Stories From Our City | Jane - Finch

Jesus has always had a soft spot for fishermen — whether it was back in Bible times as he selected his disciples, or recently, as we’ve seen in our ministry at Youth Unlimited.

Paul Buchan leads a fishing ministry at YU and often takes groups of youth out on the water for fishing trips. These trips give youth unique experiences that they might not otherwise have and fishing, in particular, creates an ideal environment for learning and thoughtful discussion. Despite all the great connection and conversation that comes out of these adventures, Paul has some stories of misfortune as well. He recently shared one that has a bit of both:

There have been many issues with the motor on our newly acquired fishing boat but even as things go wrong, God has a way of turning it to His good. On our last outing with youth this year, we had to change our location due to low water levels but as we tried to move, we struggled to transport the boat into our new location. Seeing our difficulty, two fishermen in their own boat came along and helped us launch. I remember eventually getting out there with the youth and feeling so thankful for the help of these strangers, when all of a sudden we couldn’t get the motor started. Even after they had already spent the time to help us launch, those two men returned and tried to troubleshoot the motor with us. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful.

Instead of giving up and forcing the trip to end early, however, these two men offered to tow us around and anchor us in different areas throughout the lake. They also gave us some fishing tips and some equipment. It was a great day of fishing because of these strangers who appeared from nowhere and came to our rescue. I initially felt so discouraged by all the issues we encountered, but their selfless care for us throughout the day had a huge impact on me and the youth. It was so significant to see how generous these men were with their help and it was the perfect illustration of our Father who, like these men, refuses to leave us stranded, even when it feels like everything has gone awry.