Merry Christmas from VYT

Merry Christmas from Volunteer Year Toronto. Donna and I want to wish you a warm and blessed Christmas. Whether you are with family or far from home (or both!) please take a moment to reflect on our wonderful Creator God and His Gift to each of us. Christmas is just a small manifestation of the incredible celebration that God is planning for His children when He gathers us all together in the future. His Gift of Jesus, His Son and Our Saviour, was the start of the Father's plan to redeem us from a future with no hope into a future with endless praise and joy! He's just starting on your life and has a lot more in store for your future!
Many of our volunteers are spending their first Christmas away from family. We minister to many people through Adam House and BLCF who have no family or have had to leave them for a season. During 12 years on the mission field our own children have often been separated at this time of year. No matter your present situation or family state, God loves you deeply and offers relationship with Himself. Christmas is His reminder to each one of us.
Thank you for your prayers for us and for this ministry during the past year.
Gregg and Donna

With God's Love

Dear Friends,

Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is just around the corner. As the year 2010 nears its end, Donna and I remind ourselves of the foundational truths of our ministry. I am energized by the vision statement of the Liebenzell Mission of Canada:

" Helping people reach people with God's love."

There is an intended ambiguity in the statement that reflects quite accurately the dynamic process of daily ministry here in Toronto. Two verb phrases:  "Helping People" and "Reaching People".

Are we training or are we evangelizing?

We are doing both. We are sharing the the Gospel through word and deed. And we are training future missionaries and current ministry leaders with practical service projects and collaboration opportunities.

The action words go together with the modifier: "with God's love". In evangelism, we reach people with God's Love revealed in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. But what sets Liebenzell apart as a mission, and we have seen wonderfully present in our first months here in Canada is this: In our "Helping people reach people", we do it with God's Love! Helping, and more specifically "training", "discipling", "teaching", and "enabling", can not be void of the presence of God's love and grace. After more than 20 years in Christian ministry I have learned that the application of these two key ingredients, grace and love, is too often missing among leaders towards those they lead. This lack of grace results in deep and painful wounds that I have witnessed way too often and is counter-productive for the growth of the Church. As we enter 2011, we are committed to help Liebenzell develop leaders who will reverse that trend in their own ministries. Would you join us in prayer as we do that? I hope that as you read the details of our work these past several months you can see the evidences of grace and love in action.

Blessings to you throughout the Christmas season and into the new year of 2011!

Gregg

First Weeks: Newbies guiding newbies

Liebenzell Volunteers 2010

 

Our first week in Canada in mid August was focused on quickly learning about the ministry before the arrival of 17 young people from Germany. We, the newly arrived, had to orient those who were even newer! The mission directors, Jakob and Lorie Koch, spent several days introducing us to the various ministry partners who would be receiving our volunteers. We became good friends with teammates, Jeff and Ursi Wilson, the managers of the Liebenzell Mission Centre, and their two children. 

The next 10 days were filled with guiding our energetic German youth, getting to know their names, faces, personalities and gifts. They are among those pictured at the left. Mornings were filled with praise, worship, and teachings about their stay in Canada. By the end of the week, we began driving them to their respective ministry placement locations. Some are now at camps several hours to the north of Toronto; others are in the city itself. Sent out, scattered abroad to sow the seed of Jesus' love throughout Ontario. Please pray for them as they serve with the heart of Jesus that they would reap a great harvest.

September: Constructing a ministry base

Priming

 

In early September, while a few of the volunteers were still waiting for their ministries to begin, they helped us in renovating the house where we are now living. We are renovating the half-duplex as a ministry to the inner-city church that owns it. We will be renting it from the church as our residence and ministry center.  In the photo, Micha is priming the new drywall in the entrance hall. The search for low-cost flooring options put us in touch with other ministries. It was a blessed time of collaboration as we met many local pastors and believers who were donating their expertise to help complete the renovation. Several ethnic  congregations have benefited from the LM Canada ministry and enjoy giving something back.  What a great illustration of unity in God's name, each one working as he is able to benefit the rest of the Body, the Church.

Micha, by the way, has now started his new ministry. Along with six other of our volunteers, he is involved with UrbanPromise of Toronto working with at-risk kids organizing after-school activities and loving the kids unconditionally!

October: Being the hands of Christ

Our Home

 

In early October, we made the move into the house. It was not finished, but with the kitchen, bath, living room, and one bedroom near completion, it was possible. We settled in and began the pastoral care portion of our ministry, visiting the young people in their ministry locations, encouraging and blessing them. What great hearts they have! Their ministry supervisors are, without exception, thrilled with their service. Liebenzell has made great strides over the years in developing the Volunteer Program and providing qualified young people as a means to bless Christian organizations throughout the Greater Toronto region. Our prayer burden while they are here is to encourage them towards full-time Christian service. Please pray with us towards that end.

Adam House

Since we were now living in the city, we also visited several local ministries to determine other ways the Lord could use us in the city. One of them we discovered was Adam House, a refugee transition home. (See our blog post: "What, exactly, is a refugee?") Donna has been able to show the love of Christ by helping with reception of donated food, meal preparation, and some housekeeping. She helps a few days a week serving families and individuals who have recently arrived at Adam House from countries such as Hungary, Honduras, Serbia, Nigeria, Namibia, Columbia, and Russia. I am now on the schedule to lead a Bible Study session during Thanksgiving week. We also help on Wednesday evening serving a meal at a nearby soup kitchen run through a local church.

A Gift by which to minister

Now, here in November and December, we are in another transition. Our focus now is on discovering how God will provide the financial base for this ministry. This ministry is clearly His work and we want to be faithful to His calling for us to be here. To date, we have been living on less than $1000 per month of salary. We cannot continue at such a low income. Would you consider sending a one-time gift of perhaps $30, $50, or $75 or more to Liebenzell at this time? The economic downturn has been difficult for everyone, but ministries like this one that depend on charitable contributions have been especially hurt. Your end-of-the-year gift of any amount, when combined with gifts from others, will make a difference in keeping this training and evangelistic work moving forward. Thank you in advance!
How to donate to the ministry:

There are several options for making your gift to Liebenzell. 

On-line donations can be made through the Liebenzell USA website, here: www.liebenzellusa.org; 

or through the Liebenzell Mission of Canada website, here: www.liebenzell.ca.

By mail, checks can be sent, in the US, to:

Liebenzell Mission USAP.O. Box 66Schooley's Mountain, NJ 07870

In Canada, address your envelope to:

Liebenzell Mission of CanadaR.R.#1Moffat, ON, Canada L0P 1J0

Please be sure to include a separate note indicating "For the ministry of Gregg and Donna Hanchett- Toronto".

Gifts to Liebenzell are acknowledged with a return receipt suitable for tax-deduction regulations.

Thanks for participating with us in this way!