I sat down yesterday morning to interview a fantastic lady in our community who has really made a significant difference in our lives. Heather Webber was a Community Pastor with Bethany Chapel from 2001 - May 2015. She has worked in our community for 14 years. Recently she accepted employment with Serving In Mission (SIM), her new role with them is to help other churches engage more into their communities.
I always enjoy meeting with Heather and find fascinating stories of the people who have come and gone in our communities and how they have touched her life. I set out this morning with specific questions in mind and she was quick to answer them.
1. What are a couple of reasons why what you do, doesn't matter at all? Why doesn't it make a difference?
"My work in the community may not make any difference at all as I am only one person. It's up to people to get involved and take an interest in their community I would rather try to make a difference and fail; then to never have tried at all."
2. Tell me an example of what has made a difference?
"I remember one family that I met years ago who was fairly new to Canada. She started to come to our Toy Lending Library and then attended our ESL class and enrolled one of her kids in our play school. She originally thought the church was a recreation centre, because she couldn't read English, she didn’t know that Bethany was a church. When she discovered it was a church she got very excited as she was looking for a church close to where she was living. She has gotten involved with Bethany, and she and her kids have been active in our church which has given her family a place of belonging, which has made a difference in her life."
3. Tell me a time when you thought everything was going to fall apart.
"Every time you try something new you don’t know whether or not it is going to fly even though the people in the community wanted it. I have learned to not stress over new things…”
4. When were you really frustrated doing what you do?
"When you put a lot of work into something and no one shows up. I have learned over the years that it is worthwhile to phone and remind people. Due to busy lives, people get caught up just trying to survive, so when programs don't go as planned, I don't take it personally."
5. What do you keep thinking about, or what stays with you when you get home from work?
"People's stories about their lives. I remember a newcomer to Canada, telling me she just moved into the community and she had gotten a notice to cut her lawn from Calgary Housing. She couldn't afford to pay the fine and she didn’t have a lawn mower so she took her good scissors, and spent 3 hours on her knee, cutting her lawn with them.”
6. What gets you really excited about what you do?
"Seeing change, hearing creative ideas, having meaningful conversations, developing friendships with people from different cultures, meeting fabulous cooks, etc….."
7. What is really hard about what you do?
"To hear people's stories, and hear about their struggles, and know that it's hard and sometimes seems hopeless. You'd love to do more but you know you can't. You realise you can only do so much, that’s hard…"
8. What do you love to see happen in the communities you work with? Where do you think the "magic" is?
"I love to see people working together in their communities to make it better. Meeting different people, learning about their cultures and faith and finding things you have in common is extremely rewarding!"
9. What is one project you were really excited to see come off the ground?
"The Thread Shed. It was an opportunity to get to know people in the community and offer them affordable clothing. Also another project was the licensed community play school located in Bethany Chapel. It gave the opportunity to offer an affordable early childhood education for preschoolers living in the community."
10. What have you learned from working in our community?
I’ve learned what a great community Bethany Chapel is surrounded by, and how fortunate we are as a church to have such good people living in the neighbourhood, How fortunate we are to have such a diverse community with lots of young families. That it's a big world and that getting to know different people from all walks of life you realize you have lots in common. I’ve seen and experienced true hospitality from people who you don’t know well, and realized that God truly is alive and his love abounds for everyone."
No comments:
Post a Comment