Rejoice and Be Glad
A full house, a visit from the Labour Board & some ugly vandalism.
Part 1: There Was Room at the Inn
During the Freedom Convoy protest, there were times when it was standing room only at Bikers’ Church. "We had to keep count so we wouldn't go over fire code," Melissa McKee remembers, "We had every chair in here. From the kitchen, from the classrooms, every chair. People were sitting on the floor, they were leaned up against the pool table. It was so wild."
Joe, from northern Saskatchewan, is a trucker and farmer who drove to Ottawa in his own pickup. Along with his sister Sabrina (see a photo of them here), he spent weeks delivering parts to Sam Field and the other mechanics who were keeping those big rigs running. At loose ends in the church one day, Joe noticed some of their ceiling tiles had been damaged "from a leak in the roof, and that our fans had not been cleaned in forever," says Melissa.
He's like, 'I'm gonna take care of that for you.' And so he went out, bought the ceiling tiles. Then he got on a ladder, we have this major tall ladder that I think may be illegal now. And he replaced all the stained ceiling tiles.
I took a picture of him and I posted it online. Because people were saying the most horrible things about the truckers. And I'm like, 'These are Christian, Mennonite, sweet, honest, hardworking farmers and blue-collar men. They're not rapists and racists, they're not those things.'
So I posted a picture of Joe cleaning the fan. And one of our neighbours saw the picture and called the Labour Board on us. So the Labour Board showed up, and said, 'You're working at heights dangerously, we're gonna issue you a fine.'
The inspector's position was that, while he doesn't look for violations on Facebook as part of his job, someone had reported that a church employee was inappropriately working at heights. After learning that Joe wasn't on staff but was instead a volunteer, the inspector admitted he had no jurisdiction and departed.
Joe also "changed our hot water tank" along with a faucet in the coffee bar during those weeks, adds Melissa. It was an extraordinary time. "The care for our fellow man that we witnessed was so beautiful."
Meanwhile, there were death threats, vandalism, and talk of "burning down the church." On one occasion, "Nazi signs were glued to the doors. Our brand new front doors, that another church in the city actually paid for," Melissa explains,
Because we couldn't afford it. They were the old, original wooden doors. You couldn't open them some days, they were getting full of water and expanding. So we had to replace them.
Anyways, another church in the city took up an offering for us, and blessed us with these new front doors. And somebody glued Nazi signs to them, and egged them. You can still see the marks.
Matthew 5:12 - Rejoice and be glad…for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
next installment: Trumpets of Heaven
I wonder what all these people who destroyed property and made threats are doing now. Unless they still feel justified in their criminal behaviour.