We Made it to Nanaimo

Tessa, Mateo, Sarah and I landed in Seattle and were greeted at the airport by Chase and his amazing mother Angela! They brought our car and relieved us of some of our luggage until we could find a house. We had to say goodbye for a week to Chase because he was house sitting for his family.

We drove up to Lynden for a couple days and to meet up with our team mate, Blaise. Lynden is a beautiful Dutch town that’s home to YWAM North Cascades. We spent time getting to know Blaise and much needed prayer together. We also got some very insightful input about pioneering from the local YWAM leaders, Jeremy and Jen Dorrough. They’re still considered a new location but are still freshly going through the “trenches” so to speak. We were inspired and challenged in sharpening our leadership, team structure and strategic approach with forming YWAM Nanaimo. We were blessed to stay with a lovely family on their farm in an RV. Their hospitality and generosity washed over us and refreshed us. Henry, Tracy, Ryan, and Sarah are a hard working family that truly loves the Lord and His children! Fun fact, we will get to work alongside Tracy when we go to Esperanza and volunteer at the youth camp.

It wasn’t the easiest time crossing the border but it was made easier by a down to earth and thoughtful Canadian border officer. I did end up crossing the Canadian border three times in as little as three hours because their system that processed Work Permits was down across the nation. Long story short, both Sarah and I each have one.
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We continued on to Abbotsford for a quick visit to see the farm where Blaise worked. We all sensed the Lord’s favor in the timing and people that He’s gathered together to form YWAM Nanaimo. Blaise will join up with us after the farm season is finished.

On our way to the ferry we met up with one of our friends in Vancouver, Jonathan Spainhour. He was on the leadership team with Tessa and I in Kona. We deeply admire and respect him as a gifted teacher of the Bible. He’s very passionate in equipping people with the tools they need to study, understand and share God’s character as revealed in the Bible. He’s also a role model for what it means to be a ready and willing servant of God. Jonathan was always available to talk to and pray with whenever there were issues we were working through in our ministry in Kona.

We boarded our ferry out of Vancouver to Nanaimo. It’s a great ferry and will be memorable for Mateo as it was his first ferry ride ever! We were so excited when we drove off the ferry into Nanaimo. We were thanking God and praying over the city as we drove to our hotel room.

The next day we rented out a storage for our stuff before going to Canadian Tire to purchase our camping equipment. We made our way to a beautiful camp grounds called Living Forest that’s in the south of Nanaimo along the coast. This is our temporary landing zone until a house opens up for our team. Despite all the big dreams and planning that has gone into YWAM Nanaimo, the impression we have is to start by going back to basics as a team pursuing God through personal devotions, prayer, worship, sharing testimonies and loving the people around us at our camp ground.

Things that we’re doing now:

• Taking it all in! We’re not only exploring the city and what it has to offer but adopting it and making Nanaimo our home and its’ people our people. 
• Meeting with people that have supported us and others that we would like to work along side of as a team.
• Booking walk throughs for different houses that we are applying to live in. 

What is encouraging me right now is a study of 2 Timothy. Reminding myself of the calling I have, not because of anything I’ve done but because of God’s own purpose and grace through Jesus. As a group, we’re asking God for sensitivity towards how we can align with His purposes for the people of Nanaimo.