^{October 11} two thousand eleven

Chad Reimer- YWAM Arctic Mercy- Homer AK

Dear friends and family what an incredible journey God has us all on.

In 2009 when God first called me here to Alaska I really didn't know where my time here would take me, and how many lives would be touched. God has been faithful to walking and talking to me along the way to bring His testimony to many nations and tribes.

We just finished our 4^th annual Homer Hockey Camp where we had 30 campers from here in homer and neighboring towns. It was refreshing to be around these kids even though most of them weren’t Christians. We spent time on the Ice with two instructors from YWAM hockey based out of Vancouver, worked them hard off ice with some conditioning, and we challenged them with the Gospel and with lessons on Godly character. We had the most campers we have ever had and that was partly because some of the parents (mostly non Christians) were so proactive in getting other kids to come that they even went out of there way to pay for other kids and hand out registration sheets. Some of the kids parents had withheld them from previous camps because they didn’t want them in a Christian camp, but God softened their hearts for such a time as this.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy. And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Psalms 107: 1-3

If you place a map of Alaska on a map of continental United States it stretches coast to coast and Canada to the bottom tip of Florida. That is just how big our area of influence is especially when we are involved with things like the World Eskimo Indian Olympics and other Christian and non Christian conferences and events. One of our visions as YWAM Arctic Mercy is to have a fleet of boats and ships that would give us a reach to the innumerable coastline communities here in Alaska. We are starting to plan yet waiting on the Lord for perfect timing for this project.

I am planning a staff outreach to St. Lawrence Island starting October 14^th going for about 6 weeks. It is exciting to pray about this trip and seek the Lord for His purposes. So far its 3 of us going which is a smaller team than normal, which will mean we will be stretched over forward and backwards in our work which will definitely be fulfilling but busy. At the same time a bunch of our staff are going to Minto, Alaska which is another great opportunity to train and disciple many, which is a door that opened partly because of our trip to the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. Bless His Holy Name, God is awesome.

As I type this I am uncertain of what next year will look like for me. I will be spending some substantial time at home as I'm at the end of my 5th American tourist Visa around Christmas time and have to make decisions of whether I should pursue a Religious workers Visa or not. Pray for me as I seek the Lord on this because I know God has spoken to me about more than just what He wants to do in Alaska.

Jesus may your Kingdom come, may your will be done.

for info on supporting me prayerfully or financially please contact me

i will be out of cell range from october 17th till november 22nd

Chad Reimer chad.reimer@gmail.com

1 907 299 6255

Chad Reimer- YWAM Arctic Mercy- Homer, AK 8/15/11

Fireweed is starting to inhabit ditches and fields here in Homer meaning summer is almost over around here. The seasons of ministry are kind of changing too, going from student focused discipleship schools to mainly staff outreach. We are in a key time period to start one of our long term visions of having a boat that would be able to give us access to many villages all over Alaska. But we were praying and seeking the Lord and God gave us Nehemiah as and example, we are to build and fight at the same time. We will be getting information packets out so we can start fundraising for this project that would enable our ministry to getting to the countless villages that arent on the road system. We will use this boat to bring construction material to repair churches and homes, to bring teams to villages to do conferences, but most importantly to bring real people to minister on a 1 on 1 relationship/ discipleship level.

We are also at a time period where I believe God is about to break through again in a deep way on St. Lawrence Island which is our main outreach location. There has been a lot of sorrow and pain that has made a people so desperate for something greater and I think that this desperation is going to start evolving into lasting change. There have been 4 suicides in the past 8 months in Savoonga, this has brought much brokenness. Many whom we minister to have lost the people closest to them through these deaths. There is a pastor in Savoonga who has preached all these funerals, plus many more in the past 2 years. I know that seed has been planted through these hard times, through the faithfulness of this pastor who is reaching out to this community with Jesus. Continue to pray for him and his family as they minister and pray that our next trip out there can be refreshing for them.

Our mini DTS went really well, with huge breakthrough in the minds, hearts and souls of our students. More freedom to love God and love their neighbors. We had 2 students from St. Lawrence Island, which was really awesome. We battled the fear that kept them in the dark corner, the shame and guilt that was hidden leading them to the cross of Jesus and His embracing arms. Showing them the Love of God and the power of truth and faith in that very truth. The outreach portion of the Mini DTS was at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) in Fairbanks. A gathering of natives from all across Alaska to celebrate culture and to connect.

We had a group of 15 people from one of our staff members home church in Texas join our trip to Fairbanks for WEIO. We went as volunteers to really be able to plant seeds of reconciliation, love, and faith in people from all over Alaska. We were invited by a native run ministry that has long been involved with gathering volunteers for the event. During the 5 days that we were there we were involved with setting up equipment for events, taking care of elders, running the merchandise table, helping native artists set up their booths, and much more. But that isnt what really made this a outreach, relationship and discipleship have always been Gods strategy. Being an authentic lover of God and showing genuine love for your neighbor really opens hearts up, we got to pray for people who were going through hard times, people asked us who we were and we got to share with them, I told athletes that I was praying for them, we just got to go above and beyond what people would think a volunteer would do and with true joy doing it( I got to carry dead seals in for the seal skinning competition and a few other kinda gross jobs). The board of directors who are all influential native leaders gave us a “key to the Olympics” and invited us back anytime we want. We got to see some of the God given cultural characteristics come out like the way that the athletes “competed” not acting selfishly but all helping each other out giving tips but at the same time really giving their best effort in the events. God showed up in a lot of ways through the way our big group was willing to jump in and do anything and to do it for and with Jesus. A lot of the fruit of our actions wont be seen for a while but we get to plant seed and in due time we get to see harvest. And we now have contacts in many villages.

Fall is knocking at our doorstep and with it quite a few opportunities are knocking also.

Most of our staff have gone on outreach with a YWAM team coming from Kona called the circuit riders. They are going from Fairbanks, AK to Valdez, AK visiting cities and villages (I believe that we met some people from those villages at WEIO) along the way. They are visiting churches bring a strong emphasis on revival in the church leading to love for the lost, then proclaiming the word on the streets believing that God will move in power to bring the lost to Jesus.

Our hockey camp registration is gaining speed and we have more hockey players pre registered than we had total last year. The hockey rink manager even though he isnt a Christian (that we know of) loves our camp so much that he wanted us to do 2 this year. This has been our best opportunity to share the gospel with unchurched kids here in homer, and I know the top notch hockey training provided by YWAM Hockey is having effect on our hockey teams. Our hockey camp dates are Sept 22-25.

Right now I am serving the base here in Homer, keeping our building and property maintained and starting to prepare to hand over the “ head of maintenance” role over to the next person as I leave in late December. I am still not sure how long I am going to be away from here for, but it is likely that I wont be able to get another tourist visa so I might start the religious workers visa process (which took other staff members here a year and half to get). I am not giving up by any means, and actually feel like im fighting for this place, for these people now more than ever. We are planning on sending a team of YWAM staff to St. Lawrence Island for the months of October and November which I am very excited about, and already preparing for. But this season is very much a season of keeping my eyes open for the opportunities that God has prepared for me and in the power of the Holy Spirit walking out in those good works.

God is shaking the things that can be shaken, and refining those willing to be refined. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” God has shown me laying down my life for my brothers, I cant begin how much it hurts to help carry the burdens of my brothers and sisters in Christ but there is joy too. The power of faith is striking me, the scripture says faith in grace is what saves. Gods love is even more striking, a infinitely powerful majestic God choosing to love a broken and rebellious people. He is worthy of undying trust even when the world around us is being shattered into a million pieces.

I just want to thank you all for your support both in prayers and in finances

In Christ chad.reimer@gmail.com

Chad Reimer 907-299-6255

Greetings from Chad Reimer in Homer, Alaska with YWAM june 6^th/ 2011

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Today has been a day of prayer and encouragement. I have committed myself to a people whom the Son of God loves and gave Himself up for. Its been a week since the graduation of our latest Discipleship Training School and almost 2 weeks since we got back from our 2 month outreach to St. Lawrence Island. It is awesome to see what God can do when people surrender their hearts and their time to God. I saw the students of our DTS really grab onto the solid foundation of Jesus and start to tear down the things that hindered them from understanding the fullness of the truth. Throughout our time on St. Lawrence Island I also got to see many individuals come into the salvation Jesus offered them. Today is a day where when we minister to people we get to look at them with love and perseverance in relationships, no matter what is going on in their lives we get to offer them Jesus.

Our model of outreach can be interesting at times, we go into St. Lawrence Island with little to no ministry schedule or plan. We call on the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us ideas and open doors for us and then we run with it. God had amazing plans for us these past 2 months, things we couldn’t have imagined. So many friendships were built with people of all ages and out of those relationships a lot of trust was built because they know that we are simply there to love them and to show them Gods truth. In Gambell we had 40 kids show up at our door everyday for the first week of kids ministry time for about 2 hours after school, they just crave the love that is offered. The youth were the ones that wanted to hang out and hear about how God really is real and active and how He does move in power and wash away our sins and heals our hearts and gives us courage to walk with Him. They always wanted to be with us, as it is quite refreshing for them to be in a positive environment. I am always humbled to be able to help the elders of the church run the services and also to be able to pray and encourage each other as we walk together in bringing Jesus to a lost generation that is looking for its identity.

Honestly there are snares of the enemy that seek to destroy each and everyone, no one is exempt. Most of these traps are really just small lies that entrap minds and hearts to keep us in shame, guilt, or fear. During our nightly worship and bible study in Savoonga (the second village we went to) I really got to see the truth battle those lies. As some of the youth were picking up the bible and reading things for themselves for the first time, whether they were reading that they were fearfully and wonderfully made, or that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus, or that Jesus came to bring deliverance from sin it really delighted my heart to see lights go off in their minds and the utterance of there mouth declaring the truths that God had revealed to them through the Word.

Both villages have a population of about 750 each, they are isolated in the far north west. Alcohol, suicide, depression, sexual abuse, addictions are things that effect every single person whether first hand or second hand. Suicide and abuse have caused severe trauma that wars against the minds and hearts trying to drag down the value of life in which Jesus established on the cross. The battle rages, we are in a fight together as followers of Christ to encourage and pray for these people, and for others like them all around the world. We saw about 40 people give there lives to Jesus during our 2 month trip, but there were countless others who were encouraged and prayed with through the many struggles and trials that they are faced with every day, many received courage to face the battle, others were healed in their hearts, bodies, and minds. The work is not finished though so keep praying for them to press on towards the goal and also for those who are walking in

darkness heading towards destruction.

In the beginning of July we are trying to get a group of youth from st. lawrence to join us in homer for a mini DTS as they are really looking for a deeper time of learning, we are praying and pooling together money to offer scholarships as it is quite a challenge for most to get airfare off the island.

Sincerely

Chad Reimer

st. lawrence update

we have been in savoonga for just over a week now after 3 weeks in gambell. in gambell we saw alot of open doors, we got to be a comfort to a family that i had been in contact with for 2 years as one of them passed away, people turning to jesus for comfort and hope, we worked alot with the youth, connected people together to be support to each other and we saw many youth touched by God and many more re commitments than we know and 3 lives given to Jesus. 2 of the dts students made open doors by helping with landing 2 whales and working on butchering them along side the people many of whom thought christians were wimps who could do physical work. that is gambell in really short.

savoonga has been incredible so far, about 36 people have given there lives to Christ or re committed their lives in just a week through some of our evangelistic services. so be praying, satan wants to steal the seed so he doesnt want them to be connected to the church, he wants them to lack understanding of the kingdom of God so be praying that they really open their hearts to the truth.

God has amazing plans, we have been working with the kids and youth alot mostly because they dont mind coming to church as much. pray for strategy to get others to church, to be fed by God, from the Word.
i am doing good, it is really alot of work being in charge of a outreach, i finally got some of my duties delegated to the other staff. its always been hard for me to delegate. but God is good. we have all been struggling with some sickness, i recently have been fighting a fever and ear aches. so continue to pray for our health.

today my heart really broke for these people, i dont know if it had to do with fasting yesterday, or seeing the ways of the world creep in to attack people we know. i am tired of seeing people living defeated but i know that all i can do is continue to love them and present Jesus and Jesus crucified and Jesus resurrected.

Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

my heart is tired of seeing the ways of the enemy. So through Jesus: i want to preach transformation. i want to preach saving grace. i want to preach the righteousness that comes through faith and not by works.

chad

march update

Chad Reimer YWAM Arctic Mercy March 20^th, 2011

James 1: 2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

There is something special about working out your salvation daily knowing very well that Jesus is in you and you are in Him, knowing that the cross and empty grave mean that the battle is over in a sense but still looking to Jesus every morning and telling Him “ I need You”.

Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross mean so much more than we give Him credit for sometimes, God has redeemed so He can have fellowship and communion with us on so many levels. But As I work in village ministry, as I work in the lives of our Discipleship training school students, and as I work out my own salvation I have to remind myself that just because we are fully redeemed by the grace of God that we still have to let Him sanctify and complete His work in us. These past few month I have seen God do a might work in the lives of the students here. This week the speaker has really hit what I think the heart of the DTS really is. It would be fair to say that the students have all experienced God a lot in these past few months, one of our students was healed from dyslexia another student received her peripheral vision. They have been hearing Gods voice/ prompting in community outreach, in our intercession times, in their quite times, and in our latest village outreach to Ouzinkie which I will share about later. They have been experiencing financial blessings pouring in to cover their outreach costs, they have experienced the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. But what the speaker this week is saying and what we have been saying this whole time” we care more about you being more in love with God when you are 80 than you are now”. With a greater spiritual knowledge and a stronger identity in Christ these students look at what is ahead of them with a great responsibility. will their faith be tested? guaranteed, will perseverance through trials and testings bring them closer to God? yes. We want Truth to dictate experience not the other way around.

We are preparing to go on our main outreach to St. Lawrence Island Alaska for which I am the primary leader with 2 other staff and 7 students. We leave on April 4^th for 7 weeks to spend 3 weeks in Gambell and 4 weeks in Savoonga. As we go we want to walk humbly before God loving mercy, for God sees our broken hearts and we are made complete in His love and as we walk with the many people we are in relationship with on the Island we have to walk knowing that Jesus has plans and purposes and has such a great love for these elders, these middle age, these youth, and these kids. We face a lot of spiritual warfare because of our stand to be led by the Spirit trusting in the word of God and sharing His truth. Prayer ministry and really a lot of getting involved in the community, showing them the mercy and kindness of God so that they will turn to the Living waters of God and away from broken cisterns. Im really excited because God is sharing with us the things that are on His heart for His people, good news for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, liberty for the captives, and release for prisoners. I pray that we see the fruit of the Resurrection power that was promised to those who believe Jesus, the power to love purely and to live free.

We spent 2 weeks at the beginning of march in a village just north of Kodiak island called Ouzinkie ( U- zinc -E) working on a mission house run by kodiak baptist mission, we got to minister to quite a few young people and encourage some of the teachers, elders and the russian orthodox reader. Most of our work was physical renovation(mudding, texturing, painting, tiling, etc.) with a side of spiritual transformation. The DTS leader Kevin who is also a father of 4 kids got to really impact one girl by continually speaking truth of an amazing Father in heaven over her as she has been broken by so much death, especially the death of her father. Continue to pray for transformation for the many hearts seeking it in Ouzinkie.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT.

Contact me for more info on supporting or praying for me.

Grace and peace

chad reimer cell(will be out of cell range from april 4- may 20) - 907-299-6255

box 959 homer, ak 99603

chad.reimer@gmail.com

meant to post this a while ago

January 17^th/ 2011 Chad Reimer- YWAM Arctic Mercy

Two Thousand and Ten was quite a year! The Sovereign One did a lot through us this year, despite our short comings He used our faith in many places. When one turns to the gracious Lord He is faithful and I praise Him for that. If I had to sum up 2010 in short I would say it was not what I expected when I signed up for it. From living in the tent cities of Haiti to some of the most remote villages of Alaska; From speaking to crowds of Haitians to visiting shut in elders of northern villages in Alaska; From handing out 100lb bags of rice and beans to handing out free hot coffee to street people during the Vancouver Olympics. Not only do outreaches like these reach the people whom the are serving but also the very heart of the person whom is serving. I have learned that 1. Dive deep into the word of God daily for His word sustains us through thick and thin , 2. that God even uses our mistakes to bring us closer to Himself, and 3. experience is a great teacher(either teaches us what not to do or shows us the very truths of God).

Two Thousand and Eleven is looking like another year of great responsibility. Currently I am looking forward only until June due to my 6 month visa running out then. We are running our winter DTS (discipleship training school) and we have 8 students from all over North America and from Switzerland. Responsibility is something God is teaching me in many new ways. In the past few weeks a lot has happened: 8 people have arrived and (with staff constantly praying) have become great friends, week one of everything (classes, intercession, worship, community outreach, work duties, etc.), staff and students sharing testimonies bearing the deepest hurts and hopes of our hearts with each other. I have a busy schedule but the great part of the busy schedule is that it includes taking half an hour every morning reading the Bible and praying alone. Some of my major responsibilities include; maintenance man (making sure that everything is clean and working in this 70 year old building, making sure the snow is shoveled, and maintaining our vehicles is the majority of the job so far), I'm the cook for 5 meals every week (10 meals every 3^rd week), community outreach leader(coordinating with various venues including pregnancy centers, long term care homes, local churches, youth centers etc. . Also teaching the students about evangelism and local needs.), DTS staff (doing one on ones, leading small group, leading worship/ prayer, being the go to guy for all the students). Our main DTS outreach is April and May to St. Lawrence Island, but I will go more in detail about that next letter. God Bless

Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Chad Reimer CELL 907. 299. 6255

3838 bartlett st.
homer AK 99603
chad.reimer@gmail.com

the throne of your heart

I need to utilize my Monday evenings as they are pretty much the only alone time I have all week and by alone time I mean all alone. I would say I'm a introvert and really need this alone time, so instead of going with the students to a local seminar on hearing the voice of God I am taking this time to get some much needed stuff done, and tending to my neglected blog.

I need to extrovert my introvert thoughts in order to really be able to grasp this stuff, so here is some of my processing from the past couple weeks.

Who/ What is on the throne of your heart?

in some cultures the heart means nothing in analogy. Maybe in the lack of knowledge of the importance of a heart, but the liver in some cultures is the core of their existence. The bible talks about the heart alot in the english but in the hebrew( and greek) it is the center. our will, emotions, and intellect.

So who/ what is the king of your will, emotions, and intellect?
(Mar 12:29 Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Mar 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Mar 12:31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." )

Why is it so hard even as a Christian to keep my self off that throne?
I find a few things at work here.
the old self (the sinful self) who we seem to constantly be in tension with seems to have not gotten the message that we are living sacrifices to Jesus our saviour and likes to continue to make us stumble.
Humans have a hard time letting go of control. maybe we have been hurt by others and have a hard time trusting in a authority that we cant control. we dont want to be dependent on something we cant physically stand on..


What evil in this world does not directly have to do with people putting the wrong thing on the throne of their hearts?(Mat 15:18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.)

take a step back and think of all the things that make you angry. rape, murder, lying, people not valuing each other, people not valuing God.

think of Hitler. why did he do it? was he just a little boy who was beaten by his father and suffered the loss of his young brother and mother at a young age. having hurt on the throne of his heart, Hurt that wasnt taken to Jesus. roots of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred create a tree with fruit of death.

I pray so much for those today who experience such loss and pain. i am not saying that its as easy as waving your Jesus wand and walla all your hurts are gone. but God is good and he walks through it with you. john 11:35 Jesus wept. He told His disciples before they even got the news that lazarus was dead but that he would wake up, why does he still weep.


where do we find strength?
Genesis 4
Cain had "prosperity" even after he was cursed to wander and lost his ability to work the land. He built a city around himself with some of the first recorded musicians, blacksmiths, tent makers, and cattle herders. they didn't find the peace that adam and eve had in the garden.

how often do we try to find our strength in the box that we have put christianity in. describing what it means to be a christian we pull out a list of rules because they are black and white enough for us to grasp. where is our faith? Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

do we by faith Give Jesus His rightful place on our hearts, letting Him wash away any guilt, letting Him speak to us, letting Him wash our wounds.
Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.


remember you were bought with a price
1Co 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
1Co 6:20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The Holy Spirit is what creates good fruit.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

I want to have Jesus on the throne of my existence. He has judged me with mercy, God is love its not just something He does it is Him. Who doesnt want that in their heart, my prayer is like David's Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

just some thoughts from the past few weeks

chad