Author: Joel Dykxhoorn, Principal
Each year, our Grade 11 students at TDChristian participate in an overnight service trip as a core part of their learning, heading into surrounding communities to serve. Our first group of students recently returned from their trip to Hamilton.
As I reflect on their return, I’m often reminded of a question people ask: why does TDChristian place such a high value on the Grade 11 Service Trip?
To answer that, I have to take a walk down memory lane to 25 years ago, when I was a Grade 11 student right here at TDChristian. At that time, our service trip took us into downtown Toronto.
I grew up in the Holland Marsh, but my mom grew up at Jane and Finch, so visiting my grandparents in the city was a regular part of life. We were also lucky enough to catch the occasional Blue Jays game or visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, so being in the city wasn’t brand new to me. What was brand new was spending time with various missions and organizations supporting the most marginalized populations in Toronto.
I don’t remember every single detail from that week, and I would be lying if I said the trip was an instant, dramatic turning point in my faith. More realistically, it was a vital building block in the development of my Christian worldview, a worldview that continues to develop to this day.
I do remember one particular lesson. My group was sent to The Scott Mission. Once inside, we were informed that we wouldn’t be serving a meal that day. Instead, we were given the opportunity (or told we had to, depending on your perspective as a 16-year-old) to sit down, eat a meal, and share a conversation with one of the clients.
I can still vividly remember the face of the man I sat with. He had shoulder-length brown hair and wore a faded, grey Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt. He ate quickly and with purpose. I assumed it was simply because he was hungry—and he likely was—but the real motivation became clear when he pulled out a well-worn deck of cards.
“Do you know how to play Crazy Eights?” he asked.
I didn’t. But I lied, because what 16-year-old boy likes to admit when he doesn’t know something? I’m sure he knew right away that I had no idea what I was doing, but we played, talked, and laughed together. Then, just as abruptly as we started, he stood up, grabbed his bags, and left.
I still remember thinking about how completely normal that interaction felt. I gained a perspective I didn’t have before: this man and I were not nearly as different as I might have assumed. It was deeply humbling. I wondered why I had so much more materially, yet he seemed so content. I became keenly aware that as human beings, we are far more alike than we are different—even when everything visible in our circumstances looks completely dissimilar.
My prayer for all of our Grade 11 students is that they experience moments like mine. Moments that challenge their perspectives and help build a compassionate, grounded Christian worldview. My hope is that in 1, 10, or 25 years, they will look back on these days and see the ways God was working in them and through the image-bearers they met along the way.
I trust that God’s work was done and will continue to be done. That’s why we do the Service Trip.