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By Narayan Mitra
AFTER just 16 months in Kamloops, pastor Ed Temple has dived right into one of
his ardent passions: helping the needy.
Currently the executive pastor at Kamloops Alliance Church (KAC), Temple’s aspirations synchronize with the church’s own mission.
KAC’s latest endeavour is providing shelter from extreme cold weather to homeless
women.
Kamloops has a few other cold weather shelters, with a total capacity of around
75.
For the 650-strong church, out-of-the-box bridge building with the outside
community is nothing new.
Its facilities have been used by the Cancer Society; an after-school care
ministry to single moms; the blood bank; and, more recently, to hundreds came
to KAC to be inoculated against H1N1.
Every night when outside temperature drops below 10, the church’s education portable is converted into a warm shelter for about a dozen women – complete with hot dinners, clean sleeping supplies, and a hot meal in the
morning before the clients disperse for the day.
KAC is just the second church in Kamloops that has teamed up with the Extreme
Weather Coalition of non-profit groups succouring the city’s needy.
Some funds are provided by BC Housing, but all volunteers are church-related.
Drawing from his earlier experience in Burnaby where he was with the
Homelessness Task Force as well as on Alliance Church staff, Temple has
witnessed the effectiveness of common-purpose groups working together.
“The politicians, BC Housing, the AIDS society, and the downtown mission – all of them together helped fight the scar of homelessness,” he observes.
“Here, too, it wasn’t difficult to convince our church to reach out in love to the suffering of
people in extreme weather conditions. Though a few questions needed to be
addressed, enough volunteers signed up for four-hour shifts between 7 pm and 7 am.”
Temple makes it absolutely clear that such help is without any strings attached.
However, there are some strict rules in the shelter, to keep it free from
crisis intervention.
The initiative is just one of the available avenues for caring about people with
genuine needs.
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“It’s also opening a door,” says Temple. “Who knows if some might come back to us next time, because we love them?
“It’s not [the only ministry at] the heart of things we do as a church. There are
many other things we do. We are part of the community, and not trying to do the
same things others are doing.”
KAC staff believe that their God-given facilities are to be used to the maximum
potential. Very often, community groups use the fair-sized building for
meetings.
Mostly positive feedback keeps the task force moving ahead.
In addition to offering physical help, the church also has a focus on saving
lives spiritually. While Kamloops’ temperature drops and KAC waits for the next set of clients to come in, the
church encourages its members to conduct personal evangelism.
Its mission statement reads: “The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent and will be personal and
visible. As the believer’s blessed hope, this vital truth is an incentive for holy living and sacrificial
service toward the completion of Christ's commission.”
The night shelter will run as long as the inclement weather persists. But the task of leading people to their Saviour continues year-round.
Ed Temple welcomes enquiries at edt@kamloopsalliance.com or 250.376.6268.
January 2010
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