an invitational lifestyle
Witness. Outreach. Invitation. These are some of the common words at UWKCF this past semester. In August, #conferencewin empowered us to dream up new student outreach in fresh new ways. Kicking off the school year, we invited hundreds of students to our Amazing Chase and Photobooth clubs day. Small groups begin shortly afterwards with 12 student leaders inviting the people they met to study the bible with them. Week after week, students would invite friends to our community fellowship nights, dinner afterwards, and the post-dinner hangout for the night owls. And even now as exams begin, students are inviting one another out to raid entire floors of libraries to study together (and perhaps distract each other!).What started off as a few core members hesitant but willing to try new student outreach transformed into a fellowship marked by consistent invitation. Staff inviting upper-years. Upper-years inviting first years. First years inviting other first years. Those first years inviting their staff! (A rather hilarious but powerful experience for me) How did this happen and why?
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back to the city
This past summer, I had the privileged opportunity to be a part of the Toronto Urban Partnership, learning about the city, poverty and community. It was a brand-new experience for me to be immersed in the downtown core, to see the city and its people with new eyes and to be transformed by God through it. There was so much to be learned and I returned home knowing that one trip would simply not be enough for me. I didn’t realize that I’d be back so soon...
I’ve been recently invited to direct this year’s Toronto UP and after thoughtful prayer and discernment, have decided to say yes to this leadership opportunity. I’m excited to be once again a student of the city and to see what new and old things God has in store for me. I’m also excited to be able to work with a gifted staff team to vision together what this trip could look like and how it can impact the students that we bring along. Such a challenge raises for me some nervousness and fear about leadership in a new setting, however I find myself resting in God’s deep love and learning to receive from one another. I imagine this experience will be profoundly transformative for myself.
Please keep us in prayer as we vision, plan and recruit students over the next few months.