Howdy folks,
Chris here writing from Youth With A Mission Urban Ministries Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada...whew...that's a mouth full! I'm teaching at a Discipleship Training School or DTS (YWAM's initial training program) about our motivation as Christians for evangelism and having a great time with my friends here. It's a fun class of youngins and always good to reconnect with the Arpin-Ricci's and all the staff here. Jamie was a part of the first DTS that Amie and I led in Cambridge, Ontario a stunning 15 years ago! Jamie and Kim have pioneered the mission here and are doing a great work. They have also partnered with the Mennonite church to plant and new neighborhood based faith community called Little Flowers. I had the privilege of attending their weekly meeting last Sunday and lead some singing. It's always a rich time here.
Speaking of church, our home church, New Hope is walking through a lot right now. At the tail end of our big move, our Pastor's wife Mary received a terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. This illness moved quite quickly and Mary went home to be with Jesus on Saturday, October 3rd. In the days before she died, Mary's family was able to gather around her and to the end she was praying with them, praising God and giving of herself. I was honored to be able to share some music and words at her memorial service. Please pray for our Pastor, Ken and all the kids and grand kids adjusting to life without Mary. She will be greatly missed and we anticipate the day we'll see her again.
The day after the funeral, I flew to Minneapolis to be a part of some meetings with the U.S. board of Compasio, an organization run by good friends in Thailand. Compasio serves the refugees fleeing oppression in Burma. They support schools and families with much needed supplies, they operate a drop in center in the city market and they run two safe houses for children in need of shelter. The board meetings were anything but boring...it was a great time to pray and worship together, tell stories and work together on our part of shaping the future of Compasio. You can see more about their humbling ministry here...Compasio.org
On the family front, please pray for Amie's Grandmother, Margaret. The day I left for Minneapolis, she fell and broke her neck, wrist and nose. She turns 93 this week. Margaret had to be taken to a hospital in San Francisco to be assessed for surgery. In the end, they have decided to wait on surgery and now the long process of recovery has begun. Special thanks to friends from church that made it possible for Amie to get in to the city while I'm away.
The kids are doing good. Stella has been playing mad at me for leaving - she laughs and won't talk to me on the phone. Josh and Sam have been a help to Mom while I'm away. Our team is still reaching out to the friends we make by making ourselves available in forgotten places in the city. We'll be working with a few church groups this fall, teaching about local poverty and hosting an outreach team from Kitchener, Ontario in Canada.
Thanks to all of you who support us through prayer and giving...we really do need it and appreciate so many who sacrifice time and money to make our work possible and effective. If you would like to support our work financially, all donations are tax deductible when made out and sent to: YWAM / P.O. Box 3000 / Garden Valley, TX / 75771-3000. Our name must not appear on the check but include a separate note stating the gift is for the Whitlers in Modesto, CA.
If you'd like, there is also an auto-withdraw form I could email you with instructions on how to set up monthly support for our work. If you have any questions, feel free to email - cwhitler@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you.
Thanks so much!
Here's how to find us online and other ways...
Family site/blog - http://thewhitlers.com
Whitler podcast (teaching, music and fun stuff)- http://www.gcast.com/u/cwhitler/main
Amie on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/amiehw
Chris on facebook - http://www.facebook.com/badyouthspeaker
YWAM site - http://ywammodesto.org
YWAM blog - http://ywam-modesto.blogspot.com
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