In This Issue Winter Has Come It seemed like just yesterday that we were enjoying the great late summer/early autumn weather.  Now, surrounded by snow and ice, we are reminded why our city is often playfully called Winterpeg, Manisnowba.  We hope this letter finds you warm and cozy (or for our reader on the south side of the planet, not too hot!).  We wanted to send out a final 2014 update before moving into an exciting new year ahead.  So, sit back, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the read!

As we mentioned in our last letter, we were ending our summer with the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Canada national staff conference, which happens in Manitoba every other year.  As usual, it was a wonderful and refreshing time to connect with our fellow missionaries, hear about what God is doing in and through their ministry, and share our own stories.  It was also a time to reflect on the significant and exciting changes happening within YWAM International, as the organization restructures in order to more faithfully fulfil our mission.  It was also a great time for Micah to connect with heaps of other missionary kids, having fun swimming and playing, while participating in the amazing kids programming offered there.

With the summer behind us, we’ve also had more time to reflect on the tragic loss our church community faced this summer with the death of John Knight.  Death is never any easy thing to navigate, and sometimes circumstances complicate that process further.  However, in the face of those challenges, as a community, Little Flowers Community has drawn closer together in love, support and common mission.  And recently our community had something to celebrate, as two of our members got married to each other.  With the bride being like a daughter to us, it was amazing (and busy!).  Kim was able to help the bride with many of those special pre-wedding moments, while Jamie had the honour of performing the ceremony.  Micah even stole the show by bringing his moves to a dance off at the reception!  Congrats, Jen & Sam!

An Arpin-Ricci Christmas Update / November 2014 / 1

Tis the Season An Arpin-Ricci Christmas Update

Winter Has Come........Page 1

Chiara House Looks Forward.........................Page 2

Adoption Update...........Page 2

Jamie‘ s Sabbatical......Page 3

Chiara House Looks Forward With our housing project, Chiara House now open and having celebrated the official ribbon cutting recently, the community has begun to imagine what the future holds.  Our hope as a community is to do outreach and offer supportive services out of the building.  These could include outreach to local homeless youth, supports for low-income families, and emergency housing for those in need.  Keep us in prayer over the next few months as we strategize, pray and prepare for what God has next.  In the meantime, the residents have settled in and are enjoying the supportive community the building offers.

Adoption Update After far too many delays, we are excited that our adoption application has finally left the province and is on it’s way to our new adoption agency in Ontario.  Best case scenario is that we will be matched with a young boy over the next two years and that he will come home, hopefully no later than 2016.  For those who are curious, we have not been matched to a specific child yet.  As long and unpredictable as the process is, we know that God is in charge.  For all the delays and challenges in the first adoption, we cannot complain as it brought us our wonderful son, Micah.  Keep the process in your prayers!

Jamie’s Sabbatical We are very excited to say that Jamie was able to reach his fund raising goal for his upcoming sabbatical, which will begin in June 2015.  Many people have asked if this means Jamie will not be working during that time and whether we still need support.  Let us clear a few things up, as we know it can be confusing.  Jamie’s sabbatical is a break for several aspects of his ministry in order to focus, for a short season, on one particular area.  While needing a break from certain responsibilities, he will continue to be actively serving in our ministry, simply in a more specific capacity.   Specifically, he is hoping to take the time to focus on his writing, something that has often had to take a back seat over the last 20 years that he has served in YWAM.

While fund raiser has helped him be able to do this more effectively, those funds do not take away our need for continued support.  In fact, we continually need to strengthen our support.  With the new changes in YWAM International and our own role as leaders within our region, there will be a greater need for support in order to attend certain missions gatherings in the coming year.  So, we need to see our monthly support strengthened, so please consider how you might be a part of our support team.  See the included information on how to go about supporting us.  Thank you all for your prayer & support.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Peace,

Jamie, Kim, Micah & Nala

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