Ministry Update – July 2006
Over the last year, many of you have gone beyond being just readers and become friends. Several of you have even humbled us by supporting us financially in our time of struggle. As I try to be more personal with my posts, I thought it would be good to post a ministry update for you to read. Enjoy!
Dear Family & Friends,
Greetings our beautiful inner city neighbourhood. We trust this find you well, as you are all in our thoughts and prayers daily. As usual, life has been blazing ahead of us, keeping us on our toes. Since you last heard from us, we have been going through a trying season. God has been faithful throughout, so we are confident that He can use all things for His purposes. We hope this letter will give you a sense of how where we are at and how you can pray for us. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the read!
Invisible Children of Northern Uganda
Recently, God has been calling us as a YWAM team to respond to the terrible realities of northern Uganda. Caught in a 20 year civil war with a rebel army, thousands of children are being abducted and forced to be child soldiers by this cultic militia, with the government troops only marginally better. Further, due to instability, more than a million Ugandans have been forced to live in “refugee” camps within their own borders, with thousands dying daily from disease, violence, etc. While there is not space here to go into more detail, needless to say we were moved to respond to this hidden tragedy.
Most of our team were inspired by the documentary “Invisible Children”, where three regular guys chronicled their powerful discvoery of these children. In response, two of our staff created the Gulu Prayer Project which called people around the world to join in non-stop 336 hours of prayer (2 weeks) for Uganda. As a result, we saw people from more than a half dozen nations join us in this endeavour of prayer and advocacy. While the event is over, many are still praying daily and are asking for another organized event, which we plan to run again this Fall. Further, three of our staff will be heading to northern Uganda in October to serve the people, as well as make contacts for hosting future missions teams.
A Season of Growth
While we were disappointed at postponing this years DTS, it has given us the freedom to dig deeper into God’s calling for us as a missional community. Our staff have each been taking time to engage in building relationships and serving with ministries and programs in the inner city. Whether it is working with inner city kids, reaching out to prostitutes or counseling drug addicts in the city core, our team has been stepping out of their comfort zone to be the missional community we’re called to be to our neighbours and city. We’re driven daily to go deeper. Please pray for our team.
YWAM Western Canada Leadership Team
We also recently returned from YWAM Western Canada Leadership Team (WCLT) meetings in Calgary, where we have both been serving to provide spiritual and operational leadership to the mission in our region. YWAM Canada is seeing an increasing growth in vision and unity, which is exciting. Our deepest desire is to see more and more Christians mobilized, trained and released into service for God’s Kingdom. We will continue to serve on this important leadership team, so please pray that God will provide the resources and wisdom to serve God and the mission as best we can. We will be attending again in October in Kelowna, where Jamie will be making a presentation on missions in an emerging culture, as there is increasing interest from within the organization.
Discpleship Training School 2007
We are also continuing to prepare for the January 2007 Discipleship Training School (DTS). Our student interest is much stronger this year, with people applying from all over the world. We are excited to see this group come together for training, then released to serve in Thailand (and possibly Uganda) later next Spring. The DTS is the 5 month entry level program into YWAM. This school is a praxis based spiritual formation program that allows students to engage Kingdom concepts beyond just ideas and theories. Many people, like us, have found their life vocation during this revolutionary program. If you know anyone who might be interested in participating in this dynamic school, please contact us.
Prayer for an Urban Hero
When we established our ministry here in Winnipeg, Pastor Harry Lehotsky (who I feature in the introduction of my book “Looking Forward“) was crucial in making it happen. In addition to providing our first home/office as newly married YWAM directors, he later generously made our current house available to us. His friendship, support and example have continued to be an inspiration to us both as he lives and serves in our neighbourhood. Recently, we learned that Harry had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Doctors have given him 6 weeks to 9 months to live with little hope of viable treatment. We are grieved, so call all of you to pray for this man of God, his family, ministry and community.
Challenges and Needs
In addition to all the exciting things happening throughout this season, we have also faced several discouraging challenges of our own. Since our miscarriage last year, we have been unable to get pregnant again, therefore have been trying to save up for the possibility of adoption, slowly putting money aside. However, with our financial support waning, we were not sure if it would be possible.
It was at this time that Immigration Canada informed us that Kim was required to apply for her Permanent Residency ASAP, which came with a significant set of expenses. Of course, when it rains it pours- within 3 days of this news, we were hit with several other major, unexpected expenses. We have also seen a significant drop in our committed monthly support. Needless to say, we have been very discouraged as these mounting expenses loom over us daily. Please pray that God will provide for our needs in this time. (See below for more details)
In the end, we are both confident and humbled by the love and grace of God, and the support and encouragement of friends and family like you. Despite all the challenges, we know that, as we walk in obedience to Him in being ministers of the Gospel, He will continue to provide everything we need. Thank you all for continuing to be a part of our mission in prayer, support and love. Please drop us a note, a call or even drop in for a visit. Our door is always open!
In His Peace,
Jamie & Kim Arpin-Ricci
Financial Crisis Info
As you know, in order for us to continue to serve God in the ministry He has called us into, we depend on His provision through the generous financial support of people like you. By partnering with us in this way, you help touch the lives of countless people all over the world. We are daily humbled by your willingness to serve God and us in this way.
Recently, we have faced some significant financial challenges. As our committed monthly support has slowly waned over the last year, we have also been hit with several unexpected expenses. Immigration Canada informed us recently that Kim was required to apply for her Permanent Residency ASAP, which comes with a hefty price tag. Additionally, within 3 days of this news, we were hit with several other major expenses (i.e. two fairly new, major appliances died on the same day). We find ourselves facing in the next 2 months nearly $5000 above our regular expenses.
Also, as Kim & I have been asked to step into greater levels of regional leadership, our monthly expenses have also increased. As a pioneering centre, YWAM is only able to partial subsidize some of these expenses at this time. Therefore, combined with the above mentioned challenges and our current support status, we spent time praying about how we should respond to this crisis. Here is how we see the challenge at this point:
Committed Monthly Support – In order to continue to serve God in the roles He has called us to, we need to see our committed monthly support increase. So many of you have faithfully supported our ministry for years. Many have given out of what little you have. Our desire is not to see those who are already giving sacraficially to be stretched further, but to broaden our support team to include others. We would like you all to prayerfully consider what part God would have you play in this area, whether it be through financial giving or advocating on our behalf to others. Above all, your prayers are needed.
One Time Response – With the unexpected financial crisis that have emerged this year, we also need to raise a significant amount to pay for immediate expenses, such as Kim’s immigration expenses. Additionally, as we long to begin a family together, we have felt increasingly led to pursue international adoption. While we still pray that we will become pregnant, we are also aware of the millions of children around the world who are without the benefit of a loving family. Lord willing, we would like to begin this process as soon as Kim’s status in Canada is secure and our financial situation stable.
If you would like to receive a tax receipt (Canadians only), you can send your support through YWAM Donor Services. Please 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 Donor Office (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. For those outside of Canada, you can make direct donations from our website, www.arpin-ricci.blog.com using the “Make Donation” PayPal link on the right sidebar. (Contact Donor Services @ PO Box 57100, 2480 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V5K 5G6, CANADA, Ph: 604.436.4433 Fx: 604.436.4466 Email: donorservices@shaw.ca).
If you have any questions, please do not hestitate to contact us. We are completely open to answer any of your questions or concerns regarding fundraising and missions support. Thank you so much for taking the time to prayerfully consider our needs.
