Life in Vancouver

I've loved my time in Vancouver, but I haven't shared much about our lives here.  For those of you who don't know, my wife and I have been in Vancouver doing orientation, formation, and team-building work with the goal of eventually serving in a slum in Asia.

There's a lot of cool stuff to talk about, but I figured I'd just give a breakdown of our typical day:

7:00am: At least a couple times a week I join the morning drop-in at the local gospel mission.  It's a chance to just get a coffee and chat with the guys, meet people, invite them to dinner at our place, etc.

9:00am: Team prayer meeting built around Scripture reading and intercessory prayer with a focus on justice.

10:00am: Language study, cultural experiences, team meeting, or anti-trafficking project, depending on day.

Noon-5pm: Depending on the day there might be scheduled meetings with staff or associated personnel, a team meeting to work through the new teams preparation manual, babysitting, or work around the house.  Sometimes community members drop by the house or I'll go out hiking at one of Vancouver's parks.

5:00pm: Three times a week we have a community dinner, which we (including other from the community) take turns preparing.  Anyone from the community is invited, provided they are willing to help clean up afterwards.  One day a week that community dinner is followed by “Creative World Justice”, where different people from the community come together to discuss issues of Biblical justice and creative techniques for addressing justice in society, then take practical steps to fight against the human trafficking and cruise ship labor exploitation that they've seen as major issues in our local community.  One day a week we have a team-only dinner followed by a formation time focused on issues related to living in the slum in Asia.

9:00pm: Evening prayer meeting, consisting of a Taize song, psalm reading, and silent reflection.

That's a pretty good look at life here.  The schedule is occasionally disrupted by all-day workshops (on topics like nonviolent communication or overseas service), or when assisting in the crack cocaine detox program that our house runs for the local community.

If you want to learn more about the community, here are a couple videos.  Thanks for watching!

Kids on the Block from Veritas Media Productions on Vimeo.