Has COVID-19 been a challenge or an opportunity? Our church has been challenged on many levels – but we have been reminded of our original call, to pursue the things God had sent us into our neighbourhood to do. Southside,… Read more →
My next weekly update will be early next year. Many of us have sung Brian Doerksen worship songs in our churches over the years. We sang one just last week as our church gathered online. So I have no doubt… Read more →
Last spring, we wrote about how Vancouver churches are responding to the physical and spiritual hunger that COVID-19 is highlighting through community food programs, and through growing food. As the infection rate increases, we continue to feverishly figure out how… Read more →
Four years ago, I was laying on the street in the Downtown Eastside, about to try heroin for the first time. But then, I turned over and saw the UGM sign. If it weren’t for that, I believe I’d be… Read more →
Three local groups have developed an important new resource for churches that want to support their neighbours. A Table for All is a 90-page “toolkit for community meals in a framework of food justice.” Karen Giesbrecht and Winston Green of… Read more →
City in Focus sent out this request for support May 25 and I felt it was worth running it just as it is. Money raised will go to six reliable and well-established Christian ministries and 10 long-term care facilities, all… Read more →
Pastor Peter (Jonghuen) Yang has been spending much of his time at Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside for more than a year, offering Sunday services and providing food, along with masks and sanitizer to protect against coronavirus. Now orders… Read more →
Union Gospel Mission (UGM) and The Salvation Army have joined forces to create a COVID Relief Together initiative – and their goal is to raise $2 million in two weeks. Speaking on CTV News last week, UGM spokesperson Jeremy Hunka… Read more →
Last week I posted a powerful comment by Darrell Johnson: Praying Boldly: coronavirus 2020. I will repeat a portion of his conclusion, as it leads into the Easter weekend so well: So, where do we go? I can only speak… Read more →
Jenny Hawkinson is a longtime resident of the Downtown Eastside (DTES) who works for 24-7 Prayer Vancouver and does pastoral street outreach and advocacy in the neighborhood. She sent out an email March 24 under this heading: ‘URGENT! DTES response… Read more →
