Hope Displacing Fear In Lawrence Heights Two years ago, Blythwood Road Baptist Church began supporting the Nutrition Program at Flemington Public School in Lawrence Heights – an underserviced neighbourhood at Lawrence Avenue and Allen Road in Toronto. This program provides breakfast and lunch for students at the school who might otherwise go without. When the church began to think about how we might get more involved in the neighbourhood, we considered running a free one week day camp from the school, which would include snacks and lunch.
 
In order to run the camp, Blythwood needed a team to help us. We often have mission teams staying at our church throughout the summer. We thought that if we could find a team interested in partnering with us, the camp could happen. Walter Mcintrye, from CBOQ, put us in touch with Southeast Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After many emails between myself and Pastor Joe Vinson from Southeast, discussion with Scott Mission (who minister year around in Lawrence Heights), and obtaining permission from the Toronto District School Board to use Flemington PS, the camp was set to go from July 23 to 27.

Three days before our 30 guests from Tennessee were due to arrive, we heard of the tragic murder of Daniel Davis in the schoolyard of Flemington PS, early in the morning of July 19th. When I went to the neighbourhood later that day, the community was understandably in shock. We had planned to host a launch party for the camp on Sunday July 22, across the street from the school, which would include a bouncing castle, music, face-painting, popcorn and sno-cones. We wondered if we should go ahead with it, given what had happened. Each community leader I spoke with advised us to have the launch party. As one Metro Housing manager put it, “People need to know that good things happen in Lawrence Heights.”


We went ahead with the launch party and with the camp. The week has been such a blessing to many – campers, parents, the mission team, and the people of Blythwood. We had 50 children from Lawrence Heights and the surrounding area attend the camp each day. As one child put it – “This is like a party!” Six members of the Murfreesboro mission team have been serving at the Oasis Dufferin Community Centre. Good news is being proclaimed in word and deed in our city. It is our prayer that seeds are being sown that will bear much fruit, and that all involved will learn something about what it means to bring the good news of Christ and the reign of God wherever it is that we find ourselves.

Pastor David Thomas
 
Blythwood Road Baptist Church

---

0 comments

---

Add a Comment (all fields required)