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Care Journey | Awakening Dignity · Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community

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Imagine the whole church discovering their passion to care,
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one small group at a time.
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You're listening to this special podcast series, Care Journey,
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from the Journey with Care
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podcast. I was working downtown, and I'd parked my car, and
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there was 3 people that have been squatting in the parking lot that night.
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And they were busy gathering their stuff and getting rolling
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off of the sidewalk, getting up. And I was torn. I'm like, do I
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say good morning? Is this really a good morning for them? They're
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sleeping on the sidewalk. And I just took the chance and I
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just said, good morning. And the one fellow turns and smiles. He says,
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good morning, you know. And it just it really made me think,
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okay. This isn't rocket science, treating one another
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as human
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beings. Welcome back to another episode of Journey with Care. We are in a Care
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Journey series, a series highlighting some of the topics that are core to the
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work of Care Impact in the community and their work with Care Portal.
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And we actually developed a small group course that goes deep on each of these
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topics, but we just wanted to give you a glimpse into some of them,
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give you some real stories, some real voices that hopefully inspire you, and
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maybe spark interest in you wanting to go deeper and actually take the course
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that we've developed. So today, we are talking awakening
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dignity, and we have a special guest, Kathy, with us. But before
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we bring Cathy into the conversation, I wanna remind you that we have Journey with
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Prayer, a 5 minute devotional series to start off your week. That's on a
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separate podcast feed. You can go to the show notes to find that or
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find it on our website at journey with care dot ca, and that
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will come out the same day as this one if you go to the website.
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Otherwise, you wait till Monday. And I also wanna remind you that
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we exist because of the generous donors
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and those listeners, those that sow into the work of Care Impact in the community.
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We would love for you to join our team to help keep the podcast
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going, to keep our work in the community going. So if you wanna be part
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of that, if you wanna be a sponsor, sponsor an episode, head over to journey
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with care dot ca, and there are links for you to be able to do
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that. You can also check the show notes for those links. Alright. Wendy, you
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wanna introduce our guest and our topic for
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today? Well, awakening dignity is part of our discipleship
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pathway that we have church small groups going through, and we're getting
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some good responses. But in studio today, I'm so
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happy to have with us Kathy Boschmann, who is not,
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a new voice to our listeners. Kathy, welcome to the
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podcast. It is great to be here again. Always loved
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having great conversations with you and Johan. Yeah. Well,
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Kathy, you do a lot of administration behind the
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scenes. You help make Care Portal happen across Canada with
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our team. But beyond the administrative role, you
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have a real heart for people. So let's dive in. What
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does awakening dignity, mean to you as you
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are driving down that street, walking down that
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grocery aisle? What do we mean by awakening dignity?
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For me, it is a matter of seeing
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everybody as regular people and
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not judging people according to what they look like on the outside.
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It's about recognizing that we really are all
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brothers and sisters. Whether we know each other or not, we are
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related. And that has really been growing in
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me in this last year or 2 especially. Well, that is a
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value for our team at Care Impact and the the churches that
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we are working with. That idea of God
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has made everyone in his image and seeing people,
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the the the image bearers of Christ, and how
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do we actually live that out when
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those instant impulses to
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judge people on the surface and not
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humanize them? You have had some
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encounters very recently, we don't have to look far, where
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you've had encounters with people while you were driving to work.
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Can you tell us about that experience at the stoplight? Yeah.
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I drive through downtown every day to
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get to work. And, this one day in particular,
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I was very impacted. I had stopped and I
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met my Wendi, Carrie, who I see every day
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at a certain corner that she is usually there
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asking for money. And, I sometimes I have given her
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other times when I've stopped. I've originally asked her her
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name just to get to know her and sometimes given her a care
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package. But sometimes, like, I would just stop and say, Carrie, yeah, how's your day
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going or whatever? How are you doing with the weather that we're
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you're living in? And this one
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day, I went past that stop and she wasn't actually
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there. And, but I had been listening to some worship music,
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and the song was just about how
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beautiful the Lord is, how wonderful, How
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loved to look on his face. And as
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I was singing it, I was envisioning Carrie.
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And there was another lady, Lina, who I'd
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met earlier. Like their faces were just coming to me
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and remembering just this idea that we were all made in the
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image of God. And as I was worshiping the Lord, I was
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remembering that as I love them and
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honor them and acknowledge them
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that I am honoring God. And that was a
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real spark, real moment, and I
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was working through that along my journey
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and trying to dry my tears as, you know, before I got
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anybody in public could see me, my red eyes from
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just processing that. And that's really stuck with me,
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obviously, as very meaningful moment
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and has really impacted the way I have interacted
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even more with those I meet here lately on my job to work
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in around the community, but also as I
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go to doors, meetings, making connections
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with people in the community. It's, really been an
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eye opener for me. Well, thank you for sharing that, Kathy.
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It just brings to light in everyday terms,
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Matthew Wendi. It says, for I was hungry, and you gave
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me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I
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was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you
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clothed me. And I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison
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and you came to visit me. It's in the everyday.
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It's in in the people that we encounter that you saw Christ in
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them. And scripture is so clear that when you welcome
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the vulnerable in my name, you welcome me, Jesus
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says. And tell me a little bit more. Let's
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dig a little deeper. What did that do to you as you were
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seeing them as image bearers? As God, through
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that beautiful worship music, you saw Keri. You saw
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individuals' names come forward. What what did that do to you
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as you were experiencing that? It softened my
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heart even more. And I think also
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brought light to where I haven't treated people with dignity.
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And just that piece of allowing
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transformation to happen within me. And I think with each
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interaction that I had leading up to
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that and beyond there, I think it really
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just changed the way I would interact with people. I worked used
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the office space downtown this summer and the at the one stoplight, there was a
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disabled fellow who would be there most times and taking the
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time just to listen. And he had a hard time speaking, and it
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just gave me more patience. It gave me more I
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think, more humility and being able to say, hey. This
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is but for the grace of god, there go why. Right? That
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whole piece of understanding, enabling me to put myself in
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other people's shoes more so. Yeah. And
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wanting to stop and hear a little bit of their story as well. And to
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recognize that our lives are complicated, that
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people don't choose to live on the street. There is a story there
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and there are reasons why that's where they've come to or or
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people that, you know, are in a hard place that have a social
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worker that need to, help to make sure that they can stay together
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as family. There's more to the story than just 1 or
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2 poor choices. There's a lot behind every person's
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life and, learning to respect that. Well and what you're
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describing is a modern day well where Jesus would meet that
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Samaritan woman. We need to create
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space for that. Right? It's all around us.
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And I I ask myself how many times do I miss
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those opportunities, those Jesus moments, where I could
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be interacting with others, not as my project, not
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as just a help me understand poverty understanding,
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but, really, those encounters with
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others and and seeing people for who they are. Because I recall when
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you came back into the office after one of these encounters and how
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that profoundly impacted you, and I was working on the curriculum with
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Johan. We were co creating this this, discipleship pathway
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for for church small groups, and I'm saying, that's it.
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You're living it, Kathy. We need you to share that story
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with us because that's what it's all about. It's it's
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seeing Jesus and others being impacted, not as your
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project, but you had an encounter with Christ
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that had impacted me. But I I wonder,
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what prevents us? Let's have this honest discussion. What prevents us
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from stopping in those moments and taking the time
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to have more encounters? What are the the practical barriers that we're
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dealing with, Realistic barriers that prevent us from doing
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it more often, being with people more often.
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Fear, I think, would be the number one underlying thing.
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What am I gonna say? How do I say it? Yeah. Well, how are they
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gonna take it? You know, receive it. And just to throw another
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story, and I was working downtown like I said, and
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I parked my car and there was 3 people that have been squatting in the
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parking lot that night. And they were busy, you
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know, gathering their stuff and getting rolling off of the
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sidewalk, getting up and whatnot. And I was I was torn. I'm
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like, do I say good morning? Is this really a good morning for
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them? They're sleeping on the sidewalk. And I just took
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the chance and I just said, good morning. And the one fellow turns
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and smiles. He says, good morning. You know? And it just it
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really made me think, okay. This isn't rocket science
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Treating one another as human human beings that you would in
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your neighborhood is really key. Just being
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present and being loved to one another is so
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important. Well and as we love, perfect love
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casts out all fear. I think fear can always be there. It's
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not, like, don't wait till the fear goes away. I think we need to push
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through it and recognize, oh, this is a stretching
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opportunity. I need to grow here and grow that muscle
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because then we can access that prefrontal cortex where we can actually be relational,
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actually be loving, and actually connect with other human
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beings. But it's so true. I think, fear prevents me.
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I I was gonna say that another barrier for myself is
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that I can have tunnel vision. I am going somewhere from point a to
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point b and I'm not even noticing people around
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because I am just so focused on what's happening up stairs
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in what my thought process is, my timeline of needing
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to be certain places, that I actually get gypped
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from having those encounters, those meaningful encounters where god wants to
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break in. And I and I it's an awareness for me
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to loosen up a little, start looking,
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to have more encounters, more opportunities to be
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human to human, to show that human side. We're not human doings.
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We're human beings, and that is so needed.
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Johan, do you have another Well, for me, it's I'm not
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someone that likes small talk. So even taking the
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time to start small talk is just cringey to me. If I'm
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gonna have a conversation, I wanna go deep. I wanna have deep conversation.
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And quite often, when you're just passing someone on the
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street, you're not looking for a deep conversation,
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and there's an investment there. If you start a conversation, I feel
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like you gotta give a little bit more yourself. And sometimes I'm
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just not in the place where I'm willing to give more myself.
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There's so many things already in my life, like, how how can I even add
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more? And and once you have that deep conversation, you're invested. So
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where do you go from there? How much is it gonna cost you in time
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and resources in the future? These are things that sometimes go through your
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head. I don't know if that's a good thing to say at all, but and
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it's not like I don't wanna have compassion to the person on the side of
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the road. It's not it's not that I don't wanna have that conversation.
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It's just this is sometimes one of those barriers that prevent me
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from taking that extra step to say hello and to having that conversation. These
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are these are things that go on in the back of my mind. I totally
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get that, Johan. In fact, it reminds me of a story and it relates
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back to what Wendy had said about that conversation we had in the
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kitchen. I had stopped at the light and gave a
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little care package, just some socks and couple of granola
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bars to a fellow standing on the corner. So I asked
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him his name, and he told me his name was Hector. And
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and I told him mine and just had a little small talk. Then he
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paused, and then he said, I've only been living on this only been
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homeless since due. So it's all had only been 3 months, and
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he told me why he got evicted from his hotel or his,
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apartment. And I said, he was able just
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to have some compassion and say, wow. That must have been really hard or
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it's amazing how much you can see in one traffic light one red
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light. And then I said, well, I really hope that you're able to find
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somewhere safe to live before winter comes. Anyway, he told
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me that I called my sister yesterday and
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I'm gonna go be staying with her, and I was just able to
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share his joy with him. And to say that's awesome,
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and I wish you well as I started driving away.
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And, but just even to take that moment to share
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his joy. Just in that 90
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seconds at the stoplight, it really impacted
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me in being able to do that and and to remember
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him, to to wish him well, and to pray for him as I
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drove away. Just that all of that would turn out well for him. It
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was, yeah, it was a really special moment. Wow. And what I love
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about that interaction is that as
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you connect human to human as equals
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made in the image of God, it erases that
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sense of shame that so often people
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carry when things aren't going well as if
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that's a a measure of their worth and their value in
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society. But that he felt open enough that
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you gave him that place of safety that he could share this information
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and that you could validate him rather than make him your
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project. I just love that you were talking neighbor
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to neighbor and normalizing the journey moving forward.
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We all go through challenges, and I think sometimes when we don't
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live through poverty or we fit into society in a a
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mainstream kind of way, we have a more difficult
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time being vulnerable like that. And I think there's a lot we could
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learn when we drop the mask as well and just be neighbor to
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neighbor. There's another aspect that I would love to talk about when we're
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talking about awakening dignity, and we've been seeing this happen
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as we've been unveiling Care Portal in Canada.
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When we invite the church in to wrap
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around children and families who are
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going through various challenges in life,
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there's something that happens actually in that interaction with
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social services. Kathy, let's talk about our
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interactions with social workers. What's that been like as we've
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been equipping churches in awakening dignity
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for social services? It's been
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really interesting to hear about the
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interactions. I think of one of our white people, especially, she
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just has this great compassion and
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empathy for our social workers. She actually will insist that
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they join her when she makes an interaction because she wants
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to help social workers become yes
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people for those they're serving. Just so often they have to say no
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to any requests that are coming from their clients. And
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so what through care portal will enable them to be able to
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say yes and help supply some of their needs. And
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this particular white person, she will takes interest in the
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social worker or a caseworker that's come out and will take time to
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encourage them. Another thing that comes to mind is that
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at, Christmas and spring, we've done little appreciation
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gifts for our social service workers. And
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that is one thing that they often talk about later on is, like, they
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will keep the little cards on their desk that just say thank
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you for being who you are in our community.
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That it's so encouraging to them. Another time, I
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remember I was at a luncheon sitting at a table with
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several social workers and just took time to say thank you or
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do the one. I'm like, thank you for what you do. And
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she was like, that's the first time anyone has said thank you to
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me in 2 years that she'd been working as a social worker. She'd never heard
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those words. And like you were saying, they often get a bad
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rap. But when we can honor and show dignity
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and respect for the amazing hard work that they
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do in community, I think everybody
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wins. That there is, refreshment
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that comes through those words encouragement and appreciation. And
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it enables those of us who aren't in those positions
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government positions in the community just to say thank you because they
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truly representing us as people that we're employing
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them to do this work on our behalf and to say thank you and to
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recognize that we need them as our community leads them is
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so important. Yeah. These are hard roles, and they're making big decisions.
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They've got huge caseloads and and crisis upon
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crisis that they're needing to navigate and
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sometimes be bearers of bad news and other times be
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discouraged because those resources and those the bureaucratic lines
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are not that simple and straightforward, and they're in the trenches
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day in and day out. And what you're describing isn't an anomaly. It wasn't just
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at that table. I hear it over and over and
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over again when I'm connecting with social services
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that we've never been thanked before. We've
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been told the f bomb, but we've never been told thank you. We don't even
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know what to say, and they're tearfully, sharing
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this, and it brings tears to their eyes when we can
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simply say we see you. We thank you
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for this difficult place you're in, and how can we
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wrap around and support the work? Because the church is called
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to be in these spaces. It's not just a government or a a
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nonprofit's role, but how do we bring dignity into
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these spaces that we've often alienated? Out of fear
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and and a lot of trepidation. We've alienated the people that
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we actually need to step in and support. I just
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wanna remind our listeners, little bit of a callback here, that we did a series
20:43
called Battery Life. And one of our episodes we we interviewed
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Rebecca, a social worker. Really good episode if you wanna get
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some key insights into what it's like being a social worker
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and how those around us can support and care for social workers.
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Just a really good interaction with someone that both loves Care
21:01
Impact, Care Portal, and yet has her boots
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on the ground as a social worker doing the hard work.
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I really encourage your listeners to go back and listen to that. I'll throw that
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link in the show notes. Make sure you catch that one. And one thing
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that I'm capturing from today's conversation here is that when we're in
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a posture of listening and truly listening
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and and sincere about wanting to
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connect with other people and hear their story,
21:31
our compassion can grow. Our hearts can grow 2
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sizes larger. This isn't an impossible thing. This isn't
21:38
rocket science. It's about being people to people,
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recognizing that their story matters. God is writing their
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story as well, and we just need to be in a posture
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to be available and listen. What you're saying
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reminds me of a family that we
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served during the pandemic. It was a mom, single mom,
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and her teenage daughter needed new
22:04
beds. And I brought a couple of youth with me to
22:08
this request, which was in the north end, which is
22:12
the poorest postal code in Manitoba. They had never
22:16
been into this community. They don't only ever driven by
22:19
and so it was a real eye opener for them. So that was
22:23
interesting to expose them into a home that
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they would never have experienced before and had a chance to process
22:31
that with them. I went on a return visit to this
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family and brought some cutlery or something. I can't remember what it
22:38
was. But during the second visit, what was very interesting, you
22:41
could see the mom was particularly hungry for for
22:45
connection because of the pandemic. We closed out the glass
22:49
door and spoke to one another through the door. And I
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stood there for 20 minutes as she told me her life story.
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She opened up to me. I was amazed at how comfortable she was
23:00
and and longing for connection. And all I had to give her was
23:03
my time. That's all in my listening ear and my interest, my
23:07
curiosity. And it really
23:11
impacted me that her willingness to be
23:15
vulnerable with me and to share her life story
23:18
and enabled me to once again see
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that those we're serving, our neighbors are just like
23:26
us. We don't have no matter our postal code,
23:30
our life situation, the difficulty that we're dealing with in
23:34
that moment. Neighbor to neighbor, we can show
23:37
love simply by taking the time to
23:40
listen, to be available, to be present.
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And it really impacted me and Wendi has brought transformation
23:48
to me as I hope it gave to her during that
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that conversation and those interactions. Wow. That that
23:55
is so profound, and and that resonates with my experience too when
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I've connected with people. When I hear their story, you know what it
24:03
does for me? It makes me more brave to be
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vulnerable with them and others to drop the mask
24:10
to let people in because they have been transforming my
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life as well. Thank you, Kathy, for taking the time to share some of
24:18
your experiences and helping us to understand better
24:21
what it means to awaken dignity in our communities.
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It's been great to be here. Thank you for joining another conversation on journey with
24:29
care, where we inspire curious
24:33
curious Canadians on their path of faith and living life with
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purpose in community. Journey with Care is an initiative of Care
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Impact, a Canadian charity dedicated to connecting and equipping the
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whole church to journey well in community. You can visit their website
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at careimpact. Ca or visit journey with care. Ca to get
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more information on weekly episodes, Journey With Prayer, and details about our upcoming events and
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can also leave us a message, share your thoughts, and connect with like minded individuals
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who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose. Thank you for sharing this
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podcast and helping these stories reach the community. Together, we
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can
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explore ways to journey in a good way. And always remember to
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stay curious.