...and He shall give you even MORE than you ask for

On April 29 we had our first Crownpoint community meeting to address poverty. Marg from the Hamilton Roundtable helped facilitate this meeting while Hans and I got more anxious about the outcome of this meeting as each day approached - just praying that we wouldn't have felt like we wasted people's time. Well, the meeting has come and gone and what can I say, but God is good. Its not to say that there weren't still some nerves about yesterdays meeting, but God certainly answered our prayers for our community meeting.
More people showed up then we had anticipated! There was a great diveristy in representation [variety of residences, schools, community leaders and agencies - even Larry Dianni snuck in the back part way through (previous mayor of Hamilton)]. The conversation, dialogue and 'energy' in the room when talking about this community, its assets, needs and what to do about it, was full of life and interaction - many people contributed (and probably wanted to stay to continue talking)! AND...one of my worries (along with many others) was that at the end of the meeting, when talking about the 'Next Steps' and who would like to take leadership in and continue to work at addressing these 'realities' of our community, that no one would step up to take it on. Well - if my counting of this list is correct ... 24 people!!!! 24 out of about 31 people who were there want to move this forward (and many were mentioning names of others who should be at the table).

Ha!

Thank you for your prayers, God has shown that He continues to be at work in this community, and He responded to our prayers!

Sam Merulla confusion

It wasn't what we had been looking for, not even what we were hoping for - but we're now renting a space on Main St. E., and it is even better than what we could have imagined. The store front (and adjacent apartment) is located on the corner of Main St. and Park Row with large green and white 'Sam Merulla' (a city ward councillor) signs for everyone to see. We had originally had our eyes set on Ottawa St., a revitalizing street with several real estate options. Main St. is busier - heavier traffic (both of cars and pedestrians) and many store fronts are vacant -but that only creates great potential. So, what are we doing with our new home? We're scoping out the neighbourhood, the traffic that walks by (did I mention that there is a bus stop right in front of our facility!), the use of our space and the purpose of our location. We have a list of things that we would like to do in this neighbourhood including beautification, offering games night and karaoke nights, free coffee and drop in times, and whatever else God puts on our hearts. This past week a couple of us opened the door, sat outside with a large sign that said "Free Fair Trade Coffee" and waited to see the responses. We are just 2 blocks from Delta Secondary School so there are lots of kids that stream by during the day. I think God is guiding us in many ways and teaching us many things - one of those is that although a few highschool students like coffee, more would rather have juice:) What is funny to observe are people who see activity inside this building, or the coffee sign, or the new flower planters from the city around the building and want to know what's going on - and so of course, they look up at the sign and it says 'Sam Merulla'. They look down, and look up again. I hope that while we work on changing the signs, we can give Sam Merulla a few more votes!