Dear Friends,
“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43: 19
The new normal. What will that look like? What have we learned over the last year? We are living in the truth that when a crisis hits, the marginalized suffer the most. COVID has exposed the inequalities in our society, inequalities, for example, with regard to age, race, or financial resources.
Our major mission project is working to reduce these inequalities. Food insecurity is rampant as many, who were already struggling on minimum wage, have lost their jobs. Workers, again at minimum wage, risk their health providing us with groceries, or working in factories and warehouses. They often have to choose between feeding the kids or paying the rent. At the time of this writing, they cannot afford to take a sick day, but perhaps that will have changed.
The Mission and Outreach Committee has named the project “Moving Forward Together: Raising funds for the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities Food Bank.” Our goal is $10,000. We are not sitting back. We are moving. We are moving forward. And we do this in solidarity with those in our community who are struggling to make ends meet.
If you are still working, if your household income has not been reduced or eliminated during this pandemic, or even if it has and you still want and are able to help, please make a financial donation to “Moving Forward Together.” You can mail or drop off a cheque to the church or give easily through Canada Helps (select Mission Project in the drop down menu).
Walking forward with the marginalized. It is part of the new thing that God continues to do today, part of the way in the wilderness, part of the new normal.
In Christ,
Revs. Bob and Helen Smith
NB. In addition to the moderators’ note above, watch this video to get to know a little bit more about the supplies the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities Food Bank provides.
A version of this message first appeared in the Saturday, April 24, 2021, edition of Tidbits.