St. Aidan's: a place where everyone can serve

One of the best features of ministry is that you meet many kinds of people, from many different backgrounds and ages. In addition, St. Aidan's is blessed to have many young people from the University and College setting, as well as those from high school who come and perform community service. Since I have been at St. Aidans-some ten years now-I have seen this number grow. Almost every other Sunday I now sign community service sheets. It's a beautful thing to be able to see and work with these folks.







This leads me to a story about one of our volunteers, Cameron Chan. He has been a regular volunteer at the church, along with other members of his family, including his sister, parents and grandmother. Talk about intergenerational minstry, here it is in one family! I wanted to share this story because I think it's a beautiful thing to see young people volunteering and serving those in need. And they almost always tell me how much they enjoyed having the opportunity to serve. Here's how Cameron described his experience:

"For my junior year community service I have continued to feed homeless at St Andrews. I switched from going every third Sunday of the month to the second Sunday of every month. For the 25 hours I volunteered, I have served water, food, cleaned or threw out the garbage. When I volunteer at St. Andrews I learn the value of community and helping others. There are many people who are less fortunate than me and are very grateful to have a meal everyday. I realized that I should be grateful for all the conveniences and things I have in my life. It has taught me that I should always be grateful for what I have and devoting a small amount of my day every month can really make a difference in someone else’s life".


What a beautiful story and what a wonderful thing is it to be in a position to share stories like this.
Thanks Cameron and to the many others who come and discover in the simplicity of serving the homeless, there is great joy!