we choose to reconcile ourselves with and to provide a home. And it is in that relationship, in that partnership, that we discover that change is possible, and the greatest motivator for that change is a home - a place to belong.

A home is a place where the first steps for the homeless are taken. A move away from whatever symptoms have overwhelmed their lives, where they can find hope and be whole.

- Bill Nixon, Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed
@billbytheminute

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