Volunteer Transitions

Spring is slowly making its way into Toronto bringing long-awaited change to our daily lives and our Volunteer Program is in transition. A couple of our Volunteers are reaching the end of their service with us, one has been added to our team, and one has had to return to Germany to attend to a family concern. Thanks for praying that the Lord will continue to bless us with great unity of purpose as we manage day-to-day affairs.

Andreas and Marcel, our volunteers at the Moffat Liebenzell Mission Centre have completed their service here in Canada and are presently on holiday for a few weeks before returning home to Germany. We appreciate the work they were able to accomplish at the Mission Centre-- chopping fire wood, felling trees, caring for the grounds and facilities. They were a key component in making our ministry to immigrant congregations an ongoing  success! The Mission Centre serves smaller church groups that need a place for retreats and personal get-aways.

We added Sara to our ranks in February! She has come to care for several children of our missionary candidates during the next five months. Sara has been able to integrate quickly despite some tough paperwork challenges that we are still working to resolve.Please pray with us as we work with Immigration to give them all the answers they are seeking.

Finally, one of our Volunteers serving UrbanPromise Toronto flew home urgently to attend to his father who suffered a serious heart attack. We continue to pray for Micha O, his father and his family. We hope and pray first that his father will make a full recovery, but then that Micha will be able to return to Canada and continue the great work he is doing with the after-school programs among at-risk kids in Toronto. We miss you, Micha! [Update: Moments after initially posting this we received news that Micha's father passed away. We are deeply saddened by this news. We take comfort in that his father was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and is now in the Lord's presence.]

In the next several weeks, we have a busy schedule. One of our Volunteers is off to Haiti with his church on a short-term mission trip. In April, all the volunteers will gather for a two-day retreat. After that, Spring will be fully upon us and we will be looking towards a great finish in June and July.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of the work of Volunteer Year Toronto.

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.

Costa Rica

While the snow falls in Toronto, three of our German volunteers have started a service project in the summer climate of Central America. Muskoka Bible Centre has partnered with a sister organization to give their interns --including our volunteers-- a one month mission experience in Costa Rica.

The interns, those with the program they call "Stepping Stones", serve with Muskoka Bible Centre (MBC) and Fair Havens Ministries in an 8- month internship program. Part of their program is a month long cross-cultural camp experience, which takes place at Campamento Roblealto, in beautiful Costa Rica. They left Canada on January 7 and will be gone until February 4. You can follow their service project on their blog page.

As you view the photos and read about their experiences, please pray especially for Micha, David, and Harald (pictured here during our August orientation) as this is a double cross-cultural experience for them. These German youths only arrived in Canada in August and have given much effort to improve their English and have been excelling in their duties at the camp in Northern Ontario. Now they are in Costa Rica, working hard to communicate in Spanish as well as picking up the cultural cues necessary for survival in any new country!

That's cross cultural missions in action!

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!

Muskoka Bible Centre ministry

Muskoka Bible Centre is one of the ministries for which Liebenzell provides year-long volunteers.

Muskoka Bible Centre is Canada’s largest Christ-centred conference and retreat centre, located in beautiful Muskoka Canada, only 2 hours north of Toronto, Canada. With over 200 acres of beautiful Muskoka property, MBC is a popular destination for family, church groups, company getaways, and many more.

Founded in 1930, MBC has been serving the church for 80 years. We’re thankful for how God has used MBC to bless thousands of people over the years and we’re excited as we look forward to what He has in store for the future.

MBC exists to glorify God and expand His Kingdom.

Their intern development program opportunity provides a holistic 8 month experience for young adults ages 18 through to 25 years. Check out the details here: http://steppingstones.muskokabiblecentre.com/Internship/