Canada

Servants Vancouver Community

From 2006 to 2018 Servants had an immersion team located in Vancouver, Canada. “Servants Vancouver”, as it was called, was a vibrant bi-vocational Christian community, based in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood. It consisted of singles, marrieds and families with children. As a community they felt called to practice radical hospitality amongst those who were marginalized in society. Their approach was a simple one: to offer a space, in their home and daily lives, to those living on the street, struggling with mental illness or drug addiction, where they could experience Christian community. Over the years, countless people experienced love and healing in their midst.

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The team committed themselves to simplifying and consolidating their lifestyles in order to be more intentional about their calling to build God’s Kingdom among the poor. Community rhythms included prayer and fellowship, as well as eating and celebrating together. By opening their home and table to their friends and neighbours they saw that the intimacy of a shared meal can forge relationships which cross social boundaries.

Over the years the Vancouver Team focused on five main ministries.

The evening meals on Tuesdays (open to anybody) and Wednesdays (women’s dinner) were times when friends from the neighbourhood were invited to join for fellowship and family. Often we had up to a dozen or more guests for dinner and we encouraged everyone to pitch in and help with cooking and cleaning up afterwards. It is a great way to get to know people and offer them a peaceful, family-oriented space away from the chaos of the streets.

Some of the women on the team spent the time from Wednesday nights meeting women where they work and inviting those that are willing back to the Servants space for some tea, talking and friendship. We were also eager to move forward in different ways to invite women into relationships eg preparing a Woman’s only dinner before most of the women go out to work, in hopes that it may be a way of breaking into some of their daily routine.

In early 2009, we initiated a community garden in an unused parking lot on our block. Neighbours and local groups quickly got involved and there was a daily flow of people hanging out, watering the garden and tending to the plants. In 2014 we started a second garden on our block. The gardens have been another good way of building relationships and a number of our contacts there have joined us for meals and become friends.

Combining worship, prayer and creativity with justice and activism, we were meeting on Tuesday nights with folks from the neighbourhood and beyond to plan “holy mischief” and learn about God’s heart for the poor.

At our 450 E Hastings space, we encouraged team members who like to do art to invite friends from the neighborhood to the CAVE (Caring Artists Vivifying Existence) space, where art was used as a means to encourage the healing process of people through the creation of visual art.

Stories from Vancouver