Thursday May 13, 2010

At 9AM, after breakfast and a short devotional, we hit the road with Kelly on a trip to the Middle Eastern Friendship Centre run by Tim in Whalley. Even though world seems like a huge place especially here with all the diversity, we found out how small it really is. Tim’s wife Joan is the sister of Sue Booth, the wife of Dr. Booth, a Professor of Music and the Chair of the Department of Music at HLG.
The Middle Eastern Friendship Centre is located in the midst of the Middle Eastern community of Vancouver. The centre has a library where people can come in and check out books written in their own languages and it also teaches many ESL, or English as a Second Language, classes. Tim cautioned us about speaking of our faith in the front room of the centre. They want all people to feel welcome and don’t wish to scare them off by shoving our faith down their throats. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely is not a place where the Christian faith is hidden. It is simply a known fact that religion, especially to Muslims, is an important part of their lives and they may take offense. If a person shows an interest in Christianity, they are often taken out for coffee and to chat. Tim also hopes for the centre to become a community for the people and they always have someone new come into the centre every day.
After our orientation time of Islam and a quick overview of how to interact with Muslims, Tim set us loose down King George Highway to meet some people and learn their stories. He also gave us a few questions to answer such as “What did I learn about the city, an individual, God, myself”, “Where did I see God work”, and “Who did I see?”
To be honest, I didn’t think this task would be too difficult or daunting. I had been on mission trips before and talked with people I’d met randomly. However, I was mistaken. Vancouver is different than any other place I’ve been. While walking on the street, most people won’t look you in the eyes let alone greet you making it almost impossible to begin a conversation. We had to be very intentional but at the same time, not weird.
Marisol, Deon, and I managed to chat with a few people, but nothing like I was hoping. Our conversations were short and at times, nonexistent. I racked my brain for things to say, simple conversation starters that would hopefully make way for a real conversation.
When we were finished, some came back to the centre with awesome stories while others shared our experience. We talked about our observations and answered the questions Tim asked. Although I didn’t answer out loud when he asked what we learned about ourselves, I answered it to myself. I already kind of knew this about myself, but I’m not a person that makes rash decisions and building relationships takes me a long time. These things were made clearer to me from this experience. If I hope or want to make any kind of impact, I must devote myself to the cause completely. It’s difficult for me to be only partly immersed when my heart longs to be fully devoted.
We debriefed and went to find supper. Marisol, Laura, Sarah, and I ate takeout from a small African restaurant while others ate a various food places in the area. We took our food to the gorgeous Holland Park located by the SkyTrain station and enjoyed our free time. After returning to PLBC, we played a little sand volleyball and then I went to bed, a great ending to a tremendous day.