We already have over 80 golfers registered for our 6th Annual Charity Golf event on Tuesday, May 28 at Redwoods Golf course. Sponsors are coming in and we have some lively prizes for our golfers. We’d love to hang with you and your friends, while raising invaluable dollars for our street friends. Please consider joining us!
Register here.
Become a sponsor here.
Meanwhile, check out this FUN video on the Mega Putt contest:
Remember last year’s Charity Golf Event? It was a great day on the greens, while making a difference, so we can serve the most vulnerable every night on our streets. Here’s a collage of images to refresh our memory.
Registration is now open for this year’s NightShift Charity Golf Classic. Be sure to join us!
Yesterday was stressful – wrestling with tough decisions, questioning compassion and fatigue. In the midst of it all, I was challenged by this question, “What brings you joy, Mac?”
Silence for a second. Have you ever been asked that question? Without giving it much thought, I tossed back a quick answer. In my heart I knew it was a cop-out.
Read the rest of Mac’s thoughts over on her personal blog here. She’d love to hear what brings you joy.
Our annual NightShift Charity Golf Classic is taking place this year on Tuesday, May 28 at the beautiful Redwoods Golf Course in Langley, BC.
The early bird registration fee is available now through midnight on April 26.
Entry Fee: $250 regular price per person (tickets purchased after April 26th, 2013) Includes golf, golf cart, tailgate party during registration, early BBQ dinner at The Redwoods Golf Course/Langley
Registration is now open for our annual Charity Golf Event!
Early bird registration is $199 until midnight on April 26.
Want to download the Events page as a PDF?
How to Participate: Register here online, call our office at 604.953.1114 or
email us at: info@nightshiftministries.org now.
“I tried to imagine what it’s like in his shoes.”
By Sandy Phillipps
People sometimes ask me what results we are seeing on the streets. As if we would give up and move on if we see no change in a person growing stronger in taking responsibility for themselves.
The longer I am around, the more I understand God in our lives. Last time out on the street we were well into our prayer circle when a street friend whom I had never seen before, came into the parking lot and threw his bicycle forcefully to the ground almost hitting someone in the circle. At first I thought, Danger! but then I realized the man was so caught in the drug addiction and prison in his body, he was unaware of his surroundings.
Later, as everyone was just chatting and milling about, I went and sat next to him. His hair long, head bent over and darkness falling made it impossible to see his face, his eyes. I could not read him at all as far as a response to see if he wanted me there.
What to talk about? I am still floundering with what to talk about.
I asked if had had dinner. He said, No.
Have a place around here?
No.
I plucked up my courage to see if he would let me into his life. I tried to imagine what it’s like in his shoes. He told me he moves around from place to place, finding a place to sleep out in the bush, wherever he can find. I commented he must have a good hiding spot for his bike.
He said, “Heck, no! Anyone that wants it just takes; I don’t have a hiding spot!”
I felt the reality of not being able to hold on to anything dear to you. He then began to weep and told me his wife had died … he told me her name. I asked if he had a picture of her and he said, No, they take it all.
“You have a picture of her in your heart,” I replied.
Then I asked him if I could pray for him, his face buried in his hands as he wept and wept. I asked him if he’d ever felt God’s love. I went to get him some napkins to wipe the flood of tears. I’d never seen such a pool of wet on the ground as was coming from Henry, it just poured out of him.
“I could not tell if he was open to prayer until I began … his hand shot out, deformed and shaking as he showed his openness to prayer. All he could do was cry as I took his hand and prayed for him.”
That is why I love what I do at NightShift. I understand more of God’s heart to love us where we are at. Even if the person us unable or unwilling to take the help and structure of what our system and culture has to offer people, if they have fallen through the cracks and are full of pain, it does not make them less of a human being, less worthy of God’s unconditional love. I am there to get a napkin for his tears, to hear his pain and ask him if he’d like to feel God’s love.
I can love a fellow human and share what–and Who–I know.
_______________
Image credit: Ghita Katz Olsen
The following funeral arrangements have been made to commemorate Janice Shore–sister and friend to many here in Whalley.
When: Friday, March 8 from 11am-12pm.
Where: Avalon Funeral Home, located at 13288, 108 Avenue, Surrey, BC.
The memorial service is open to the public.
Reception to follow at NightShift Street Ministries from 12-2 pm. Our offices are located at 10635 King George Blvd. Surrey, BC.
“I still haven’t made any French toast,” he adds. “I can’t have it without her.”
By Idelette McVicker | Twitter: @idelette
We sat at a small bistro table inside Sisters Thrift Boutique this morning. Ed’s been hanging out on the side of the building here at NightShift, waiting for information about his sister Janice’s death.
8:45pm, he tells me. That’s the time she died.
Janice, 45, a daughter of Surrey, passed away last Monday evening, Feb. 18 in Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Ed’s blue eyes are soft, as he speaks about Janice. His grey hair is long and tied at the back and he plays with his soft beard.
As we talk, I notice how he remembers details.
On Dec. 2 last year, his sister was brutally assaulted and left for dead in a deserted lot here in Whalley. He tells me about the beating she endured. The time the police showed up at his door to tell him.
“So many hits all around her head.”
The Whalley community has been shocked about Janice’s brutal assault.
Ed’s upset about some of the misinformation around Janice’s death in the media. ”She wasn’t homeless,” he tells me. “And she wasn’t simple.”
“She was a sweetheart. Big heart. Very compassionate.”
He remembers his sister tenderly. They’d shared the last 20 years together, being there for each other. He smiles as he tells me about their friendship.
Ed and Janice lived in an assisted living duplex unit together until they were separated a few months ago due to renovations on their building. For the duration of the renovations, they each got their own single unit apartment, just 10 doors away from each other.
“We were really close. She looked up to me almost like a father figure,” he shares. “I promised I would always be there for her.”
As Ed sits across from me, he is the picture of a brother who has loved his sister, his friend.
He wears a green hoodie, a baseball cap and a black puffy winter jacket. He’s doing much better today, he tells me.
Memories
“Tell me one of your favorite memories of her,” I ask him.
“She would always show up at my door with a plate of French toast,” he remembers.
Janice loved making French toast for her friends. ”We always made sure we had white bread and eggs.”
Then his voice grows soft: “I told her in the hospital: I won’t have French toast until you make it for me.”
“I still haven’t made any French toast,” he adds. “I can’t have it without her.”
We spend a long time sitting at the little bistro table. He shows me pictures of his sister. A picture she had taken in a photo booth at Metrotown. Pictures on his phone. Then he pulls out a memory book–a picture of his sis on the front cover.
“It’s a Get Well card,” he tells me.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a Get Well card that’s a book,” he smiles. A friend of Janice’s had made it and people had written their messages to Janice while she was in the hospital. I pour over the messages.
So many who loved her and cared about her.
I ask Ed one last question: What would you like people to remember about Janice?
He doesn’t hesitate. “How kind she is.”
“Harmless.”
____________________
Arrangements are being finalized for Janice’s memorial service here in Surrey. We will update you as soon as it’s concrete.
Last weekend, a few Grade 11 students from White Rock Christian Academy came out to serve with the nightly teams at NightShift. They rolled up their sleeves and many of them were surprized by what they saw and learned. Here are their accounts:
–Says Shawn:
“Last night I happened across three neat fellows, all named James! It was so great to meet each of them and hear more about their lives, dreams, hopes & hurts. As we were saying our goodbyes, we had the opportunity to lift our discussions up to the Lord, one by one. I will never forget those moments as God’s truth and love filled us up. Picture it … hands held … hearts warmed … and our glistening eyes under that starlit night! God was so present. To top it off, the third James provided me some awesome passages of scripture & words of encouragement for MY life and ministry. I was so touched by the sincerity, politeness and the brotherly love of these three new friends.
“Thank you so much for the introduction to Nightshift. What a wonderful discovery for us and a huge opportunity to share God’s Love! I feel so blessed to have been able to come out tonight. It is such an awesome reminder that the simplest acts of kindness & small gestures can truly impact someone’s day and turn sadness into joy. It is so easy to get caught up in the trials of your day, but the real joy is watching an outpouring of God’s Grace & Love.”
–Says Olivia:
“I was handing out warm drinks and milk and one guy took the time to shake my hand and tell me his name and say thank you. It took me a little bit by surprise, but just the fact that he went out of his way to say that, really touched me. All of the people there were really polite and were appreciative of what we were doing! I had an amazing time and it would be awesome to do it again!”
–Says Ally:
“Thank you so much for taking us to NightShift last night. It was a great experience and I would love to do it again sometime! What I found surprising and wasn’t expecting, was the fact that some of the people are just like us living in a house, possibly with a job and they just need a little help or are struggling. Of course there are the ones living on the streets as well, but I thought they would all be living on the streets and all using drugs/alcohol but that wasn’t the case with some of them. Another thing I was not expecting and I found very impactful was how appreciative they were and how friendly some of them were, and if you took the time to introduce yourself and got their name it went a long way; you could see their faces light up!”
“I feel so blessed to have been able to come out tonight. It is such an awesome reminder that the simplest acts of kindness & small gestures can truly impact someone’s day and turn sadness into joy.”
Says Milica:
“Nightshift was a really amazing experience. Going into the service I had a set idea of what it would be like, but my view completely changed. The people we were serving were very polite, and so thankful for the food and clothes they were receiving. Something that really stood out to me was how their faces would light up when you said their names. Often times people don’t acknowledge homeless people because they think they’re scary or abusing substances. I think we take a lot for granted. They appreciate when you just give them your attention, say their name and just talk to them. It was definitely an experience I won’t forget, and I’d love to come back and serve again. 
”
Says Emily:
“I was really surprised by how open they were to share about their lives and they were so kind and polite it made the experience so enjoyable. I would definitely love to go again.”
Says Carolyn:
“I just want to provide you with some feedback from my first time experience at NightShift last night.
I was a hot lunch mom when my kids were in elementary school during a time when the parents have such a strong influence on their children, as far as being polite and using manners, never before have I served such an appreciative group of people.
“Please”… “Thank you”… Smiles … and comments such as “The soup is plenty” or “Just a sandwich will do.” It was such an honour and a pleasure to serve … and make a few new friends in the process!”
Says Kayla:
“The best part of the night for me was getting to chat with a guy who used to live right around the corner from where I live in White Rock. He told me his story and how he ended up in Whalley. It was really eye opening and crazy to hear how a few turn of events can totally change someone’s life. He seems to be doing better now and that was encouraging to hear. “
“Inspiring, Relatable, Trail-blazing, Authentic, Warrior.”
By Karen Cooper
They say it takes only one. One person to step up. One person to be the change. This past December I received The Shift: The Power of Belief as a birthday present. It’s a local book about a grassroots ministry written by someone I’ve heard about for many years. I couldn’t wait to open the cover and begin to read.
I fought the urge to lock myself in the bathroom and begin the journey. Right from the first page, I could feel my spirit leaping and thirsty for the next. Mac’s relationship with God, obedience, fire inside, change of heart, personal life, exhaustion, attacks, faith, tenacity, and indomitable spirit, all of this made an impact on my heart. I felt a heart connection and confirmation to endure, to continue, to know the plan is far bigger.
How moving and relatable. This read, this journey became personal and tore at my heart strings. Years of serving in Surrey, and now on the front lines for a Canadian Charity, Help on Wheels, based out of Surrey. Even the personal life disarray–real stuff–yet having the courage to put one foot in front of the other and stepping, then surrendering. My tears slid like a waterfall down my face, page after page. As the lyrics to the song goes, “Break my heart for what breaks yours.”
Thank you, Mac. Thank you for being that one. The one who allowed the Potter to mould the clay, direct your path and you never gave up on what matters. You have blazed a trail, your light shines brightly, brings hope and inspires.
God Bless you as you continue to lay up treasures in Heaven.
You can purchase your copy of The Shift: The Power of Belief by MaryAnne Connor, president and founder of NightShift Street Ministries by stopping by our offices located at 10635 King George Boulevard, Surrey, BC. Phone: 604-953-1114.
__________________
Karen Cooper, Director, Help on Wheels (Food on Wheels Division)
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