*editor's note: This post takes us back to our Urban Plunge in September*
For our urban plunge in Winnipeg we stayed the North End which has one of the worst reputations in Winnipeg. But after our walk through the streets I came to realize that there is a whole community and culture that is completely overlooked there. My group, instead of focusing on the tasks we were supposed to complete, decided to just take in as many things as we could. On Mainstreet there are tons of homeless. Going into this walk I was terrified of what I might run into but what I found instead were just a bunch of people who were out enjoying the sun and fellowship. One of the things I have come to realize is that we see them as having lots of brokenness. But I think on Mainstreet it’s the people whizzing by in their vehicles who are the broken ones who can’t stop to enjoy the sun. We’ve also been challenged to take what we see on the streets and apply it to our own lives. A common fear about the streets is the addictions. But what we don’t see is that everyone has addictions. Some of us just have the money, class and skin colour to hide it. The other thing that is overlooked and I think we can learn from is the people on North End truly know what community is. They are an entire network of people who are completely devoted to each other. They protect, defend and love one another so deeply. If the whole world understood this kind of love I think it would be a much different place.
By: Allison Goerzen
I don’t know where to start. Our three days stay in the North End was an emotional overload for so many of us - and not to mention a major wake up call as well. Our group experienced and saw a ridiculous amount of brokenness and we were all left wondering how we had never seen it there before. For me, apart from the loads of questions I had (mostly for God) the thing that stuck with me the most was the incredible amount of beauty to go along with al the ugliness. I constantly think of Hannah, a broken woman with no place to call home. She had given up hope; she even looked me in the eyes at one point during our encounter, and proclaimed “I’m lost.” I knew she meant it in more than one way. The beauty came when we prayed with Hannah. We had taken her back to the church and there were two women there who just surrounded Hannah with love and support. They did not know her but they were her sisters.
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