Knights, Pumpkin Soup and so much Bubble Tea

As I come to the end of this year, I am grateful and full. This year has been tough personally and organizationally, but whenever I think of my time on campus with the OCF community I am filled with joy. After a somewhat anti-climactic end at Ryerson, I was not expecting to be showered with welcome at OCAD, and yet I was. Here are some of my highlights from the year:

“Are you going to knight us?”

Early in September, after spending a good deal of time in the summer developing relationships with two students in particular, I asked them to join me for dinner. I was intentionally vague in the purpose of our meeting, as I was trying to hold things loosely. But I did ask that we go out, and not meet in their home and be in a place with an atmosphere where we could actually have a conversation, as opposed to some of the loud, lively restaurants closer to campus. While we were walking, one of the students asked if I was going to knight them, as that’s the first thing she came up with after putting the pieces she had together. I laughed and apologized for the vagueness, and once we were seated I filled them in. I wanted to tell them I noticed the good missional work they were doing in their friend’s lives, even choosing to live downtown in an apartment with two not-yet believing friends! I offered to pray with them, offer resources as they needed and to help them as they grew in their witness and hospitality this year. They gratefully accepted and their home became a hub of activity this year, with epic parties, delicious dinners and lots of late-night prayer and worship. The times when I would meet individually or with both of them, were some of the best moments of the year for me. They graciously invited me into their home and their lives, and relationship with them has reignited my love for student ministry. And since that day in September, I have called them, my knights.

Pumpkin Soup

One of the student leaders I worked with this year is an international student from Singapore. One morning as we were staffing a table for a community fair, I discovered he loved all thing pumpkin, especially soup. Now this student who would describe himself as “headstrong” was sometimes challenging to connect with, he was often a confusing mix of stubborn and teachable, which I realized was exactly how I was when I was a student. The way my staff won me over was her demonstration of unconditional love. So, when this student was extremely stressed with school and still trying to serve in his various leadership roles with OCF, I knew I could release some of his leadership responsibilities (which I did) but beyond that there was little I could do to help with the stress, so I did what my mother would do, I made him some soup. He was surprised, grateful and I think this moment marked a point where he felt he could trust me more. Right after our event that night I got this message and photo from him, “Already had my first bowl, thanks again Archi!!!!! It was so good! I missed this so much lol”

So Much Bubble Tea

During my last year at Ryerson (and my last year living downtown), there were a number of bubble tea places that opened. And I was so excited to have another option for meeting locations with students. Then, I found out that NONE of my student leaders liked bubble tea, and only ONE of my friends would go with me. I was devastated. But then this year at OCAD, 90% of my one-on-one mentoring meetings happen over bubble tea. I’ve had multiple conversations about the best locations and combinations, when to go, who the best servers are, and so much more. I even got to take a few OCF students to my favourite place near Ryerson.

I’m grateful that in this season, God has been faithful. My vision and passion for working with students has been renewed. I’ve been able to deeply connect and love these students. And even small things like a lack of bubble tea has turned into abundance, which shows me that even in the simplest longings God meets me, which gives me hope for the bigger things.