Father Zisis Rekkas crouches on the gymnasium floor of École Demosthenes to make sure he’s made eye-contact with his audience.

He engages them with his passionate words, warnings, and cautionary tales. Father Zisis is a man on a mission. Every Saturday night, from 6 to 8 pm, he plays hockey or basketball with kids from the Greek Orthodox Youth Association also called GOYA ―a group he founded. Before the games begin, he “straight-talks” to them about the meaning of life, about being grateful, about compassion and hard work, about “loving thine enemies” and about forgiveness ―about those good old-fashioned values we, parents want so badly for our children to learn, but yet…just can’t seem to fit into our hectic schedule. Father Zisis’ mission is to make sure his young flock learns the easy way what he had to learn the hard way; “The world out there right now is CRAP. I grew up in a poor neighborhood in Toronto, near crack houses and gangs, and prostitutes and the mob. It was hard, but the Church was my salvation. You have a safe place here. So when you go home tonight, thank your parents for what they have given you.”

Father Zisis speaks in a blunt, no-holds barred fashion. With him, what you see is what you get. His words are from the heart, and always intended to make you think. I first met Father Zisis back in October, while attending mass on a Sunday at St-Nicholas Church in Chomedey during my election campaign. His sermon after mass was like a bucket of ice-cold water on my tired and sleep-starved face. This was NOT your average priest, asking you to come to Church more often, to love thine neighbor, and to pay your tithe. This priest reaches out, and grabs you by the conscience. “I want to light a spark under the feet of all these people here, to wake them up from their stupor.”

Strong words, but at least they are backed by strong actions. Since moving to Laval from Toronto last year, Father Zisis and his wife Magda have pumped new life into their Church. Sunday school went from non-existent to over 40 children now in attendance. Last year, he and his GOYA kids held a marathon which helped raised almost $2700 for charity. The children gave half of it to the Ladies’ Benevolent Society at the Church, and the rest was donated to the Old Brewery Mission. In January, Father Zisis took the children to feed the homeless at the Old Brewery Mission —to see the fruit of their good deed. “A lot of the kids were moved by that visit and were inspired to do well in school and make something of themselves,” he says.

On the cold gym floor, Father Zisis strives to relate to the kids so that his words can sink in. “Do you know who Pitbull is?” his voice echoes as he asks his young audience. Jackpot. The children’s eyes light-up, and they answer in eerie unison; “YA!!!!!” Now he’s got’em! The priest tells them an abridged, but not fully censored story of the Cuban-American singer’s rise from rags to riches, and that he just helped build a school for poor kids. Pitbull is not exactly my choice for a role model, but relating to kids can be tough in this day and age, so full credit to Father Zisis for his modern approach.

After a quick tête-à-tête with his GOYA parents and briefing on the annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser, we continue our conversation. “Young kids have a need for God because, if they’re only counting on themselves –that’s a lot of pressure,” he argues, adding that the feeling of having no one to count on but yourself leads to anxiety and depression, if not violence and in extreme cases, suicide. “We’ve been feeding kids this pipe dream that, somehow, being a go-getter, money, a Ferrari in the driveway, fancy trips…that materialism will make them happy, but it won’t!” he exclaims. After the Christmas holidays, Father Zisis hosts a three-day camp for kids to play outdoors, learn Bible stories, make friends, and create memories. His ultimate goal is lofty but simple. “The Church doesn’t belong to me. It’s theirs,” he says. “I want them to feel like it’s their home –like they have somewhere to turn.”

We parents, he argues, do a heck of a whole lot to meet our children’s material and emotional needs. But what about their souls? What about their spiritual needs? This made me think about my own children. I can safely say I grew with more spirituality than they did, so what will that mean for them down the line? This is the point of Father Zisis’ words. They are meant to “wake you up” as he says.

“I hope these kids ground their lives in faith in Christ. I’m looking for just a little spark, and if it’s there, it will be there for the rest of their lives.”

Father Zisis and the GOYA can be reached at 450-973-3480. This summer, he plans to sponsor 30 kids to attend Camp Metamorphosis in Rawdon, a Greek Orthodox Christian camp. The camp costs 250$ per week per child.