Not Alone

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ – Genesis 2:18, NRSV

For the past few weeks and months, I have been praying for members of my Greater Toronto Area staff team as they searched for housing. Staff from the University of Toronto (all three campuses) and the Ontario College of Art and Design along with their respective families (spouses and children) have been looking to live communally together, in order to love and serve one another; as well as model service and hospitality for their students. It’s been a daunting task finding a house in reasonable proximity to their respective campuses that allows the space to entertain and live comfortably. I rejoiced when I found out this week that this group found a house! In addition to it meeting their various needs and desires; the house is located very close to Ryerson! Though not in their desired neighbourhood, this house fulfilled their needs and made them excited about the ministry opportunities, including the possibility of more intentional partnership with Ryerson!

As many of you know, I have been serving as the only Campus Minister at Ryerson for a long time. I admit there have been times when I have longed for a staff partner on campus, but it dawned on me that I have never felt alone on campus. There have been three very distinct ways that I have experienced partnership on campus:

1. Holy Spirit

I have been amazed at how I have received partnership with the Holy Spirit, to see the Spirit’s prompting in the lives of students and calling them deeply to follow that call. I also frequently enter (sometimes with trepidation) into situations and see that the Spirit has already been at work and feel peace about the work that needs to be done.

2. You

Your prayer and financial support reminds me that I am not alone, and this is OUR ministry. I may be “alone” on campus but I know you are praying for me and supporting me as I follow God’s call to university students. Your words of encouragement and the way you live your lives inspire me and keep me going.

3. Students

I have been blessed with student leaders who are extraordinary! Their passion, enthusiasm, and creativity about sharing their faith astounds me, and yet they are humble, teachable and open to receiving new vision for ministry. I often hear stories of staff who receive reproach and hostility from students, and I have been blessed with students who willingly choose to partner with me.

And yet, I am still amazed at the ways God ministers to me. Recently, I had a particularly disheartening series of conversations with my parents about my work in ministry. As an Asian woman, receiving the blessing of ones parents is vitally important, and coming to terms with the reality that it may be a long time (or never happen) before I receive the blessing from my parents to do this work. In a time that’s been stressful, trying to raise support and make the necessary preparations to leave my day job, having these conversations was particularly debilitating. Especially, since my father essentially stated the same things he did when I first told him I was coming on staff. The realization that all the “progress” I thought I had made with my parents post-AASC had been an illusion was a particularly hard truth to receive. In the aftermath of this conversations, I sought the prayer and counsel of my fellow Asian-Canadian staff and my supervisors and ministry mentors. I was amazed and greatly encouraged by the ways they came alongside me and cared for me during this time.

One of the Asian-Canadian staff who had a similar staff journey, said something that I clung to, which was that she hoped that in the midst of this conflict with my parents, that people from my church family would emerge and offer me the encouragement and support that my parents were unable to give. This hope was echoed by my former staff partner, who added that she hoped I would have people emerge that would continue to cultivate my interest and knowledge of my cultural background while encouraging and supporting me in my ministry work. I didn’t realize how strongly I held on to that hope, until I met such a couple.

Today at church, I met an elderly Sri Lankan couple. They were excited to meet a fellow South-Asian Christian, and were even more joyous when they discovered I was Sri Lankan. The husband, a retired missionary and his wife were equally as excited as I shared with them my migration story. When I told them I worked as a missionary they were very excited. When I told them I worked at Ryerson, they lit up as they told me their son had studied there. When I told them that my degree at Ryerson was in design, they told me with pride that their daughter had attended art college for design, and though she was successful, left her job for a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka and has settled there since. The wife, who upon discovery that my parents were not believers was even more excited about my testimony as a missionary. We talked for a little while after that, and when I left church and was heading home on the subway, I saw the interaction in a new light. I saw that this was God ministering to me with people of my ethnic heritage who saw my life and the path I am on, as something to be proud of rather than ashamed; who believed and modeled in their lives the importance of doing the thing with which God has blessed you; whether it be following an unconventional vocation or a serving the Lord full-time in ministry. Seeing their faces light up as I told them my story and the pride they had of their own children who, like me, followed unconventional paths refreshed me in ways I can’t even begin to fully describe!

This past week has shown me, that though God has been so faithful to me already, that there are more ways He chooses to offer partnership to me.

If you would like to know more about my work with Inter-Varsity and ways in which you can partner with me, please click here.