Serve & Observe is back.

101 high school students from 4 different cities have come to Hamilton in the past month and a half for 2-3 days of learning and service in the city. These trips take students into places they might not naturally find themselves – giving lunches to people living on the street with Gore Park Food Outreach, sorting clothing donations with Helping Hands, digging into a community garden with a local church or painting new tenant’s homes with Indwell. These experiences aren’t just about the hands-on experience though. Students are introduced to Indwell’s model of support, hear about the valuable work of Eva Rothwell in empowering families living in poverty, sit and eat with friends from L’arche and talk about the newcomer experience with Micah House. 

What is Serve & Observe?

Serve & Observe trips with Act Five offer high school students a meaningful 2–3 day experience of service, learning, and reflection in the city of Hamilton. Designed for high school and church youth groups, these trips aim to inspire youth and their leaders to serve others, deepen their character, and explore how faith connects to everyday life and justice.

The Serve & Observe model emphasizes a posture of both action and attentiveness. Participants are invited not only to do but also to notice—to listen deeply to the people, places, and stories they encounter. 

Rooted in the biblical call of Genesis 2:15—to abad (serve, cultivate) and shamar (keep, observe, protect)—these experiences are designed not only for doing, but for noticing. We hope participants can step into these communities and contexts with open hands and open eyes: offering themselves in service while learning to see, listen, and receive the stories, strengths, and needs of the people and places they encounter.

This model resists the temptation to “fix” or “solve,” and instead cultivates a humble presence—one that seeks to learn from and alongside others, in relationship. Serve & Observe reminds us that service is not just about activity, but about formation: this can be the formation of our character, our understanding of justice, our communities, and even our perception of what we have in common with others who are different from us.

Through Serve & Observe trips, students are encouraged to think about how God is working outside of the communities that they are familiar with. They are pushed out of their comfort zone and introduced to a city that is messy, but filled with God’s grace – made visible by the many organizations serving our neighbours on the margins of society. 

Maranatha Church’s Serve & Observe

Just last week, a group came from Maranatha Church and spent a Saturday volunteering with Gore Park Outreach, an organization that feeds about 1,000 people every Saturday. The students were given the opportunity to set-up, serve food and eat with the people who came. Experiences like these are invaluable for shaping compassion and inspiring youth to expand their communities. 

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Instructions to the Ancient Israelites

Leviticus 25: 1-7

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath for the Lord. ³ Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in their yield, ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. ⁵ You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. ⁶ You may eat what the land yields during its Sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you, ⁷ for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.

Cool principle, right!?

I’ve frequently been inspired by this (often overlooked) instruction to the ancient Israelites in the biblical narrative. God invites them into an earth-affirming and trust-enhancing practice here – let the ground rest. Eat what grows naturally, do not put in more work than necessary. Let the land produce at its own pace, on its own power. 

But it doesn’t stop there. God promises to provide food even when the people halt their efforts to improve the land or increase the harvest. “Should you ask, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years… when its produce comes in, you shall eat the old.” (Leviticus 25:20-21). God’s creation and provision is abundant, and it is enough.

An Invitation for Act Five

It’s not always wise to extrapolate modern applications from ancient biblical texts without careful exegesis. However, there’s something beautiful and intriguing about how this principle, or vision, might act as a metaphor that reaches beyond the realms of agriculture and homesteading. I wonder if the spirit imbued in this text can be a spirit that indwells our work as we live our lives here alongside the “landscape” that is Act Five. 

As Act Five enters its 7th year, I have been considering the question:

“What could it look like to live this vision out here, in Hamilton, at Act Five, in 2025?” 

How might we take time to observe and enjoy what has been created? What does it mean for us to “eat what the land yields” if the “land” is Act Five and its “yield” is the fruit of our last six years? 

“…there’s something beautiful and intriguing about how this principle, or vision, might act as a metaphor…”

Discerning with Open Hands

In the year ahead, we sense God’s invitation to wait, to notice, and to trust. This year we will observe what has been planted, enjoy the fruit of what has grown, and trust God to bring the harvest. We celebrate our six years of input that has led to this. We continue in our mission and remain steady in our Gap Year and Residency programming to provide the trellis within which our young adults can grow through hands-on learning, mentorship, improvisation, and intentional daily living. After all, a trellis doesn’t make the plant grow – it simply provides the structure and support for healthy flourishing. 

Alongside our students and residents, we will explore how themes of creation, Sabbath, jubilee, and celebration can shape our imaginations for life in the world. And we trust that God will continue to provide as we navigate another year of life here.

I invite you to pray, follow along, or join us in some way. We are eager for all that lies ahead: for our staff; for our external initiatives; and most of all, for the 12 young adults who will join our community this fall as students and residents.

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Summer in the Act Five Office – Alyssa Zilney

Summer at Act Five doesn’t usually make the highlight reel—but it’s quietly essential. The house feels quieter without students, and the weekly rhythms of meals, classes, and community life. Yet, the summer months hold space for something just as important: rest, reflection, and preparation. On the back-end of our organization, lots is happening, but it’s a different kind of happening than the rest of the year.

For me, this season is about perspective. We take on different projects, fresh to-do lists, and find our way to things we haven’t had time for—like cleaning our desks and organizing our filing cabinets. Summer is also when we begin dreaming again. We pull up from the action of the past 10 months to gain insight and take time to wonder and imagine.

“Summer is when we begin dreaming again.”

We hold some rhythms together as a staff team, too. Twice a week, our mornings begin with prayer on the porch, centred around a psalm we’ve selected for that week. On Wednesday afternoons, a few staff members garden together in the backyard. We join for Spaghetti Wednesday every other week. During this time, our external team visits camps and youth groups. They meets with partners and builds relationships over coffee, teaching lessons and talking about the good and the real aspects of Act Five. Then, at some point each of us takes vacation. 

The summer should feel spacious. At its best, this time of year holds for us a slow rhythm of rest and repeat. Like Sabbath, it’s not empty, but full in a different kind of way. A season to lay things down for a while so we’re ready to pick them up again in August—with clarity, intention, and joy.

We’re reading books, too! Here are our staff picks this summer:

• Sapiens by Yuval Harari
• Presence in the Modern World by Jacques Ellul
• Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
• Try Softer by Aundi Kolber
• Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson

Summer at 75 Blake Street – Erin Steckley

The Act Five staff are not the only ones practising rhythms of slowness and paying attention. So too are the residents living at 75 Blake St this summer. With fewer people in the home, there is a quietness that looks and feels different than what you might observe during the rest of the year. In this quietness though, there is still a community of young adults engaging in the discipline of “showing up.” In between summer jobs and other commitments that take us to different places throughout the day and week, there are meaningful opportunities to gather together. Together we enjoy the season, and engage in rhythms and practices that reflect the values and vision of Act Five. 

An important gathering point for the summer community is Sunday Evensong. This remains a time and place to end our weekend and begin our new week together in prayer and worship. Throughout the week, we have other prayer touchpoints: sitting together on the porch in the cool of the early morning. We recite the familiar daybreak liturgy from Every Moment Holy as we watch our Blakeley neighbours walk their dogs, head out to work, or glance excitedly at new additions to our Little Library. 

Our neighbours matter to us—both those we already know, and those we don’t know as well. Wednesday night dinners are also an essential part of the summer community’s life. Twice a month, we share spaghetti and stories from our week with new and old friends. The other two weeks are for catching up over a meal with our neighbours down the road at Micah House. In a world where resources and time feel scarce, Wednesdays remind us of God’s abundance.

“Summer at Blake St is a space to savour…”

In between the anchors of scheduled meals and prayer times, we find ourselves practising rhythms of spontaneity and delight—everything from catching up on the porch to watching a show together to trying out new ice cream flavours at Willard’s. Summer at Blake St is a space to savour—time, friendships, and the berries in our garden.

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The Story

I’m standing around the kitchen island with a fellow Act Five resident on a Wednesday evening. We are debriefing the dinner we just shared at Micah House. Micah House is a home in our neighbourhood that houses refugee claimants until they find permanent housing, and assists them in navigating the sea of initial paperwork that’s required upon their arrival in Canada. We at Act Five decided about a year ago that we’d commit to bringing dinner to their home every other Wednesday evening – and eat with them. 

Now imagine it: 10-20 people squished in a small dining room, and up to four languages being spoken around the table. Food is shared, and laughter rings out as people try to tell stories and get to know one another. It can be easy to take for granted simple life necessities like communication, that is until you have to figure out how to communicate without your default tool – English! (I remember one day I was at a table where English, Spanish, Arabic, and Sign Language were all being used!) It can be an uncomfortable place; it can even cause anxiety and feelings of embarrassment or exposure. However, none of that is a bad thing – I’d argue it’s a very good thing. 

On this particular evening it was just myself and one resident who went. The Christmas holidays made it so most students and residents were away with their families. And, there was only one family at Micah House for dinner that night – so it was a much smaller group than usual. As we headed out the door with a steaming hot dinner packed up, I tossed some Uno cards in the bag. I had interacted with this family multiple times over the past month, and the two teenage boys clearly had lots of energy and nowhere to put it. I wondered if a simple card game would bring a few minutes of fun for them (and us) that evening. 

We arrived and sat around the table together, sometimes stumbling through conversation, other times hitting a groove and laughing together. I’ve learned that it’s all part of the process – being uncomfortable, hoping and praying for a creative spark in conversation, and finding comfort together. And the cycle continues all throughout the meal. It’s a process that, as you show up each week, you get used to. 

After the meal, we cleared the table and brought out the cards. The boys have decent English, so we explained the game pretty quickly and jumped right in. For the next half hour, we bonded over our shared trait – competition. I know it’s just Uno, but there were some sneaky plays happening!

When we got back to Blake Street later, the two of us talked about the evening standing around the kitchen island. While it was only an hour, we ebbed through moments of ease and moments of dis-ease. It was uncomfortable at times! We talked about how it’s easier to live in comfort, and we tend to seek it without conscious thought. That night, we were reminded that ease starts to come more easily through shared moments together. The whole room felt it strongly during that game of Uno.

Comfortable with being Uncomfortable

At Act Five, we want to practice being comfortable with being uncomfortable (within reason, obviously). In the practice of discomfort, we become less afraid. We start to realize that there’s beauty to be found in and on the other side of it.

This rhythm, dinner at Micah House, is one of my favourite rhythms at Act Five. We commit to showing up in places that aren’t naturally easy. We sit around a table when English isn’t the dominant language. It is hard, but the more we show up, the more it feels okay – it becomes life-giving, even.

To put it in perspective, too, we show up for about two hours each month. Those we meet at Micah House live this kind of discomfort each and every day as they adjust to living in a new place with different expectations and cultural realities. It seems like the least we can do is to enter into the couple hours of brain gymnastics required to broaden our compassion. 

Shared Hospitality

Hospitality is a value we hold in Act Five. But it’s not just an act we do. Hospitality is a heart posture – it’s a giving and receiving of one another. It’s easier to be kind and offer welcome to people we know, but practicing true hospitality to a stranger takes intentionality and is very necessary to our own transformation as those who are learning to follow Jesus. We bring a meal to Micah House, sure, but there’s a mutual hospitality that’s required. As they host us and we engage together, we feel uncomfortable and exposed. In this, we learn to let our egos go and receive their hospitality towards us – for we are strangers to them, too. 

One of my highlights of 2023 was when one of the families staying at Micah House made a whole Mexican dinner for us and brought it to our house to share in the backyard. They did this out of their own generosity and heart’s desire to give to us – and Act Five is no small group of people! We gladly received their gift. It was a moment when I realized we, the folks at Act Five, and Micah House are neighbours. And to be a neighbour in the truest sense means shared hospitality, and pushing through the uncomfortable moments to find comfort together.

To learn more about our friends at Micah House, visit https://www.micahhouse.ca/.

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WILL YOU CONSIDER SUPPORTING ACT FIVE?

We want to do more of this at Act Five – more learning, growing, and imagining with other people in partnership and community. We sense that Act Five is being invited to grow and go deeper in our work. Yet we can’t do this without resources. Will you partner with us to keep us going and growing? We appreciate any and all financial support. Consider donating a one-time or monthly financial gift.

KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM ACT FIVE?

Applications are open to join the 2024-2025 cohort! Apply now or spread the word to someone you know!

The post A Story of Food and Neighbour: Act Five and Micah House appeared first on Act Five: Community Initiatives for Young Adults.

It was a Friday evening in August. The Act Five summer residents were gathered in a backyard of a board member. We had just finished playing some competitive games of Spikeball, and a few had been floating in the pool, but now we had plates in hand, each scouting out a seat at the table. We all nestled into place, digging in the first few forkfuls of salad and bites of hamburger, and began debriefing our summer together. 

“Describe in a few words what summer 2023 was for you.”

We slowly made our way around the table, attentively listening to each person share their reflections on the last few months of life in this community. For some the theme was transition, for others it was healing. For one it was a summer of being courageous. Yet, for another it was not at all what they expected it to be. Our personal experiences varied, yet we lived those different experiences under the same roof together – letting our own realities collide with one another’s for a few months. 

“What was one significant rhythm or moment from the last few months of living at Blake Street?” 

A couple residents piped up about the work days. “Work Days” are intentional dates set aside in the summer to invest in this home together – through gardening or painting, for example. For one resident, they appreciated the time set aside to simply work with their hands alongside someone else. “We could then just talk while working,” they described.

For a few of the others, significant rhythms were morning and evening prayer. Each weekday at 7:15am and 9:30pm, you could find housemates sitting together in the living room praying. The liturgical prayers, combined with the consistency of showing up, gave us each new language to inform our understanding of prayer, and, in turn, a deeper sense of the character of God. These interruptions in our days to pray together also gave touchpoints for housemates to connect about their days and how they were doing. 

A reflection on the summer wouldn’t be complete without a resident noting Jazz Nights. Jazz Nights began by noticing that it is quite possible to live in a community home and not be known. This is especially true with a summer crew who all lead different lives in different directions. So, at a neighbourhood restaurant that has live jazz music every Wednesday, you could find a group of us chatting around a table. The only rule was this: you cannot simply talk about what you did that day. We wrestled through conversations of faith, and also asked hard questions of each other to learn new things, many of which usually sit beneath the surface. Jazz Nights are the place where people show up with a desire to be known and to know each other. 

Lastly, one other resident talked about Act Five’s partnership with Micah House being a significant part of their summer here. Every other Wednesday, the Act Five community at Blake Street brings dinner to Micah House, a home for refugee claimants just a couple blocks away. And on the odd occasion, Micah House residents come to share dinner in the backyard of our home. One of those nights this summer we had a volleyball game, and English, French, and Spanish were all being spoken! Having these moments with neighbours without a shared language is a beautiful thing. 

As we finished our dinner on this one particular Friday evening in August, we found ourselves with an enhanced perspective on what this summer meant for us, individually and collectively. We were compelled forward with a more deeply rooted gratitude for this short moment in time to live life together. 

And out of that, we stacked our dishes and went back to playing and swimming and laughing some more before heading back to the place we all called home. And now, this home has launched them into their next place. They know that Blake Street is always a home they can return to – even if it’s just for a plate of Spaghetti. 

The post Summer 2023 at Blake Street appeared first on Act Five: Community Initiatives for Young Adults.

What have you been up to since Act Five?

In the fall after my Act Five experience I went to Mohawk College to study civil engineering. I loved being back in Hamilton because Hamilton had come to feel like home, but I ended up finding through that year at school that online learning wasn’t for me. I struggled with having to teach myself the classes I was in. So, I decided to move back home to Chatham and work for my parents business there. I’m still working there now. I spend my days running heavy equipment and working as a mechanic’s hand when needed. I really enjoy being back home and working full time. I’m happy with my job and am really enjoying it. 

You are more than two years removed from your Act Five experience. What from Act Five are you still carrying with you?

What does your time at Act Five mean to you now?

It’s so hard to put into words what Act Five has done for me. It feels like taking 100 different thoughts and forming them into one. I would say that the time I spent at Act Five means everything to me. Act Five shaped me into the person I am today. I honestly have no idea where I would be without it. Act Five taught me so much. The program helped strengthen my spiritual journey and walk with God. It really did shape me into the person I am today. It is really hard to put into words what it has done for me, but I do know that I wouldn’t trade my Act Five experience for anything. I feel blessed to have been a part of it I would do it all over again. I would also encourage everyone to do it if they have the chance. 

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The students, staff, and tenants here at 75 Blake St have echoed the invitation over and over again, more times than I could count. Friends, family members, classmates, neighbours, and Act Five alumni have all been invited and happily attended. And so have others: people we’ve encountered in coffee shops or bus stops, people we’ve met on Deedz or at community events, friends of friends of friends. The list goes on.

But our invitations, though graciously received, are usually also met with tilted heads and furrowed brows: What is that? What does that mean?

Spaghetti Wednesday, on the surface, is exactly what it sounds like. Every week, on Wednesday, the residents of 75 Blake St host a community meal—usually spaghetti, but not always!—for any and all who want to join. But in practice, it is and has become something more. Something deeply meaningful.

Since September of 2021, I have been a tenant in the Act Five house, and I have loved simply doing life alongside the students and staff. The other tenants and I have been invited to join meals, participate in program events, and even attend some retreats. We have gone on walks, hikes, and Willard’s runs together. We have played games and watched movies, had snowball fights and dance parties, talked late into the night on the kitchen floor. We have laughed and we have cried alongside all the other members of this home. We are not students, and we are not staff, but we are still every bit a part of this community.

Community is integral to Act Five, both as a program and as a home. Everything about the way we try to live in this house professes it. I’m learning that when it comes to Act Five, it is impossible to participate independently. It is impossible to be an outside observer. The moment you step through the doors of 75 Blake St, you become part of something larger than yourself. A community. A home. 

Spaghetti Wednesday, then, is a way for us to extend that community beyond ourselves. It’s a way for us to practice hospitality and generosity, to welcome people—often strangers to most of us—into our home. To open our arms, our doors, and our table to others. Anyone and everyone. As we have been welcomed, as we have been loved, Spaghetti Wednesday allows us to do the same.

When the students and resident leaders are away on trips, it’s up to us—the tenants—to manage Spaghetti Wednesday. This means that I have been present for nearly every Spaghetti Wednesday that occurred during the 2021-2022 Act Five year.

Over this time, I’ve seen a vast multitude of Wednesday meals. Glorious, sunny days at the picnic tables in the backyard. Rainy evenings with all the housemates and guests crammed shoulder-to-shoulder into our main floor living room. I’ve seen over fifty people share a spaghetti meal together at this home. I’ve seen meals with less than ten. But in all my time since I moved into the Act Five house, I have never experienced a Spaghetti Wednesday without at least one guest.

Jesus extended love by sharing meals with others, eating with those who were shunned or cast out. And by doing so, he elevated them. He honoured them and showed them respect. He treated them as friends. Through Spaghetti Wednesday, we seek to honour others. To respect them. To extend the love of Christ to all. What better way to do so than by breaking bread—garlic bread perhaps—together?

The spirit of Spaghetti Wednesday, I think, is captured perfectly by its founder, Jill Weber. One of Act Five’s favourite songs has been a song she wrote called “Even the Sparrow”. Each time we sing these lyrics as a house, we are reminded how necessary community is to participate in God’s Kingdom. We are reminded that gathering around the table is a holy act. In singing these words together, we echo the meaning of Spaghetti Wednesday:

Table is set
I will sit down
Surrounded by friends
And feast.

If you’re reading this, consider yourself invited to a Wednesday dinner!

Will you consider donating to Spaghetti Wednesday? We are always accepting donations of spaghetti supplies and rely on the support of our wider community to make these meals happen! Spaghetti noodles (both gluten-free and not), crushed tomatoes, vegetables, and bread are always welcome. To give supplies, contact info@actfive.ca.

Furthermore, Act Five is becoming an independent organization and would love for you to consider becoming a financial supporter, whether through a one-time gift or monthly gift. To do so, go to www.actfive.ca/give.

Thanks!

The post Spaghetti Wednesdays & Community at 75 Blake St. appeared first on Act Five: Community Initiatives for Young Adults.

Act Five is not even three years old, and already we have established so many poignant traditions. Each December, our staff and students pack up the Communauto vans and head out of the city to reflect and retreat on everything we’ve experienced so far.

Taking stock of what is shifting, what is changing and imagining the ways we’re being called to live faithfully can be a stretching exercise. After a recent trip to Manitoulin Island, hosted by DayStar, students shared the following reflections.

"Experiences are what make knowledge come alive."
"It broke my heart to hear about native languages that are dying off, and the painstaking effort to preserve them." 
"I loved learning about indigenous art and making medicine bags. I could have stayed longer. There's so much we don't know."
"I noticed how connected indigenous people are to the land and to nature." 
"It is all just statistics until you meet someone and hear their story."

This semester our students have considered the essential nature of place within scripture, and their story within God’s redemptive narrative. In the wilderness, in the city and on the road we’ve wondered about the fact that how and where we live shapes who we are. As Steven Bouma-Prediger wrote, “we care for only what we love. We love only what we know. We truly know only what we experience.” And so, we’ve touched, tasted, heard and seen beauty all around us, and have been invited to fall in love a little deeper with creation and our creator.

While we’ve put many kilometres on the road, we’ve also explored our interior landscapes. Each week in Soul Care, Nina Schuurman-Drenth led us through David Benner’s wonderful book “The Gift of Being Yourself.” In the same way we’ve cultivated habits of paying attention to building community and homemaking at Blake Street, we’ve grown in our awareness of God’s love for our true selves—the unmasked, unvarnished versions.

While we have been growing in our understanding of love of self, love of others and love of God, our community is growing and shifting, too.

In October our Spiritual Life Facilitator, Nina Schuurman-Drenth, answered a call to serve at Eucharist Church in downtown Hamilton. Nina will continue to serve as Faculty co-teaching The Six Acts course and be a pastoral presence for the students.

In the wake of Nina’s transition, Act Five is happy to welcome Lena Scholman on staff. Lena first fell for Hamilton in 1997, looking out at the city from Sam Lawrence Park. She put down roots in the east end ten years later and has been discovering the secrets of this evolving metropolis ever since. An educator, storyteller, wife and mother, Lena is committed both to the TrueCity movement­—she delights in the revival of ecumenism­­—and New Hope Church, the faith community that has nurtured her faith for the past decade. Transformed by a gap year abroad years ago, she is thrilled to walk alongside young people at Act Five and bear witness to lives changed through intentional living—rooted in place and anchored in Jesus. 

~

­­As anyone with adolescents knows, the best conversations happen on the road. Our staff often share how frequently we see exponential growth in our students as we are headed back to Blake Street—whether from Manitoulin, Long Point or Toronto. In September, students felt like they were returning to a dorm, a house with wild wallpaper and a clicking radiator, a place where their suitcases sat semi-unpacked. Today, they open the doors to Blake on a Sunday evening and we begin the week in worship, singing Jill Weber’s song, Even the Sparrow:

“The table is set, we will sit down, and feast…we’re coming home. We’re coming home.”

The post New Places, New Faces appeared first on Act Five: Community Initiatives for Young Adults.

Moving is rarely simple. 

Aside from wrapping knick-knacks in bubble wrap, boxing up books, removing pictures from walls, there also were the good-bye parties, late-night conversations with dear ones, cherishing all the “lasts” while anticipating all the things to come. A significant time to be sure. 

As I reminisce today about all the preparations made, I can’t help but consider this theme of packing up and moving as a metaphor for life within the Act Five family. 

Bear with me as I unpack this a bit.

Deciding what Belongs

Packing up required Autumn to sort through things that belonged to her – many things she had kept for years. It was tedious work. A lot of decisions had to be made. She had to be thorough because, well, she’d just have to unpack it on the other side! 

Similarly throughout the school year, Act Five students had opportunities to sort through things that “belonged” to them – kindness, self-control, discernment, mercy, justice, impatience, fear, selfishness. As they sorted, they pondered:

Do I value this enough to take it with me? 

What do I want to give away or throw out?

Is this taking up too much space? 

As a follower of Jesus, does this really matter?

What do I want to have more space for?

Reflecting is tedious work – after all, some things had been kept for many years. Thoroughness mattered, because, not only were they eager to get rid of the extra weight, they also wanted to create space for things that mattered to them. Things like:
the habit of paying attention, the experience of solitude, the discipline of gratitude, the intentionality of loving “place”, the gift of hospitality, the desire to listen to others, and more.

Time was carved out regularly for students to pause, journal, and sort out their “belongings”, encouraging them to ask hard questions of what they wanted to hold on to as one who claims to love the Light. 

Living Through the Mess 

Packing up last August was a messy job. Disassembled furniture, labeled boxes, endless tasks and to-do lists. What overshadowed it all was the second-guessing of how it will all turn out. Messy on many levels.

What does “messy” look like in a home filled with 12 young adults? Dishes piled high and floors covered in clothes for sure! But how about hurt feelings or relational conflict? Things done with selfish motives or crises of faith? Words spoken too quickly, or words not spoken at all? How about the weight of listening to the stories from the Six Nations People, or the jet lag after the month in Zambia? And, in the end, the stay-at-home order that took these friends out of the comforts of Blake Haven a month earlier than planned.

As the students experienced the brokenness in themselves and the world, they were encouraged to bring their beliefs to bear on these situations. A quote in one of Autumn’s Act Five notebooks reads:

Head knowledge ends when you are faced with poverty and suffering.

And later she scribbled: 

Theology is meant to be in service to our love – it’s more than just ideas. We can’t always explain, we have to experience.

Explanations on their own rarely suffice. As parents, we are grateful for the intentional experiences that were designed into the Act Five Gap Year Program. Through the varied experiences (marvelous as well as messy!), Godly mentors came alongside the students to help make sense of the brokenness they felt and saw. They were encouraged to wrestle with the uncomfortable things happening in and around them. They were provided with a safe place to talk through the messy experiences. Many questions were answered and conflicts resolved. Some were not, and students had the opportunity to sit in the tension. With loving guides, head knowledge began connecting with their hearts, helping them to change, and transforming them more into the image of Christ. Hope replaced despair as they were called to look up to the Father who is constant and steadfast.

Doing it Together

Back to the moving metaphor. Have you ever tried packing up or moving alone? Although Autumn hadn’t accumulated many earthly possessions, I sense she was thankful to have her family by her side on moving day. On her final weekend at home, we had a good-bye celebration to give loved ones an opportunity to send her off. God places us in families and communities because He knows we need each other.

Community is an integral part of the design of the Act Five Program. Students live, work, serve, pray, eat, learn, and study together, and there is a clear understanding that the most crucial venue for discipleship is community. Jesus modeled this as He brought His disciples together in close contact – spiritually, socially & emotionally. It’s no wonder that the first Act Five cohort endearingly called themselves, “the disciples”. They flourished as they were mentored and cared for by Jon & Aimee, Dave & Nina, Alyssa, Elise, and others who spoke into their lives, prayed with and for them, taught, and encouraged them, laughed and cried with them.

The students also were given opportunities to learn from and be part of the diverse community around them. They participated in co-ops including the Barton Street BIA (Business Improvement Area), Indwell and the 541 Eatery & Exchange. They made connections with several authors, poets, artists, and more. Travelling further afield, students enjoyed learning about other communities during their trips to Temagami, Six Nations Reserve, Zambia and Pittsburgh. All reinforcing the understanding that we were designed to do life in community.

Conclusion

All three parts of the packing up process were necessary for Autumn to launch into her post-secondary adventure. She needed to sort through her belongings, live through the mess, and do it together with others. All of these same pieces helped prepare her for the next step in her journey: moving into Blake Haven and thriving, growing and changing as a Beloved Child of the King.

May God continue to receive the glory for all that is happening within the Act Five community.

– Sarah

The post A Moving Story, by Sarah Bosch appeared first on Act Five: Community Initiatives for Young Adults.

What ends up coming out – usually with a lot of hand movements and audible over-the-top enthusiasm on my part – are variations on the following:

1. There are crises among young adults that we – as Christians especially – must take seriously.  These crises express themselves as a struggle to find direction, a fragile sense of identity, significant issues surrounding mental health, and the loss of faith in Jesus and/or the church.  To take this seriously, we must listen well, read well, and prayerfully come up with creative responses to what young adults are trying to tell us.
2. Choosing to go to university or college immediately after high school can be a good choice for many – but this choice should not be treated as the default.  Why are we in such a rush?
3. The assumption that students who take a “year off” after high school will get behind – less likely to go back to school, losing their way in some shape or form – is a myth.  What matters far more is what students do with an alternative year before pursuing a post-secondary pathway.  The benefits of an intentional gap year can be comprehensively positive in developing grounded, resilient, compassionate, and faithful young adults.
4. There is too great a cost for us – meaning any of us who have a role in investing in, shepherding, teaching, pastoring, leading, or mentoring young people – to not take seriously what we are seeing in and hearing from young adults around us.  We must re-imagine how we think about education, formation, discipleship and where we invest our time and resources.  In many cases, this means revisiting questions around the true end of education as a Christian and the way we measure success or assign value.

With the above being said about the broader cultural moment (i.e. outside of the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic), the question for me recently has been,

“How does this current crisis – this pandemic – shift the conversation around gap years one way or another?”

I hear two trends currently in the landscape of gap year programs such as Act Five.

Firstly, I hear that there are good reasons why families and young people will not be choosing to participate in gap year programs given the current climate.  Many of these reasons are financial, which makes sense as many have had their economic situations altered significantly and simply cannot afford the financial cost of alternative programs, whether these are branded as gap year programs, discipleship schools or otherwise.  With governments doing all they can to support students going to university and college, this reason for not choosing a program like Act Five is further supported.

Secondly, however, I hear the growing concerns for young adults.  The lack of direction or readiness for post-secondary schooling in an uncertain climate, the non-monetary costs of losing meaningful community for a generation that already has felt this cost in the digital age, and the question that we must ask,

How are we preparing Christian young adults to flourish in a world – and participate in its flourishing – that is now more poignantly unpredictable in light of Covid-19?

Crises, historically, have a tendency to push individuals, communities, institutions and societies toward change in one direction or another.  Among the pain and loss associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, there is also an opportunity for us to examine culture, the church and our own lives in a way that can lead to new life.  As Christians we are asked to live our days in a manner that expects life to come out of death, as a rhythm central to the fabric of the gospel.

My hope is that, whether or not Act Five is the right fit for the young adult in your life, we can all find ourselves having more intentional conversations around the four points named above.  Furthermore, all of us can afford to be continually asking important questions around how we are pursuing discipleship with Jesus, and how we are supporting the young adults in our lives to do the same in meaningful ways.

I have great hope for how Act Five will be able to respond to this current moment in preparing young adults to flourish in today’s world, and I am grateful to be part of this conversation.

Be safe and well, finding Christ in unexpected places,

The post Does a Christian Gap year program make sense during the Covid-19 pandemic? appeared first on Act Five: Community Initiatives for Young Adults.