E5 - Matthew Douglas

When thinking about how to kick off this podcast for 2022 - I cannot imagine a more appropriate guest than Matthew Douglas.  His words inspire people to see differently, live more fully and see others  in a different light. 

  He is more than just a family man and the Lead Pastor of the Westedge Community Church.  He is a mentor to many, a hugely talented artist and someone making significant efforts in local and global communities.  

  In today’s episode, I sit down with Matthew to learn about his passion for helping others, the incredible work being done here and abroad and his beliefs about tapping into our human potential.

(*Please note that there is some content related to combatting human trafficking that may be inappropriate for younger listeners*)

  This episode's Lorne Park Local Legends - The Creators and Contributors of the Open Food Pantry Box at 1905 Balsam Avenue.

  Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show?  Send your suggestion to lorneparkliving@gmail.com.

  Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Information from the Episode:

Inn from the Cold Warming Centre: https://www.westedge.org/warming-centre

Job Postings at West Edge:
https://www.westedge.org/copy-of-inn-from-the-cold
https://www.westedge.org/copy-of-shift-supervisor

The Elizabeth Fry Society Of Halton and Peel: https://www.facebook.com/efrygt/

Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show? Send your suggestion to anuja@anujapereira.com

Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Follow me at www.instagram.com/anujapereira.homes

Transcript

Matthew Douglas is more than just a family man and the lead pastor of the west edge Community Church. He is a mentor to many a hugely talented artist, and someone making significant efforts in local and global communities. In today's episode, I sit down with Matthew to learn about his passion for helping others, the incredible work being done here and abroad, and his belief about tapping into our human potential. Welcome to learn Park living. Matthew, I'm glad you're here.
Thank you so much Anuja, this is exciting.
Yeah, I'm really excited to get into it. I think we have a lot to talk about. And so we are going to just dig in and get started. How about that? Love it. Okay, fantastic. So I want to understand a little bit before about your background and how you ever became the pastor at the west edge Community Church.
It's as simple as people believing in me, I haven't, I was never the star athlete, or, you know, the first pick kid picked on the school team. And when people will say, I'd like to offer you a job, or I have a great opportunity, I didn't have a whole lot of options. And so that, that found its way, somebody saying, I believe in you. And we have this job at the time. It was to be the youth pastor at here at West edge where I'm still serving 11 years ago. And so a decade and a year ago, I've been here before that I was in the corporate world. And it wasn't a great fit. Because I'm I'm wired more as a creative than a than a corporate person. And I see people flourishing with their gifts and talents in the corporate world. It's it's not a criticism towards that. It's just my I was a, I was a round peg trying to fit in a square hole. And it wasn't, it wasn't good. And so I, I went to venture on into design school from the corporate world. And the same day, I got an acceptance letter with a scholarship. A friend of mine called me and extended me the position for a youth pastor here at West edge. And so it seemed to be something of a serendipitous timing. And we, my wife, and I was brand new, married, newly married. And we we went for it. And it was incredible. So that was kind of the genesis of how I ended up here with somebody saying, I believe in you, and me saying, Okay, I'll go and move towards that. Wow,
I can't imagine a more obvious fork in the road where you have to, I mean, maybe not super different decisions, but quite different career paths, in some ways to absolutely, yeah. Do you ever look back on that day and wonder what it would have been like, had you chosen the other path?
You know, our, our life really is the result of the decisions that we make, and good or bad, we can look back and say, This is what life is. I do like to take time to reflect and look, look back and to imagine I I have a pretty active imagination. So I you know, I would I would be in the design world. I'm sure that and but those skills that would have made me successful in that venture, I think have aided me in success in this one in in kind of surprising ways. But in a lot of in a lot of sense. I think I would have been doing the same sorts of things. And we'll probably crossed what I mean mean by that as we get into it.
Yeah, absolutely. I'm wondering, west edge is called a Community Church. And I'm curious, and I'm wondering if my my listeners might be curious as to what makes it a Community Church. How is that different?
Yet, you know, the, the genesis of churches is actually churches were the center of a community. And so you'll know I notice a lot of rural areas in Ontario and without the church is always in the middle. And so there was a time where that's physically how we structured churches was it was kind of the center point of the community. But now what it means and what it means to me is It's a place where we are committed group of people that serve those around us. And so we we have an outward vision, to who needs, who needs help? And how can we come together with our unique gifts and talents, to create the world's best future. And so coming together as a community to solve tough problems, that's what it means to me to be a Community Church is a committed group of people coming together, looking at the unique problems that are in front of us in our local community, and solving those together with our gifts and talents.
That's an interesting way of looking at it. And I think the church has had a different role, even in my lifetime, you know, I've seen the changing role of the church. Do you Do you agree with that statement? Do you see that continuing to change? Do you think it has changed in your time?
Oh, abs? Absolutely. You know, I think your listeners and most people would, would say, there's a different relationship that most people have with, with the Christian faith, for sure. And the, the, the those pressures and the religiosity I think is beginning to fall off. And I would say that's a, that's a good thing, where we can come together with our differences in realize that it's, it's not uniformity, that makes us strong, but unity in our in our differences, that makes us strong. And that was reflective in the early church, you know, when, when this whole thing got started. It was people that weren't steeped in what was in the past and having to hold that up, it was renegades and a brand new thing. And we're seeing how to, to pivot in this time and do things with ingenuity and creativity. And that that requires all of us coming to the table with our differences and, and talking through things. So a change, absolutely a change that's needed, I would say yes, as well.
I'm, you talked a little bit about, you know, that outward looking, and those problems in the community that, you know, the Community Church can look to solve, what are some of those causes, and, you know, endeavors that that the west edge is looking to solve, and has been working on.
Yeah, you know, that mindset and those things that we we do. The thing that's inspired in me is that I grew up as a country kid, rural, rural, Ontario, my neighbors were cows, and my playmates for trees. And the idea in the country is that you would go to the city, and take from it, that you would use it for your career, to advance you to bring you success. But I think the way that my faith informs me is that we should go to cities not to take from it but to give to it, there's no shortage of areas to serve in the city. And so we should always be looking through a lens of not success, but significance. And success is about adding value to myself or significance is about adding value to others. And so the ones that we feel drawn to add value to are the disenfranchised or the the oppressed, and we can't we can't champion every cause. There's so many causes out these days. And that's what's in a lot of ways. This is, I think, the most moral generation that's ever existed because we care so much about those around us, and it's really amazing. But the causes that we champion currently are combating human trafficking, which is an epidemic in Mississauga. And also globally, there's actually more people enslaved in modern time today than there has ever been in the history of the world, which probably sounds like that's not true. But by population, we see the number and sex trade force labor is there are millions and millions of people enslaved. And so we want to rescue women and children from from that, and also another thing that we champion is just helping the homeless in our area. Self Mississauga is an incredible, unbelievable community. It's known for its influence and wealth, but there's also another side of severe poverty and there's that we know of about 85 people that are homeless in this direct area. I'm located at Mississauga road and lake shore. And, yeah, there's there's Bo 85 people that are homeless in this direct area. And we started in from the cold, which is to give people shelter in the most severe weather. So during the winter time, and also cooling center in from the heat in the in the summertime in from the cold during the winter. And that's just emergency shelter in partnership with the Region of Peel. And that's just so people don't die, there are over 100 people that pass away from exposure in weather in the GTA. And we want to see that number turn to zero. So we opened our doors to help help those people that are experiencing homelessness. Those are two main objectives that we're that we're leaning in. And we do you only speak about the revenue stream that we do.
Yeah, sure. I mean, I think you have another
question. Yeah. What are your listeners? We came up with some hand signals. On the plane?
No, you're good. I am wondering. So for for my listeners who may want to get involved. I mean, one of the things that is so interesting to me, I first met you through in from the cold. That's how we first met about a year ago. And I was so taken aback by that number of 85 people who are homeless in this community, and I think, living here and knowing that, you know, the center is just, you know, a stone's throw from 5678 $9 million homes that are just down the street and you know, in the what you said it's such an affluent area and to also have this dichotomy it's just so interesting to me and I didn't realize it's something I didn't see. And so I think there may be other listeners who are in the same boat as me and I was so struck by that and wanted to help and I wonder if there are listeners out there who want to help out with in from the cold or in from the heat? How could they do that?
Well, we're currently hiring so when this goes out, we're probably still looking for great people. So on our Facebook page, through the community groups on on Facebook and also through our website, we have job postings, if you're qualified, please apply. And if you're not please share that's that's one way and also connecting with us at info at west edge dot o RG you know we we provide different meals, different needs will come up blankets, certain winter clothing, things like that are great for the community to engage in and donate towards. We have special projects along the way that people might want to give towards so we can share some of those right now we're finishing off a shower and laundry facility. I see facility, it's one shower and one washer and dryer. But we need to finish that off to look after. You know, people they they've been out on the streets for a while and to have a shower just it's humanizing. And it's it's so important. And we realize that through talking to our guests, well what do they need and so this is why we're putting these things in is because they're saying this is what we need. So that's definitely something to give towards. Or maybe you're a handy person listening and you'd like to do some some work. So that's that's definitely something people can can give towards.
That's great. We'll pause for one second if you need to. Are we okay? Yeah, yeah
my staff just laughing and having joy in the middle of this.
Oh, that's good. i So what was your last thing? Yeah. So that sounds like really fantastic work that we're doing right here in the local South Mississauga community. But I'm also very curious about this work around combating human trafficking either here both here and and abroad. I'm curious how how you're doing that. What are the steps that are being taken, and and what's the impact so far?
So this, for me was such a surprise that this was happening and it started for me by doing what most people do get lost on YouTube and I saw a documentary on this This issue human trafficking. And as I dug into it, I realized that this is a problem not abroad, but locally. And there there are, we don't know the exact number. And for good reasons, peel, police haven't released these these numbers, because it's hard to get an actual number. But we know it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot of, of women being trafficked. So we, we are supporting victims, and also trying to find partners for preventative. It, the trauma that these women endure, it is very psychological. So a quick breakdown, a lot of us might think sex trafficking is we create a stereotype probably in our minds of what a person a victim of that looks like a prostitute or a drug addict. And we create this archetype. And there are people that probably are drug addicted and are in prostitution, but it makes them no less valuable. Second, the people who are victims, basically, the, the, the most key factor is self esteem. And, unfortunately, low self esteem affects all demographics. And so it's hard to say that there's a particular type of person that is vulnerable. So the preventative work, education within schools is really important. And Elizabeth Fry is who we are, partnered partnered with more on the victim rehabilitation side, but they're beginning to do a lot of education in the schools, getting to our young girls and getting the word out what it looks like. Because it probably isn't what we think Elizabeth Fry has a has a home that is helping these women recover, and the therapy and the the treatment to help. And it's said on average, it takes about seven times for a woman to leave her her John. It's really tough. And there's all sorts of reasons for that. So it's it's a long process, but the these women are, are worth it. And these, these women that do get out, are some of the most inspiring people I've I've ever met, the tenacity and the strength that that is in them. And, and then we've seen them, mentor and reach out to others, because there's something about pain that brings us to purpose. And people who have who have experienced great pain in the area, end up some oftentimes becoming the champion in that area. So Elizabeth Fry, and also globally Asian outreach is who we're partnered with, and they're setting up success for there's such poverty, that's unbelievable that I don't know how real you want to get, but I'm pretty real. So people are so poor, that often it seems like selling their children is a better option than than keeping them because keeping them in that poverty means they die. And so we're going into these regions and areas and building up their their family wealth and ability for their earning income. So they're not in that position. And we're seeing communities completely transformed. And, and not not having that unbelievable choice of having to do something like that. So we're seeing success, and we're seeing people rescued. And it's It breaks my heart, but it's some it's a burden. I think that's worth lifting and making a change. And
yeah, I from a personal standpoint is an educator in high schools in in Mississauga and Brampton. I've firsthand gotten to see you know, students who we start seeing not attending school more and more often and who we know are involved in these trafficking in this trafficking and involved with John's and it's really hard to see so you know, prevention goes a really long way and the mentorship that you talked about is just you know, really fantastic and the Elizabeth prices it I know the good work they do so I'm so glad that You know you're partnering with them and I also wanted to ask you I know that you use one of your very significant talents I've had the opportunity to see some of your amazing art and how are you using that talent to help further your causes in both areas

Well, thank you what a compliment. So I'm an artist. And, you know, we like to put people in these labels. And so sometimes it's hard for people to imagine a pastor and an artist, those two worlds colliding. But I, I've, that's my gift is to create things. And you, if there's some creatives that are listening to this, it's hard to think what kind of utility painting a picture can have in the world. Like, there's real problems, you know, there's real thing to do. And you think, what does a paintbrush like what kind of change can bring, but I was inspired to tell the stories of these amazing young girls and women. And by by painting their portraits, and they they all conceded and said they would love to be a part of it. So I've began a, an exhibit, painting the portraits of these survivors, and telling their story. So the exhibits, hopefully in 2022, but I have so pre sold some canvases, and 100% of the proceeds go towards the cause of combating human trafficking. And so it's really amazing to see beautiful art helped to create a beautiful future. And I think that's what great art does is it creates a beautiful future. And so today, I've I've sold two paintings for $10,000 each, so that $20,000 would, we've been able to complete a school in Cambodia, for these kids that are most at risk. And, and then also with the other mount with, we've been able to support Elizabeth Fry in their efforts. And And thirdly, we've we've helped rescuing efforts, literally people going in and, and saving children. So it we, yes, we give financially to people who are willing to risk their lives for good work. So those are the three things so far that my art has accomplished. And I look forward to selling the rest of these canvases and being able to make a significant impact on this epidemic that we're facing.
Yeah, well, I have to say they are incredible. And I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibition, you did such a fantastic job of capturing the youth and the spirit, but also the strength and the resiliency of those young girls, and I can't wait to see what else you have in store. I know you're also a builder and have seen a lot of the things you've been able to repurpose from all sorts of things, what is some of that work that you've been doing?
Yeah, you know, crossing those lines between being being a pastor and an artist. I think that there's really complicated problems that exist in the world. And it takes the creatives to imagine a world that does not yet exist, and to materialize them. So I'm calling on everybody to be creative. And I've been so blessed with literal talents of being able to build in create. And so I have a luxury line of furniture that I built custom furniture, kind of different, unique things. But my I have a I have Robin Hood economics where people have question a pastor selling a $15,000 table. And my idea is, is I'm going to take money from the rich, reputed amongst the middle class and poor and so that's, yeah, that's, that's what I do. So I can't afford what I built. Which, which is which is great. But the idea is to let my imagination flow and materialize things and, and let those things that I create, inspire other people to use their gifts and talents to do something great. That's what I love to do is to inspire other people with what I create so that they can go out and do something inspiring. That that's kind of the whole the whole vision of it.
Yeah. You have as a pastor, you have, I think what I would call maybe a unique approach. I think you have your time at the pulpit, you could call your time You know perfectly forming mass and performing, you know, giving the word and all of that. But you also do a lot of work in terms of mentorship and working with the people that come to the church. What is your philosophy around that one to one or small group work that you do with the with the people who come to the church?
I've, I've, I'm the beneficiary of great mentorship. And I, so I really believe in pouring into people. So again, you know, earlier I said, Live for significance, not success, look for those people that you can add value. And you, we were talking before, and you said, you know, what about people who don't believe what you believe, you know, what do you do with that whole world? And I think, you know, my philosophy, my approach, one on one, and in a group setting is that I just believe in people. And so whether you believe with my ideology, my faith, that's, that's not that's not the requirement is my requirement is that I'm called to believe in people. And I know that there are really significant problems that exist in the world. I talked about human trafficking, you know, that's, that's a problem that I feel is severe. And that's what I feel moved in called towards doing something about, but there's environmental issues, social issues, economic issues that other people are burdened with. And so I'm here to champion everybody with their burden to say that you have, you have a unique gift and talent buried inside of you. And you might have to mine it and dig it out. But when you get it out, you're going to do something about and it's going to be amazing, and I'm going to be cheering you on the whole way. And so I'm just an encourager, I help people focus on where what they're good at, I'm terrible at counseling. When people come to me and say, I got this going on, I'm okay with that, you know, we'll, we'll work it out. This is kind of the plan. But when you come back in, you haven't done any of the steps, you know, that that zaps me, that tracks my time. But what fills me what what moves me forward, is working with people's strengths, and, and pulling their greatness out and putting them on a path to seeing their potential come come to life, that that just gives me goosebumps that energizes me for a day for days. So I believe in the human potential. And I believe that I'm called to be a person to pull that potential out of out of people. And whether you believe in what I believe, is secondary to the fact that I believe in you. And I believe that you can do great things. Yeah.
Who's Who's believed in you in your life, Matthew.
I've had great parents, you know, they've, they've been, they have been my cheerleaders. And, you know, this can be uncomfortable for some, and the same, that preachy thing. But you know, when I was 16, I have an artist soul. And so the darkness seems to be a close friend sometimes. And I wrote lots of terrible, teenage poetry. All that stuff. And love showed up in my life in the form of Jesus. And that's really what took me forward is, I felt a belief in me, and that's what drives me to this faith. And that's what I encourage people in is, is I've been believed in when nobody else really believed in me, you know, parents can take you so far. And, and then you can kind of feel pretty alone. And I just want everybody to know that they've been gifted in resource to do something meaningful in this world. And that love is real. And I think the world's best future is created out of a certain kind of material. And that material is love. Love, we need to build the world's best future, out of love. And so when not when love found me, man, I've just been all in taking all the risks that I can to to create that future built out of love and until it all those other sad, creative people, depressed people know that love is here loves an option for all of us. us, and we can do really amazing things. And now I have to say, there's a lot of amazing people that that believe in me, I'm, I'm very fortunate to have a lot of cheerleaders around me. And so it's a little bit easier to take risks now. But for the person where you might feel like you're doing it on your own, don't give up, you know, keep, keep going, keep pushing forward, your tribe will come, your people will come. And, but for now, just know that you're valuable, you matter, you're loved, you have something unique and special in you. And don't don't give up, keep going forward.
Thank you for that. I'm wondering if you've ever had a time in your life, where that hope was shaken at all.
Absolutely, you know, I'm, I'm Scottish by descent, and our family motto is one word, and that word is forward. And in my darkest time, I was reminded of that in in that was actually 11 years ago, last week, I, my wife and I, we buried our first child, Ashton. And the loss of my firstborn son was almost too much to bear. And my wife and I, we were obviously both destroyed, and heartbroken. But we, we encouraged one another, and we said that word together forward, forward, and I was encouraged in my faith, through prayer full time to, to keep moving forward. And I was convinced in a very real way, that my loss is not my future, that my circumstance does not define me, that there is more beyond what I was suffering in the present in that. Because, because of what I loved the most was removed from me, does not mean that my future is going to be devoid of, of love. And we took that and we we doubled down on that. And, you know, we have two beautiful daughters, we have a COVID baby Madeline, she's rambunctious as anything. And an eight year old daughter. And yes, Madalyn was a bit of a whoops. And McKenna, she's just the sweetest thing. So you know, we can make permanent decisions in a temporary season of life. And we got to have a long view, to know that our suffering is not permanent, even as significant and permanent as it may feel. It isn't. And there's still hope and a future. And we always have to be leaning and moving forward. So yeah, that darkness the loss. I've had many, that's definitely a definitive one, where I had the choice, do I give up? Just live a whatever life give up on my beliefs and, and dreams? Or? Or do I let this remind me that life isn't forever? And that we have, we have a time now to do what we're called to do. You know, the funeral of my son, Ashton. It was the biggest church service that I've done to date. And so you know, he was a better preacher than me. He couldn't talk. And he inspired so many people. And we gave a, I gave a message that day was probably a really bad idea to speak at that at his funeral. But I gave the analogy of a bubble. You know, you blow bubbles, and they're so beautiful, but they're delicate, and they pop and we can feel sad, but those same molecules that made the bubble exists in the atmosphere. And so that's a lot like love, right, the things that might be taken away from us, we still got to experience those. And so they live on in our memories and we can let memories fuel us to to the beautiful life that we are making today and tomorrow.
I thank you for all that I am so sorry for the loss of Vashon I lost my niece and was there in her last moments and got to hold her and, you know, what you just described as being able to take that love and that experience and have it as a memory. I feel privileged, you know, to have gotten to hold her and be with her during that time, but a loss like no other I can imagine. And, yeah, I you know, before we end, I want to talk to you a little bit about the South Mississauga community having been here for some time. I'm wondering what you think might be special about this area about this community.
I love this community. I heart PC norm Park. So it's a saga that years ago, long time ago, I drove through Mississauga, and all I saw was an industrial complex. And when my friend said, Do you want to be pastor, Mississauga, all I could think of were like, industrial buildings, I had no idea. And we moved out here, and we discovered, you know, poor credit area and South Mississauga. And I absolutely fell in love and, and one thing that is so endearing about this is the people you know, that's what makes anything great. It's, it's the people that are in the area, there are the most diverse, interesting people, caring people. And I think I'd said to you once before, you can find out what people care about by what they complain about. And right now, uh, you know, on, on on a lot of these messaging platforms and stuff like that people are upset about the development that's happening in this area. But at the heart of it, what I, what I think it is, is we don't want this kind of community to change, or like, that's the risk that people feel, and I don't think I like I'm a, I'm a big fan of progress and, and building new things. So I'm probably a lot more optimistic about what is in our future down here with the development. But my point is, people really care about their community down here. And I see people cleaning up parks, upset when parks aren't clean when people leaving their trash, because they care about it. Right? They're invested in it. And of course, I love all the arts, you know, we have so many festivals down here, great bands, and in the the bars and restaurants down the strip. It's just full of life and and love. You know, people are just fantastic. And there's a combination of rich and poor that we talked about before. And to me the issue isn't that I think that the rich hate the poor. I think it's just that we don't really know the poor. And so the cool thing about my church is we have the rich and poor together, we see these amazing things happening. Because people want to help people want to be a solution. And I see a community of people that are just helpful. You've probably see countless testimonials of people just being generous through COVID donating this restaurants giving sacrificially. It's unbelievable community.
Yeah, absolutely. I agree. It's a wonderful place to live. And I think the community feel to be to be a part of right something to be a part of. Absolutely. Love of life here for sure. My last question always is wondering, if you were going to build your dream home. I'm a realtor. I can't get it out of my head. I want to know if you were building your dream home, Matthew, For you, Mary Beth and the girls. What and money was no issue right? Doesn't matter. You have all the money you could ever want. What is one design feature you would include in this dream home for the four of you?
I'm gonna go selfish on this one. I love design I Love You know, I could talk about all sorts of things, bow architecture, but I would have to have an enormous studio where I could just create and teach people how to create and build build things. It would be I would have a metal metalworking shop, I'd have my painting area. I'd have drafting tables, I would have my woodworking setup. And I would have people coming in and we will be building really awesome stuff together. So that would be my dream a house that would have an enormous studio to just be so creative in.
I imagine there would be a lock on that door to keep the girls out.
I would probably have a hobbies spot, there would be sparkles involved. I know lots of glitter paying. I wouldn't avoid them of that. But yeah, it would be by permission only for sure.
I have two girls, I know I know the ill of sparkles in the home. But the good news is, money is no issue. So you don't have to build the design studio yourself. Someone will come and do it for you. So that's very good. Exactly. Well, I think we're out of time, Matthew, I could probably talk to you for hours and hours on end. I love listening to you and love hearing about your philosophies and the amazing impact that you're having both on the people of this community but also just, you know, within from the coals and with, you know, the work that you're doing to combat human trafficking. I know you're not alone in this. I know there's a team of really dedicated people behind you. But I also know that you are the face and the voice and the lead behind a lot of this and the inspiration behind a lot of it. So thank you so much for being here. It's been such a pleasure.
Nugent, you are such a joy, you are one of those rare people that just lift the room. So thank you for taking time reaching out. And yes, I have a lot of amazing people behind me and thank you to all of them. And thank you for giving me this opportunity to share. Thank you so much.
Absolutely. Well, that's it for our interview today. But stick around for a special shout out to this week's Lauren Park local legends, a chance to thank one or more local people for their grassroots work that impacts this community.