Good News, Great Joy!

We’re living in a pandemic, so what’s the good news? Well, to put it simply, Jesus is alive! And our God is in the business of taking the darkest, bleakest circumstances and raising them to life. He has done it in the past and we have full confidence that He will do it again! So what does this mean? It means we can have hope when the situation looks hopeless, we can have joy in the hardest of times, and we can have peace despite crazy uncertainties. And all it requires is a mustard seed of faith. So would you join us in taking steps of faith this week? In praising God before we see the breakthrough?

During a crisis, our natural human response is fear which leads to anxiety, self-preservation, and control that prevents us from living out our calling. But we believe Jesus has called us to a different response, one He empowers us to complete with His Holy Spirit; prayer instead of worry, generosity instead of scarcity, and living in faith instead of fear and control. It has been a journey for us to understand how dependence on God works in this time of crisis. But here are some stories from how we’ve seen this happening lately and a few practical steps of faith we can take together during this time.

“Faith is confidence in the kindness of God no matter the confusion of circumstances.”

–Ann Voskamp

Pray in Faith

Everything is built on prayer. We get to hear the voice of our God tell us He loves us, will provide for us, and has a plan for us. In prayer, we get to partner with God to achieve His will! During this shut-down, we have been asking God to reveal His will for us and our YWAM Niagara team. We believe He answered by assuring us of His calling, by asking us to lay a foundation for our work in prayer, and to press into His Word to get to know even better the God we want others to meet. God opened a door for our team to enroll in a part-time inductive Bible course, from YWAM’s University of the Nations, that will equip us with an in-depth understanding of the Scriptures and how to present it as a unified story that leads to Jesus! And for that foundation of prayer, God has been laying on our heart to not just pray individually or even just with our staff, but pray with our community, churches, and support team.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

–Philippians 4:6-7

Thank you for praying for us and our ministry. In so many ways your prayers for us have been answered and current world events will not stop them from still being answered! We know so many of you pour into hours of prayer for various people you love and support. Thank you for having us be a part of them. How can we be praying for you?

Give in Faith

Trusting God with what we value is a big step of faith. Yet “Tithing” is an old testament law that Jesus translates into the new testament value of radical generosity. He always likes to take it up a notch! Jesus’ radical generosity is giving of our time, skills, and finances with faith in God, with love for one another, and without a 10% limit. We’ve been blessed to be on both sides of this and we’re sure you have too. The other day a friend gave us a free oil change at his shop, Tanner was able to give 3 hours of our weekend to teach some Brock students about Hearing God’s Voice over a video call, and last week we got to bless a stranger whose business was struggling with a bit of extra cash.

In the same way that there is a call to continue supporting small businesses, we’d like to invite you to do the same with ministries; continue or start to support your church, missionaries, local charities, or other creative opportunities and together we can express God’s radical generosity even in the toughest of times.

If you feel led to support our ministry, you can do so here:

Thank you so much for supporting us with your finances and investing in us your time. We know you sacrifice to do so. Keep living radical giving despite the world’s perception of uncertainty!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

–Matthew 6:19-21

Live in Faith, Not Fear

Jesus never promised us we wouldn’t have troubles, He actually said we would! Instead, He promised to be with us every step of the way and that He has overcome them all. For us personally, this idea is sometimes challenging to believe. But times like these have revealed where our faith was misplaced and has allowed us to recentre ourselves on the one who never changes, on the one who loved us to death and back! So as we enter an Easter season that looks a lot different than normal, let’s fix our eyes upon the author and perfecter of our faith. When making a decision whether major or minor this week, take a moment to stop and reflect; Is my decision motivated out of fear or out of faith? And if it is the former then take those thoughts captive, submit them to Jesus, and declare His truth over the situation. Reading God’s promises and recounting testimonies of how God has moved in others and in us has stirred our faith for how He will move in the present & future! If you are struggling with fear right now, please shoot us an email, message, or text and we would love to pray with you and tell you our stories of God’s faithfulness.

“In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus told His disciples. “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

–John 16:33

What’s up with YWAM Niagara?

Due to COVID-19, we’ve had to temporarily close our YWAM Niagara office, and postpone a number of ministries. However, we’ve kept meeting as a staff team virtually and building the “behind the scenes”, laying a foundation of prayer, and getting to know our God and His Word better. As a team, we’ve been asking God how we can pray, give, and live in faith during this time. Having a pandemic hit right when you’re planning to launch a new ministry can be confusing and frustrating, but our God is faithful and has already begun to answer our prayers in ways we never saw coming!

Here are some extras!

Here are some resources that have really encouraged us in praying, giving, and living by faith lately: