Written by Matthew Demitroff
In the summer of 2016, God showed me the blessing of waiting.
I didn’t spend that summer singing camp songs around the fire, or chasing after campers in my cabin. Instead, I flipped burgers in a sweaty chip truck and scooped ice cream in a chilly convenience store, saving every dime I earned and counting down the days to when I would arrive at Tyndale University.
As I waited, God prepared me for what was to come. I had a vision of a dark Toronto sky and a bright light radiating from Tyndale, which poured out and covered every corner of Toronto. The light even covered the entirety of the CN tower, almost like the sun. To this day, I still do not fully understand what this light represented, but I knew that Tyndale would be involved in a mission to share the authenticity of God’s love in mission. To put it lightly, I was excited to start school.
In my first week at Tyndale, I already began to do mission work within the city — my friend James and I decided to go downtown exploring, talking and sharing with homeless people. We had barely known each other for a few days, but God had already set the design for the night. We went downtown and asked God to lead us to people within the city who we could pray for.
After our prayer we bought crispy rice squares at the bulk store and headed out into the city, handing them out to people on street corners, starting casual conversation as people munched on their sticky treats. That night, we met two people in particular who expanded my perception of homeless people.
The first person (let’s call him Dante), was sitting overtop of a vent. We sat with him, asking if he wanted prayer — immediately he broke down in tears, explaining how he had been on the streets because of his unstable family situation. Dante asked if we could pray for his family and his current situation. As we prayed, I could feel Dante’s body shaking because of his suffering. Afterward, he thanked us for taking time out to come speak with him.
As we moved on, we met another man (let’s call him Richie) who had been on the streets for quite some time. He could barely hold a conversation with us but appreciated the food and our company as we sat with him.
I learned through Richie and Dante that though they were on the streets, they still enjoyed the time we spent with them. They needed love, and we expressed God’s love by offering them company and a listening ear to their stories, praying for them as they spoke.
James and I had to be sacrificial in order to see the blessings God had prepared when we were obedient to his voice.
Let us take time out of our day to enjoy one another’s company, as we sacrificially give our time to God and see what He will ultimately accomplish. These times downtown revealed to me the incredible things that can happen when we seek His direction and enjoy the little blessings in one another’s company.