Make it YOUR Problem

A few weeks ago I attended the Canadian Youth Worker's Conference at the Sharaton Wall Center in Vancouver. It was an event put together, in part, by Canadafire. The seminars were insightful/inspiring, and the bands were awesome. On Saturday night the general seesion was held in an old church across from the Sharaton. A lady named Joyce Heron from an organization called Jacob's Well spoke. Darian (who put the event together) was excited for me to hear Joyce. He felt that a lot of what I feel resonates with her work. Last week I did a little research into Jacob's Well- and I was really excited about what I saw.

I am a firm believer in helping those in our own backyards (you don't have to fly overseas to have your heartbreak for others). All over the mainland are pockets of extreme poverty juxtaposed with extreme wealth...

And I'm not okay with that.

I could go on and on, but I think/know that it's up to us to change it- or at very least, actually give a damn.



But where does the average person begin?

Jacob's Well is an organization located in East Van. Not only do they have a passion to work with the people living there, but they also have a passion for educating all our rich, indifferent asses (yes, compared to the rest of the world, we're ALL rich).

We have a passionate commitment to equip people to understand God’s bias toward the poor and marginalized. Scripture demonstrates that God desires that the marginalized receive justice and compassion. This particular bias however sometimes does not show up in the lives of people who claim to follow God. Our hope is that through teaching and modeling God’s heart for the poor others will begin to discover ways they can engage their lives with marginalized people around them.

Their next seminar is titled: "Life in the Margins"

And this is the description listed on the website:

We all have people who cross our paths who make us uncomfortable, who we don’t know how to relate to, who we are afraid of, or who we simply want to ignore. As Christians we know these aren’t the responses we’re “supposed” to have but we don’t know how to change them. There’s a lot of rhetoric about “mercy ministry” and outreach to the poor around us. However, justice cannot merely be a noble idea or be relegated to a department of the church. This workshop explores the theological mandate to be towards people who are socially marginalized. As well, students are equipped with basic pragmatics of relating to marginalized people.

So aside from running/walking to build hope for teen drug addicts (see previous post), what are you doing Friday Jan 25th (7:00pm-10:00pm) and Saturday Jan 26th (10:00am-4:00pm)?



(check out http://www.jacobswell.ca for furthur info)

Got a New Year's Resolution?

Did you know that there are no youth drug treatment facilities in the lower mainland that deal specifically with youth addictions?

Enter my boss and his wife who want to better that situation.

They want to start one by Golden Ears Park.

Apparently there is 12 bedroom women's correctional facility on some land that they are looking to "make-over" into a youth ranch.

As an employee of Pathfinder Youth Society- I'm expected to come up with a fundraiser to help make this dream, reality.

So I've got a plan... and I want as many to be on board with it as possible.

...Beginning on the first day of the New Year- I want you to get off your lazy ass...

And start training to make their future better (as well as make your gut smaller and your butt tighter). Join our 2008 Vancouver International Marathon team.



So far my idea is that people commit to do the 8 km, half (21.1 km) or full (42.1) at the race in May 2008. YOU decide how you want to do it. Walkers are welcome in all categories, and the best goal is to simply finish.

The catch is that you raise support (perhaps for every kilometer raced,or every practice run completed etc.)- AND more than that raise awareness. I am hoping to make team t-shirts and set up some group runs depending on where people are training. I'm also hoping to start a training blog to keep everyone motivated AND get the Running Room involved (they have two free run clubs a week).

I'll be pitching it at a staff meeting next week. So as I figure stuff out I'll try to post it.

In the meantime check out the organization I work for:

http://pathfinderyouthsociety.org/index.htm

25

Today I turned 25, and I've noticed that my last few birthdays have been preceeded by a fair ammount of introspection. It's no longer about getting presents, eating cake and finally being a year older, but serves more as a marker for reflection.

My words of wisdom from this year's self-reflection?

GET OVER YOURSELF.

I mean it in the most empowering way possible. I am bound and determined to not take myself so seriously. To stop expecting the world to stand still everytime I have a bad day. To laugh at myself more, and to stop comparing myself against others. To see others' needs above my wants. To make the people who are truely important in my life feel it everytime they're around me.

I've realized that my birthday is really just another day, and that, in fact, it simply marks the anniversary if my birth. So why should I get the pat on the back for simply being born when my mother is the one who had to give birth to my 9 pound 3 ounce breech ass.

She's the one who should be celebrated. Not only did she bring me into the world, but a huge part of who I am today is due to that woman who has displayed the greatest amount of strength I have ever seen. She loved me when her world fell apart. She tried her hardest to hide her pain be be strong for her family... she is a woman of true integrity who stayed when it would've been easier to run.

That is a rare thing- and as I get older I realize how blessed I am to have been raised by such an incredible woman.

So today, on my birthday, I want to thank my mother- for all she is, and for so much of who I am.