Toronto Mission Trip: Day 3, in view of Dave and Mark's vans

Today, we helped out at the soup kitchen once again.
Sadly, we had to do this soon after we were woken.
But during the drive, I became awaken.
So it was alright, once I was to my next of kin.

Overall, the start was alright.
Mostly because our schedule was pretty airtight
Which was much to my delight.
So soon, I was upright
Serving the homeless, which is pretty tight.

I talked to some, about their life
Mostly whos were filled with hardship rife
Especially to some, who lost their wife.

In conclusion we learned alot

-Riley
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We left the kitchen at Saint Felix at 12:45 and then went out to a nearby undercover area with our CSM host, Chad, to talk about what we were doing, and what we were learning. The discussion was focussed mostly around the true value that our help has to the homeless. Of all the questions Chad left us to talk about, the most meaningful was whether our service to the homeless was hurting them more than helping them because we might be allowing the patrons at Saint Felix to grow too dependent on the help they get there, impeding their ability to get back on their feet by their own power. We decided that though some people may be growing too dependent, the problem is not big enough to bring the value of our service into question. In fact, many of us agreed that the food was actually giving the needy a tool with which to improve their lives. If they don't need to spend time thinking about what they are going to eat for every meal, they can use that time to find a job, look after their peers, etc. In fact, while I was serving food and I sat down to talk with someone when the flow of patrons slowed down, they said they were a little too busy to talk because they needed to wolf down their food, and get to their job in ten minutes! After having our discussion, we headed out to lunch at a delicious Japanese restaurant where we were served sushi, miso soup, teriyaki, rice, vegetable tempura, fruit, and a salad. We were all served so much food that Chad told us he would buy us a doughnut at a coffee shop if we managed to eat it all in one sitting with chopsticks! Two people managed to do this, Riley and James. Josh ate all of his with a fork but apparently that "did not count". Once we were all sufficiently well fed, we hung around in a nearby park, then made our way to our next destination: a soccer field. There, we hung out with some kids who were part of a soccer league organized by the salvation army. We helped set up the goals, serve some food, and I had the good fortune of helping out Team Ireland and prepared them for a 3-2 victory over team USA! At around 8:30, we started to head back to the church, and ate our dinner on the way. When we arrived, we spent around an hour connecting with God. SOme people sang songs with a guest from St. Vincent ( an island near Barbados, in the Caribbean), others analyzed passages from the Bible, or just wrote about their day in a journal. A large number of people drew pictures as well. Overall, it was a pretty emotional experience. Once the activities were done, everyone had some free time, and get ready for bed. The lights went out at 11:00 PM as always, and we are all recharging for the next day.
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Jared