I get a lot of phone calls. I get calls about going to school, calls about not going to school, and calls about everything else related to school. There is only one other staff member working in the AFC Student Centre with me (Hi May!), and the frequency and diversity of calls have been ever increasing. I have no problem admitting my Mandarin skills isn’t the greatest, and I have had appointments and did
workshops in mandarin that literally felt like pulling teeth. But the thing that kept me going, and more importantly, the thing that kept other giants organizations referring needy parents to us, is that AFC can do things other places can’t.

All the parents and students that we meet are delighted to finally meet someone who can make sense out of the Canadian education system, go through all the rules and tips, and then answer the needs of our clients in simple terms. (If you’ve tried searching through a university website, you know what I mean.) At AFC Student Centre our goal is simply to help the students, and thus we get the flexibility to expand our services as necessary to cater to the students’ needs to the fullest.

I have always wanted to work in a Christian organization for at least part of my career life, and I guess God saw something in me that could be useful to AFC. First He gave me a job working with children to build up my patience, then He blessed me with a girlfriend who is obsessed with Taiwan to train up my Mandarin, and then the Lord opened up the position in AFC (and He convinced my bosses and supervisor that I can do the job well), and then here I am. A psychology and education fresh grad working in a place where the phones ring off the hooks and everyone asks for direction for the next 4 years of their lives. It’s tough but I love it. I am learning just as much here in AFC as I am serving, but it is comforting to know that every little bits of information I learn could have the power to change a student/parent’s live for the next 4 years. Every little bit helps. (Did I mention it’s tough?)

Mati Ma
馬致達
使者學生服務幹事
兼職整鼓
參加高潔林
自立中華基督教會
常常在你
遙遠的附近