Shownotes
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Description
What happens when divine inspiration breaks through the ordinary routines of life?
Wendi and Harold Park, founders of CareImpact, share their remarkable journey of faith and community building. A series of divine "Kairos moments" led them from busy careers to founding a transformative organization that bridges the gap between churches and social services. Driven by unexpected dreams about adoption, a church service in Korea, and the unwavering support of friends and strangers, they left stable jobs and ventured into a new calling with unwavering trust in God.
Discover how their personal experiences, including accommodating those in need and adjusting to new family dynamics, have fuelled their mission to foster integration and support for vulnerable individuals.
Time Stamps
[06:01] First experience: God's pursuit, adoption, family.
[09:44] Invited to global leadership forum for Canada.
[12:50] Left job for faith, uncertain future awaited.
[14:01] Conference revealed new world, shifting career calling.
[19:24] Fear and reluctance hinder organizational collaboration.
[22:00] Passion connects, fills gaps, CareImpact emerges.
[23:58] Returned from Korea, learned child welfare needs.
[27:41] Shared emotional immigrant experiences, racism, laughter, and life.
The Care Journey Discipleship Pathway:
JOIN THE WAITING LIST: https://careimpact.ca/carejourney
Other Links
Reach out to us! https://journeywithcare.ca/podcast
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
Listen To Journey With Prayer - A prayer journey corresponding to this episode: https://journeywithprayer.captivate.fm/listen
or get both podcasts on the same RSS feed! https://feeds.captivate.fm/n/careimpact-podcast
CareImpact: careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with children and families: careimpact.ca/donate
Editing and production by Johan Heinrichs: arkpodcasts.ca
Transcripts
Imagine the whole church discovering their passion to care,
Speaker:one small group at a time.
Speaker:You're listening to this special podcast series, Care Journey,
Speaker:from the Journey with Care
Speaker:podcast. That night, both of us, we had dreams,
Speaker:but we both dreamt about adopting. And so
Speaker:it was a bit of a shock for us to be able to to have
Speaker:this type of discussion, and it really was the the starting point
Speaker:for us to be able to go on this journey that
Speaker:eventually led to Care Impact. Yeah. I remember waking up
Speaker:from that dream. It wasn't just indigestion from kimchi. It was one of those, like,
Speaker:oh my goodness, God's arresting me with a thought that wasn't mine. And I thought,
Speaker:what is Harold gonna think when I tell him in the morning? I had this
Speaker:dream. We are in our Care Journey series. If you haven't
Speaker:listened to our previous episode, we're
Speaker:in our Care Journey series. If you haven't listened to our previous episode,
Speaker:we went through the topics that we're gonna be going through for the
Speaker:series. We talked about the purpose of this Care Journey course, which
Speaker:we talked about is a small group course leading up to why
Speaker:we decided to develop this course. And we're
Speaker:actually doing this podcast, not not as part of that course,
Speaker:but we just the topics are dear to Care Impact's heart. So we
Speaker:we figured this is a good way to complement, the course that we developed
Speaker:and just share some of the things that the Lord has been stirring at Care
Speaker:Impact. So today, we have a real treat. As you might
Speaker:have remembered last week, Wendy says she's gonna tell a bit about our
Speaker:story today with her husband, Harold. So Wendi Harold founded Care
Speaker:Impact and as we're about to celebrate our 10th anniversary, it's the perfect
Speaker:time to dive into their Kairos moments that
Speaker:sparked this incredible journey. So we said this week, we're gonna be doing
Speaker:Kairos moments. If you don't remember those Kairos moments, there's unexpected
Speaker:divinely timed moments that can change everything. But before
Speaker:we get into that, I I wanna remind you that we have journey with prayer,
Speaker:5 minute devotional series to start off your week. That's on a separate feed. You
Speaker:can find that in the show notes or just go to our website at journey
Speaker:with care dotca. And we can only continue to produce this
Speaker:great content, these interviews by the help of our listeners and
Speaker:the generosity of our listeners and donors and sponsors. If you wanna get
Speaker:involved in that, if you wanna sponsor the podcast as a business or if you
Speaker:just wanna to support what we're doing at Care Impact in the community,
Speaker:head over to journey with care.ca or CareImpact, and you can find ways
Speaker:of doing that. And we would love to have you as part of our team.
Speaker:Alright. Enough of that. We wanna get into our conversation with Wendy and
Speaker:Harold. Wendy, how was my intro there for Harold moments?
Speaker:What did I miss? No. I I think you summed it up. And and I
Speaker:think if we could preface what a Kairos moment is, it isn't
Speaker:necessarily angels coming through the sky and saying, hear ye, hear ye, or these magnificent
Speaker:moments. In in fact, sometimes in retrospect, we see the fingerprints of God and how
Speaker:he broke in in the ordinary things.
Speaker:It's those tiny micro things that happen where we we pay
Speaker:attention to it, and and Harold and I, we're excited to tell our story.
Speaker:There's a lot of Kairos moments in our lives that brought us to where we
Speaker:are right now, and we're still anticipating more to come,
Speaker:But everybody can encounter God in the
Speaker:daily life in as they're washing dishes, going down the street,
Speaker:shopping groceries, there are Kairos moments waited. And may
Speaker:I just add, there's probably so many times where I miss out on
Speaker:those God moments in my life. But we're gonna talk today
Speaker:about where God did get our attention, where we did give our
Speaker:yes. And, ultimately, we wanna give glory to God
Speaker:for the way that he was persistent in pursuing us and writing
Speaker:our story. Yeah. So let's talk about some of those key
Speaker:experiences that that led up to you guys starting Care
Speaker:Impact. You can go as far back as you need. It's your guys'
Speaker:story, your Kairos moment. So however far back you need to go to to that
Speaker:first Kairos moment. Harold, I'm wondering if I can turn the mic over to
Speaker:you. Can you tell the story about when we got
Speaker:on that plane for Korea with
Speaker:our kids? What was life like when we were boarding that
Speaker:plane? Yeah. Life was busy, but it was going
Speaker:well. We had a 1 year old and a
Speaker:3 year old, and we wanted to celebrate our 1 year old's,
Speaker:birthday with relatives. And so life was just going,
Speaker:pretty smoothly at that point. Yeah. You were in full time ministry.
Speaker:You were in the prisons as a chaplain and in
Speaker:pastoring and using your counseling skills. I was running a
Speaker:a center, community center with The Salvation Army overseeing a huge
Speaker:project and, really, really loving it. We were in
Speaker:our prime. We were like, yes. We have we're finished our family. We had one
Speaker:boy, one girl. Now let's go visit Harold's family in Korea
Speaker:and celebrate together as a family. We felt we were pretty
Speaker:set, didn't we? We we kinda were serving the lord, and we were set
Speaker:to go. So take us on that journey to to Korea. What happened there?
Speaker:Well, it was a particular Sunday that, we were planning to go to
Speaker:a a church, that was recommended by a friend.
Speaker:And so, took us probably an hour to get there.
Speaker:And when we got there, we were a bit disappointed because there
Speaker:wasn't the regular pastor who was gonna preach, but there was some
Speaker:guest speaker. From Texas, no nonetheless. Yes. From from
Speaker:Texas. Yeah. And so we're kinda disappointed, but we were listening
Speaker:in. And as we started to hear more about his
Speaker:story, we learned more about his adoption journey, how he
Speaker:had adopted children from Korea. And, in
Speaker:fact, the children were there, and, we were able
Speaker:to to meet with the children and really hear more
Speaker:about God's heart for adoption.
Speaker:Yeah. And that was the first time I I'd grown up in the church.
Speaker:But that was the first time I heard the gospel shared to me as
Speaker:God pursuing us in that spirit of adoption
Speaker:and that permanency with Christ in the
Speaker:gospel sense and how God puts the lonely in families, and it
Speaker:just struck a chord there. But then we went on. Right? We ate
Speaker:kimchi. We had lunch, and nothing happened. Right? We had a regular
Speaker:church service as we do. But tell me what else went on later
Speaker:on. Well, you know, that night, both of us, we had
Speaker:dreams. And, in the morning, we we talked about the
Speaker:fact that we each had a dream, and it
Speaker:has never happened like this before, or since,
Speaker:but we both dreamt about adopting. And so
Speaker:it was a bit of a shock for us to be able to to have
Speaker:this type of discussion, and it really was the the starting
Speaker:point for us to be able to go on this journey,
Speaker:that eventually led to Care Impact. Yeah. I remember waking
Speaker:up from that dream. It wasn't just indigestion from kimchi. It was one of those,
Speaker:like, oh my goodness. God's arresting me with a thought that wasn't
Speaker:mine. And I thought, what is Harold gonna think Wendi I tell him in the
Speaker:morning? I had this dream. They were to adopt, and and I had
Speaker:pictures of older children that were to join our family. And here, right
Speaker:beside me, I had these little toddlers. Right? And I'm like, this
Speaker:is freaky. I don't know about this. But to to wake
Speaker:up and see that you have that dream too, it stopped us in our track,
Speaker:and we had to pray about it. We didn't just jump on board
Speaker:and and come back to Canada and say, okay. Let's sign up for
Speaker:the the class. We're so excited. We've always dreamt of having a huge
Speaker:family, because we didn't. We didn't have a dream to add
Speaker:to our family. This was breaking into our dream. It was
Speaker:interrupting what the plans that we had. Like, God,
Speaker:didn't you know we are busy in ministry? How are we gonna add people to
Speaker:our family? And adding older children, we took
Speaker:about a year, didn't we, Harold? Yeah. It was about a year,
Speaker:doing some research, praying through all of this. And
Speaker:so, yeah, like, I I just felt like that moment in Korea, it
Speaker:was a god moment looking back. And we could have
Speaker:missed it. That's what I think. I'm like, oh my goodness. And I look
Speaker:at our family now and how fast forward,
Speaker:and god has added 4 older children into our lives in
Speaker:different ways and and 2 grandkids into our
Speaker:lives. So we do have a larger family, and, it's not what
Speaker:we had planned, but God has been writing that
Speaker:piece. But as we were researching that
Speaker:year, Harold, you were already working on a doctorate. See, we didn't have time for
Speaker:adoption either because you were doing your doctorate. We we're professional Christians here,
Speaker:guys. I'm saying that sarcastically, but we were
Speaker:pursuing the the the doctorate. Anybody that has gone with a spouse
Speaker:doing a doctorate knows what that means. And we were doing some
Speaker:research. You were going on a different track. But as we were
Speaker:researching adoption and the need and the theology and all of that,
Speaker:what happened to that project that you were working on?
Speaker:So as I was doing my research and as we had this experience in
Speaker:Korea, it actually made me want to change my
Speaker:my research, my thesis. And so as I
Speaker:looked more into adoption, attachment,
Speaker:these kind of areas, then I was able to find out about this
Speaker:conference in the states, which eventually led us to going to
Speaker:Nashville to really be exposed to what this looks like, this
Speaker:world of adoption and foster care. Yeah. So we were
Speaker:planning to go, and I registered us because the 2 of us were gonna go
Speaker:down there. I was gonna be your research assistant, and we were gonna meet different
Speaker:authors and different people we were gonna interview for for this project.
Speaker:And I got an email. We got an email from somebody organizing this.
Speaker:And and we have to remember, CAFO is a huge organization, a
Speaker:huge network that there's about 3,000 people there, and we
Speaker:are only 2. But I got one of the organizers from there
Speaker:contacted us personally and said an email, you're from Canada. We've been praying for
Speaker:Canada, and we're hosting this global leadership network
Speaker:for the first time, and we would love some national leaders
Speaker:from Canada to participate in this global forum. And I
Speaker:laughed, and I I quickly responded, easily responded. I said, oh, I'm so
Speaker:sorry. We're just researchers. We're nobody in Canada.
Speaker:We're not leaders of anything in Canada. We're just coming for this
Speaker:research project. To his response, and shout out to David Hennessy
Speaker:who continues to be a good friend and mentor and and champion
Speaker:of what we're doing in Canada. He said, no. I feel like God
Speaker:has called you to come here. I want you to participate. We will,
Speaker:like, sponsor you. We are gonna, give you accommodations.
Speaker:We will feed you. We need you here. Would you please come?
Speaker:Now we looked after and said, there's there
Speaker:was more Canadians there, but why was he picking on us? But we actually stayed
Speaker:at a lovely couple's house who, were part of our
Speaker:God story. Bill and Maria Lee, who are now the governors
Speaker:of Tennessee, they sat with us and prayed us through
Speaker:this God encounter that we were having in Tennessee
Speaker:as we came simply for research, but god had more.
Speaker:Yeah. I remember as, we were leaving the residence at the
Speaker:end of the conference, and they handed us some gifts.
Speaker:And one of the gifts was an envelope which contained
Speaker:a significant amount of money. They realized that we had
Speaker:something on our hearts to start in Canada, and they
Speaker:wanted to encourage us in that journey through that, financial gift. And
Speaker:so that was very moving. That was a a sign that I
Speaker:felt like God was guiding us into this area of starting
Speaker:something. We didn't know exactly what we were gonna start, but we just felt like
Speaker:God was moving in our hearts towards that direction. That's
Speaker:right. And and one of the things that I found significant at that
Speaker:time in the conference now it's not just about, like, sign up for
Speaker:a conference and God's gonna speak to you. It's always in these unexpected
Speaker:ways. And during that year previous where
Speaker:we were praying about adoption, we were, seeking the Lord
Speaker:and doing the right steps to to move forward in obedience.
Speaker:All the things that God had been depositing in my heart
Speaker:were being spoken to on stage or in in encounters over
Speaker:lunches and stuff, and they were, like, they were reading my mail. And
Speaker:it just arrested me in such a way. I'm like, God is in the
Speaker:details, and we could have missed this. So after we
Speaker:left that driveway, we weren't sure what what it would
Speaker:mean. But interestingly enough, God had already
Speaker:invited me to quit my job, and I didn't know
Speaker:why. But I felt I was disobedient if I had
Speaker:continued on in a job that I loved. I had to lay that
Speaker:down. It meant financial security that I
Speaker:had to wrestle with God, but he's like, no. I want you to to pursue
Speaker:me. I have something else in store. And and so I did,
Speaker:and and this was at a pinnacle time where I had just
Speaker:received an award, from, what was it, the
Speaker:diamond jubilee or something like that for for excellence
Speaker:in changing the community. We had just opened a a $6,600,000
Speaker:project of of a new building and a facility and a and a green
Speaker:space that God's I had just restructured the staff, and we were
Speaker:just in a a really good place. And when I was in that
Speaker:space, I was just like, now I can sail. Now God
Speaker:can work through me, and yet he said, now you're done.
Speaker:And so I quit that, and when we got off that driveway going back
Speaker:to Winnipeg, you said the same thing. You're like, I think I need to
Speaker:quit my job. Can you tell me what went through your your mind?
Speaker:Yeah. I think that that conference, it helped me to realize
Speaker:that there there's another world out there that that God
Speaker:had given me an opportunity to experience,
Speaker:to learn about, children that are in
Speaker:difficult situations, families where
Speaker:there is a lot of, love and and a lot of
Speaker:acceptance that, they're able to take in
Speaker:children that are are needing, homes. And so that
Speaker:really opened up my eyes to a different world. And so I
Speaker:just I really felt strongly that, you know, there was a a shift
Speaker:happening here and that even though I had been in the
Speaker:prisons for 7 years, as a chaplain, I
Speaker:felt like God was calling me out of that
Speaker:environment, even though I I really felt, that was a a huge
Speaker:calling on my life for those years, but I sense that the the tide was
Speaker:shifting. So to my surprise because keep in mind,
Speaker:those of you that know us know we're not necessarily irrational people. We
Speaker:we think through things. We research things. For us to both quit our jobs
Speaker:and have zero income was something that was uncharacteristic
Speaker:of us, but we felt so strongly that the lord had called us. So we
Speaker:came back, and a week later, much to my surprise, Harold said, okay. I told
Speaker:him. I give him gave him my notice. I'm like, say what? He's like, I
Speaker:we were gonna do this. Right? And I'm like, I know, but I'm like, I'm
Speaker:feeling a little insecure here. But I knew it was the right thing to
Speaker:do. And when we talked to some dear friends of
Speaker:ours and sponsors of that that ministry position,
Speaker:and we told them our story and what God was doing, they
Speaker:basically told us, like, you can't quit. Do you remember
Speaker:that, Harold? Yeah. Yeah. Like, I think
Speaker:they were surprised, but I really felt like it
Speaker:was, I guess God brings people
Speaker:into one's life for a reason. And I I really
Speaker:felt like they were key supporters of of what we were
Speaker:doing. And so they felt that as well. They they
Speaker:sensed that in our hearts. And so I I think that they really had a
Speaker:level of acceptance there. They did. But they said, you can't quit, which
Speaker:kinda got our, like, what do you mean? And they said, you
Speaker:can quit your positions there, but we really see God's hand in
Speaker:your story, and we wanna continue to sponsor the new venture
Speaker:that God has you on. And so with that, we had their
Speaker:blessing. We had other people. We had consulted, as we were
Speaker:quitting our jobs, a financial adviser. We thought, surely, he's gonna talk us off the
Speaker:cliff, but he was a man of God, and he prayed over us, and he
Speaker:says, no. I think God is calling you. This sounds crazy, but, actually,
Speaker:you are in a good place. You don't have deficit. You you can move forward
Speaker:in this, and and we wanna support you. There were key people that God had
Speaker:led us to to consult, and they had given us wisdom and
Speaker:blessing and prayed over us and and sent us on our
Speaker:way. And yet there was many people who thought, you know what? This is crazy.
Speaker:How dare you give up good ministry? How dare you do
Speaker:this to your children? And they really weren't necessarily
Speaker:supportive around us. Many people were, but some
Speaker:people thought we were just a little loopy to do
Speaker:what we were doing. But a few weeks later,
Speaker:we packed up our kids. And at that point, we had already added 1
Speaker:older child to our family, and we packed her up as well. And
Speaker:we all went on this, what we called a God chasing trip across Canada.
Speaker:Because keep in mind, we didn't know what God was calling us to.
Speaker:We just knew it was something that he would reveal to us,
Speaker:and so we were becoming detectives. We were just becoming curious. God,
Speaker:what is it that you need us to hear? And so that's exactly what we
Speaker:did. We we packed up the van. We we drove across. We made
Speaker:as many contacts as we could. A lot of cold call, coffee
Speaker:dates, and one person leading us to another, networking
Speaker:as we were going, just asking and listening. Christian
Speaker:adoptive families, Christian leaders, secular
Speaker:government officials, organizations that didn't work
Speaker:well with the church, but they were in the area of child welfare. We came
Speaker:there to listen, and, what a trip that was.
Speaker:Harold, what was it like for you, driving that trip?
Speaker:Well, you know, it was a very interesting time because we were we
Speaker:were just open to what what was out there. We were trying to
Speaker:learn. We were trying to understand the landscape. And
Speaker:so it was one of those times. It's almost like walking
Speaker:or journeying through the wilderness, not knowing exactly where you're
Speaker:going, but, hopefully, we were able to gain a bit
Speaker:more clarity, with each conversation. So it was it
Speaker:was a bit, challenging at times,
Speaker:but I still felt at that time that god was god was guiding us
Speaker:into those type of relationships. And I know one thing that
Speaker:I was hoping for see, yeah, sometimes I like to tell God
Speaker:what I I want to curate how God wants to write these
Speaker:stories, and and then he reminds me he's got the pen, not me.
Speaker:I was having this conversation with God saying, God, I do not
Speaker:want to start another organization. God forbid there's enough
Speaker:charities out there. Let's not start one more. Come on. It
Speaker:surely couldn't be. God couldn't lead us to start another organization.
Speaker:It was one of my pet peeves. Why don't organizations work together? Maybe
Speaker:we can find a like minded organization. Surely, what God has put on our heart
Speaker:and we were passionate about is on the hearts of other organizations that we
Speaker:would be aligned with and we could work for and with
Speaker:and in that way. And, one of the things that
Speaker:we realized as we pulled back on our driveway, and we were even saying, god,
Speaker:do you want us to move? You we could go anywhere now. Why
Speaker:Winnipeg? But god brought us back to Winnipeg, and he wanted us to
Speaker:start an organization. And we we talked with some mentors and dear friends of
Speaker:ours that would pray with us and and we could be accountable
Speaker:to. They're like, you know, Wendy, that you need to do this. And
Speaker:I'm like, I know, but I'm scared. I don't wanna start
Speaker:another organization. I know enough because I've been an
Speaker:ED. I know how much work that is and the
Speaker:responsibility it is to carry that, and I
Speaker:don't know if I'm up for the challenge. And
Speaker:God worked in the details. He provide us legal
Speaker:team financially and wisdom wise to set
Speaker:this up with us. He provided us with a board. He provided us
Speaker:with people cheering us on and supporting our family
Speaker:as we were just navigating what it meant to be
Speaker:Care Impact. At that time, we'd started with forever families of
Speaker:Canada. Fun side fact, it was really just a research project.
Speaker:I'd created this Facebook site, and I was actually tracking
Speaker:the the analytics of how people responded to different things I put out.
Speaker:And I just created a a no name brand called forever families of Canada. That's
Speaker:how it actually started. It wasn't not a very spiritual starting, but
Speaker:I was just observing people and interacting with people to see how they
Speaker:reacted to different content. And that became our our
Speaker:brand, which now we are, Care Impact. But it wasn't in
Speaker:the sense that, god, I've always wanted to be a
Speaker:cofounder of this organization, but god had put it on
Speaker:our hearts, and and he led us forward in that. So when you
Speaker:were contemplating this, you talked about what organizations could
Speaker:we join up with, that would share this vision.
Speaker:So why didn't that happen, and why did you have to start your own
Speaker:organization? Well, one of the things that we found out is that
Speaker:people did have this vision, but it wasn't part of their mandates. They were
Speaker:like, that sounds wonderful. We wanna be part of that. But it
Speaker:wasn't their mandates, and and for good reasons too. They're doing
Speaker:wonderful things. But we realized this was a gap that was not
Speaker:being filled. As we're even doing our research, we were networking
Speaker:people. We are saying, ho. You are passionate about this. Did you know
Speaker:just half an hour away, we talked to so and so, and they have that
Speaker:passion? And you guys could work together, and we were doing this across the country.
Speaker:We're doing across cities. We were actually filling in some
Speaker:needs while we were just simply doing our research. I love networking.
Speaker:And so, naturally, I want people to to work together,
Speaker:and we were realizing, this was a gap.
Speaker:Care Impact is a gap that needed to happen. It's something actually,
Speaker:I think, that was birthed within Harold and myself in our stories when we
Speaker:were if you take us back into his chaplaincy and the church
Speaker:ministry work, and my role as ED of a a community
Speaker:center, we asked ourselves in those moments when we were
Speaker:in the prisons and in the communities, the big question is where
Speaker:is the church? We can't have enough resources, enough services,
Speaker:enough projects and funds to meet the needs of the
Speaker:whole community. Those were important. However, we
Speaker:wanted to see how the church could integrate in a relational way,
Speaker:And that wasn't being done across Canada to all our
Speaker:research and knowledge. Maybe on micro levels and and those things those
Speaker:are areas that we were deeply researching. But on a national
Speaker:level, there wasn't a a gap filler, between what
Speaker:was happening in social services, what was happening on some of
Speaker:the poverty and the child welfare crises and the trauma that was
Speaker:happening in our country. There was a disconnect with the local church.
Speaker:And we felt that when we bring people that came to our
Speaker:doorstep into the church, it was awkward.
Speaker:We had to do a lot of gap filling. It wasn't
Speaker:natural for the church to be in these places when
Speaker:prisoners got out of of their, sentence. It wasn't
Speaker:easy for people that were trafficked to to integrate into the church, and
Speaker:we're like, are there resources? Can we equip the church to be the
Speaker:church in these spaces? So after we
Speaker:came back from Korea, with this this
Speaker:calling that we felt, in the area of child
Speaker:welfare, you know, it was interesting how there were people
Speaker:that knocked on our doors and were looking for
Speaker:essentially, they're looking for family. They're looking for support. And so
Speaker:1 by 1, we had people with mental health issues,
Speaker:homelessness related issues. There were so many different
Speaker:challenges that people were facing that were just looking for a
Speaker:place to rest, a place for support and
Speaker:connection. And so as we were able to take them in, we were able
Speaker:to recognize some of the the real struggles that they were
Speaker:facing, and it helped us to to learn more about
Speaker:how we could be of service, in in our
Speaker:future, ministry. And so, they were really the
Speaker:educators for us. They helped us to learn about the needs out
Speaker:there. I think that was a significant part of our
Speaker:story, actually. The many people that came through our doors,
Speaker:those were our Kairos moments. You're right. As soon as
Speaker:we landed from Korea And keep in mind, we were living in the
Speaker:community that I was in community development. We we believed to move right in, and
Speaker:we had a lot of people. We had a lot of connections, but we didn't
Speaker:have our house full. When we came back, we had, I think it
Speaker:was 11 beds donated to us, from different people. We had
Speaker:bunk beds and and and queen beds and this and that. We're like, lord, what
Speaker:are you doing here? And we filled our house with beds. And sure
Speaker:enough, as soon as we landed in from Korea, we had
Speaker:somebody that was being released from a psychiatric hospital
Speaker:that needed home, and he was part of our lives already, but he
Speaker:needed more. He needed family. We're not the type of people that just
Speaker:collects people and they have where we have no discernment, and and
Speaker:we just do everything. No. These were God appointed
Speaker:moments meant for us, and we welcomed them
Speaker:in. And I remember 1 Easter Sunday, and this
Speaker:was just, like, nonstop. We had a couple at our door in
Speaker:the evening. It was, like, 8 o'clock at night. We are putting the kids to
Speaker:bed, and and we had this couple come into our our home. And we had
Speaker:already known them, but they were obviously distraught. They
Speaker:had just lost their home. Their kids were just removed from their
Speaker:family, into social services, and,
Speaker:they were visibly distraught as one would if
Speaker:you had that Job moment. And they came in,
Speaker:and we fed them, and we we talked, and we weren't sure exactly the
Speaker:way forward or if they were staying, but, obviously, they need to stay
Speaker:somewhere. And I remember I was in a time where we were,
Speaker:like, busy in research, and we were starting this organization. And, like, lord, don't
Speaker:you know we don't have time for this? We're we're researching. We're we're
Speaker:we're building your ministry. And god arrested me and
Speaker:said, you know what? They are your professors.
Speaker:They are the interruption that you need to learn. You can't
Speaker:just depend on head knowledge. You can't just depend on on
Speaker:building this this structure up if you're not
Speaker:gonna allow me to interrupt you with the people that you really need to sit
Speaker:with, and we did. She had gone through 60
Speaker:some foster homes herself, and she says and now they're taking my
Speaker:children too. And her parents and grandparents have gone
Speaker:through residential school and trying to find her, god
Speaker:given indigenous identity and and sitting with her through
Speaker:lawyer appointments and court appointments and and the the distraught
Speaker:and the discrimination, that she felt. I needed to
Speaker:to be there with her more than she needed me there with her.
Speaker:But we we journeyed that together for for some time.
Speaker:And he was also had some immigration
Speaker:issues and and things like that. And we we sat there, and and he
Speaker:also, experienced a lot of racism as well-being
Speaker:black. And and we needed to sit there with them, and we had laughter
Speaker:and tears and so many things that we and there was time and
Speaker:time again, we had an international student, 8 and a half months pregnant,
Speaker:come sit with us or come be with us. And we got to to see
Speaker:that that life come to be from an abortion story to
Speaker:a failed abortion to the the glory of God coming through life
Speaker:in that child. We've had so many. In fact, our kids,
Speaker:when they were like, they didn't know any better because they were 1 and 3
Speaker:when we started on this journey, our our biological kids. There
Speaker:was a time where there was, like, a week or two where we didn't have
Speaker:people coming staying with us. And I remember one of them
Speaker:saying, what's going on? Why isn't god sending us
Speaker:anybody else? Because they were just anticipating who's who's gonna show up at
Speaker:our door next. But we learned so much. We needed that.
Speaker:We still need that. We're still getting interrupted. This story doesn't end
Speaker:there. We continuously, are living this out, and
Speaker:God is bringing people into our lives for seasons and sometime forever.
Speaker:And one of the things I find is a real blessing from from
Speaker:this is our 2 biological children. They've grown
Speaker:up in this kind of environment where our home is is an
Speaker:open door to those in need, And they've never once
Speaker:questioned anything about the people that have come into our
Speaker:home. They've never asked questions that to the effect
Speaker:of why are they here. They they really have just accepted each
Speaker:and every person, And I know that for them,
Speaker:this is this is normal. And, I really, I feel
Speaker:blessed that they're able to have that sense of
Speaker:openness towards others, from all sorts of backgrounds,
Speaker:with various challenges that people bring in. They're able to
Speaker:be with them and not have any complaints, and and I really,
Speaker:I look forward to seeing what their futures are like as god works in their
Speaker:hearts through that. Yeah. Because some people would be concerned.
Speaker:Oh, you're ruining your life, essentially. What's
Speaker:that gonna do to your biological kids? You gotta be protective.
Speaker:We often cloak wisdom as, like, just being cautious
Speaker:and paranoid, and that's not wisdom. Sometimes you gotta
Speaker:put yourself out there, and and I I think it's been a real blessing. And
Speaker:and out of these Harold moments, I just gotta say, yes, there's sacrifice
Speaker:involved financially. You gotta get over yourself.
Speaker:Your your security, you gotta get over yourself. And, yes, there's a lot
Speaker:of, like, god, if you don't show up, I'm I'm hooped. My family
Speaker:is hooped. So there's a lot of trust that needs to be developed. That's a
Speaker:muscle that needs to be developed. But God can be trusted
Speaker:in the details. When he calls, when he breaks in, when he gives you
Speaker:that moment, you will want to pursue
Speaker:that with all your heart when you experience the presence of God.
Speaker:And I'm reminded of, like, Matthew 1344,
Speaker:the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl. When you know
Speaker:that there's a treasure there, when God is breaking in and saying there's a
Speaker:treasure here and I want you to pursue it, you sell all you
Speaker:have. You get sold out for this
Speaker:for the glory of God because in there God can be found. And and sometimes
Speaker:we're looking for the presence of God in the wrong places. We just want
Speaker:a hallelujah moment on a Sunday morning. When
Speaker:God is found in the details, God is found in the person going through
Speaker:homelessness, God is found in the place of mental illness, God is found in these
Speaker:places where where you have these dreams of quitting your job and these
Speaker:unthinkable things. But if there's anything
Speaker:that I can encourage our listeners today is if God is breaking
Speaker:in, pray about it. Surround yourself with
Speaker:people who can walk with you in that.
Speaker:But God can be trusted in those details. Sell all you have for
Speaker:what it is that God has put on your heart. And I would do it
Speaker:all over again, and I would probably do it more bravely if I could tell
Speaker:myself 10 years ago what we've come through,
Speaker:what we've learned, and it's been hard. It's not been easy. We're not gonna
Speaker:romanticize it, but I wouldn't want it any different.
Speaker:I would do it all over again, probably just a little more
Speaker:brave and probably paying attention to more and more of those Kairos
Speaker:moments that I've probably missed. But, god can be
Speaker:trusted. And it takes that initial Kairos moment to get your
Speaker:attention and then many other smaller ones
Speaker:along the way. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 69 where it
Speaker:says, we can make our plans, but the Lord determines our
Speaker:steps. So I love that truth. It's like you guys probably had a little
Speaker:bit of a vision when you got that carousel moment, but you didn't know the
Speaker:steps to to get there. But he put people in your path.
Speaker:He gave you those small moments along the way to help determine
Speaker:those steps, and he's still leading. And how much different
Speaker:has your vision changed since you started the organization? How much has it
Speaker:grown? Mhmm. I'm sure there's a lot more stories we can tell. Well
Speaker:and we're still on that treasure hunt. Now we have a
Speaker:team, a a wonderful team who are also sold
Speaker:out for the calling that God has for the church to help the church
Speaker:rise up and and be effective in these spaces and to to be
Speaker:with the most marginalized in an effective way.
Speaker:And we are now a team, a growing team, and
Speaker:we're partnering with more and more people who are on team, who want to
Speaker:pursue the glory of God, who want to see the church
Speaker:in these spaces. And we're on this treasure hunt together, and God
Speaker:continuously breaks in. We think we have a path, and we are
Speaker:moving forward, and God continues to instruct us along the
Speaker:way. He is leading us like the good shepherd always does.
Speaker:And I just wanna end by encouraging our listeners. If you're hearing the
Speaker:story and you are getting stirred, what's the invitation
Speaker:for you to become part of this story, this Kairos moment that Wendy and
Speaker:Harold had so many years back? The Lord brings people into
Speaker:these storylines, and he does great things. So
Speaker:what is your part in this story?
Speaker:Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care,
Speaker:where we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith
Speaker:and living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an
Speaker:initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity dedicated to
Speaker:connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in
Speaker:community. You can visit their website at careimpact.ca or visit
Speaker:journeywithcare.ca to get more information on weekly episodes,
Speaker:Journey with Prayer, and details about our upcoming events and meetups.
Speaker:You can also leave us a message, share your thoughts, and connect with like
Speaker:minded individuals who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing this podcast and helping these stories reach the
Speaker:community. Together, we can explore ways to journey in a good
Speaker:way. And always remember to stay curious.
