Special Guest from Germany

We are honored this week to host Joachim Jenny, Youth In Mission coordinator for Liebenzell Germany. He is an important part of our Volunteer Year Toronto team as he is responsible for recruitment and selection of all volunteers that come to Canada. I have spoken with him frequently in recent months as we look to fill the spots for next year's ministry positions. During his visit here to Ontario we will be visiting all the different ministry locations so he gets a better idea of the work in each location. As a result, he will be even better prepared to match up volunteer candidates with the appropriate ministry. It is part of our commitment to serving our ministry partners with the best prepared, most competent young people during a one-year internship. Thanks for your prayers as we make some important decisions for the future.

Make an Impact!

Are you ready to make an Impact on the world for Christ? Liebenzell organizes a number of short-term mission projects in many parts of the world. The name of the project? "Impact"! We'll have a team coming to Canada this summer as part of the North America 2011 Impact team. Sorry, there are no more places available, but there is still room in some of the other projects like France, Bangladesh, or Russia. Read more at the Impact website: http://www.impact-teams.de. Don't worry if you don't understand Germany. You can read the page in English (or any other language) by using Google Translate: Click here to see the Impact page in English. If you know a young person that wants to make an Impact, pass this post on to them!

We are excited this week to welcome here in Toronto the Director of the Impact program, Stephan Trick and his family. He is spending six months here to develop his language skills, learn more about Canadian culture, and prepare for the summer Impact team that will serve here and in New York.

What, exactly, is a refugee?

One of the ministries that we have been blessed to serve during our free time is Adam House, a Christian-based ministry in Toronto. They provide a safe and comfortable home for newly arrived refugee claimants who have chosen to settle, at least temporarily, in the Greater Toronto area.
There is some confusion about the term "refugee". A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country"[1]. Canada has a policy of being pro-active in helping refugees, and they do it through facilities like Adam House. Once approved, a refugee becomes one of the millions of immigrants welcomed each year to Canada.  On the theme of immigration, I find it interesting that because Canada's immigration quotas are set by the nation's department of labor, rather than by the State department, as in the USA, immigration is a much less controversial issue.

Donna has been able to serve Adam House in her free time by helping with food preparation and serving hot meals to staff and resident. Our son Tim has also been able to lend a hand with nighttime security duties.

Adam House is a great Christian ministry worthy of your prayers and financial support. Check out their webpage at www.adamhouse.org. Also, Check out an earlier blog post that I made that includes a video about two refugees that found hope when they arrived in Canada.

[1] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugee