Latest / Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community / Care Journey | Rethinking Poverty

Transcript

Care Journey | Rethinking Poverty · Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community

0:02
Imagine the whole church discovering their passion to care,
0:06
one small group at a time.
0:10
You're listening to this special podcast series, Care Journey,
0:14
from the Journey with Care podcast.
0:19
Fixing trying to fix things is different than lightening
0:23
someone's load. So what what do friends do? We don't go around
0:27
fixing each other. But we do think about how can I lighten somebody's load right
0:30
now? Yes. It's not about erasing everything
0:34
that's here that's contributing it in from an individual level, systemic level.
0:38
That's a recipe for paralysis. But if we can start to say
0:42
how can I lighten the load? Is there anything I can do to come alongside?
0:45
Is there a way that I can listen and learn? Then what happens is
0:49
my next step starts to be unveiled.
0:54
Welcome to another episode of Journey with Care. We are in the midst of our
0:58
Care Journey series. If you haven't listened to our previous episodes,
1:02
this series is highlighting some of the
1:05
topics key for Care Impact, and we're just giving you a taste
1:09
here what our small group course is like. If you want to get more into
1:12
it, visit careimpact.cacarejourney
1:16
and you can get on the waiting list there to make it part of your
1:20
small group. Really encourage you to do that. We've had nothing but great
1:23
feedback so far. Also, I wanna remind you that we have journey with
1:27
prayer, a 5 minute devotional series to start off your week. That's on a separate
1:31
feed, or you can find it at journey with care dot ca. You can get
1:35
it early there on Friday, the same time this one releases. Otherwise, you get it
1:38
Monday. So make sure you check that out. Today, we have a special
1:42
guest on with us, Marlo Fox. But before we get into that
1:45
conversation, I wanna remind you that we can only continue to produce great
1:49
content because the generosity of our listeners, our donors
1:53
of Care Impact. And if you wanna support our work in the community, if you
1:56
wanna support the podcast, head over to journey with care dot c a,
2:00
and there are some links you can click there to be able to support
2:03
us and the work that we are doing in the community. Or you can just
2:06
go to the show notes, and there's some links there as well. Wendy, you wanna
2:09
introduce our guest? Absolutely. I'm delighted to
2:13
introduce, our friend to Carry Impact, Marlo Fox. She
2:17
comes from Ohio in the the USA and,
2:21
works with an organization as the executive director of Think Tank.
2:25
Welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Wendy. It's so good to be here with
2:28
you. Can you tell us a little bit about Think Tank?
2:32
We've really appreciated the work you've done, but tell us what a little bit
2:36
more about it. Yes. So think tank just turned 18
2:40
years old. I can't even believe it. I'm one of the cofounders
2:43
of think tank and have had the joy of working
2:47
with, teams all across the United States. So as you
2:51
mentioned, Wendy, our work originated here in Southwest
2:54
Ohio, and our mission is to equip groups to rethink
2:58
poverty and to partner directly with people
3:02
that are affected for change in community.
3:06
And so, with that, my own journey started
3:09
out previous to this role. I was, in social work. I worked
3:13
in workforce development. So in that role, I,
3:17
got to know people in my community that were
3:21
struggling to get into the workforce and actually have a
3:24
living wage job. And so I was working day in and day out
3:28
with families, right here that were navigating poverty.
3:32
And what I learned through that was, you know, our answer, certainly in the
3:35
United States, is the answer to poverty is just get a job and make more
3:39
money. And as I got more deeply acquainted,
3:43
and involved in people's lives, you know, work's important,
3:47
and that was very rewarding. We were designed to work, right,
3:51
to create, to contribute to our community, to other people's lives, and
3:55
yet there were, you know, numerous barriers, that people were encountering
3:58
just to get into the workforce or stay in the workforce. And all of them
4:02
was this kinda complex interconnected web to poverty. And so
4:06
I had the privilege to be able to found think
4:09
tank, with the idea that we needed to work more holistically rather
4:13
than in our silos. That meant doing a lot of capacity
4:17
building and equipping work with groups that were on the ground,
4:20
interacting with people, navigating different aspects of poverty,
4:24
and to work to be a convener to bring those, groups to be more
4:28
effective in their work and to build solutions with people that were
4:32
navigating poverty instead of to them or for them. And so we've been at this
4:35
for 18 years, and I'm sure we'll talk about how that's evolved, but that's a
4:38
little bit of our history. Yeah. And while I've sat in through some of your
4:42
sessions and your curriculum and even as you've been creating some of the and
4:46
been a guinea pig, and I just have really appreciated the content
4:49
that you have delivered, your team has created.
4:53
And what I find interesting is you're right. Like, when we think of
4:57
poverty, we're thinking of how do we, problem solve for the
5:01
people that are in poverty. What I've really
5:05
appreciated about your team is that you're working with people
5:08
that are in poverty saying, how do we build capacity
5:12
for those who wanna care? And you're really building the capacity
5:17
of not how to get a job in the sense, which there's places for that
5:20
as well. There's a need for that. However, you're building capacity in the
5:24
local church. You're building capacity in the local community. How do we
5:27
respond? How do we interact with that? Because poverty affects us all,
5:31
but we're just not all as vulnerable. But how do we contribute? How do we
5:35
neighbor well? And, I've really appreciated that you're
5:38
working with people and not just for them. You
5:42
shared a little bit, Marlo, about what got you started
5:46
in think tank and and why there was a need for this
5:49
organization. But what led up to that
5:54
beforehand, before you were working? What were those moments? You
5:58
were having an ordinary life, but did you grow up
6:02
desiring to to be in the space of poverty alleviation and capacity
6:05
building, or were there these moments that got you there?
6:10
Yeah. I appreciate that you said moments because I think for
6:13
most of us, it's not a lightning bolt revelation. There are lots
6:17
of things that happen in our lives that continue to
6:21
build into our calling and reveal, truth in our lives. And so
6:25
I think I would say the same was true for myself. I did
6:29
not personally grow up in poverty, but I became
6:33
well acquainted with poverty as a young adult. I married somebody
6:36
that did grow up in poverty and then began working in this
6:40
space. So I think that perhaps my journey
6:44
is similar to others who have taken
6:48
that road, maybe gone into a vocation wanting to help
6:52
based on maybe certain faith callings or skills
6:56
or or gifts and care. And then realizing
7:00
as I got into it that I thought I could help, but,
7:04
actually, I also got helped, if that makes sense. And
7:08
so I think that was, again, a series of moments
7:13
based on maybe some faulty or incomplete paradigms
7:18
is that I feel like so often we see
7:21
the responsibility for poverty alleviation setting on the
7:25
shoulders of those who are in poverty, and it's,
7:29
them that need to change. And very quickly,
7:33
I realized, oh, I need to change. And this is an
7:36
ongoing process and will be for the rest of my life, but I think
7:40
there were a number of things along the road
7:44
that contributed to those awakenings for me. Some
7:48
real concrete story. Initially, when I get into workforce development,
7:52
part of what we were doing, we were offering GED classes. So in the US,
7:55
that's, the equivalent of a high school diploma if you drop out of school.
7:59
And I actually came back from college. I had gone out of
8:03
state, came back to my hometown. I was working in the school district
8:06
where I grew up, and we had people coming to
8:10
our GED class that I had grown up with. I had no idea they had
8:14
dropped out of high school. And so this revelation of, like,
8:17
wow. Was I in a tunnel? Like, how were these people
8:21
invisible to me? You know? And so just
8:24
that, just realizing my own maybe, isolation
8:28
or my own focus on myself and how I needed to be alert
8:32
to parts of my community that were invisible to me and the pain that was
8:36
invisible to me. So just a number of things like that. The
8:40
other thing, again, I was in the position as a social worker
8:44
to help others, so I there was a power imbalance there. Right? I was the
8:47
one that was supposed to have the answer as a young person. You
8:50
know? And then I found myself in conversations with people that were
8:54
my clients, and they were pouring into me. They were giving me some
8:58
answers for things that were going on in my life. So this, like, this
9:02
idea of, again, doing 4 or the helper has
9:05
the answer solution to more relationships
9:09
and mutuality, which is, I think, a much healthier place to
9:13
be as helpers or as just people that wanna come
9:17
alongside neighbors in good ways. So, yeah, it was a number of those things,
9:20
Wendy, that have shaped me and and continue to shape me in how I think
9:24
about this work. See, Marlo, this is why I love you. There's so many good
9:27
nuggets there, and I hope our audience has paid attention to those. It's just
9:31
so true, and it shows in the curriculum and
9:35
the resources that you are producing that it is created with, and
9:39
and the people going through poverty become our professors. They're actually
9:42
contributing to the solutions. It is so much more complex than the
9:46
individual's bank account. And you're right.
9:50
Poverty is hidden in plain sight. We don't know what
9:53
poverty looks like in the day to day, and I think the individualism
9:57
and the privacy of people's, lives in
10:01
our society contributes to that. It doesn't it doesn't
10:04
alleviate poverty when we we sit in our silos. There's so
10:08
much more than meets the eye. Let's talk a little bit of
10:12
poverty. What are the things that you have learned? Surely, poverty is
10:16
more. You've alluded to it. Is more than just not having money or
10:19
a a job. What are the ways that we could all identify with
10:23
areas of poverty that we might be even be impoverished and
10:27
not realize? Yeah. I mean, I I do think
10:31
that just the recognition that our our
10:34
brains, I think, shut down to complexity a lot of times. We
10:38
wanna make it about that one thing. And the deeper
10:42
you get into learning about people's lives, there is a lot of
10:45
complexity there, but I think at the core,
10:49
we understand because we are in bodies navigating
10:53
a real physical tangible world, and we have a
10:57
spiritual dimension to us and a physical and emotional and a
11:01
mental dimension to us, and, that that's true for all of
11:04
us. And so I think when you look at our work, think tanks work,
11:08
that's why we center it on the human impact of poverty so that we
11:12
can take a human centered approach to alleviating
11:16
poverty. Right? And so there are these very
11:19
tangible, realities of physical
11:22
needs. You know, we have housing insecurity and food insecurity
11:26
and, you know, all these things are undergirded
11:30
by economics. Right? But there are numerous
11:33
things that keep us maybe from
11:37
being economically stable. And so as I mentioned, when I was
11:40
doing workforce development and I got involved in people's
11:44
lives and and would help open up opportunities perhaps to
11:48
affirm their gifts and to get into a job, there were those tangible
11:51
things that we often think about, such as barriers like
11:55
transportation, childcare, you know, housing, food, and security, and all those things
11:59
come out and cope. But, also, what happens is
12:03
this individualism you talk about, Wendy, and and even scarcity
12:07
mentality that we carry around, I think that has created
12:11
isolation that compound those factors. Right?
12:15
And so there's an emotional dimension to that. There's
12:18
trauma that comes into that. There, are a number of
12:22
things that contribute to our well-being.
12:25
And so as we look at rethinking poverty from
12:29
our standpoint, it's really anchored on centering on the
12:33
human impact and taking a relational approach. So no
12:37
matter what issue you're gonna work on, I would say if we can
12:41
be grounded in those things, how can I see this through a human
12:44
lens, and what can I do to take a relational approach?
12:49
The other thing I think we get ourselves into is we want a quick fix,
12:53
and we oftentimes wanna step into
12:56
poverty alleviation in very episodic ways, you know, or transactional ways. So, you know,
13:00
hopefully, I I can challenge myself and we can challenge our listeners here, Wendy, that,
13:02
you know, I think if more of us think about, like, where maybe is god
13:05
calling me to make a longer term commitment,
13:13
longer term relational commitment. Again, if we think about our human experience, where have
13:16
we been changed? What we've been changed where people have made a long term relational
13:20
commitment in our lives. And that often starts with just one step and an
13:23
openness to what's right in front of us, really. And I
13:27
think it's easier than people think than what we fear.
13:31
Yes. Like you and I having a conversation, we find things
13:34
in common. Our prefrontal cortex is predisposed
13:38
to to find that connection, that relational capacity, but sometimes when
13:42
we think, oh, no. They are maybe in a different economic status or they
13:46
don't have a job. Somehow, we've gotta fix or we we freeze up.
13:49
That's the amygdala talking, and we can actually relate well.
13:53
But if we could only human to human like Jesus did with the
13:56
Samaritan woman or the the the high officials to
14:00
the disciples, he was human to human no matter their
14:04
status, but could we relate? And we have to address that
14:08
fear that prevents us from actually being able to
14:11
to connect in a meaningful way, but it's easier. It's accessible.
14:15
People actually can do that. Right. But we have to reframe.
14:19
I have to pay attention. Where is fear setting in when I'm sitting in
14:23
front of a person. Is there fear? Because that actually is gonna inhibit my
14:26
ability to have a meaningful connection
14:30
regardless of if they wanna talk to me or not. It's not about forcing a
14:34
relationship. That's right. It's about the posture. People know
14:37
when they're a project or when they're a friend to be with.
14:41
Absolutely. And I think our nature, again,
14:45
because we do at our core want to alleviate pain and
14:49
suffering, our nature is to go to fix, particularly
14:53
if we're in a position where we have resources and we're compelled to help and
14:56
all of that. And yet, as you say, Wendy,
15:00
sometimes our best approach is just taking time
15:04
and creating space to listen. Yeah. It's that withness.
15:08
It's not about fixing. And I think sometimes we wanna
15:12
ease their discomfort because, actually, we're discomforted by
15:16
it. We want that we want that discomfort, that that that pain to
15:19
go away. We don't wanna see that suffering because we can't handle
15:23
that. It's very true. It's hard to set, and and we understand this
15:27
intuitively, right, because we've been through our own grief, and we've gone through
15:31
grief with others. You know, when there's a death, it's really hard to sit
15:34
with that. Right? But presence is mostly what people need. And
15:38
so, again, I think it's like you said, when there's that fear, it's like,
15:42
what can I go back to that's relatable about being human? And I and
15:45
I also think fixing trying to fix things is
15:49
different than lightening someone's load. So what do what do
15:53
friends do? We don't go around fixing each other. But we do think about
15:57
how can I lighten somebody's load right now? Yes. And, again, that's just
16:00
a way to simply lean in and take a next step. It's
16:04
not about erasing everything that's here that's contributing it
16:08
in from an individual level or systemic level. That's a recipe for
16:12
paralysis. But if we can start to say, how can I lighten alone?
16:15
Is there anything I can do to come alongside? Is there a way that I
16:19
can listen and learn? Then what happens is my next step
16:22
starts to be unveiled. And and that's
16:26
where I love the utilization of the care portal care
16:30
sharing technology because that's where social workers and case workers
16:33
who are walking alongside, and they know where the needs are in the
16:37
community. They're working with them in their distress, and they're
16:41
able to work with and we train the social workers to work with the
16:45
families and the youth and the the vulnerable sector and saying, what
16:49
are those things that you need to lighten your load to
16:53
that aren't being resourced anywhere else, but if you could have a
16:56
relational intervention, what would that look like? And they get creative
17:00
together, and that's where those stories come up that that we put onto our website
17:03
with through the care portal, and that's how churches can meaningful so we take
17:07
that guesswork out, and, again, we keep having to push
17:11
back, against that transactional understanding. Oh, if I only
17:15
get that bed and and we just, like, drop it off and go. No. Actually,
17:19
this is a connection point. They've said yes to community when they put that their
17:22
story out there. They've said yes. I'm I'm willing to have that
17:26
meaningful connection, and this is simply a
17:29
tool to help bridge that. Now you've been working with Care Portal.
17:33
We've been working with Care Portal, and you've developed this amazing
17:37
cope experience, cost of poverty experience. I can't wait to I think we got a
17:41
segue there because we're actually good news, Canada. We're
17:45
we just got it through customs, and we're bringing it to Canada. But can you
17:48
tell us about this cope cost of poverty experience that you have
17:52
developed with your team? Yeah. So I did mention the
17:56
first part of our mission is to equip groups to rethink poverty through that
18:00
human lens. And so one of the I we have
18:03
found one of the most effective ways to do that is by
18:07
inviting people into the stories of others. And so
18:11
the other thing that, Wendy, I know Care Impact creates a lot of
18:15
resources and training and equipping tools for churches and community groups.
18:19
And so what we understand then in this space about
18:22
adult learning, you know, how we do learn and change and grow
18:26
and become more effective is we have to
18:29
immerse ourselves. It has the information has to be relevant.
18:33
It's gotta be more than stuck in the head. We've gotta embrace it emotionally,
18:37
and we've gotta be able to apply it. And so that's why I think cope
18:40
has been so effective is that it is a simulation, and so it
18:44
it is a 2 and a half hour experience that invites
18:47
people to take on the role of families much
18:51
like families in their community that are navigating poverty day in, day
18:55
out, and to put themselves in the shoes of their
18:58
circumstances and to make some decisions about how they think they
19:01
may navigate those circumstances. And we don't just leave it there at the
19:05
simulation, so we simulate 1 month in the life of those families,
19:10
broken down into, you know, 4 weeks. But we don't stop there,
19:13
then we have a conversation about, you know, what insights did
19:17
this give you and, what does this mean for us
19:21
both individually and collectively. And so what that
19:24
experience is like is we've actually interviewed families
19:28
all across the United States now. We started with a group of families in Ohio,
19:31
and then we recently updated this experience to interview families all
19:35
across the United States to just hear their stories in
19:39
their own words about kinda some of their presenting
19:43
challenges, about their family dynamics, about the
19:47
way in which they told their own story or kind of made sense
19:50
of their own story. And so what it does is it gives us a chance
19:54
to think about poverty through the lens of that individual, but to also
19:57
see what the community system looks like and and where the
20:01
community system, inclusive of the local church, is an asset and an
20:05
ally to families that are navigating these hard times and where
20:09
there may be barriers that collectively we could come together, to
20:12
resolve. Well, and that's what I appreciated about the COPE experience. The church was at
20:16
the table. They were a literal table there, a presence there, and we're really
20:20
it really drives on the point of collective impact that there you're
20:24
right. We try to simplify, poverty that we just need a
20:27
job table, right, or we just need an whatever social
20:31
services table, and then, like, they should fix it. And yet
20:35
you're brought into this immersive experience, and there's a variety. Just
20:39
like a community, it's represented there, and people in these roles
20:43
that you were needing to interact with. And when I went through it,
20:47
now I've walked with a lot of people in poverty. I am that foster and
20:50
adoptive mom that it's not new to me. I have worked with
20:54
my husband worked with the incarcerated. I have worked with anti human trafficking,
20:58
and yet when I put myself in that immersive experience,
21:03
Marlo, I'm not proud of this, but I tried kidnapping
21:06
my virtual daughter so that I could keep my rent
21:10
and that I could keep everybody safe because I had one job. I wanted to
21:14
keep everybody together. And that mama bear instinct, I'm
21:18
like, woah. I know the rules. I I work with social
21:21
services, and yet it really simulated that, and it made me, like,
21:25
what are my choices? And and it it it created that
21:29
dynamic, and not everybody had that same experience. But for me, I just, like,
21:33
actually, this becomes a viable option right now.
21:36
And and then we went into a debrief, and we could share about those
21:40
experiences. It was really powerful to hear and and to kinda drop
21:44
that vulnerability curtain, I think, is so necessary
21:47
within the community, within the church that we could talk
21:51
about it, that it's not just about pathologizing those
21:55
going through these actual situations, but what was going
21:59
on? What were the barriers? What were those blind spots that were like, oh my
22:02
goodness. I can't believe I held on to this. We don't know what we don't
22:06
know. Right? It's at Johari's window, and it really helps
22:09
people understand a little bit better. It's not gonna be
22:13
everything, but it puts us on that pathway, and we're so excited
22:16
to bring that to Canada. You are training one of our staff, and we're
22:20
hoping to have more staff across Canada and a kit that is being prepared
22:24
here, and we're so excited to bring it here that we could actually go
22:28
into different cities, different churches, different organizations.
22:31
Why? Not just so that they have this poverty experience
22:35
debut, but it's like this can be a stepping stone,
22:39
a catalyst for being that human to
22:42
human, being that relational presence in community. And so,
22:46
yeah, we're excited that you are letting it come to Canada,
22:50
first time over the border, and it's faith inclusive. It really
22:54
drives some of the point of care portal, and we couldn't be more excited
22:58
to partner with your team, you and your team, to have
23:01
this experience up in Canada. Well, thank you. We're excited
23:05
to learn with you. And just to affirm your experience,
23:09
Wendy, for your audience, I would imagine that,
23:13
there would be a number of people that could attend or be invited to
23:16
or attend this experience that come from a whole
23:20
spectrum of lived experiences. And so you might have thought, like you said, I am
23:24
immersed in this. I know this. And so we can be proximate, but,
23:27
again, not necessarily see through certain eyes, and everybody's experience
23:31
is unique. And so, whether you're proximate or
23:35
you're isolated or we've even had some, individuals that have grown
23:39
up in poverty and have some lived experiences, and they
23:42
got some insight as well. Maybe they had a kind of a bigger picture
23:46
view of what was maybe driving certain factors for their own
23:50
family, or they were in the role of someone that may have may have
23:53
had different kinds of dynamics. And so no matter where your starting point
23:57
is, I think if you come open, there's something here for you. I'm
24:01
just gonna jump in here as someone listening to this conversation
24:05
to remind our listeners that we have our Decadent Care
24:08
Summit coming up where we are actually running a cope on the Saturday
24:12
morning. So if you wanna get in on that, you wanna get in on that
24:15
very quickly because there's limited seating, so you wanna head over to
24:19
decadentcare. C a and register. Make sure you're in for that.
24:23
Yeah. And it's gonna be a lot of fun. Only a 120 spots. So if
24:27
there is still a spot, I would say get that weekend pass. We're giving it
24:30
to a 120 people for the weekend pass for decadent care.
24:34
So sign up at decadentcare.ca and be part of this
24:38
immersive experience. And not only that, we're gonna follow that up with
24:42
actual opportunities to serve the community. So people will be put into
24:45
teams and be able to respond to real care portal needs across
24:49
the city. Gonna be working in small little teams and gonna be
24:53
blessing families across the city of Winnipeg as
24:56
in a way for people to experience what it could look like in their
25:00
cities, in their communities, and so we want to invite you
25:04
warmly into the city of Winnipeg for this experience.
25:08
For those of you that cannot be part of this experience but do wanna,
25:12
experience it in their your own city or in your church or
25:15
organization, if you wanna catalyze people in your community to
25:19
talk about poverty, experience it in a new way, we invite you
25:23
to contact us. Go to our website or or contact us at
25:26
info at careimpact.ca. We'd be happy to to
25:30
bring our team to you and, serve you in this way.
25:34
Marla, let's talk about the local church. What what are some
25:38
words of encouragement or some advice that you would give for local
25:41
churches who are wanting to make an impact, wanting to grow in their
25:45
capacity, to walk alongside those
25:49
experiencing poverty? Yeah. I think the
25:52
encouragement I would like to give the local church is that
25:56
one of the strengths, you know, I had the great privilege of growing up in
25:59
a local church and when I think about how formative
26:04
that that was for me and the way that the local
26:07
church helped me grow in my understanding of being a
26:11
disciple of Christ, I didn't think about, or I
26:14
don't think about great youth programming or an awesome
26:18
children's choir or the Christmas event. You know? Those
26:22
are just containers. And so my
26:25
encouragement to the local church, I think a lot of times we apply this program
26:29
mentality poverty alleviation. You know, we've gotta come up with some
26:33
program or 10 different programs or and
26:36
there's some great programs out there and they can be great
26:40
facilitators or containers. But the
26:43
question I think local churches have to ask themselves are,
26:48
more closely aligned with the strength that they have, which is
26:51
relationship. And so what context do we have?
26:55
Where are places where we could hang out with people that we don't
26:59
normally get to hang out with in our community? And, you know,
27:03
maybe that's through our partnership with Care Impact and Care Portal that that gives us
27:06
a proxy to hang out with people or meet people we don't normally get to
27:10
meet, or maybe it's a basketball court,
27:13
you know, in our parking lot, or maybe it's a grill that we can fire
27:17
up and, you know, grow some hot dogs on the weekends. I don't know if
27:20
you guys grow hot dogs on the weekends. I can't believe that. But
27:25
I I think we're oftentimes asking the wrong questions.
27:29
It's not what's the program we need to develop to fight poverty. It's like,
27:32
where are the places where we can meet people? Yeah.
27:36
And then just be willing to show up and be
27:40
willing for God to nudge you in that one next step.
27:44
And that may be individually, something I'm being drawn to in a
27:47
one next step. Maybe maybe I do need to be open to a relationship that
27:51
could foster and grow. And maybe it's that one next step
27:54
corporately. You know, something that we learn or hear that we can partner on
27:58
as a church to bring power and
28:02
community. So that would be my encouragement to the local
28:06
church. Don't create any unnecessary barriers or think that
28:10
you have to be on your own or the hero. Yeah. Just look for places
28:14
you can show up because the community desperately needs you and the hope of Christ.
28:18
Well, that smell is a lot like Jesus.
28:22
Showing up at the well, at the lake, in a fishing
28:25
boat, in the places where people hang.
28:28
And if you are a community leader or a person
28:32
sitting in the church saying, how can I make a difference? How can I actually
28:36
make a difference? It might be easier than you think. And
28:40
yet, also in Canada, we it might be more difficult than we think because people
28:43
don't know how to people well. It's countercultural at this point
28:47
often to to sit with people, and let us
28:50
know. We're having amazing conversations with leaders from
28:54
across Canada, different cities that are paying attention to a care portal could do
28:58
because we can help take the guesswork out of that compassion and say, actually, here
29:02
are some opportunities. And now pour yourself rather than looking for programs
29:05
and and projects. Pour yourself into these relationships.
29:09
We're gonna bring it on a Monday morning, a Thursday evening, a Saturday
29:13
afternoon. This isn't a program. These are people to
29:17
walk with. They're inviting you in, and these are
29:20
opportunities to do so. But you're right. It might that
29:24
well might be a basketball court, and so it might
29:28
be easier than we actually think. Well, Marlo, I am so
29:32
excited that we can journey this with you. I'm so appreciative of
29:36
the the resource of the the cost of poverty experience that we get
29:39
to now share with Canada. We wanna hold it with a lot of integrity,
29:43
the the the work that you've put into it, and we know
29:47
that this experience will help, that conversation
29:51
will help move the needle along for the church to be in these
29:54
places in meaningful relational, humble
29:58
ways, and we wanna thank you for 18 years ago
30:02
saying yes to think tank to doing this venture,
30:05
and for continuing it on with the resources. We can't wait for what god is
30:09
gonna do in the future. Thank you so much, Wendy.
30:14
Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care,
30:18
where we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith
30:21
and living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an
30:25
initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity dedicated to
30:29
connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in
30:32
community. You can visit their website at careimpact.ca or visit
30:36
journeywithcare.ca to get more information on weekly episodes,
30:40
Journey with Prayer, and details about our upcoming events and meetups.
30:44
You can also leave us a message, share your thoughts, and connect with like
30:48
minded individuals who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose.
30:52
Thank you for sharing this podcast and helping these stories reach the
30:55
community. Together, we can explore ways to journey in a good way.
30:59
And always remember to stay curious.