Planting Seeds: Resilience, Family, and Trust | Trinity Talks Podcast

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Talks.

My name is Kyla, and I'm the online engagement director here.

And hopefully you know by now that this month at Trinity, we have been looking at the heroes

of faith in Scripture.

And so here on Trinity Talks, we've been talking to some folks to hear their stories

of faith who are folks here at Trinity.

And so this Sunday, I'm pleased to be joined by Trevino.

Thanks for joining me on the podcast.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So Trevino, before we sort of jump into it, maybe you can just tell us a little bit about

you.

Oh, like you said, my name is Trevino.

Trevino Betty.

I've been coming to Trinity, I would say probably, it's over, probably been over 12 years now.

And I've always been in Anglican churches before I was, I used to go to one on Lakeshore

and then it closed down and it took me some time to find Trinity.

And when I found Trinity, it was, it felt like home.

I have two kids, a boy and a girl, Zade who's 14 and Zuri who's 9.

I've always come with he and my wife doesn't come as often, but yeah, we've been married

for 20 years.

Okay, that's great.

Yeah.

Good.

So Trevino, when did you first learn about Jesus?

Oh man, I would say at birth.

Sure.

I was born in Jamaica and in Jamaican culture when a child is born, oftentimes you put a

Bible in their crib.

So I would say from the day I was born, I started learning about the Bible and about

Jesus and about Christianity.

Okay.

And so how did that sort of grow in your life?

What made you decide to want to follow Jesus for yourself?

Well I think as I got older, so introduction of going to church and going to church with

my mom at the time when I was in Jamaica and then start to go to Sunday school on your

own as I got older and then started to go to youth fellowship, Friday night services,

just being a part of the church.

And then I eventually moved to Canada and then just continued that way.

So what led you to decide to move to Canada?

My parents had me when they were teenagers and so my mom stayed in Jamaica and my dad

was here and she thought it would be a good idea for me to come and spend some time with

my dad.

Okay.

And get to know him a lot better and also the opportunity for a better life.

Sure.

Yeah.

Okay.

And did you notice any difference in how you practiced your faith in Jamaica versus how

you practice it in Canada?

Well I would say my dad wasn't…

So my mom was and my grandparents were big on going to church but my dad was on the other

side which is so funny that Rob was talking about switching sides today.

So my dad wasn't very religious.

So then the big difference was it was then just on my shoulders to see whether or not

I was going to continue to practice my faith and follow Jesus.

And so I'd say the biggest difference would be it was a choice that I made.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Was there something specific that sort of prompted you to make that choice or it just

felt natural to you?

It just felt natural for one thing and the other thing is when I moved to Canada I was

around 12 or 13 and I lived with my dad for a little bit but then things didn't work

out so well so kind of you know between staying with relatives and staying with them and being

on my own the only thing I had to really lean on was my faith.

And so that was what really kind of solidified things for me because I always needed to you

know pray for things to go better and they usually did.

But it took a while for me to just say to think that this is Jesus working for me versus

luck.

You know often times he's going like oh man I was lucky on that.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then there becomes this thing like this lifeline that really like when there's nothing

else I mean you may as well pray about it.

Exactly.

But you know often times and that's probably the sad piece of it you don't give credit

really to where that fate is coming from and who's delivering for you.

You kind of just going like well the universe has given me some blessing.

Yeah yeah for sure.

Yeah so when you think about maybe that period of your life or another period how would you

say that faith has helped you get through challenging times?

I think as a young man coming to Canada without my mom who was really the you know my first

hero and really the person that supported everything that I did and then losing that

made you start to really think through what can I do and how can I you know make a life

without having this person there.

And so for me I really started thinking through and getting closer and praying about things

and find myself like okay there's so many things that are happening in my life like

the first breakaway like how will I get through this?

I was young I just left my mom I'm in a new country I came in the winter time.

Oh the worst time to come.

I think it was March or something that I came so there's a lot to pray for the first day

I landed here I was going like I'm praying for some warmth right now.

So yeah definitely and then as things go well I remember you know like going to bed and

crying and so then what would you do because you miss home you miss your friends you're

in a new school so that was really the first time that I got tested that I really had to

lean on my faith and had a lot of things to pray for to just get through that.

And how would you say that like how did you experience God in that time?

Did you feel like God was there for you and sort of faithful or did you feel more distant?

Yes my journey to and it is so funny there's so many times where I prayed for things to

happen please God send me a sign and a sign was sent and I would go back and I was going

like oh maybe that was just luck right?

Did my prayers really get really get answered?

I think through university and high school so I think like the first time I really said

oh man what's happened because I really wanted to go to university coming out of high school

but my grades weren't great and partially because I was working a lot as a student and

you know I was playing sports but I wanted to continue to play sports and the only way

you could continue to play sports was if you went to a university because most colleges

didn't have I ran track and most colleges didn't didn't have track and I wanted to

continue.

And I remember praying for an answer like how do I get my grades up you know like how

do I get into university when my you know my marks aren't good enough and I had a high

school my high school coach came to me and said hey I think I found a way for you to

not work as much as you're working that way you can focus on just doing your homework

and doing school and get your grades up and so at the time took me got some assistance

and I was able to not work as much and I was going like man and my grades went up some

teachers helped me as well and I was able to get into get into university I was gonna

like wow my prayers got answered and that was like a big a big moment for me to where

things just like okay that was a big that was a big wish granted so yeah.

And like yeah God answers our prayers through other people too right like sometimes we ask

God to like you know miraculously do something and and sometimes it is you know out of the

blue seems really miraculous but sometimes it is just the kindness of other people in

our lives right.

And there's so many you know like so that was the that was the first one and then I

went off and I after university I graduated I went and I ran for a number of years and

you know had fun just traveling the world and doing sports but it would it didn't pay

well sure and I came back from that and decided that I now needed to find a job but I had

no work experience and four years out of university with no work experience I was going like where

am I gonna find a job and I was going like God man I need an answer on this I still have

my OSAP loans to pay back and and I have no job yep and so I prayed about it and this

lady that I knew because she volunteered heavily in sports I was telling her that I have she's

going like what are you gonna do now that you're retired that's going I need to find

a job but I I have no idea yeah she had a job for me and it was it was the best job

it was working at Sears in project management event sports so I went to the Raptors games

at least games I was going like it was fell in my lap yeah and I was going like oh my

god answered my prayers again and it was a you know a big moment in my life and a milestone

and was the start of my that gave me a career in retail and I'm still in now yeah so it

opened up and I can go in every stage of my life yeah I would say the one thing that it

took me a while to just say hey to really believe in in faith and really trust in faith

and say that when I pray good things will happen may not be the way I expected to to

to happen in the I one thing I will tell you pray and takes patience of course it was cool

like it's it's never when you when you want it to happen but it it will happen yeah yeah

sometimes that patience is hard yeah it always is hard yeah yeah but yeah God God comes through

for sure but then I think that's part of your fate right is the fate of patience to to

trust that that things will will happen and the stronger your fate the stronger your trust

in God the more things will will happen for you yeah for sure so you mentioned that you've

always been going to Anglican churches so is there something about Anglican churches

in particular that have that sort of is important to you in your faith I would say one that's

what I was first introduced to sure the the second piece and for me the churches that

I've gone and I don't want to just call out you know like Anglican churches so I'll say

the churches that I've the Anglican churches that I've that I've gone to has allowed me

to be my authentic self I don't feel like I have to to live up to to something that

is about that church sure I can it's about my faith and my relationship with God and

that is the priority versus my relationship with the church right yeah no that's that's

super cool and I think that's something that we're all sort of looking for in a community

in a church it's like yeah just a space where we can be yeah and if it just so happens that

like Anglican churches is where that is for you then like that's awesome yeah yeah that's

cool yeah so when you think back in the sermon series we've been talking about heroes of

faith and looking at the scriptural heroes of faith so are there any folks in the Bible

or sort of scripture verses that come to mind as like being really significant for you in

your faith journey you know I was I've been through this whole series of faith I've been

thinking about you know like who are those those heroes that really relate to to now

and I would say when I think about the one I can't remember if it's like three or four

back when we talked about Noah and the ark and just around trust and obedience is is

one that really resonate for me and someone that I would think of as a hero in my life

because so much of what we we do now is we don't have the answers yeah you know we're

we're sometimes given signs we don't know what the the future will hold and it just

takes a lot of trust but when you trust and you're obedient good things happen and sometimes

you just have to just just go along with it and in our society now it's easy to say no

because there's so many things we're all looking for instant you know like I need something

right immediate that like instant gratification and yeah yeah and so you know sometimes it's

you build and wait and so for me that is kind of how I try to live my life is I take the

signs and that I've given yeah I trust I build and I wait and so even raising my kids like

I can't have all the answers I know there's a I know there's a formula or things that

you know I must have it's kind of like what do you put in the ark what do I instill in

my kids sure and then you just hope that if you instill the right things that the results

will be the results you're looking for yeah yeah I'm wondering you know you were talking

about raising your kids and trying to instill those values in them how has being a parent

shaped your faith has that changed the way that you think about faith or about God at

all somewhat yeah I would say you know in what is really shaped my I had two grandmothers

that lived until they were 95 okay well they both lived until they're 95 yeah and one of

the things that I can always think about with them is that never left their side was their

Bible like they just always you know their fate was was so important to them and the

values that they shared and even some of the you know the stories that they told yeah are

stories that shaped me yeah and I still you know even times when I thought they weren't

landing yeah oh grandma used to say this or mama used to say that and I used to go like

like how many times are you gonna read the Bible and so you know to see that coming to

life and and to see my son and digitally now but to see him you know like reading his Bible

whether in the morning or before he goes to bed it makes you feel good about okay these

values when especially when there's so many things competing for their interest now is

really strengthen strengthen my fate because I know you know switching sides isn't easy

yeah and so it's made me be a lot more committed because I want to demonstrate for them those

values and not just say it so you know there's times where I probably come to church more

consistently now since them because I want to make sure that they they they experience

and so they're gonna make the choice that they want to make sure eventually but it's

it's not gonna be because I didn't lay that foundation for them yeah yeah yeah and I think

like looking back as you said on on your grandmother's faith and just being able to say okay they

let it lay the foundation for me and so now I'm gonna do that for for my kids like yeah

sometimes we don't like you said we don't get to decide what they're gonna do but we

get to lay the foundation exactly and sometimes like you were saying you know your grandmothers

would tell these stories over and over you're like yeah I'm not really listening right but

then it does it comes back to you at a certain point you know and and you get that faith

that's passed on just through genuine human interaction and love and family um and that's

the the piece for me and again it goes back to the whole story like I said with uh with

Noah um you don't know what the outcome is is going to be um and it's a matter of that

trust and and obedience and so I try to demonstrate that with my kids we're going like I don't

know but if I continue to plant these seeds and plant these values in them some of them

are going to grow and eventually um you know by like coming to church that's me nurturing

and watering it uh and eventually they're going to see uh these seeds into trees that

that they enjoy and they're either going to cut them down or continue to to nurture them

and some they may cut down and some they will continue to to nurture but uh if you don't

plant something uh other things will will grow right so and so I rather the things that

I know um that have worked for me be planted than just a bunch of weeds um so when you

think about people that you know in your life are there any people that you would consider

sort of heroes of faith for you yes okay they're my grandparents um um both of them and like

I said ironically enough um they gave me two different perspectives um you know my one

grandmother on my dad's side lived I would say I don't want to say less fortunate life

um but she didn't she didn't come uh she didn't have a lot growing up in fact you know my

grandmother didn't have electricity okay uh until she was in her 80s and where she lived

where she lived and ironically about that is she became blind so by the time she could

get like you know electricity in her house and light and whatever she couldn't um take

advantage of it but her fate carried her through so many things she was always happy uh for

someone that had such such little um she always shared um if it was like even if she had one

cracker yeah she would break it and give it to like everyone um she took life you know

like I remember going home the only thing that I had to bring home for her was a bag

of licorice she liked licorice for some reason um and so for me it really showed me the value

of what you can do even when you you had nothing but you had a strong strong belief and strong

fate and so she was definitely my my hero because there's so many times that I had to

think you know and she lived so long yeah and I was going like how can you be happy

you're here and it's going like in 40 degrees in Jamaica 40 plus there's no ac yeah she

had like a zinc roof um you know uh you can barely get ice to even you know she'd make

some lemonade but it was like lukewarm yeah oh man this tastes more like tea than anything

you know right yeah but you never saw her upset uh and I believe it was her fate that

did it um and on my other side on my mom's side uh my other grandmother same thing it

was her fate like her experience was different but she had different challenges uh and she

overcame them through just a strong belief in fate she had 10 kids wow and so you needed

faith you need some faith to raise 10 kids for sure yeah exactly yeah yeah good um is

there anything else about your faith journey that you sort of stands out or that you wanted

to share yeah I think the biggest thing is that you know the the key word there is a

journey um you know and and so fate for me is always it's a journey that I'm on and it's

a journey that I will continue to to be on um and as I experience different things and

go through different stages of my life some things have to pivot uh more and more things

you know challenge your fate um I would say most recently and uh my father passed away

in December and and it was sudden and then I was going like this makes absolutely no

sense um and so you know still questioning today and just thinking through like he was

such a good person he was so healthy um there was it it was just suddenly and how quickly

life can change and make you ponder on you know what's really important but you then

have to again lean on your fate to say you know like what do I need to why and and sometimes

maybe just even stop asking why and and it is because trust what's ahead of you and and

what's next so I think for me you know just continuing to to believe uh in those moments

as you go through them so yeah I think in those hard times like why as you said is often

one of the first questions that we asked but I was reading something last week that talked

about this idea of you know when you're tempted to ask why what if you asked what instead

it's like what am I supposed to do with this what does this mean like what what what comes

next yeah you know yeah and I think you know the other piece of it too is you know like

every week you know we come to church or you know whether you say your prayers in the morning

or before you go to bed or both or whatever you do oftentimes we're praying for forgiveness

or to help others or you know different different things that we pray for and so sometimes I

ask myself how many times can I pray for forgiveness you know how about you just stop making these

just fake so you um you you don't have to pray for forgiveness and you know I think

my fate is is what gives me strength in saying that you know it's a journey and you just

that's what's most important is you're not giving up and you continue to to work and

and keep faith that one day you will you will get it right so yeah we just keep going on

the journey yeah yeah for sure thank you so much for taking some time and sharing a bit

of your story with us and for those who are listening I hope that you have been also been

encouraged and maybe challenged through bits of triune a story and able to see yourself

in his story and consider what might God be calling you to next as we continue in this

journey of faith.