Greetings from Winnipeg

A New Year With Christmas and New Years behind us, we are well on our way into an exciting new season! Our time in Rainy River for Christmas was wonderful and restful, but we dove back into life in the West End, ready to face what was next. As we long for spring to come and bring with it new life, so to are we eagerly anticipating many exciting new things from God this coming year. We hope you have entered this new year with as much hope and anticipation as we have. We’d love to hear what you year has in store, so drop us a line. In the mean time, pull up a comfy chair and read a little about our plans.

Peace & Justice Internship We are thrilled to be launching our next Peace & Justice Internship this month. With three participants- all women, ranging from their late teens to their 50’s!- the program promises to be another opportunity to see people’s lives challenged and changed as we explore what it means to love God and love our neighbour in a world staggering under violence and injustice. In addition to working with many local churches, ministries, organizations and experts, we will also be bringing in two amazing speakers for the program. Returning for his third visit as a lecturer with us, Mark Van Steenwyk is an author and founding member of an inner city Christian community. Our other guest speaker is Idelette McVicker, a Christian writer, activist and mother who is a champion for justice.

This program is only possible because of the vision, leadership and

hard work that Kim puts into it. She serves as the primary director of the program, managing most of the staff and intern involvement. Given that all of our participants this year are women, this further increases her responsibilities. Most of all, it is her passion for discipleship and justice that gives life to the program. Keep her in your prayers during the next three months.

Vulnerable Faith Release One of the most exciting things that is about to happen this month is the release of Jamie’s new book. “Vulnerable Faith: Missional Living in the Radical Way of St. Patrick” bridges the often enormous gap between the ideals of what faithfulness to Jesus means and the genuine, practical, radical obedience Jesus calls us to. It is a book about finding healing and freedom in Christ, which in turn transforms our brokenness into mission.

World renown author Jean Vanier honoured Jamie by writing the foreword for the book, in which he said:

“The urgency of the invitation to each of us in 'Vulnerable Faith' cannot be ignored. In a world of terror and hatred, of protection and retaliation, it is a bold and important reminder to Christians of the radical nature of our witness as followers of Jesus. He is the Word made flesh, the vulnerable incarnation of God's love for each and every one of us.”

The book will be available mid-March for sale online and in stores. You can pre-order it now. We believe that God will use this book to reach many people We truly hope it impacts your life too. Let us know.

MICAH MOMENTS “I need some help down here!”Jamie ran downstairs to Micah's cry for help. He found him sitting on the couch, his face & most of his head (not to mention much of the couch & carpet) covered in thick globs of yellow mush.

That morning for breakfast, Kim made Micah a mango smoothie. Because it was frozen, Micah had to tip it over to make it come down. Then it melted… and all came out at once.

Micah 6:8 Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly.

www.arpin-ricci.com director@ywamwinnipeg.com445 Furby St. Winnipeg, MB R3B 2V7

Little Flowers Community & Chiara House The joys of serving as servant leaders in the church we helped to plant- Little Flowers Community- cannot be expressed easily. Through shared life, faith and mission, we have become a true community in the way of Jesus. However, such connection does not come easily. It comes through sharing the challenges as much as the joys. We need your continued prayer as our numbers grow, bringing people who are amazing & wonderful, but also facing significant challenges, like mental illness, poverty, addiction, histories of abuse and more. The demands this places on our team are real, but well worth it. Pray that we can continue to extend welcome and serve with love.

Chiara House continues to offer stable and affordable housing to people facing poverty and mental illness. Core members of our church share life in the building, giving so much of their spare time and energy to love their neighbours. It can be thankless, so keep them in your prayers. As spring approaches, we are preparing to extend programs and services to tenants and neighbours, to further provide for the needs in our neighbourhood. This will require a lot of extra hands on, so we have begun to put the call out for help. If you are local and want to pitch in, let us know.

Adoption Update While there is not much news on the adoption front- as we are still in the long process of paper work that could go on for over a year- we wanted to let you know that things are slowly moving forward. After far too many delays due to failures (by the government of Manitoba agencies), our file has finally moved to the next stage. We hope that in 18-24 months we will hear more specific news about our new son to share with you all. Until then, keep praying!

Jamie’s Sabbatical After over 20 years of full time missionary work, Jamie is taking a working sabbatical. What does that mean? It means that he will spend 9 months (starting in June) focusing on only one aspect of ministry- his writing- rather than all the other countless roles. Given his recent diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from work related trauma, the time for a more even paced season is much needed. Thank you for everyone who helped make that possible. However, remember that both of us are still working full-time as missionaries, even during the sabbatical, so we need your continued support. We are so grateful for the faithful generosity of so many over the years. If you would like to join our financial support team, please see the attached information.

We hope that you have a wonderful and warm spring season. If you happen to be in Winnipeg, please look us up. Otherwise, drop us an email or a phone call. We’d love to hear from you.

Peace,Jamie, Kim & Micah

MICAH MOMENTS One evening, Micah came to u s , w e a r i n g h i s b l a c k balaclava, asking if we can buy him a new book: ”100 Most Destructive Natural Disasters". When we said we could do that, he said, while rubbing his hands together:

" M y p l a n i s fi n a l l y c o m i n g t o g e t h e r ! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

www.arpin-ricci.com director@ywamwinnipeg.com445 Furby St. Winnipeg, MB R3B 2V7