It’s Time To Dream Again
2021 has been filled with a lot of heartache for us as we walked through the difficult decision of ending our March DTS early. The slowest thing to heal was our ability to dream. When we started YWAM Niagara we were wide-eyed with the dreams God had laid on our heart for the Niagara region. We were fresh and energized and believing in the big and the crazy. When failure hits, it can become easy to stop dreaming all together. To slip into our comfort zone and attempt to minimize all risk. But we’ve felt God gently but firmly calling us back to dreaming big. To seek him for fresh vision and to believe him at his word!
A Redeeming Summer
After a time of rest and healing, our team came back together in Niagara for the summer. We invested in praying and worshipping together as we sought God’s heart for each other and for Niagara! During this time, we felt God calling us to prayer walk every street of Niagara Falls! This has been a big undertaking, and we certainly aren’t close to being finished, but it has been amazing to see our own hearts grow for the city! If you’d ever like to join us for a prayer walk, please shoot us an email.
We’ve also been blessed to build partnerships with local ministries throughout Niagara. Melinda had the opportunity to serve at Agape Valley Day Camp where she witnessed three of her campers give their lives to Christ! We’ve also loved getting to serve the homeless community of St. Catharines alongside the Niagara Dream Centre. We’ve encountered people give their life to Jesus in the midst of contemplating suicide and be connected to amazing resources as they seek to find housing and break addictions.
Building Update
Another dream God has been inviting us into is a permanent location for YWAM Niagara to call home. After investing lots of prayer as a team and walking through many, many houses, we finally found one that checked all the boxes. It was not only a functional space, but also fulfilled specific words we had heard God speak. With the support of a generous donor, we put an offer on it! We were so encouraged by the sacrificial generosity of so many towards this project. However, our Friday financing deadline came and went without any word from the bank on our mortgage approval. The very next day a cash offer came in and the building was sold unconditionally. This loss brought us great disappointment. Everything seemed to be lining up just to fall through. As we sought the Lord in prayer, he reminded us to never place our hope in a building and that he will always provide what we need when we need it. And he did just that. We have been blessed with an affordable short term rental that is just enough space to host our single staff and students during their DTS Lectures. However, we will need a new space for this January! Our fundraising campaign is still underway and we have been blessed with another major donor to partner with us in pursuing another property. We will continue to keep you updated on this whirlwind journey! It doesn’t always look the way we want it to or expect, but God always provides for our needs!
Meet Our Trailblazers!
This crew has dedicated the next 6 months to knowing God and making him known! We have already witnessed them grow so much from learning how to study the Bible for all its worth to sharing the Gospel with those visiting the falls. One student even made the decision to get baptized! We decided it was a little too chilly for the lake this time and used Tanner’s Aunt & Uncles’ hot tub instead! We celebrated with an open community night where we got to worship with friends and family from around the region. If you would like to be a part of our next community night, do let us know, we would love to have you! We also recently revealed the DTS outreach locations. We will be sending one team to Brazil and one team to Quebec! Please be praying for our students as they continue with lectures and begin preparing for their outreach term.
Two Years Of Pioneering
Two years ago, we sent out our first newsletter announcing our plans to pioneer YWAM Niagara! And what a two years it has been! We have seen many incredible miracles and many miraculous disappointments! We have witnessed lives saved and transformed along with program failures, financial difficulties, and all the Covid related setbacks that continue on even today. Reflecting on all this, we are certain that if we had placed our worth and identity purely in this vision, we would have been burnt out and given up long ago. But instead, every time we feel tired, hurt, or drained, we run into the arms of the dream-giver and vision-keeper. Our God is a good, good father who does not view us as an employee who must perform, but as a son or daughter to be adored! The visions he gives us are beautiful gifts that we have the privilege of stewarding for him. But they are never obligations to be fulfilled to win his love. And more often than not, the fulfillment of these visions is far far different from what we expect or even what we would personally define as successful! At the end of the day, success is defined by how obedient we were to the Father because that is what brings him the glory! And no matter what the world tells you, we believe nothing will ever beat the words “Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.” (Matthew 25:23).
