Toronto: A reality check,
an awakening, an inspiration
Nine young people from Rothesay learn ‘they’ are ‘us’
By Ana Watts
“Coming from the wealthy community we all share, it’s easy to believe stereotypes about poverty and homelessness or to assume that those who suffer from it deserve it,” says Aleks Godlewski, one of the nine 
Parish of Rothesay senior youth group members who went to Toronto last summer with their leader, the Rev. Jasmine Chandra. “The reality I received was actually quite different,” continues Aleks. “Aside from the profound learning experience I underwent about poverty and its causes and what local groups are doing about the problem, our journey to Canada’s urban metropolis was also profoundly spiritual. The poor, outcasts and drug addicts that we walked and prayed with were like the lepers and prostitutes that Christ himself blessed. In the inner city we saw a vibrant and living faith among the shattered and broken. It’s so easy to just think we go through the motions of Christianity and question our own faith when we do not struggle with addiction, mental health issues or abuse. These poor and broken souls are where we can truly see Christ living in us.”
Aleks’ comments alone beautifully illustrate the success of Jasmine’s goal in leading the youth mission to Toronto. She wanted them to engage with the issues of homelessness and poverty. But his voice is one of several, and they all eloquently describe their experiences, insights and spiritual growth.
On the day they arrived in Toronto the young people were told to walk around downtown imagining they were lone 13-years-olds who had run away from an abusive group home with only a dollar-fifty in their pockets and no where to go.
“I felt desperate, hopeless, and worthless,” says Tess Robart. “No one was willing to help us, and as we sat there we realized that this is what millions of people go through every night while we are home asleep in our warm beds.”
The alone-on-the-street scenario especially affected Emma McEvoy, the youngest youth group member on the trip. “Like many of the stories we heard about homeless youth, I didn’t know where to go. I had to rely on other people, which most people in this situation cannot do.”
In the beginning, Matthew Snelgrove found the idea of hopping off the bus in the big city with a dollar-fifty in his pocket exciting, even liberating. “Then it began to get dark and I began to get scared facing the ‘reality’ of the situation. Not only was I thinking about where I was going to sleep, what I was going to eat, and what about tomorrow, but I was also worried about the safety of my group. The reality of desperation kicked in and it was hard to believe that people deal with that every day.”
Sarah McDermott describes the mission trip to Toronto as answer to prayer. “I learned how people in poverty live, their stories. I heard stats that most people wish were not true — like a female street kid, on average, will start ‘selling herself’ two weeks after leaving home. But I feel that the most rewarding thing I learned was about myself. My ability to feel their pain, their sorrows, their hopes, their dreams. I felt at peace in their communities and wished that the simple things that made them happy could give me happiness.”
Tess’s experience was equally enlightening to her. “Never before have I been on a trip that really changed the way I think and see things. I had never really stopped to think of how people end up on the streets, with addictions and other things that are looked down upon in our society. We all have our own story, and this trip helped me to learn not to judge someone before knowing their story.” Although Tess felt desperate as she imagined herself as a 13-year-old on the street, she was “lifted up” by the church services and outreach programs that were also a part of the trip.
The Jeremiah Community sponsored by the Diocese of Toronto — a diverse circle of people who share a common vision for a city that welcomes the stranger, seeks justice for every person, and builds peace and harmony between neighbours — impressed Phillip Sexton. “It was an uplifting experience to see the harmonious living of individuals centered around the church.” And it was meaningful to him that at a service at Sanctuary they took Communion with many of the people they met during their street walks.
The group also explored the Church of the Redeemer’s lunch program, the Yonge Street Mission and the Salvation Army 614 near Regent Park. They learned exactly how essential volunteers are to a community, and how anyone can be a volunteer, whether they are bank executives or the homeless themselves.
Christian Mackin faced Sunday with a bit of trepidation. She knew it was going to be a long day of church. They started with a contemporary service at St. Paul’s, Bloor Street. “That showed me a more lively way to worship God,” she says. On Sunday evening they went to Sanctuary. “We were in for a three-hour service. At first I couldn’t help but wonder how I was going to stay awake. We entered Sanctuary to the band Red Rain and the congregation was sitting in a circle singing. I heard someone call out ‘187’. It was the number of the song they wanted. Everybody got up, clapped and danced to it and I knew that three hours would not be long enough for me; I loved the place. The breaking of the bread and wine came from the congregation members. Stewart, who was having difficulty with addictions, blessed the wine, asking for God to guide him through his hardships. It was a moving experience. We continued with open prayer and a sermon and the occasional hymn. I started this trip stereotyping people who were homeless. I learned that they all have a story; we just have to be there to listen, that’s the most important. Through the service I also learned what a church community is: a group of people listening, praying, and coming together to support one another.”
Jenna Williston was profoundly affected by the Toronto mission too, especially the Sanctuary service. “I knew that my life was irreversibly changed when a man told his life story while blessing Communion. Before going to Toronto, I compared my life to an open book filled with blank pages. Throughout the course of only seven days in Toronto, I felt like my pages were written on by God and each and every person I met and each story I heard.
“The lives of so many are so much more complex and difficult then I realized, it was truly heart-wrenching. The fears and struggles the homeless and needy face every day are problems which can not, unfortunately, be pushed aside or forgotten. What was uplifting and beautiful though, was the grace and love for God that was harboured by many and shared at church services and in prayer. I found myself learning so much about my own faith and life from these people whom so many others look down upon.”
Part of Jasmine’s goal in taking the young people to Toronto was to help them think of others as a part of “us” instead of one of “them.” Clearly she succeeded here as well.
The young people hosted a dinner in late September and shared their experiences with the parish. They also wrote of their experiences for Echo, the church newsletter. (This story was written using that information.) At the September dinner the young people raised nearly $800 and sent the money to the mission organizations they had visited in Toronto.
