Monday, September 27, 2010

Volunteers Meet Volunteers!

We had a "crossover" of sorts during our orientation program. A Liebenzell "Impact" team was finishing their 3-month term of service while our Student Volunteer program was just getting off the ground. We met one morning for breakfast and devotions at the Liebenzell Mission Center in Moffat.

The Impact team consisted of a group of 8 young people from Germany serving in both the United States and Canada, travelling as a group and helping churches and other Christian ministries in various ways. On the morning of their arrival they were on their way back to the United States after a several weeks in Canada. They were a great encouragement to the volunteers newly arrived from Germany. They answered lots of questions about life and ministry in Toronto.
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Sunday, September 19, 2010

September Newsletter

Daniel, Marisa, Dominic, Marlen, Uli, Micha, and Simon-- pictured here during our recent Volunteer Orientation sessions -- are all serving with UrbanPromise Toronto. They will be helping run after-school programs in the inner-city of Toronto giving children safe, fun, and relationship-building alternatives to life on the streets. These seven, along with ten other young German students, are now under our pastoral oversight as we have begun the ministry of the International Student Volunteer Program. Each one brings an energy and passion that is having an impact on the lives of people throughout the Greater Toronto, Canada area.
Here's a breakdown of where they are serving:
  • Seven are in the inner city of Toronto with UrbanPromise.
  • One is providing child care for  a missionary family that serves a Bangladeshi community in Toronto.
  • Two are serving local churches in Milton, a suburb of Toronto.
  • Five are in the northern lakes region of Ontario at Christian camps that provide grade-school Outdoor Education programs.
  • Two are serving at the Liebenzell Center in Moffat Ontario, providing a place for immigrant churches to gather and refresh far from the city noise and distraction.
Each one of these areas forms part of the vision of Liebenzell Mission of Canada to provide "Strategic Patnerships to Cross Barriers". In Canada, Liebenzell embraces opportunities and builds strategic partnerships to cross socio-economic and cultural barriers with the love of God. With each ministry served, we are bringing the larger Christian community together in love and service.



A Fast Start
Group Meal


 Donna and I arrived in Ontario, Canada on Sunday evening, August 15th, after a short drive from central New York. It was quite strange arriving in a new mission field after such a short trip! No airports, no long flights. Still, we had to face the important task of getting our visa documents approved at the border. Thankfully, that step went smoothly and in less than half an hour we were in!
But we had to hit the Canadian soil running because we had less than 2 weeks to get ready for the arrival of the 17 young people that will spend the year here. Our initial task was to prepare the agenda for 9 days of training, meals, and activities. Our Liebenzell team is made up of the Mission Center Caretakers, Jeff and Ursi Wilson, who are on just their second year of service here; and Jakob and Lori Koch, the Mission Directors, who have 10 years of experience running this program. We met together often during those initial days to share experiences, expectations, and resources. By the time the airplane carrying the exuberant youth landed at the Toronto airport, we were ready for them.
Eight days later, when orientation was over, we rejoiced in how far we had come in learning their names, their stories, and their passions for serving God. They moved into their ministry locations throughout the province of Ontario united in purpose and ready for hands-on service to God. Please take a moment to read some of the daily episodes of their orientation in our blog:VolunteerYearToronto. The blog really is a key conduit to news about our ministry. We post pictures and news updates several times a week.  Facebook  has opened up a new avenue of 2-way conversation. If you have a Facebook account, please look for our "VolunteerYearToronto" page and make a "Like" link.
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Giving to the Lord's work



"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." - John Stott
There is no getting around the fact that our ministry is dependent on donations. Even during these uncertain financial times, Christian mission continues. The work of Liebenzell continues today by leaning solely on the Lord in prayer for support through individuals and churches.  Would you consider a gift today? Online donationsare now possible through the Liebenzell USA website,mission.liebenzellusa.org.
Would you help us raise an additional $800 per month to reach the next level of our support? Currently we are at a basic level that barely meets our monthly expenses of food, lodging, and transportation. While our current support level allows us to carry on our ministry, it provides no margin for inflation, emergencies, or budget upsets. Thanks for your help.
Contributions by check should be made out to "Liebenzell Mission USA" and sent to :
Liebenzell Mission USA
P.O. Box 66
Schooley's Mtn, NJ 07870.
Include a note in the envelope indicating the words: "For the ministry of Gregg and Donna Hanchett".


Bloor-Lansdowne Christian Fellowship House
Bloor Lansdowne House


During our first weeks in Canada, we have been staying at the Mission Center, the Liebenzell Canada headquarters about an hour outside of Toronto. In the next several weeks we will be making the transition to a ministry house near downtown Toronto, currently undergoing renovation. It is very convenient to the transit system subway and city buses.  The house is owned by a local church and is being rented by Liebenzell so that we will have a central location from which we can minister to the volunteers. It will also allow us to bless the neighborhood by sharing the love of Christ in our daily lives. The church, Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship, also shares its facility with three other congregations-- one Spanish, one Portuguese, and a deaf congregation. On Wednesday it opens it doors and serves a "Community Dinner" to the poor and underprivileged in the area, free to all who enter. We have already been able to help on two occasions during our short time here.
Would you pray specifically for this aspect of our ministry? We believe strongly that the Lord wants us in this strategic downtown location during our time in Toronto. Our immediate need is to finish the renovation. Several local believers are helping with drywall, plumbing, and painting, however there are no funds available to purchase flooring materials. We have been scouring the area for deals on any type of  flooring and have found a few great deals. Any donations designated towards these finishing touches would be wonderful! We hope to relocate to this house-- finished floors or not-- by the end of Sepember. Thanks for praying-- and giving if you can!
Meanwhile, you can contact us at the Liebenzell Canada address: 12168 First Line, R.R. #1, Moffat, ON, Canada. Postal Code: L0P 1J0. My cell phone number is 647-746-6893. Gregg's Email is hanch6@gmail.com. Donna's Email is etjah6@yahoo.com.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Full day of ministry

This was a day full of ministry. Our objective was to take the remaining volunteers to the Bloor-Lansdowne house to begin final preparations for our move-in. Of course, the Moffat boys wanted to be included,  so we brought them all in. I had invited Pastor Frank from the Hungarian church to meet us at the house because he had wanted to help with hanging drywall. When we arrived there was no material (drywall compound) and instead of saying that I didn't know where a store was,  I offered to go get some. Well,  an hour later I returned with only a small container, unsuitable for the job.  Pastor Frank said that if I had told him, he would have gone and left to find some. (Note to self: remember humility is a virtue!) He was very gracious and brought a very gentle man from his church who was very talented with drywall taping. They worked all day and were a great blessing. 


Donna was supervising the youth at painting and priming while I had to drive across the city to deliver a document to Salvation Army. It was a great visit and well-timed as I had an opportunity to meet with our 3 volunteers who are placed there, as well as meet with the leaders. We worked out some administrative details and they even gave me some lunch from the soup kitchen that is open daily in this depressed neighborhood of Toronto.
Upon my return to the Bloor-Lansdowne house, the group-- now including the girls who arrived by subway-- had made great progress with the painting and were helping the other 2 sets of volunteer craftsman who had been working hard all morning. We worked on cleaning some windows and clearing out some of the construction materials that had gathered in some of the rooms. We met Sophie, the administrator of the house and the lady who operates the soup kitchen "community dinner" next door. She is a whirlwind of activity. We helped her work out some questions on the house repairs then the guys helped her wheel the filled garbage can back to the church for pickup on Friday.

Later at 5pm, we all dropped our tools, changed out clothes, and went next door to help serve at the community dinner at the Bloor-Lansdowne Fellowship Church next door. The dinner started at six and we each helped serve overflowing plates of turkey, rice, vegetables, salad and bread. Three of the youth spoke on stage during the testimony time. Micha and Marlen spoke briefly about why they were in Toronto and then Marlen and Marisa sang an a capella version of  "Lord, I Lift Your name on High." They were very brave and were well received with applause by the audience. After cleaning up the dishes and putting away the tables and chairs, we climbed back in the van for the 1 hour drive back to Moffat and our comfortable beds.

Resting for more of the same tomorrow...

Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful opportunity to serve You, help others, and use our gifts and talents for the benefit of Your Kingdom!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Throughout Ontario

It was a busy weekend as we drove to each location and moved the volunteers into their new ministry sites. A common scene was a sad goodbye from the remaining group as each ministry team left the retreat center. Or, in the case of Toronto, the goodbyes were said on location. Either way, it was a special time as each reflected on the spiritual purpose of their presence in each site and their commitment to serving God with a part of their lives. It has been a very special 9 days of orientation and preparation for ministry. They are off to a great start!


Here's the width and breadth of the area in which our volunteers are now serving.

View 2010 VYT Ministry Locations in a larger map