Page 5 - Presbyterian Connection Newspaper

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PRESBYTERIAN
5
presbyterian.ca
SPRING 2019
Prayer for Kenora Fellowship Centre
By the Rev. Barbara Pilozow, member of the Healing and Reconciliation Advisory Committee and minister at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg
Holy and great Creator, we stand in awe of the abundance of beauty found in lakes and streams, snow and ice, sky and stars, creatures and plants, sun and moon, atom and universe. All this you have fashioned for our sustenance and delight and we are humbled by the responsibility placed on us to preserve and enjoy it. Yet we ignore the guidance of your Spirit resting upon us and resist living according to your will. We act in ways of superiority, thinking we know best, not listening to the words or acknowledging the pain of our brothers and sisters made in your image. Have mercy on our unwillingness to learn and understand.
God of power and glory, you call us to action according to our gifts and abilities. We give thanks for those who answer your call in amazing and challenging ways. We pray for Yvonne Bearbull, giving thanks for her faithfulness, her compassion and the love she shares with those who come to the Kenora Fellowship Centre. These are people whose lives are dependent upon the meals, the transitional housing, the spiritual care, the laughter and tears shared in the companionship offered by the Centre’s community. Uphold Yvonne and give her strength. During days of grief and despair, of which there are too many and too often, give her comfort and confidence with your presence.
We pray for the elders, residential school survivors, who make themselves available to reclaim what has been lost and to provide leadership and guidance to those struggling with a legacy not of their choosing. We pray for the staff who with time and talents work beyond available resources to meet the many needs of the people.
We pray for more volunteers, more resources, more opportunities and innovative ways to do the work that needs to be done. Urge us to generosity.
Brother Jesus, teach us the ways we are to walk with Indigenous people along a path of reconciliation. We know so many of the guests of Kenora Fellowship Centre are overlooked by society. Give us hands to help, ears to hear and hearts to love.
In your name we pray, Amen.
done to make that happen,” Yvonne said. “It’s such a privilege to see peo- ple change for the better.”
Keeping the Doors Open
Ensuring funding is available to con- tinue operations is a major challenge for Kenora Fellowship Centre. Thanks to the grace of God, work continues, but the struggle is ongoing.
“People are living in horrible condi- tions in a community that doesn’t un- derstand them. They face many bar- riers to health and wellness,” Yvonne says. Keeping the doors open to these people is the top priority.
“...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35)
Grateful for the Support
“I’m really grateful for the support that we receive from The Presbyte- rian Church in Canada, the Winnipeg Presbytery, First Presbyterian Church in Kenora and all the congregations that have taken an interest in the work that we do. I don’t think they realize how it makes us feel when we open the mail and there is a message of support from a congregation and we learn that they have decided to support us. I don’t think they realize how much it means that they value what we do. I would like to say thank you to all of them.”
Prayers for the staff and patrons of Kenora Fellowship Centre and dona- tions for the essential services pro- vided are desperately needed. There are no easy answers in how to deal with the generations of pain and suf- fering caused by residential schools. There are no easy answers in how to support people struggling with men- tal health issues, substance abuse, homelessness and poverty. And there are certainly no easy answers to questions about how to eradicate racial and cultural discrimination. But God’s call to us is clear and concrete: help those in need.
Through Kenora Fellowship Centre, we can help provide food and shelter to some of the most vulnerable peo- ple in Canada. We can surround them with love and prayer and help raise them up. Together, we can show God’s love to one another.
“My heart is touched a lot by what happens here. My heart has been broken many, many times. But I am grateful my heart can still be broken.”
To make a donation to Kenora Fellowship Centre, go to presbyterian.ca/donate and designate your gift as “Kenora Fellowship Centre.”
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