Winnipeg missionary Pamela Walford is helping bring sustenance to bodies and souls in South America through ministry.
"Right now we are working with a food bank, that's initially how we got started," says Walford, lead missionary with Tru Pasi. "Now it's much broader than that. Tru Pasi is Surinamese for True Path. This ministry is focusing on reaching out to the neediest people in Suriname, and meeting their needs so they can see the love of Jesus."
Every two weeks Walford and her team cook 150 meals and then bring them out into the community, offering food to many who haven't eaten sometimes in days.
"We take them out to the streets, to the drug yards and some of the homeless people we know. They're very thankful. We tell them, 'We just want you to know that Jesus sees you,' because they feel so unseen and forgotten out there. The truth is, He meets you right where you are. Our hope is that they understand that He loves them and that life is not hopeless."
Many of the volunteers are community members who have been served before. The team goes out on Sundays as everything is closed in Suriname on that day. They also offer people life skills and an opportunity to study the Bible.
"My coworker Joshua, having come from the streets himself, will mentor them and help them find new ways to adapt their life. We also have a Sunday School for local children. Through that we build community."
As the lead missionary of Tru Pasi, Walford lives half the year in Winnipeg and the other half in Suriname. She is currently gearing up to leave Winnipeg and go back to Suriname in December for another six months. While in Winnipeg Walford is also the conference coordinator of Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (NEFC).
The Origins of Tru Pasi
The ministry was quite different before 2020 but once the pandemic hit everything changed.
"We were worried how the street people were going to eat during COVID. One night I just went to bed in prayer going, 'God, what are we going to do?' I woke up in the morning to a loud voice literally saying 'Food bank.' I immediately got up and shared that with Rachel and that's how we got started."
Rachel was helping Walford run a ladies' group at the time.
"Rachel came to live with me during the lockdowns because she had no place to go. Joshua and his daughter also came to live with me. We ended up living together. Rachel and I mentored Joshua while he was trying to get his life together for the sake of his daughter. We spent the whole entire lockdown doing Bible study, we called it a mini Bible college. Out of that, we became a wonderful family. They ended up getting married and I guess I'm everybody's nana now."
Now Joshua and Rachel, alongside a Dutch Surinamese couple, run Tru Pasi ministry all year long.
Anyone interested in blessing the ministry financially, they can contact Walford by email at pamela.walford@worldteam.org. They also appreciate prayer as they continue serving the people of Suriname.