The dirty hands of a living faith

EDMONTON – “These are not glamorous jobs at all,” explained Tara Barnes who organized where more than 350 Lutheran youth spent the afternoon of Monday, July 5. As part of Lutheran Church–Canada’s National Youth Gathering the young people and their leaders fanned out across Edmonton to serve various communities and organizations by cleaning, painting and working with children.

More than 150 went to Edmonton’s inner city McCauley neighbourhood to clean up ten different sites.“The McCauley area is one of the poorest areas in the city,” reported Ms. Barnes who works at Grace Lutheran Church in Edmonton. “We worked with the City of Edmonton to help clean up some of the more unsightly areas and to help the area residents see what can be done by just a few people working together.”

Other teams worked with organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society, Mustard Seed Church, and Edmonton Women’s Shelter where they helped with some painting. Still others conducted children’s programs in various areas.

When asked about the reason for these kinds of service projects, Ms. Barnes explained that these acts of love are a response to the love God shows us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. “This is the foundation of our faith,” she said. “God’s forgiveness transforms lives so we want to serve our communities as much as we can.”

The youth are in Edmonton until Tuesday, July 6 for Lutheran Church–Canada’s triennial National Youth Gathering which brings together high school-aged teens for inspiration, fellowship and service.

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