Shownotes
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Description
What if caring for others was not one more thing on the calendar, but the way we live? Pastor Rob Borgerson joins Shannon to share how a handful of small, faithful yeses grew into a culture of service at the Winnipeg Church of Christ. From being welcomed as a skeptical 17-year-old, to saying yes to preteens he was not sure he was wired to lead, Rob traces a thread of ordinary presence, humility, and practical love. We talk about building culture on purpose, helping people start where they are, and why God delights in our willingness even when it is messy. It is an honest, encouraging look at love as a lifestyle.
About our guest
Rob Borgerson serves as a pastor with the Winnipeg Church of Christ, a diverse community gathering at Bronx Park Community Centre in Winnipeg. Rob and his wife, Katie-Ann, care deeply about cultivating a church family where people show up for one another in practical ways and grow together in faith.
Time Stamps
04:30 "Caring as a Lifestyle"
08:37 "Building a Culture of Service"
10:17 Journey to Leadership Through Gratitude
15:45 Change to Improve Results
18:55 "Congregant's Child Finds Faith"
19:59 "Transformative Care and Ministry"
25:20 "Forget the Former Things"
26:43 God Works in Unexpected Ways
31:20 "Start Moving, Improve Your Circle"
Guest Links
Other Links
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Reach out to us! https://neighbourlypodcast.ca
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with the most vulnerable: careimpact.ca/donate
Transcripts
Before we begin, a quick note to our listeners. We were
Speaker:planning to share an interview hosted by our new host, Shannon this
Speaker:week, but we've had to delay its release due to a family
Speaker:matter she's attending to. Our thoughts are with her and her loved
Speaker:ones, and we look forward to having her back very soon. I'm
Speaker:Johan, and today I'll be guiding you through a story that beautifully
Speaker:captures what neighbourly is all about. Ordinary people
Speaker:offering extraordinary care. Sometimes the simplest act
Speaker:of care begins with an open inbox and a willing heart.
Speaker:Today we revisit our conversation with Audra from
Speaker:Winnipeg, a wife, mother and teacher whose story
Speaker:reminds us how one small yes can ripple through a whole community.
Speaker:Let's get right into it.
Speaker:Every one of us has a story about someone who showed up when it mattered
Speaker:most. I'm Johan and this is Neighbourly A,
Speaker:a podcast about the ordinary ways people show extraordinary care.
Speaker:Every other week, Shannon Steeves sits down with someone who's
Speaker:lived that out. Real stories of faith, kindness
Speaker:and community in action. So grab your coffee and let's
Speaker:join Shannon at the table.
Speaker:When we asked Audra what shaped her heart for others, she didn't
Speaker:start with a program or platform. She started with family.
Speaker:Why do I care for others so much? And I realize it's because
Speaker:of some beautiful women of faith who have gone before
Speaker:me. So my great grandmother was one of
Speaker:the first settlers in the Rosenard area. In fact, my
Speaker:great grandfather cleared the land for the farmers, so they knew what
Speaker:it was like to be newcomers in a land and to start
Speaker:a new life. Her oldest daughter was my grandmother. And
Speaker:I remember my grandmother never went anywhere without something
Speaker:to give. Her hands were always ready to share.
Speaker:So, you know, home baked buns, pot of soup. She would
Speaker:quickly run and grab a bouquet of flowers from her garden, her huge garden.
Speaker:I remember she had a gift closet and it was full of
Speaker:things that she could grab to give. And
Speaker:as a child, seeing that I noticed it, I was also the
Speaker:recipient of some of those gifts. One of her daughters is my
Speaker:mother. And my mother is the same. She's a caregiver. And so
Speaker:in our home growing up, it was always important to keep other people
Speaker:in mind to share what we had, because we were so blessed.
Speaker:So then it is our responsibility and our joy
Speaker:to bless others in turn. And it was a way of
Speaker:sharing and caring for the people around you because that makes life better.
Speaker:And so I realized I've really grown up with
Speaker:beautiful women of faith who have lived this way. So I think it was just
Speaker:Natural for me because I've been so modeled,
Speaker:and I think investing in people is the best and
Speaker:the most meaningful investment. For Audra,
Speaker:generosity wasn't an idea. It was a rhythm of life
Speaker:passed down through generations of women who believed that sharing was
Speaker:simply part of faith. When she and her Walter husband married,
Speaker:they carried that same intentionality forward. Not with a
Speaker:closet of gifts this time, but with something a little more practical.
Speaker:We don't have a closet or a box, but we have an account,
Speaker:designated bank account. It's called giving, and it's not part of our
Speaker:regular life budget. But when we have extra money, we'll just
Speaker:throw it in there. And so when needs come up, when
Speaker:someone's going through a hard time, we have got money to give, and that
Speaker:account is what we've used for Careporto. We plan for it.
Speaker:It's the windfall money. You know, the stuff that you didn't really have designated
Speaker:anyway, so throw it in there to bless others because we are so blessed.
Speaker:So at our church, we. We have a point person who kind
Speaker:of makes sure that a few times a year,
Speaker:the church hears about it, hears about these opportunities. We're invited to
Speaker:sign up so that we get emails and notifications in our inboxes.
Speaker:And when I first heard about it, when Walter and I first heard about it,
Speaker:we're like, well, of course we're going to do that. Sounds awesome.
Speaker:And so we have the different notifications that come in our inboxes,
Speaker:and we can respond to them. Sometimes we do, sometimes
Speaker:we don't. But we have responded over the years in a few ways.
Speaker:Sometimes we've given money, sometimes we have the item that
Speaker:is being requested. And so we give that item.
Speaker:And recently we actually
Speaker:delivered, like the delivery people. That
Speaker:intentional rhythm of giving eventually led Audra and her church to
Speaker:start using CarePortal, a technology that connects local needs
Speaker:with people willing to help. One day, a request appeared
Speaker:for a young international student who is pregnant and alone. When
Speaker:Audra's point person noticed the student lived just two blocks away,
Speaker:she reached out. That was all Audra needed to hear.
Speaker:Oh, well, I think the way it came across my life
Speaker:was our point person at our church
Speaker:had been working on this, actioning this need. And
Speaker:so she actually reached out to me and said, hey, Audra, by
Speaker:the way, would you be open to getting involved? This person actually
Speaker:lives really close to you, actually is your neighbor. And at that
Speaker:point, that was all I needed to hear. I didn't even need to hear her
Speaker:whole story or what was all happening. Like, if I can meet and help someone
Speaker:who lives right here, like, absolutely. I'd be honored.
Speaker:It'd be awesome. On top of that, you know, for years we,
Speaker:we have hosted international students in our home. And so I have
Speaker:a big heart for newcomers to Canada, especially
Speaker:students. I know how hard they work. I know how
Speaker:much sacrifice goes into them making this
Speaker:dream of theirs come true. And I can't imagine
Speaker:showing up and then finding yourself pregnant and
Speaker:not knowing how things all work here. And oh my goodness, I need
Speaker:a car seat, really? And what do I do? So,
Speaker:yeah, absolutely. It was, it was a no brainer and I just got
Speaker:excited that I could do something about it and hear. About it
Speaker:from that simple, yes, compassion began to multiply.
Speaker:As Audra explains, one post on Careportal quickly
Speaker:became a team effort, a chain of kindness where everyone
Speaker:played their part. Yeah, so I think this is the
Speaker:amazing, the amazing power of a
Speaker:platform like Careportal. So you can have this,
Speaker:you know, this caseworker that knows this person knows the need
Speaker:posts it. That gets shared to so many
Speaker:different inboxes. And then there was a person who said,
Speaker:oh, here's some money I want to give toward that. And then there was a
Speaker:person who said, oh, like I can buy that. Oh, I found, I found a
Speaker:great stroller car seat combo on Facebook
Speaker:Marketplace and I can buy it with that money. And so someone bought it and
Speaker:then someone said, oh, can we bring it to your house? And then that person,
Speaker:like, yeah, sure, I'll get it to, I'll get it to church on Sunday. But
Speaker:all along the way, like, extra things got added. There was like a pack
Speaker:of diapers, there was wipes, there was like a little
Speaker:toy. Then there. And then at some point, information
Speaker:came that, you know, the student doesn't live alone. And so there was a little
Speaker:gift for the roommate, you know, and, and in the end, it was like this
Speaker:whole care package. And so Walter and I showed
Speaker:up at church. It all got loaded in our car trunk. Everything had been
Speaker:gathered. We had a whole trunk full of stuff. All
Speaker:that I had to do was literally take that trunk
Speaker:load of stuff, text the number I'd been
Speaker:given. So we, we were given the number for that student and that had
Speaker:all been set up. So I just had to text her and say, hey, you
Speaker:know, what afternoon works for you? What time works for you this afternoon?
Speaker:And we pulled up and yeah, when. Everything
Speaker:was gathered, it was time for delivery. And that's where
Speaker:the real story began. So Walter would be the
Speaker:person who would say that he's not very
Speaker:compassionate. I think he's far more than he gives himself credit for. But
Speaker:he'd be the person who would just walk by, oblivious, just not
Speaker:wired that way. And so he was happy to drive. I
Speaker:was happy for the extra moral support and the muscles to carry the things.
Speaker:And so for him, oh, yeah, I could drive over there like, no, that was
Speaker:no big deal. And at one point, I think I even said, oh, I'll just
Speaker:go, I'll be okay. And then he's like, well, no, I'm driving.
Speaker:Audra says she felt excited, but also a little nervous.
Speaker:She was about to meet a complete stranger. Here's what she was
Speaker:thinking before knocking on that apartment door. Yeah, well, the reality of
Speaker:it is it's, you know, it's one thing to get excited about. Oh, yeah, I
Speaker:want to go drop this off. It's so easy. I mean, I just have to
Speaker:transport the stuff that's already been collected. So my piece was
Speaker:an easy piece. And yet there's that part there that
Speaker:now there's awkwardness because we don't really know each other at all.
Speaker:I don't have any relationship with this complete stranger. She
Speaker:doesn't know me at all. There's a little bit of uncertainty. Like,
Speaker:you know, what kind of situation am I walking into?
Speaker:What kind of person is this? I mean, obviously she's not going to be
Speaker:sad about a truckload of gifts. I'm not worried about that.
Speaker:But, you know, I don't know what her reaction is going to be like.
Speaker:I don't know. So there's a lot of unknowns, and there's lots of times in
Speaker:life you need to do that, by the way. And it's one of the things
Speaker:that I'm always telling my students, take that risk.
Speaker:You're not going to grow if you don't take a risk. Get past the 10
Speaker:seconds of awkwardness, because that's all it's going to be. Don't let
Speaker:the awkwardness of 10 seconds stop you from having
Speaker:that important conversation or stop you from doing the right thing.
Speaker:Get over yourself and just go do it. And there's just so much blessing and
Speaker:joy in it, you know, and that's. That's where this life flows.
Speaker:It's life giving. Those few seconds of courage
Speaker:opened the door to something sacred. What started as a
Speaker:delivery turned into a moment of deep connection.
Speaker:And so there we were. So we're at the door. She knew we were coming
Speaker:because I had texted. And so she met us at the Door of her apartment
Speaker:building. And she was thrilled.
Speaker:First of all, she was relieved because she didn't know when the baby was going
Speaker:to come and she didn't have the stuff, so she needed to know she was
Speaker:going to be okay. So brought it all up to her apartment for her.
Speaker:And, you know, as we're going, we're just chit chatting, we're getting to know each
Speaker:other a little bit, and she's quite, quite forthcoming. I mean, she knows we know
Speaker:a bit of her story. And so she was sharing her anxiety and how
Speaker:happy she was that that this was here. And then once we got to her
Speaker:apartment, I'm showing her all the extra stuff and she was just thrilled.
Speaker:So there's extra things. And then I think it
Speaker:must have been, you know, once we were in her space
Speaker:and once she saw all the extra love and she saw, you
Speaker:know, Walter and our warm, friendly faces,
Speaker:it's like it did break the barriers. And it was like
Speaker:she had held this in for so long, and here was finally
Speaker:a kind person who's willing to listen. And it was also her.
Speaker:Her choice. It was her initiative. But she started sharing, and I was
Speaker:just happy to listen. And, you know, before long, there was
Speaker:tears and there was Kleenex and then she was leaning in and then there was
Speaker:a hug, and then she was calling me mama. You know, she
Speaker:just was so desperate for a kind
Speaker:word at a tough time. Listening to that,
Speaker:I'm reminded how love begins right at the edge of our comfort zone.
Speaker:For Audra, that small act of kindness became more than charity.
Speaker:It became friendship. And as she tells it, something
Speaker:holy was happening in that moment. I just
Speaker:felt giddy with excitement. Like, this is
Speaker:so cool. Like, it took, what, half an hour of my day
Speaker:maybe, And I got to meet a neighbor and I got to make a difference.
Speaker:And there's, you know, there's life and there's satisfy. It's
Speaker:so satisfying. And yeah, I was just so, so thrilled.
Speaker:And, you know, when she started sharing and she's leaning in and we're
Speaker:hugging, I do think the Holy Spirit was there bringing
Speaker:healing and hope in that moment. You know, we didn't say it that way, but
Speaker:at one point I looked at her and said, you know, I'm from
Speaker:the church and God sees you, and I want you to
Speaker:know that God sees you and God loves you, and that's what these
Speaker:gifts are. But in that moment, it felt like a holy
Speaker:moment. God was there. I have no doubt. It brought.
Speaker:Well, I know it brought hope and healing to her, she had shared about how
Speaker:she, as an international student, she hadn't been well
Speaker:treated at the university by everyone she had met. She really
Speaker:felt being a minority, you know, being alone.
Speaker:And so she didn't even know who she could trust in a new country
Speaker:because it hadn't always gone well for her. So here was
Speaker:a beautiful time. When it did go well, she did ask for help and
Speaker:it did go well. And God Kadian met her there whether she
Speaker:recognizes as such or not. It was a beautiful moment.
Speaker:That encounter didn't end at the doorstop. Audra stayed
Speaker:in touch, celebrating the baby's birth, visiting again
Speaker:with home cooked food and bringing hope right into her neighbor's
Speaker:kitchen. I actually was able to say, I texted
Speaker:her a couple of days later, just said, you know, so how are you doing?
Speaker:You know, I really want to know when the baby comes because I want to
Speaker:celebrate with you. And so a number of weeks later, she did
Speaker:have the baby and I did get a text and I got a little photo
Speaker:and she actually invited me to come see her, you know,
Speaker:another month after that she invited me to come and visit
Speaker:baby because I, I would love to see. So then I was able to go
Speaker:again and this time I brought my own care package.
Speaker:I brought some diapers and I brought some food that I had cooked for supper,
Speaker:got some extra snacks for the roommate and the kids. And I was able
Speaker:to go by and cuddle the little one and give her, you know, a
Speaker:little more hope. It was really neat. Listening back
Speaker:to Audra's story. What stands out isn't just generosity,
Speaker:it's its intentionality. She and Walter planned
Speaker:for compassion. They created space in their lives and
Speaker:in their budget to say yes when a need appeared. Before
Speaker:we close, here's how Audra reflected on what caring this
Speaker:way has done for her, her church and her city.
Speaker:At a very basic level, it allows us to
Speaker:not be so selfish and inward looking. It's very easy
Speaker:to look after your family and your friends. It's very easy in a church to
Speaker:look after the church, be there for each other, but to be
Speaker:others focused. As far as outward
Speaker:focused, we know that God has called us to do that, but that's
Speaker:not easy. So as a citizen living in the city I live
Speaker:in, you know, I read the papers, I hear about the crime
Speaker:rates, I hear about the statistics. I know about what happened down the street and
Speaker:how police presence were there. And you know, I, I can,
Speaker:I live here, I see what's happening and I want to make a difference. I
Speaker:Want my community to be a better place, but how do I do that? And
Speaker:I don't think you have to be a Christian to have that, you know, and
Speaker:we want to live in a safe place. We want to live in a community
Speaker:that cares. And so that's the big picture.
Speaker:How do we do that? Well, we do that through connection. We do that by
Speaker:engaging. We do that by getting involved. So from a
Speaker:church perspective, getting involved, pushing yourself
Speaker:to, you know, to go to those places helps
Speaker:us to be more others oriented, and it allows us to engage and
Speaker:actually build that. It's like a peacemaking kind of thing. But
Speaker:it comes in little pieces and many little pieces.
Speaker:One of the pieces is, you know, Care Portal. And one of the pieces was,
Speaker:was my dropping off a stroller for a new mom.
Speaker:But bigger picture, bigger church picture, bigger community
Speaker:picture, it's engaging in our community in positive
Speaker:ways. Well, and all of those little steps when
Speaker:we're all doing that, it makes a collective difference, right? And it can feel kind
Speaker:of useless by yourself. Oh, what good does that little thing that
Speaker:I do do? But when you can work together
Speaker:and when I think the, you know, the beauty of Care
Speaker:Portal in particular is that it just, it just
Speaker:allows those collective steps to come together, right? It just organizes it and
Speaker:collected in a, in a very intentional way that we can't do on our
Speaker:own. So that's absolutely beautiful. I would just say, you know,
Speaker:from, from my experience, from my wonderful
Speaker:women of faith who have modeled this for me in my life,
Speaker:to my experiences, particularly with Care Points Portal,
Speaker:it's worth it. It's worth it to get engaged, get
Speaker:involved, get off the couch, give a little bit of money, give
Speaker:a little bit of time. It's a little bit from
Speaker:how richly blessed we are to reach out.
Speaker:I would just like to encourage, maybe
Speaker:inspire people by saying that sharing
Speaker:and caring makes a difference
Speaker:much bigger than we can quantify. Just go do it.
Speaker:You won't be sorry. Audra's story is a glimpse
Speaker:of what happens when technology serves relationship instead
Speaker:of replacing it. CarePortal might send the
Speaker:notification, but it's people, neighbors like
Speaker:Audra, who turn those alerts into connection,
Speaker:dignity and hope. Maybe that's something we can all practice
Speaker:this week. Look for one simple way to close the gap between
Speaker:awareness and action. To be the person who knocks,
Speaker:listens, and stays. Because when we
Speaker:do, care stops being a project and starts becoming
Speaker:the way we live. The stories we share here
Speaker:remind us that care doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful.
Speaker:It just has to be present. Neighbourly is an initiative of
Speaker:Care Impact, a Canadian charity equipping churches,
Speaker:agencies and communities with tech and training to care better
Speaker:together. Visit CareImpact CA or to find out more
Speaker:about the podcast sponsorships, being a guest or just dropping us
Speaker:a line, visit NeighborlyPodcast CA. We'd love to
Speaker:hear from you. Check the show notes for the A link or hop on our
Speaker:Care Impact Podcast group on Facebook to join our podcast community.
Speaker:I'm Johan. Thanks for listening and keep being the kind of
Speaker:neighbor someone will never forget. In a good way.
Speaker:Love is turning over tables
Speaker:Breaking off chains When I see you
Speaker:in a stranger I'm no longer a slave.
Speaker:TABLE. Tearing down walls
Speaker:Building under bridges between
Speaker:us
Speaker:Sam.
