TGIF: Has the Cross Become Cliche? | Good Friday Special

Apr 18

Description

Has the cross become a cliché? In this Good Friday conversation on Journey With Care, host Wendi Park goes deep into understanding the crucifixion beyond its traditional narrative. Wendi reflects on how her North American evangelical upbringing felt incomplete and explores insights from African Christianity, Francis of Assisi’s humility, and Liberation Theology. She acknowledges Indigenous perspectives, challenging the historical misuse of the cross in Canada. This conversation reimagines Good Friday not as a transaction but as a call to sacrificial love and community action, inviting us to live out heaven on Earth with justice, love, and kinship.

Emily Dmytriw [00:00:01]:
Yeah. I think he realized that this life wasn't for us to just live on our own, but it's to live with people. This hope that we have is not in the pain and the sadness in this world, but the hope is in joy and what's to come. I think he was able to have some hope in friendship at the end. Yeah. If anything, he was, someone that came and taught us beautiful, beautiful lessons.
Johan Heinrichs [00:00:27]:
What if presence is the most powerful form of courage? What if we've mistaken compassion for solutions when what we really need is solidarity? Maybe loving well starts with courage to simply stay. This is Journey with Care, a podcast by Care Impact where curious Canadians find inspiration to love others well through real life stories and honest conversations. It was about twenty five years ago, I used to lead worship at our church's ministry center right in the heart of our city here in the toughest part of our city. There was a lot of visible struggle there, addiction, homelessness, and deep poverty. I told myself that being on stage and leading worship, I was doing my part to serve the community, and to a degree I was. But I also stayed in a place that felt safe. I stayed on the stage. In the room, people were handing out soup and sandwiches at the tables while prayers and worship filled the room, But it took me a long time to make the move from stage to the table.
Johan Heinrichs [00:01:33]:
When I finally sat down with those who came for a meal, everything shifted. I heard stories that were raw and real, about family, about loss, and about hope. I even met a guy who is a far better musician than I'll ever be, and probably should have been the one on the stage. What struck me was that I began to see them not by where they were, but by who they were. Our guest today, Emily, lives in that space of presence. She does naturally what took me years and some uncomfortable steps to lean into. Because it isn't about having the right words or the right solutions. Sometimes the greatest courage is just choosing to sit at the table.
Johan Heinrichs [00:02:14]:
So today's guest is Emily Demetrew, the community outreach pastor at Anchor Pointe Church here in Winnipeg and the heart behind the Fort Garry Collective. She's not just a leader in community development. She's someone who deeply embodies finding those connections where others might pass by. But what struck me most is the way she talks about friendship with warmth, with grief, and with the kind of hope that costs something. Alright. I'm gonna hand it over to you, Wendy, to get this conversation underway.
Wendi Park [00:02:43]:
I would love to. With me here in studio, we have Emily Demetrio, and it's so good to have you here. Emily is somebody that is near and dear to my heart. I I attend her church. She's a community outreach director at Anchor Pointe Church. And before I get started, we're talking about the courage to stay, how to be present in the midst of suffering. And you immediately came to mind about being present with others. And to get us started, I'd love to ask you this question.
Wendi Park [00:03:12]:
Can you share a moment recently when someone's presence made a real difference to you?
Emily Dmytriw [00:03:19]:
I just I got married seven months ago, and I didn't realize how much, like, presence with someone, like, actually, like, walking with someone and living with someone was so huge and, and amazing and such a blessing. It's probably been one of the things I've loved the most is just being present with my husband, being able to walk through life with him as a partner, as, like, an equal and talking about things and processing things. And then even the, we call it, together alone time, when you're both just, like, sitting there, you don't need to talk. You're either reading or you're both just there in silence. And it's very powerful. It's very impactful just knowing that there's somebody else there who knows you, who knows your needs and how they're met and can just sit there with you, that's been a beautiful, beautiful experience for myself. And then I was also thinking about a while ago, I had to go run some errands and go talk to some, yeah, knock on some doors with some government officials, and I went to three different places. And I took a friend along with myself, one of my dear friends, and it was just having that person with you who could stand in line with you, who probably didn't know what was going on, but was just willing to be there with myself and to, like, encourage me as I was feeling a little bit like, wow.
Emily Dmytriw [00:04:36]:
I'm going to know the third place that I didn't expect to go to. And then just a car ride of just talking and them being full of joy and talking about something other than I was dealing with was a really big blessing. And so that was, like, presence that I didn't know I needed until it was met, and it was very impactful.
Wendi Park [00:04:56]:
I love that, Emily. And you are out in the community being present with others, and we're gonna get into your stories a little bit coming up here. But to understand what other people mean to you, as caregivers, often we can be the ones outputting our presence and being in those places, and and we can be professional caregivers, and yet you learning to receive and to be radically present with others and them with you in a reciprocal way is very powerful. Because as caregivers with a heart of compassion, you also need the presence of others as well. Right?
Emily Dmytriw [00:05:34]:
Yep. So I meet with a group of girls on Wednesday nights, and we just we talk, we commune, we read the bible together. It's wonderful. And I was I was talking with them, and then one of them and we were just checking in with each other, you know, as you do. And then one of them was like, woah, Emily. You probably don't get asked how you're doing because you're always asking. And then it's like, it's interesting when people say, how are you doing? You're like, oh, I'm good. Right? Because you're used to being the one that's asking.
Emily Dmytriw [00:06:01]:
And then like you said, when you get asked, it's like you kinda get taken aback, and you're like, well, I'm good. Like, I'm always good. And so that that's cool to have that and to also think about it and be like, yeah. Do you need those people? And I often get uncomfortable when people ask me how I'm doing because I always like to ask. That was also very meaningful.
Wendi Park [00:06:22]:
Well, I think your vulnerability invites other people's vulnerability so that it's not just a one way street. It requires a really secure attachment, a sense of belonging to be able to receive other people's help. But I think that's something that we need to learn as we care for others to receive it in equal amounts is is so important. So, Emily, I know you're very involved in Winnipeg, in the Fort Garry area where the church is located. And the church is very community minded, really wanting to invest in community relationships. And you are the heart and the mind behind the Fort Garry Collective, and you've taken on that initiative to help the community flourish. Can you tell me a little bit about your journey into forming the Fort Garry Collective?
Emily Dmytriw [00:07:15]:
Yeah. This was a journey that started years ago that I didn't even know this was probably on the path that it was taking me. I actually grew up in the country, so not in a city, not in a a town with that community. So community looked different to myself, and community is when you had to really work to make because you're isolated otherwise. My parents did a great job of us making a community outside of our immediate location. And so I I worked at a number of different non for profits and, a shelter as well as volunteering different places and just seeing the need to bring people together and to have a place where people are are able to share their story. And a gathering spot has always been a a dream of mine. And then I've traveled different places in the world, and I've noticed that there's these gathering places that allow people to feel feel, like, safe and secure there, and then they can just open up.
Emily Dmytriw [00:08:18]:
And I find that often it's usually around food. Like, food is a great gathering. So whether it's just
Wendi Park [00:08:24]:
coffee or culture. Right?
Emily Dmytriw [00:08:26]:
Right. Yeah. And so a couple of years ago, when I first started attending Anchor Point, I was taking this, this course that we do called Journey one just to actually get to know the the community of the church. And I went up to Donovan, and I was like, wouldn't it be cool if we had, like, a greenhouse, art studio, cafe, therapy center? That was just been a dream of mine. I've known how greenhouses, like, just green life around you and plants are super important. And so, I just had this dream for a long time, and I, I so I told Donovan that. And Donovan, he's always, like, gung ho about all this stuff. And so he was like, oh, yeah.
Emily Dmytriw [00:09:07]:
That'd be super cool. And he's like, that's kinda been a dream of mine too. And then, I was currently working at a different place. I was working at a woman's shelter as well as working at a school at the time. And then a couple probably a year after that, Donovan approached me and asked if I wanted to come on board and work as the community outreach director at Anchor Point with the hope of starting a charity called Fort Garry Collective in the community of Fort Garry. And I immediately said yes, and I was like, that would be my dream job. And so that's that's where the journey began.
Wendi Park [00:09:43]:
Well and I've loved seeing you build that role as you've, invested yourself into the Anchor Pointe church community and in the Fort Garry area. You're continuously building relationships within the community at all different levels, bringing different sectors together, and just seeing this painting this bigger picture than just the church to saying, what if we work together? And and that's being radically present in community. And and along the way, you inevitably build a lot of relationships with people in the community that some might pass by on the other side of the road. Some might say, you know what? That's not really my thing. And yet you have a warmth and ability to be present with these people, not only be present, but it bring inclusion into the community. And, can you tell me a little bit about what that's been like? And and particularly, I was touched by your interaction and your story unfolding with Wayne. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Emily Dmytriw [00:10:49]:
Yeah. I'd love to. I have always realized that I felt more comfortable outside the church and talking with people than inside the church. And it it wasn't anything to do with the people in the church. I just I loved being out, and there's not a pressure to be right aways in their face trying to evangelize them in a sense. That's a kind of a crass way to put it, and I don't think the church really does that. But maybe that was just how I had kind of assumed things. But whereas when you're not in a church and you're out you're out in creation in the community, you're able to start relationships and friendships without maybe the pressure of something else right aways.
Emily Dmytriw [00:11:36]:
And I found that I loved talking with individuals just about their life and getting to know them and being able to build that relationship outside of maybe the church without having that pressure. And we have a lot of people that just walk in, which is beautiful as well, just walking off the streets just because they see the lights are on or the doors are open or they wanna charge their phone or they're looking for coffee. Yeah. That's how I actually met my friend Wayne was one day I was driving.
Wendi Park [00:12:07]:
Yeah. Can I just ask you a question? I wanna get into Wayne's story, but something you've been describing has caught my attention here. Talk to the listener, to the average individual that may be hearing this story for the first time and saying they're walking down the street, approaching that person at the bus shelter, the person in the tent city, or the person doing life on the park bench outside your church just needing that cup of coffee, they're not feeling that inclination. They're not feeling that warm and fuzzy. They there may be a a sense of should. I see them, but I'm I'm I'm scared or I I don't know what to do or I'm not naturally like Emily. I'm gonna hide in your shadows. Talk to that individual.
Wendi Park [00:12:53]:
How can you ease their discomfort if they're standing right beside you with Wayne right now?
Emily Dmytriw [00:13:00]:
Yeah. A smile and body language goes a long way. So if you're walking up to an individual that maybe honestly makes you uncomfortable, and that's fair, you gotta know, like, safety and have wisdom. But if you are, like, back towards them not even willing to engage, that already speaks volumes. But if you're, like, turn toward them smiling, and if you catch their eye sometimes people just wanna be left alone, and that's fair. Mhmm. But if they're like you catch their eye and you're smiling, and you ask them how they're doing and you genuinely care how they're doing, not just, like, the polite, oh, how are you? But, like, you actually care and you're willing to listen, that goes a long way. You can ask the questions.
Emily Dmytriw [00:13:44]:
You can be willing, and sometimes the other person isn't. And that's okay. But to already be willing to listen and to be present for however long you have speaks volumes. It speaks volumes. And it's very easy to look at individuals and not feel that warm and fuzzy, like you said, when you're when you're only focused on yourself and you're maybe discomfort or I don't know how to interact or all these, like, questions of, like, oh, is it gonna be helpful? And to maybe just stop thinking about yourself for that little bit and to actually just think about the other individual is is really big.
Wendi Park [00:14:21]:
Thank you for sharing that. And I think what I've appreciated observing you and how you have just so naturally brought people into the community is that there's not this sense of I need to fix people or solve their situation. You you wanna respond and you're responsive, but there's there's this kinship, this family, this you and me. We're human together, just journeying life and that presence that really brings us into this story with Wayne and how tell us a little bit of how you, first met Wayne and and and how that unfolded.
Emily Dmytriw [00:14:59]:
Yeah. Wayne was, at a street corner as I was driving by, and I had just missed talking with him. So I'd actually just yelled at him to come meet me at the church. And I wasn't sure if he heard me, and I didn't wanna sound rude. I was like, wow. I feel bad. I just yelled at him. But half an hour later, there he was in our in our church entrance.
Emily Dmytriw [00:15:21]:
And that evening, we were having a soup and buns evening for just prayer room or anyone in the community who wants to come in. So he joined us for a meal, which was amazing, and I was able to talk with him. And it was a first short interaction. It was very much just like yeah. Like you said, Wendy, not seeing an individual for their problem or being a project, but for seeing them for who they are and that they're they're a person like all of us. And so that evening, I got to I got to know Wayne and just hear a little bit of his story, and that just brought on the conversation of the situation he was living in and that he really just wanted friendship. He just wanted to talk with someone. And so I invited him back in a couple of days to come and talk.
Emily Dmytriw [00:16:09]:
And the invitation's out there, and you never know if people are gonna take it. But he he took it, and he came. And, yeah, that started a beautiful time of Wayne and myself just honestly, it was him talking and just sharing his life story, and he was such a good storyteller. And we got to know each other. I got to meet his workers and work alongside them trying to find him housing and, work with just different parts of his life. And just knowing that no matter what situation he came from, he was always he was always welcome to either just use the bathroom or their microwave. And then individuals in the church community started recognizing him, which just warmed my heart so much, and they would invite him in and where they would see him, like, somewhere because sometimes I wouldn't see him for a while, and then I would get a a a text from someone saying, I just saw Wayne in this part of the city. And so then I would drive over there, and then I would find him.
Emily Dmytriw [00:17:08]:
So it was really help. It was like a beautiful network that kinda came together. So that's how Wayne and I got to know each other and got to become friends and walk alongside each other.
Wendi Park [00:17:20]:
Yeah. I remember Wayne briefly. I did have coffee with him one time when he was in the foyer, and we got to to share coffee. And I love that we could just sit and have coffee, but I don't think it would have happened just randomly had you not reached out. And I know sometimes that it it is unconventional. You're like, oh, should I have yelled at him? They're like, hey. Come to the church. But you don't know those those those chance encounters of connection.
Wendi Park [00:17:48]:
Just putting yourself out there. You made yourself vulnerable, actually, by, inviting him. And I think a lot of people might be fear of rejection or fear of coming across wrong, but there was something in there. Obviously, he felt your heart in it. You weren't like, get over to the church. You know? You were like, you're welcome. You're that sense of belonging, your body language, and your your tone was calling him in to community. And isn't that what we all long for? It's not just Wayne out there.
Wendi Park [00:18:18]:
Aren't we all longing for that come, that invitation? Isn't that what Jesus does when he invites us? Come. And when Jesus invites us to come, there's a sense of urgency and longing and hunger that you shared. I think that's beautiful. I know there's more to his story, and it's not about fixing. But what was that journey like as you continue to create space for Wayne in your life?
Emily Dmytriw [00:18:46]:
Yeah. Wayne, I gave him my number so he could call if there is any any times that he needed help or anything. And sometimes, depending in kind of mood he was in, he would he would call and just check-in and say like, hey, Emily. I'm, like, sleeping here tonight just to let you know I'm safe. And that always warmed my heart, and my husband and I became really good friends with Wayne. We'd have coffee with him often, and he almost was able to have Thanksgiving with us. It was hard when, he didn't have a phone at times, and he would Mhmm. He would have a bike, and so we would try to find him when we could.
Emily Dmytriw [00:19:20]:
But, yeah, Wayne ended up sleeping on our property on the Anchor Point property for a while, which, we loved it. It it kinda was nice because I got to know where he was lots of the time, and his workers would come and meet with Wayne at the church, and we would work together. We did quite a few apartment applications, and then I did, like, some some applications for, like, referring him to certain apartments. And so we became really good friends. Yeah. And then when winter started approaching, then, you know, the needs kinda get more serious where you're like, hey. We really would like to find a place for this gentleman. And sometimes different search different situations aren't always the best in certain areas and knowing his history.
Emily Dmytriw [00:20:05]:
And then, I got an email at the December, yeah, that, Wayne had passed away. And in that moment, it was very interesting. I was in the middle of a meeting exactly talking about finding transitional housing and working through these problems in our community, which Fort Garry probably doesn't look like it has that many needs in that sense, but there are a lot of hidden needs. They're not as obvious.
Wendi Park [00:20:34]:
There's a lot of hidden needs. If we could just bookmark that, in community development. We often maybe categorize certain parts of our cities or certain cities as, oh, they're the the poor ones or this this sector, and and there's a lot of truth to that. But poverty and suffering knows no bounds in postal codes. There's some more intensity, more vulnerabilities in certain areas, but this isn't an area that has a Thermea Nordic spa
Emily Dmytriw [00:21:04]:
Yeah.
Wendi Park [00:21:05]:
And a private expensive private school Mhmm. And also has intense poverty hidden in plain sight. We can't underscore that. I'm curious, though, in that moment when you got that email. You've said it. Wayne is your friend. He's become part of the community. And you were part of his journey of finding housing, and then this happened where where he passed away.
Wendi Park [00:21:34]:
What did that do for you? What was going through your mind and your heart, your soul in that moment when you've really loved on this person in the community and it came to this tragic news?
Emily Dmytriw [00:21:50]:
Initially, my heart dropped, you know, when you feel it in your stomach. And, the sadness of losing someone you care about and you were hoping for a better future for them. You had this hope and this anticipation of finding a place and
Wendi Park [00:22:08]:
Right.
Emily Dmytriw [00:22:08]:
You know, continuing to have this friendship. And when you talk, you're like, oh, next Thanksgiving and all of these things. And then to find out that it's suddenly all over, it's a big shock. I don't ever wanna become numb to those because there's been other times I've lost individuals in my life that I've been walking with, especially through addictions. And you don't ever want to become numb to that and just be like, okay. Well, there's another one. But there was also this this sense of, like, oh, he's no longer suffering on the streets. He's no longer in the cold.
Emily Dmytriw [00:22:45]:
But it doesn't ever outweigh the sadness of losing a friend and of realizing he's gone. But it also kinda just was suiting that it was exactly that meeting talking about transitional housing that we had this email because it was just like, yeah, it reminded me why we were fighting for what we were and why we want to keep working towards community and the health of a community and the places of gathering that allow people to feel loved. And so it wasn't a defeat. It was like a, okay. This is why we're doing it. This is why we're doing it.
Wendi Park [00:23:26]:
So to all those listening to your journey, would you tell them it was worth it? Even if you would have known the tragic end or the short journey that you had with them, those moments, those fleeting moments now, but at a crucial time in his life, was it worth it?
Emily Dmytriw [00:23:44]:
That was a question I think I had to ask myself quite a bit, especially right after it happened. And probably years past when I have lost individuals I've worked with, you almost kinda say it's not worth it, and you can get bitter and hard. But that's not a lifestyle I wanna live and one that actually provides life and joy. And so in that moment, you're like, it's actually so worth it all. It's actually worth it all.
Wendi Park [00:24:14]:
Well, in Isaiah fifty eight ten says, if you spend yourself in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed. It doesn't say if you fix and solve their solution if you're their savior. If you spend yourself in behalf of them, then your light will rise in the darkness. There's a light that comes in those spaces that defies darkness even that this world cannot overshadow the light within you, Emily. And I've seen it. I can testify that it radiates in those places and you keep going back. You keep going back into the lives of others and inviting other people to journey alongside, some really difficult situations, the verse finishes and your night will become like the noonday. Isn't that what our world needs a lot more? I I just wonder back to our our whole series, the cost of indifference.
Wendi Park [00:25:08]:
What would it have looked like? What would it have cost us? What would it have cost Wayne in his his last days knowing he was had belonging, he had friendship with you and others that you introduced him to? But what would that have cost him and and our church community if we would have just said we were indifferent to him and just kept going on without him?
Emily Dmytriw [00:25:29]:
Oh, like, he actually gave me so much. It wasn't even, like, me just pouring. It was actually him pouring into me so much as well as a friend and as a storyteller. And his his memories, those times of laughter and joy with him, like, those those I will never lose. Those I won't lose. And he taught me so many lessons, and I think individuals around him him lessons. And to see how he helped those in need as well and was so willing the amount of times he would come, and he would bring food to the church to give to people. I was, like, blown away.
Emily Dmytriw [00:26:12]:
Yeah. I think he realized that this life wasn't for us to just live on our own, but it's to live with people. This hope that we have is not in not is not in the pain and the sadness in this world, but the hope is in in the joy and what's to come. I think he was able to have some hope in friendship at the end. Yeah. If anything, he was, someone that came and taught us beautiful, beautiful lessons.
Wendi Park [00:26:39]:
That is the beautiful thing in this upside down kingdom that God invites us into. It's not a should care for the poor, the oppressed, those going through suffering. But God is close to the brokenhearted. Matthew 25, when did you see me hungry or in prison? All these places that we wouldn't wanna naturally go. We might not be as inclined as you are, Emily, to say, hey. I I wanna get to know them. But that's where God is, and sometimes we're looking for God in the wrong places. Yes.
Wendi Park [00:27:10]:
We can find him in worship and together as a church, but there's a depth to understanding God when we can journey with others that it's not just about caring for. We should care for and and have acts of mercy and justice. But God is in those places, and it you'll never be the same, I'm sure, Emily. The church has been impacted and has been edified, and we are so grateful for that time that we could have with Wayne. Thank you for bringing that to light. So, Emily, you and I can look all around us. Our listeners can look all around ourselves and see a lot of opportunities and a lot of overwhelm, actually, of the crises around us. You you just look at the news.
Wendi Park [00:27:56]:
You look out on the street. And then not to mention, we also said there's so much hidden, actually, more hidden than what is apparent. There's a lot of suffering in our society. And how do you engage meaningfully without overwhelming yourself in all the needs and and, like, flurrying around, we've gotta do something, and and burning yourself out in the process? Are there some practical ways that you could suggest that we can engage without that overwhelm, seeing that one person in front of us?
Emily Dmytriw [00:28:29]:
To be honest with you, Wendy, I don't have any social media, and I don't ever look at the news because I know of the overwhelm. Mhmm. And, yeah, you look around you, and it can be really easy to get disheartened, especially driving down certain streets in the city and even just kinda listening to the way that some some areas of our, community are going. But you had mentioned this before, and I wanna just echo what you said that we aren't the savior. We aren't the ones that are meant to swoop in and save the day and have all the answers. That's been a big learning for myself. Something I've learned a lot is that we don't have all the answers and that we actually can't have all the answers because otherwise, you kinda take that away from individuals who need to learn and grill themselves. And the community has a lot of resources.
Emily Dmytriw [00:29:26]:
We're not a a one man island here. We're not just a lone island. We're we're trying to reach the community and gather the people that are willing and wanting to help. And so to realize that it's just not on you. Right. You personally can do so much. But when you try to take on needs of the world, you're gonna get crushed. Yeah.
Emily Dmytriw [00:29:47]:
Because it was never our place to take on the needs of the world.
Wendi Park [00:29:51]:
And it really becomes, what has God called me to do? How does God want me to respond to this? And it's not a failure or a deficit to say I need help too. So if God has called me in such a way to be relationally present in this way, who else do we need to invite to the table? Who what village do we need to create, to create belonging and wholeness and and and support an individual who self identifies certain things as people going through when I'm in vulnerable situations, there's a sense where I think I know what I need or I what I need to advocate for. I don't want people just telling me what to do, and I'm gonna fix you. It's listening to that individual. They are part of the the pathway forward as well. But looking to the greater community, it takes a lot of humility. Now talk to a church, that is part of that is situated in area that is there's government, there's schools, there's nonprofits and businesses that aren't necessarily faith aligned. How do you do that? You're you're doing that.
Wendi Park [00:30:58]:
What does that look like for you, as you're developing Fort Garry Collective?
Emily Dmytriw [00:31:03]:
I think at the core of it, you gotta remember that we're both trying to love the person. And when you take the person out of the equation and you just see maybe the circumstance and the problem, it can be easy to have your differences with different people you're walking with or different organizations. But when you come down to it and you remember like, oh, no. Our main purpose here is to help the individual and to care for them and to love them. For myself, I see that I see that God is at the center of that, and I know that's not what everybody sees. And I would never wanna force that upon anyone as something that I think is what they need to see. But when you can both agree that the individual that you're walking with, that you both have their best needs, then it makes it a lot more beautiful to walk with them. And the differences will come up, but that's okay, actually, because people are unique, and people have different amazing, yeah, resources.
Emily Dmytriw [00:32:00]:
And it allows actually all these different individuals that maybe have different takes on things to come together and to work together. And there's gonna be differences, but to realize when you're you're like, no. It's not about me and what I think. It's about what that individual needs and how can we actually help them and walk with them. That's a tough line to walk. But one, when everyone is on the same page that it's about that individual, then that's the way you go forward, which is not always the way it happens, but it's the way you hope you hope you move forward and walk with it.
Johan Heinrichs [00:32:33]:
Thanks so much for sharing your story, Emily. Before we let you go, though, do you have a a challenge for our listeners for this week? Something practical that they can take into this week to be better present with others around them.
Emily Dmytriw [00:32:48]:
This is kind of a twofold. I would love, and this is a challenge for myself as well, for everyone to maybe stop being so self aware of themselves when they're walking up to someone or approaching someone, and and actually taking their eyes off of themself and looking at the individual and not being concerned with our discomfort, but actually being like, I wonder what how they're uncomfortable. And then also, if we lived out of how loved we are. And I talked about this in my sermon, but it's like, man, if we actually knew how loved we are and how much life is worth it, wouldn't we wanna share that with others? And wouldn't it actually be a lot easier to step out of our comfort zone because we knew how loved we were? And we knew, yeah, how good it felt to be loved, and we want others to experience that as well. So that that's my challenge to to live out of how loved you are.
Johan Heinrichs [00:33:47]:
That's great. Do you have any links you wanna share with the listeners for them to visit if they wanna hear more about the Fort Garry Collective and stuff that you're doing?
Emily Dmytriw [00:33:56]:
We're still working on getting our website up. But if you want to go on to, anchorpointchurch.com, and you can kinda follow what's going on in the community and in the church. And then once the Fort Gary collective website gets up there, it will be linked on to that website, and you guys will be able to follow along the different events we're doing or the different opportunities that come up and just really hearing stories and seeing, yeah, how we're living and walking with our community.
Wendi Park [00:34:25]:
And if you'd like to hear more about Emily's story, her heart, I would like to also include, Johan, a link to the sermon that she preached just several weeks ago that, will challenge you in a good way. It will warm your heart. It will want you to to seek more of God in community. So thank you so much, Emily, for for being here today.
Emily Dmytriw [00:34:48]:
Thank you. It was a joy.
Johan Heinrichs [00:34:49]:
Alright. Now it's time for Care lingo. Wendy, you sent me this word this week, and I had no idea what you were sending me. So, I had I had a few thoughts that came to my mind when I when I got sent this word incarnational. Incarnational. Like, is that even how you pronounce it?
Wendi Park [00:35:10]:
You you got it right. I I loved how you first thought it was incarnational. And I'm like, you have not heard this yet, but I was sitting in Toronto. I was at these meetings in Hamilton, actually, and they were talking about incarnational ministry. And I'm like, oh, Johan's gonna love this one. This will be great for Carelingo, but I thought you would know this one. Yeah. I I don't You're a Christian boy.
Johan Heinrichs [00:35:32]:
Yeah. My dad's a pastor, but I I don't think he's ever used this term before. So two thoughts that came to my head. The first was obviously, like, the root word carnation. My wife loves flowers, but she hates carnations. So this might be something, you know, when you walk into a flower shop, you're getting a mixed a mixed bouquet of flowers. And they'll say, do you want this to be a incarnational bouquet or or not? Do you want carnations included in this mixed flour bouquet? And I would obviously say no because my wife doesn't like them. So incarnational.
Johan Heinrichs [00:36:09]:
The other one that came to mind now okay. So this would be someone that, you know, is temporarily trying to just eat meat. You know, like, I'm in carnivore mode. It's like I tried being a vegetarian, but I smell the bacon. Now I'm fully incarnational again. Like, I am all in on meat right now. I mean, that's me perpetually anyway. I'll I'll never be a vegetarian, but, you know, incarnational.
Johan Heinrichs [00:36:36]:
Fully in on meat. Emily, do you have any thoughts of what first of all, have you heard the term before? And if you haven't, what would you think it means if you heard it?
Emily Dmytriw [00:36:46]:
I have never heard this term before.
Wendi Park [00:36:49]:
Oh, Wendy.
Johan Heinrichs [00:36:49]:
It's for two.
Emily Dmytriw [00:36:51]:
It I
Wendi Park [00:36:51]:
think you guys are just younger than me or something.
Johan Heinrichs [00:36:53]:
Wendy I think Wendy made it up, actually. But
Wendi Park [00:36:57]:
Help me out, guys. Listeners, if you've heard it, put it in the, respond to us on Facebook.
Emily Dmytriw [00:37:02]:
Oh, man. Incarnational. It it sounds like it and maybe this is just me because my mind always goes to plants as well there, Johan. But I just think of plants and in nature, incarnatural. But I I don't know. That's just where my thoughts go. It sounds like a beautiful word, but it sounds like a beautiful made up word.
Johan Heinrichs [00:37:21]:
Yeah. What's so what what's your made up word mean, Wendy?
Wendi Park [00:37:24]:
It is not a made up word. It's in community development Christian ministries when it's it's around incarnate, like, in the Latin word in in flesh. So God moved into the neighborhood, kind of idea. What does it look like to embody Christian values and ministry in community with people? That is incarnational ministry. I didn't realize it was so weird, but you put me in a group of geeks like me. It's just vernacular. And, there you go. Incarnational.
Wendi Park [00:37:56]:
It's like being in presence. Present it's being present in community, doing ministry, living out ministry with others in a very community way.
Johan Heinrichs [00:38:11]:
Okay. That sounds a little bit more familiar. I've used the term incarnate, but not incarnational or incarnational. I already forgot how to pronounce it. Well, there you have it, incarnational. Even if it's made up, we are all educated on, new words made by Wendy, but probably not. Yeah. Alright.
Johan Heinrichs [00:38:31]:
Until next time, remember to stay curious. Thank you for joining us on Journey with Care. To get more information on weekly episodes, upcoming opportunities, or to connect with our community, visit journeywithcare.ca, or find Care Impact on Facebook and Instagram, or just check the show notes for these links and all the links related to this episode. Share your thoughts, leave us a message, and be part of a network of individuals journeying in faith and purpose. Together, let's discover how we can make a meaningful impact.