Renee starts at YWAM

Renee Dueck
c/o YWAM
2859 Commercial Dr.
Vancouver, BC V5N 4C7
Home Phone (604) 255-3154
YWAM Vancouver (604) 255-5262
Chocolate_thebreakfastofchampions@hotmail.com

August 26, 2003
Dear Friends

I hope this letter finds you doing well and enjoying the last days of summer. At this time last year, as you may remember, I was preparing to leave for a Discipleship Training School run by Youth With a Mission Vancouver.

I spent three months of the school in Vancouver, learning about a wide variety of topics such as How to Study the Bible and World Missions. Then we went on a two-month outreach to South East Asia, visiting a total of four different countries. In Singapore we worked alongside local churches promoting missions and doing street evangelism. We ministered to drug addicts and homeless people at drop-in centers in Malaysia. In Thailand and Cambodia we spent much of our time praying for those countries and had opportunity to be involved in all kinds of ministries, from working with prostitutes and street kids, to sorting clothes to be sent to poor villages in northern Thailand.

Overall, it was a very rewarding experience, and during this time I felt God calling me to more involvement in missions. So in June I went back to Vancouver to staff the summer Mission Adventures program. This program is designed to get youth groups involved with missions. During the summer we run four ten-day programs, each of which consists of four days of training and six days of outreach, mainly to different drop-in centers and soup kitchens in Vancouver. My duties consisted of directing the passion play our staff performed during every training week, supervising clean-ups, preparing meals, and hospitality. This summer we had very few teams, so we were able to spend some time on Vancouver Island helping out with Vacation Bible School at a church there, as well as spend a lot of time at drop-in centers ourselves.

This fall I will be staying on as full-time staff with YWAM Vancouver and have committed to working with them for at least two years. My main focus in being there will be in drama ministry, working with DTS students to prepare dramas they can use on outreach, and with mobile teams to give presentations to churches and schools in the Vancouver area. I also hope to have plenty of time to be involved in local outreaches at some of the drop-in centers I worked with this summer and am looking into the possibility of a free drama club an outreach to kids in our neighborhood. God has really given me a heart for the city of Vancouver and I feel confident that I am where he wants me. I am so excited to see what the next two years will bring.

The only aspect of working with YWAM that I dislike is asking for money, but it is necessary as no one in YWAM is paid a salary, from the president on down. I will be raising support to pay for all my housing, food and general living expenses and I would ask you to consider being one of my supporters. Please do not in any way feel pressured or obligated. All I’m asking is that you pray and ask God if you should give and in what capacity. You can give a one-time donation or donate on a monthly basis. If you would like up-dates on how I’m doing so you can pray for me, please let me know. My contact information is at the top of this letter. All cheques should be sent to:

YWAM Donor Services
Box 21505 Little Italy PO
Vancouver, BC
V5N 5T5

*Please make all cheques payable to Youth With a Mission. Donor Services cannot process any cheques with anyone’s name anywhere on the cheque, even in the memo line, so please leave the memo line blank and include a note of designation. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt for your donation.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter. I am so grateful for all your prayers and support. Thank you for taking an interest in my ministry. Please take a few minutes to fill out the response form at the bottom of this page and send it back to me. Once again, thank you and may God bless you abundantly this fall.

With Love,