No Opportunity Wasted

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Dear Friends,

Greetings from Winnipeg’s West End! We trust this finds you well. It has been nearly a year since we’ve written, for which there is no excuse, so brace yourself for an update. So much has happened over last several months, as we have seen God’s faithfulness to us and to our community. It is our hope that you will be encouraged and challenged as we share some of our journey.

Mourning A Friend, Celebrating A Life

In our last newsletter we asked you to pray for our friend and neighbour, Pst. Harry Lehotsky who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Sadly, Harry died last November surrounded by his family. We have been moved by the response people have had in support of Harry and his ministry here. Thousands of people came together to raise funds to pay off all the outstanding ministry expenses for the church’s projects. As a testament to his service to God and his community, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. We’ll miss you, Harry.

Mission Adventures Impacts Thousands

One of our key programs here in the city is Mission Adventures (MA), seeing hundreds of Christians mobilized into missions every year. Last year Kim was asked to join the Mission Adventures North American Leadership Team where she will help to shape the program to impact the lives of thousands of people serving God in missions worldwide. This is a great honour and one that I (Jamie) know she well deserves. Keep her in prayer as she serves in this new context.

Our MA program continues to grow, with teams coming from all over to serve God. This summer we will be offering our second MA Summer program. It’s a lot of work, so your prayers are needed. Kim has also been working so that within the next year, we will be able to offer outreaches to every continent (except Antarctica- sorry Happy Feet!). We currently offer outreach to Canada, Thailand, Kenya and South Africa.

YWAM Gets A Face Lift

With the growth of our ministry, we realized that the YWAM house was not big enough to meet our needs. So, after much prayer, we’ve rented a store-front (522 Sargent Ave) out of which we have our offices and run our programs. This has served to give us a more public presence, with a steady flow of neighbours dropping by daily. What we love most about our location is that it is at the heart of the most culturally diverse neighbourhood in the province! Going to the nations has never been easier! If you are in the city, drop in.

Discipleship And Missions In Uganda

This January we started our second Discipleship Training School (DTS). The DTS is the 5 month entry level program into YWAM. It is a hands-on missions program that allows students to engage ministry beyond just ideas and theories. Our new office allowed us to develop the DTS even more, seeing our 6 students (3 men, 3 women) shaped into missional leaders. After 3 (cold) months of living, training and serving in our inner city community, the team headed to Uganda for their 2 month outreach.

God has been calling us to get involved in Uganda, especially given what they have suffered after more than 20 years of internal warfare, with children regularly kidnapped and forced into becoming child soldier. Everyone needs to hear about the love of Jesus, but few need to experience that love more than a generation who have been forced to murder, rape and destroy their friends and family. Please keep this nation in your prayers and find out how you might get involved.

While in Uganda, our team was able to serve in many capacities. In addition to sharing the Gospel in word and discipling local Christians, they served in many other practical ways, such as helping at the HIV/AIDS clinics run by YWAM there. One of our leaders contracted malaria, but was easily and cheaply cured by medication. It was sobering to our team to realize that millions still needlessly die from this treatable disease for lack of access and money. Needless to say, all were changed by their time in Uganda.

A Real Page Turner

We are excited to announce a new missional project that Jamie is spearheading- The Dusty Cover Used Bookstore. A challenge in our community is finding places to meet ones neighbours. The community centres are over-worked and businesses are profit driven. Our goal is to create a welcoming environment (that is not sales driven) where people can come and read, chat, study, etc. Coffee will be by donation and the books are free to be read in the store at no cost or purchased at very reasonable rates.

We also hope to meet many of the felt needs in our neighbourhood. Seeing the link between illiteracy and crime, we will offer after school reading/homework clubs. With diabetes skyrocketing, we will offer food/nutrition skill classes. To help those who selfless serve God in our inner city, we will offer quality, free ministry training. These are just a few of the ways we are planning on reaching our community through the bookstore.

To get this done, however, we need your help. We need books of all kinds, especially for kids. (Please no Harlequin, Readers Digest Condensed or magazines). We have a surplus of Christian titles at this time, but all are still welcome. If you have any books to donate (now or in the future) let us know. We also need to find individuals, churches and businesses who want to financially support this project so that we can minister to the people without having to focus on making a profit.

One Tough Aussie

This year has been especially full for Kim. As most of you know, we have been working to get her Permanent Residency, which has been a long, expensive process. However, as of last week, after yet another meeting and a sizable cheque, Kim was approved for PR! Thank you all for your prayer and support for us through this.

Kim also underwent surgery last week. As we have not been able to conceive after our miscarriage, the doctors decided that exploratory surgery was needed. All other tests we have done have come back positive, so the doctors don’t expect to find anything. We won’t know results for 6-8 weeks, so please pray for Kim’s recovery and for our hopes for a family.

Jamie’s Keeping Busy

The past year has been a full one for Jamie as well. Through his writing and speaking, he has been involved in serving local Christians, especially in what it means to live missional lives. Addition to the bookstore, he is also well into the manuscript for his second book, which he hopes to have off to the publisher before the end of this year.

Recently, Jamie organized an event to challenge the church to become missional leaders in our communities. Bringing in author and speaker Alan Roxburgh, we had an exciting evening exploring what it means to be missional. The diverse representation from local churches was encouraging, as was the positive feedback from participants. Jamie is already working with others to plan another event for this Autumn.

What’s Ahead For Us

Change is a constant that we are quickly learning to accept- the coming months being no exception. In addition to the summer program and the bookstore, we will also be seeing several new staff join our team. We recently said farewell to Paul, our first staff member, as he retired last week. We are going into the coming year with an intention to develop our ministries to more effectively live and proclaim the Gospel, all the while equipping the church to do the same.

As always, your prayer and financial support have been a real blessing. Through you, God has provided for us, even in the face of what seemed hopeless. We want to honour you all for partnering with us in our mission. We couldn’t do it without you. Please continue to prayerfully consider how you can stand with us. With increased leadership responsibility and expanding ministry, so too ministry expenses rise. Not only does your financial support help with our basic needs, it also helps fund the very ministries we operate. Above all, pray.

We promise to stay in better touch this year. As always, let us know if you are going to be in the Winnipeg area, as we would love to connect for coffee or a meal. Thanks again and all our love and prayers.

In His Peace,
Kim & Jamie Arpin-Ricci

If any of you are in supporting us financially, you can do so through YWAM Canada’s Project Funding office. Make your cheque or money order payable to Youth With A Mission and include a separate note with our name on it. Do not put put our name anywhere on the cheque. Send cheques to our Project Funding (see below info). If you are interested in giving on a monthly basis you can send in post-dated cheques or use our pre-authorized payment method. If you are interested in receiving a pre-authorized payment agreement form please email or call our donor office with your name and address.

They send out income tax receipts to donors monthly or annually. You can also give (without receipting) through the PayPal link on the sidebar. Any and all support is appreciated, especially in this time of increased expenses and ministry responsibilities.

Project Funding
PO Box 57100
2480 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V5K 5G6
CANADA
Ph: 604.436.4433 Fx: 604.436.4466
Email: donorservices@shaw.ca