Vancouver Urban Plunge

The Ivanhoe Hotel was our resting place for the week. At first it is a little intimidating and scary but after a couple of days it becomes alive with character and love.



Jenna by some graffiti in downtown Vancouver.


Kristine, Christina, and Ashley.

The steam clock.



Ethan and Darin tuckered out after a long day.


Steve at Union Gospel Mission helping organize the pantry.

Christina and Emma organizing shampoo and conditioner for the drop-in.


Joel enjoying the office job of stapling paper!


Ashley and Jeremy also working well with the staplers.



Jeremy sorting through girl's socks.


Christina, Linda, and Ashley befriend a lady at the women's drop-in.


Every night we went out for a different type of food. Trevor enjoying a meal at the Vietnamese restaurant.


Emma likes it too!


We also went to see and understand some religious institutions. This was a Mosque.


The beautiful ceiling of the Mosque.


Mel in her scarf covering her head.


Next we went to a Sikh temple.


And lastly a Buddhist temple.


The grounds of the Buddhist temple was amazingly beautiful.


Darin, Kendra, Mel and Trevor under a Bonsai tree.


Peek-a-boo Darin and Trevor.


A pond.


Ethan, Rebecca and Kelly set up a Birthday station on the streets of Vancouver and sang Happy Birthday to people.


Ethan singing away!


Rebecca talking to some guys on the streets.


Kelly posing with her Birthday hat and poncho.

Service Day at Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver, BC.

On the second day of our Urban Plunge in Vancouver, we did a service day at Union Gospel Mission. For the first half of the day we helped sort through supplies to get the building ready for their Christmas outreach program. I managed to have fun, even if it was a mundane task, because I knew I was heling the community in my own small way. At the same time, I wasn't hugely impacted until the afternoon, when the girls had the opportunity to help serve a meal at a women's shelter. I got to bring food out to the women that came, which was fun as well. In the back room of the shelter, there were a few boxes of clothes that the women were free to take. I remember glancing back there during a quieter moment and seeing two women digging through the clothes trying to get the best selection before anyone else. That moment really struck me hard, partly because they were so thin, but the worst part was the frenzied urgency with which they dug. It somehow reminded me of animals digging for food or something as if they had been completely dehumanized, and seeing that made me feel so sick. I wanted to tell those women how beautiful God thinks they are, and I wanted them to know that they are loved. I was reminded again how much God hurts for hte lost and the hurting. It seemed so broken and backwards watching those women because their pain and stuggle for survival are not the way God intented for His people to live. I did however find hope in the smiles of the women working at the shelter, and how the smilies spreawd to the women who came into the shelter. It was cool to see how something as small as a smile could make such a big difference.

By Emma Purser

Roses Prayer Walk

Once upon a time on the Vancouver urban plunge we did a roses prayer walk. I'll explain kind of what that was so no one gets confused. This was a night where we got to take a rose and a note written by us and give it away to a person on the street who was probably involved in the sex-trade industry. It was a prayer walk; an opportunity to bless the community of downtown Vancouver, but we got to give away a rose as well.
The darkness and pain is real down there on the corners and sidewalks of downtown Vancouver. It hits you right in the face, it gets under your skin, and makes you feel achingly uncomfortable. I could talk about the reality of the pain that we found in this place for a long time, but I think I would rather share something else that I found there. Something that came as a bit of surprise. I found beauty. I saw people who had stories and heartache. I saw people who were willing to give away everything they had to a complete stranger. I discovered that these people who we often dehumanize, have something that our middle-class upper society doesn't. They know how to love. They know how to give. I saw Jesus in those people. When I looked into the eyes of those people I didn't just see another face, I saw the face of Jesus. It was like Jesus was whispering to me, "You want to know me Kristin? Here I am. I'm on these streets. With my people."

By Kristin Peterson