Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM CommunicationsTHERE IS NO red carpet for church groups visiting urban missionaries in Vancouver - instead the guests are sent out onto the streets with no money and told to fend for themselves for a day.
But the rugged welcome - which sees the visitors heading to soup kitchens for food - is appreciated by pastors and youth leaders who want their suburban and rural congregations to get a real taste of life in the big city.
The "downtown plunge" is part of the testing Urban Mission Adventure program developed by Youth With A Mission workers. Ten-day summer courses start this month, while weekend and week-long programs run year-round.
During their stay the visitors tour a Buddhist, Sikh or Muslim temple, help out at a homeless ministry, and spend time in Vancouver's gay and red light districts in an effort to "put a human face on the city", according to UMA director Mike Davies.
"By 2020 around 80 per cent of the people on the planet will live in urban areas, yet many Christians are afraid of or ignore the cities," he said. "We want to expose them to some of the realities of life in the city, as well as the opportunities there are for service."
Dinners at foreign restaurants introduce the visitors to some of Vancouver's different ethnic groups. They are taken on prayer walks, and one night given a red rose to hand to a prostitute as a token of God's love for them.
"This is often one of the most emotional times of the week," said Davies. "It's when they realize that person is not simply a prostitute, but someone's sister or daughter." A woman who took part in a UMA week a couple of years ago is currently in training to come back and start a long-term ministry to prostitutes.
Before each part of the program groups are given some orientation and training, with follow-up sessions afterwards where they can discuss what they experienced and felt. "It's not just like a short-term outreach, where they come and do their thing and go home again; we want them to be affected long-term," said Davies.
"We try to expose them to as much as possible without being reckless. We have clear guidelines about what they should and shouldn't do when they are out and about in the city. Many get over the fear factor, and realize that the city isn't as bad as they have been led to believe by the media."
The UMA week that youth pastor Craig Reimer took half-a-dozen teenagers from Westwood Mennonite Church, Prince George, Vancouver on was "awesome". "They were a little nervous at first, but they really got into it. Three of them were able to pray with some of the homeless people they spent some time with to receive Christ."
Since returning home the group had started prayer walks in their own community, and were wanting to start a ministry to homeless people, added Reimer. "It totally opened their eyes to urban ministry."
"That's what we want to do," said Davies, "challenge people for life, so theywill have something of God's heart for the cities, and never think of them in the same way again."
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