Author: admin

Today I write to you with hope in my heart, I am back at ICYA! It has been over a year since I felt well enough to be here. I am working through a gradual return to work program and am hopeful that healing is well on its way. 

I am definitely not feeling 100% and I am told that my illnesses will be with me the rest of my life, but I have been feeling better enough lately that I am excited to get back to work. There are a couple of medications that seem to be fairly effective and I am hopeful that how I feel will continue to improve over the coming months. Currently, I can work a few afternoons a week, and I will continue to work with my Medical Team, Long Term Disability and ICYA, to determine what is appropriate and healthy for me to do. 

I have Sarcoidosis, which has built up nodes in my lungs, giving me difficulty breathing as well as making me feel sick all the time, because my system believes it is fighting an infection. In addition, more recently I found out that I have POTS, which means my vascular system does not react appropriately to changes in posture and causes me to have a raised heartrate, dizziness and limits my energy. 

However, this is a letter full of hope, for me and for the ministry I get to be part of at ICYA. I have started connecting with the Community Ministry Team once again, and being able to work with them, support them and help them think through their incredible ministry is a great joy. There are 6 community Ministers, Rosemary, Carissa, Harvey, Terrence, Andrew and Jeremy. Each of them has unique connections in the community, meeting with young Mom’s, Grandma’s, young men involved in the justice system, gang involved youth and many others who need good support. 

I deeply appreciate your prayers and concern for me and my family. I have generally been in good spirits, but I have been feeling so unwell that small activities have been difficult to do. Now, I have regained some energy, and I am anxious to get back to doing the work that I feel called to do. 

If you have continued supporting me and ICYA’s ministry over this time, I am so thankful! If you decided to discontinue your support, and would like to restart it, I am also so thankful! If you have continued to think of me and my family, and/or prayed for me, I cannot express my gratitude enough. 

If you want to support my work here at ICYA, contact the office at 204-582-8779 or visit the website ICYA.ca/unity-fund. 

Thank you, 

Trevor Berg 

I hope you are doing well and enjoying the changing of seasons. Here in the North End of Winnipeg the change of seasons brings some dread, especially for those who are homeless and don’t have a warm place to stay. Winnipeg winters are very cold and can be deadly for people in these situations. 

I thank God that my family and I all have warm homes to go home to, and enough to eat. My biggest dread of the winter is having to move snow. I complain about it too much, but knowing people in much worse situations certainly helps me to have perspective!

FAMILY UPDATE:

Our son Ben is planning to return to school in January, and will be studying to be an Early Childhood Educator. He loves working at the Day Care he is currently at, and the beauty of this program is that he continues to work there while studying, gaining practical experience while studying the theory behind it. Hannah has returned to Hamilton to Redeemer University and is doing great there (although we miss her greatly). Owen is in Grade 12 and is enjoying his last year of school, and the benefits that go along with being in Grade 12 and being the oldest, biggest kids in the school.

Nicky and I are doing some landscaping around our home, since we had major issues with water in our basement last spring. This involves removing our beautiful large deck and gazebo and a fair amount of work. It is a large project that we aren’t really that thrilled about since the return is…just not having water in our basement…

STAFFING CHANGES

Over the last few years many employers have had a difficult time finding employees, this includes ICYA. This spring a few of us prayed for staff, as we had many unfilled positions and some were critical for our programs to continue. Since that meeting we have hired 7 new full-time staff and many summer staff, it seemed clear that God was providing for us and we are so thankful! 

In my Staff Care role, this is a large addition to the team, and I pray that we will work well together to connect well with people in the North End of Winnipeg and build relationships with them. 

In my role as Director of Community Ministry, we have hired two new Community Ministers. Rosemary Ellis and Carissa Penner are amazing additions to the team! Rosemary says she “grew up walking these streets” in the North End, she has experience in the sex trade and in getting out of it and out from under addiction. Rosemary has an incredible story of redemption and hope. She also has years of experience working with young people in Child and Family Services care and young adults aging out of that care. 

Carissa has been a nurse for years and the last few she has been working in a Psych Ward in Selkirk. Instead of doing more physical care in this role, this job allowed her to sit with people, connect with them and help them through difficult times. She yearned to be able to do more of this, and to be able to share her faith with people along with the care. Carissa has volunteered at many different Inner City ministries and brings a strong faith and heart for people in this community. 

These two are fantastic additions to the Community Ministry team, but not all news is good on the staffing front. Unfortunately, Melvina Guiboche has moved on from ICYA, so though we have gained two wonderful women to our team, we no longer have Melvina. Melvina has beautiful relationships with people and a wealth of experience and knowledge of the community including understanding what indigenous women are dealing with from personal experience. She will be greatly missed!

This leaves us with 5 Community Minister’s, plus myself which makes for a very full office!

GALA

We just had our annual fundraising gala, for the first time in 3 years! I guess I shouldn’t call it annual, although we have always had the Gala, just this time we got to do it in person. It was an incredible time to tell stories, premiere a new mini-documentary that we produced, reward some of our young people and thank the people who supported us to make this all possible. It was a very meaningful time. 

REQUEST

If you are interested in supporting me financially in this ministry, you can go to the website and select my name. Whatever you are able to contribute makes a big difference and I would be so grateful to you for partnering with me in this way.

I am so thankful for and encouraged by so many great friends! Some have been willing to support what I’m doing at ICYA financially, and some are willing to support me in countless other ways. It is an honour to know so many wonderful people who care about what is going on in my life. I still have quite a way to go to reach full financial support, but I trust in God’s providence. In the meantime I continue to work at Inner City Youth Alive, as they have agreed to supplement my support for the first months.

FAMILY UPDATE:

Some of you have asked about my family in the time since my last letter…

5 years ago Nicky became a nurse and is now working in homecare visiting people in their homes and providing care to them there. It is such a valuable service and she is the right person to care for these vulnerable people.

Ben, our oldest is 21 (I know, we are too young to have a 21 year old!), and is living with two roommates in Winnipeg while working full-time at a day care. He loves the work, and he loves being around friends. He is planning to go to U of M in fall, working towards being a teacher.

Hannah is 19 and is studying at Redeemer University in Hamilton, ON. She has absolutely loved her experience there, she has amazing roommates and loves being part of the volleyball team. She will be one of the directors at Adventurer’s Day Camp at our church this spring and summer, and loves being part of that ministry.

Owen is 17 and in Grade 11, he enjoys being around his friends at school and at church, and beating his Mom and Dad at ping pong. Owen has also been hired to be on staff at ADC for the summer. Owen is the little brother in name only, as he has now outgrown both his older siblings.

I am thankful to have such a great family, who are all good people, and enjoy being together. Recently, we all took a trip to Ontario to visit Hannah and see the sights, it was such a great time! On our way home some of us discovered we had COVID. We drove straight home and spent the next while suffering through a pretty rough bout with it. Thankfully, we are all doing well now.

COMMUNITY MINISTRY

Meanwhile, at Inner City Youth Alive, I have continued to really enjoy and feel at home in the place I find myself in. I am still discovering all of what my role entails, but I have really loved the time I spend with the Community Minister’s, doing my best to encourage them and help them think through difficult issues. 

The work the community ministry team does is so valuable! I am so encouraged by the team’s commitment to and love for the people they interact with. One of the things that a few on the team do is to connect with some of the youth at Manitoba Youth Centre (the Juvenile Detention Centre you may have seen in the Tuxedo area of Winnipeg). Throughout COVID they haven’t been able to be there in person, but they continue weekly Zoom meetings with the young people there. 

Jeremy Zehr is one of the Community Minister’s who is part of making these gatherings happen and the last few years he has offered to some of the participants that he would be willing to mentor them after their release. Maybe you are aware that many of the young people who wind up incarcerated before the age of 18 are more likely to have  trouble with the law in the future…the statistics are not good. Jeremy takes the time to walk alongside these young people upon their release, not as something they have to do, but as something they choose to do in order to better themselves as people. 3 young people have taken him up on his offer over the last 3 years and he meets with them once a week, mentoring and encouraging them in their relationship to God, their relationship to themselves and their relationships with others. 

Jeremy is very committed to these 3 young people, and sometimes has to go out of his way to make sure they continue to regularly meet and often receives calls and texts at all hours. 2 out of the 3 have made significant life-change and are following a much better path than the crime-filled, gang-centered life they were part of that led them to be incarcerated in the first place. Jeremy prays with and for these young people and encourages them in the difficult choices they have to make. 

THE DESIRE FOR PROTECTION, BELONGING AND FINANCIAL STABILITY

The life of crime and gangs is extremely attractive in so many ways. A gang is so good at providing protection and a sense of belonging, and crime tends to provide money quickly. These 3 things, protection, belonging and money, are something that seem to be in short supply for young people in this neighborhood. 

Young people in the north end may live in fear for many different reasons, while there are many good families, there are some who struggle. A young person’s family members may be involved in the drug trade, leading to fear of being stolen from or broken into in the middle of the night. There may face neglect and/or abuse in the family, or there may be violent crime in their neighborhood. All of these things, and many others, can lead to a sense of fear or having to always be hyper-alert and aware. A gang can provide a sense of security and protection, a real group of people who have your back. 

So many of the young people we know in the north end come from families that struggle financially. This can be caused by many different factors, perhaps they have addictions that they can not beat, or people who take advantage of them and steal or manipulate money away from them, or they may just not have enough to pay the bills. Sometimes when a crisis hits, a young person may feel a responsibility to help. Many young people know they can make quick and easy money by dealing drugs or through some other forms of crime. This kind of financial security is hard to find for a young person in a crisis situation, and the easy money crime provides can become an addiction itself.

Every person has a longing to belong, to belong to a group of people. Many of us are blessed to have immediate and extended family we belong to and can always go back to for love and acceptance. We may find additional acceptance and belonging in church, or school, or through our extra-curricular activities. But if we grow up in a home that is neglectful, doesn’t go to church or encourage school attendance and can’t afford extra-curricular activities, we long for belonging! A gang is amazing at providing a place to belong and to feel acceptance.

HOPE

So Jeremy, and the young people he works with have their work cut out for them. It is nothing short of miraculous that 2 out of the 3 young people he is working with have made strides and are making good choices. He also maintains a good and strong relationship with the 3rd who has begun to make poorer choices, what a powerful message of hope in a young person’s life, as Jeremy shows grace, and another way to live. Please pray for these three young people as they face the difficult challenges in their lives, and for Jeremy as he walks alongside them.

Over the years, I have known many people who struggle deeply with their mental health. Sometimes the struggle is so all-encompassing it changed their ability to walk through even small parts of life that many of us consider “normal.” Take for example, my friend who I will call Melody. Melody has a HUGE personality, and she is not small herself, she is physically imposing, and often scary, because of the way she interacts with people and the struggle she has with poverty and addiction.

Melody has never been able to hold a job, and the way I’ve seen her, I can’t imagine her ever being able to do so. The first time I saw her she came to our Sunday evening Gathering with a few of her really rough looking friends. She was demanding that someone give her some money, and was not taking no for an answer. Some people were talking with her and trying to offer her food, or other kinds of help, she and her friends smelled quite strongly of solvents (indicating that they had been sniffing), and they were concerned that money would not be helpful to her at all.

I came into the situation because I heard her yelling at people. I sat down next to her and was overwhelmed by the smell of solvents, I asked her what was going on? She started yelling at me right away. I tried to calm her down, but she was not to be calmed down. Eventually she took a beer can that she was holding, and smashed it on her forehead, breaking the skin, and beginning to bleed. Melody started yelling things like, “IF I WAS WHITE YOU WOULD GIVE ME MONEY, YOU ARE ALL JUST A BUNCH OF RACISTS!” I started to think that maybe she would start to hurt people, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I actually didn’t have any money on me, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to give her any, so I quietly tried to get her to leave, but she was having nothing of it. When things got to a point where I was getting scared, all of the sudden a man, who I knew was homeless, pulled out about $1.50 in change, and gave it to her. In a moment, Melody and her group of friends walked out. All that for a $1.50!

It turned out not to be the last time we saw Melody, in fact she became a regular around the building during the week. Sometimes her behaviour wasn’t atrocious, but we were always on edge when she was around. And, it wouldn’t take much for her to lose it. There were many times when we were not comfortable, or flat out afraid. Especially when Melody had been sniffing solvents it could be terrible, and often she would have a rag soaked in them with her, and she would breathe deeply into that rag on a regular basis, it was in those times we knew there would be trouble. We tried to ask her not to bring the rag with her, and told her she had to leave if she had one, sometimes it worked, sometimes it worked her up.

One day, after I hadn’t seen her for a while, a woman phoned the church. She was bright and cheery, and very friendly. After we talked a while, I asked, “who is this?” And she replied, “you didn’t recognize my voice? It’s Melody!” I was so shocked, I couldn’t believe I was talking to the same person! She was friendly and polite, warm, asking how I was doing, and listening to my response. “Where are you calling from?” I asked.

She said, “I’m in jail.”

Oh…

Over the next couple years this became a bit of a regular occurrence, when she was out of jail, she was difficult to handle, when she was in jail, she was wonderful. She never seemed to do anything terrible enough to go for a long time, just enough to go in for a few weeks or months.

I guess sometimes I wished there was some sort of program for people like Melody. One where she wouldn’t have to commit a crime to get proper care. One where she could have no access to the chemicals that are destroying her mind, and seriously changing her behaviour. But, how do you do something like that? You can’t lock someone up for being rude and addicted, but it would change Melody’s life if she did not have access to her addiction. She could probably become a contributing member of society, helping with any number of things. Most programs I know of would eventually fail her, or she would sabotage it, there has got to be something though…why is jail the best thing for her?!

I have met quite a few people like Melody, and I have always wished there was a good solution to this issue. I don’t know of one, maybe there is, but I think this is something our society should figure out.

How can we help someone like Melody?

Listen, I know that lots of people worked 40 hours last week, and maybe it’s not that unusual for people to do that, but for me 40 hours has been something I have not done since May of 2017. That’s nearly 2 years ago now.

In May of 2017 I left work at Grace Point for what turned out to be 4 months. I was later diagnosed with what amounted to burnout from what I was doing, you can read more about that here. After 3 months of being off work, I was able to be put onto Long Term Disability, one of the things they asked of me immediately was a Graduated Return to Work Plan. So, in October of 2017 I started going back to work, I started out not even going to Grace Point, and doing work at WEFC in order to prepare myself to go back to Grace Point. I started off just showing up for 4 hours per week. If I remember correctly, I made an appearance at Grace Point in December, and then started to work once a week or so there in January.

I remember before this all started I met with the my friends from the Grace Point Leadership, and telling them how I was doing, and what was going on. I said something like, “I do not want to go back to work, I don’t feel ready, but the professionals are telling me that this is something I should do.”

I really just kind of dragged myself through that time at Grace Point, but it was really healing for me to show myself that I could show up at work. So there was some healing that took place during this time, but it was pretty limited.

It was in March of 2018 that I found out about a friend who passed away. She was a single mom, and was way too young to die, she left behind two beautiful young children, who she adored. I went to the funeral, and tried to connect with the kids and do what I could to support the family. However, which is often the case at funerals, there was really not much I could do to bring comfort or do anything to make the situation better.

I was driving back to the church after the funeral when I completely lost it. It felt like a complete reliving of my time before leaving that May. I wound up driving home instead of back to the church.

I continued to drag myself to work after that, but found it more and more difficult to do so…and in May 2018 I was visiting my psychiatrist who said, “it’s time for you to go off work again, and get better before you go back to work again.” She told me that I should compare it to someone who hurt their back at work, and went off of work. They returned to work too soon, and wound up re-injuring their back. Should this person continue doing the same work? No, they need to make sure their back is completely healed before they return to work again.

My Psychiatrist said I should take at least 3 months off and get better before I return to work again. That 3 months turned out to be incredibly healing, and by August I was raring to go back to work. In November I returned again to work, and my Graduated Return to Work Plan had me starting slowly again, and (after some adjustments) being back at full-time in March.

Well, it’s March, and here I am, working full time. Well, at least for one week! I have been feeling really well, basically since August, and it is strange to actually know what it feels like to “feel like myself.”

So, working full-time seems somewhat natural, although, I am pretty tired. Do all of you full-time people feel tired?!

I feel like this is one of those moments that can go by unrecognized, but I want to celebrate it. I have no idea how I would have got here without the following…

My Family – my wife, my love – who has been there all along the way, not allowing me to sink into complete nothingness, and holding me up when I couldn’t hold myself up. My kids, who gave me a reason to keep going, cheering me up as best as they could. My extended family, like parents, parents in law, brothers, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law, who encouraged me in ways they may not even realize.

My Church – Grace Point – you are amazing! And I love that above all, you care about me, and many of you are the ones who actually “get it” more than anyone else. I love that crazy Grace Point family! WEFC – the support I have received from the church leadership, and everyone I have spoken to at that church is above and beyond what could ever be expected.

My Friends – many of these people are part of my church, and many of whom have taken on the weight of my responsibilities in my absence, you guys are absolutely amazing!

My professionals – My doctor, my counsellors, and my psychiatrist have worked together in an amazing way to help me to stand on my own, and to peel back the layers of my countless issues.

My God – who worked to put all of these things in place, and in my darkest of moments, was still there and made that clear to me in amazing ways. I can’t even imagine what any of this would have been like without the love of God, and the healing power that was so evident to me.

A dignified First Nations woman showed up one Sunday at Grace Point, she seemed quite comfortable with the idea of church, and at one point she spoke up during the service (speaking up during the service is quite common at Grace Point). She said something like, “40 years ago I lived way up north, and I was really struggling. One day, when I was coming off a 2 week bender, I decided it was time to change. I was walking through the mall in Leaf Rapids, Manitoba, and came across a bookstore. I wanted to get a Bible, but I looked at the row of Bibles on the shelf, and I needed some help. I asked the person working there if he could explain to me what the difference was between all these Bibles. The man took his time, and explained things to me, and that day, he led me to Jesus. I prayed and Jesus changed my life. I never went back to that bookstore, but I will never forget that man, and someday I will meet him in heaven, and tell him this story. Ever since that day, I have been going from church to church, all over Manitoba, telling them about Jesus and saying, ‘some day, I will meet Gilbert Berg in heaven, and thank him for leading me to Jesus.'”

I need to take you back 40 years in my life. I was born when my family lived in Leaf Rapids, Manitoba. My family had moved there to start a church in the small mining community. The church was in a small mall in the community, and my Dad thought a bookstore look in the “storefront,” would be a good way to connect with the community. My Dad’s name, of course, is Gilbert Berg.

I told this dignified woman that she wouldn’t have to wait to meet Gilbert Berg…he only lived a few blocks away!

To me, the connection was absolutely unbelievable and so meaningful. I talked to my Dad about this right away. I asked him if he remembered speaking to this woman…he could not. Of course he couldn’t! He spoke to people in the community all the time. He prayed with many people.

Sometimes we do good things for people that seem to wind up being meaningless, or forgotten. Sometimes it makes us wonder why we do these things for people in the first place. To me, this wonderful woman was a reminder that we have no idea what kind of impact our ministry to someone else might have. Here this woman was, telling the story of my Dad 40 years later…and he couldn’t even remember it!

We have no idea what kind of impact the things we do will have on someone’s life. But the results never were our responsibility. Our responsibility is to be faithful to what God asks us to do, not to MAKE things happen in people’s lives, just to be faithful.

It’s God’s job to take care of the results.