^{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

winnipeg

hey so here i am in winnipeg and have been for 2 and half weeks now. its been a while since i have posted anything not that i havent had anything to say but, well i dont have any reasons that feel good enough to have not posted anything in long time. been working through or at least trying to work through some of my life's big questions. feeling like im at the bottom again, at a new level of awareness that brings me down to the core of my existance. but really struggling with giving it all to God, dont know where to start with breaking down this wall. wanting to give life instead of just preserving life, trying not to fear courage.

more to come...

the great northwest

Well just wanting to update you all on this time up north to St. Lawrence island.

we got in to the first village called savoonga on the 30th of september, me and 2 other YWAM alaska staff. We came with no real agenda, no programs, no set schedule. most of the places we intended to do our "out outreach" never ended up being open, young adults usually have to main hangouts, the gym(they have open gym during the nights normally but due to some major vandalism problems gym was not open) and the teen center ( a teen hangout that sometimes is open, i think run by parents or the suicide prevention team) was also closed. so we ended up keeping our time there pretty low key. Kids will flock to the church at the sound of a open door, and we got to pour into a solid group of more of the "outcasts" the kids mostly from the old housing who werent into sports. it hurts me to see some of these kids with as deep of pain as they have. i dont even like to mention the "sexual abuse rate" partly because i dont know how accurate it is and partly because it hurts my heart but the number that was on the poster was 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys and 88% arent reported. savoonga is where i heard the story of how the island once had a population estimated at 10 000 (which i find hard to believe) to 300 in one year and the power of what one man can have( hopefully my version is somewhat right). one fur trader sailed around the coast of the island trading alcohol for the first time to the siberian yupik eskimos and lots of it so much that they men were out of commission for long enough to fail to hunt in the ever crucial period right before winter. famine and having sold most of the furs proved a deadly combination.
our time in savoonga with the younger adults was very interesting, different from anything before. staying up until 5 in the morning starting worship sessions at 3 in the morning, praying for people, building friendships, calling people towards living Jesus centered lives. there were 3 funerals in the 2 weeks that we were there one young girl 1 and a half years old and a young boy 5 years old and a older man. so being there to pray and even feebly try to comfort not that i gave pat answers, but being there for a few of the family members whom i was friends with previously.

then we went to gambell which is the other village on the island and we have had a great time here so far, we added some maturity and some immaturity haha onto our team a married couple and their 2 young kids and have been more scheduled but in a good way. almost all the people we have come in contact with have seemed really hungry for God there are only a few houses that people did not want prayer at and the youth are asking for prayer, they are asking to worship, they are asking about what happens when we do bad things. there has been alot of opportunities to speak truth. we had a youth group last night where we shared a few testimonies, worshiped and watched a movie called "to save a life" and discussed it. had many meaningful conversations and moments with kids and teens of all ages because we got bombarded with 10 year olds at like midnight, they have until friday off of school and so it has been weird having people show up right as we are trying to wrap things up and quickly changing our game plan to be open to ministering in any way almost anytime. for the most part i have been impressed with the respect youth and kids have for us even though things are shifting towards children being loud and out of control. keep these villages in your prayers and Kevin Smith the pastor of the baptist church in savoonga whom we got to spend some time with and all the other people who serve so faithfully in and out of the church.

our team is doing pretty good, some minor tensions.
and i am doing good, it is a interesting feeling to have your heart broken and yet mended almost at the same time in some situations. we are in a battle, there is so much that i could share ontop of this.

God is good.

chad

St. Lawrence Island

well today i start my journey back up to St. Lawrence Island on a outreach trip. the first and only time i was up there was about a year and a half ago and thats what broke my heart for missions and for the native people of north america.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=st.+lawrence+island&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.130288,86.572266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=St+Lawrence+Island&z=5

this marks the 4th anniversary of the first YWAM trip up there, in which time alot of seeds and alot of relationships have grown, we are seeing fruit. Not to say that things are going to be easy or fun all the time, I plan on having my heart broken for these people, i plan on crying, i plan on laughing and experiencing joy too but i will intercede in sorrow with God. God has been so faithful to us and we are looking forward to seeing breakthrough on this island. there are beautiful people with value and they need to understand Gods love through that as much as i need to understand that.
we are going to be there for 5 weeks and there are a total of 5 adults and 2 children on our team, but we always look forward to seeing who in the community partners up with our ministries because we always seem to be facilitating that. We tend to focus more on relationships outside and also inside the church walls, going to the teen center, the gym, dances, to homes, basketball courts really striving to be with the people, and on top of that to build up the church as a encouraging non judgmental place of refugee. this is really vague description of our ministry here, but our ministry has looked so different at times. we have run bible study, kids church, worship nights, church services, youth group, pretty much anything "church related" at times, we have gone into the school and help with tutoring, we have done dramas in the school with a suicide prevention message. and ther is so much more. we have open doors to do alot of stuff and so be in prayer for us, we want to be obedient to God in doing what Hes wanting accomplished.

sorry i have to go without giving much more information but we are leaving to go to anchorage right now haha

pray for us ill give you a update soon hopefully

chad

influence

So I'm sorry I'm such a bad blogger.

So I am back in Homer, Alaska after a simply awesome trip back home sitting in what used to be called " the dungeon" but now is our quite lovely hangout area. I'm here because I don't get internet here and I really want to just sit and not be distracted by various "social networks".

But there are some ideas that have been on my heart recently to put down on paper, to speak out, to express. These ideas have to do with the principles of influence, the cold hard truth of our effect on our surroundings. its been told to me that every thought/ action has a consequence(consequence doesn't necessarily mean bad but just cause and effect) and the importance of a biblical world view/ how you view yourself grows exponentially with that statement.

what do we let influence us?

Funny story that's going around town is this: its about a family that has been in homer since the early days so a few generations. So there is this young lady who is hosting a dinner party, she has prepared it all from scratch and the smell of ham wafts through the house, the finished ham completes the table as the guests are seated the lid comes off and there is the ham with both ends chopped off. one guest ponders out loud what the rest of them are thinking " why are the ends chopped off?" the host responds "I don't know, its the way my Mom did it" so later she calls her mom and asks "why do we cut the ends off of our hams?" her Mom responds " I don't know, its the way my mom did it" so she calls her Mom with the same question and she responds " we only had one pan and it wasn't big enough for the whole ham". Now in the grand scheme of things that little tradition of cutting the ends off of the ham wasn't life threatening. Truth is that there are a lot of influences other than our parents but our parents/ family teach us a lot about how to relate to each other, our society, and God.

What goes in must come out is a statement that I've been wrestling with, it seems like in most cases you do what you have been taught, what you have seen. If your environment is full of sex, booze, drugs, despair, darkness, hopelessness, abuse, etc. that's what gets passed on to you. Dont for a second think this only applies to the north end, or to places far away from you. Gods has power that can protect kids from such hopelessness but believe me its not easy, even ministering to this next generation of kids I believe needs to be done multi generational, if we can get whole households to cling to the light then we have that family dynamic that God so desperately wants.

*sorry little soapbox but im tired of purity being traded for a laugh*
what are you influenced by: tv shows, music, the word of God. now this is where i have to try to not be legalistic in my heart, for i know that it is what comes out of a mans heart that determines many things but what shows do you watch and enjoy, what has our simple ignorance allowed in. two and a half men? a show where we laugh at a sex addict and his negative influence on his nephew. how many of the shows( i could make a long list of sex driven shows) we watch today are complete filth but oh hey they make me laugh. dont get me wrong, Jesus loves the sex addict, but numbing ourselves to such low standards of finding humour in it doesnt exactly transform us into being Christ like.

so to be transform and to help those around me seek the same transformation i need to be rooted in love, self discipline, and power. we can be a influence to this generation, we can start by choosing life over death, by choosing eternal love over temporary pleasure. things seem to always go back to basic love God with everything! and love your neighbor as yourself. i still cringe when i hear the word everything, what does achieving that look like, all i can hope is that im being peeled away into this full time everything mode, Holy Spirit have your way. Love your neighbor as yourself doesnt work as well when you dont see yourself the way God see's you(which brings you back to the consequences of our thoughts), you are to value others with intense passion but it is important to embrace the way of patience and timing.

who is my neighbor? who can i influence?

I am telling you there is a big world out there, with many people. Do not be ignorant to the need of the gospel in all nations. We need to start in our homes, most of the time we need to seek forgiveness with our family members, we need to move on, lay down our pride, work on our personal places. But if you want to be passionate, there are many "issues" that are crying out for passionate people, what are you willing to sacrifice to reach out. if you want people to pray for there are alot of them, i want you to think of the sex trade slaves, the inner city, the reserves, the addicts, the orphan children, the child soldiers, the persecuted church, your neighbor down the street to your neighbor across the world.

who can you influence, be faithful in the small. when i started thinking of facebook as a tool to reach out(believe me im still trying to learn how to not make everything about me) I started seeing fruit. I have up to 40 friends online at the same time, all with different life stories, from different places. sometimes someone just needs a little bit of encouragement to not drown in a bottle tonight, a friend needs to know that im praying for her, a old friend sees something different in me and asks me what it is, reconciliation to someone who i had been a jerk to in grade 6. encouragement, prayer, and the power of testimony go a long way.

this past week i was across the bay in a village named Seldovia population 307, we were a part of a school assembly, 2 workshops (suicide prevention) (bullying prevention), and a evening assembly. this was a awesome experience for me to get to be a part of someones ministry even when the school time was pretty tame in not using the name Jesus, most of the students came back for the evening to hear the word of hope that is that God has a plan for your life, Jesus died to give you eternity. but at the same time the school assembly had alot of power, one of the illustrations that his me was 20 dollar bill, bill took the bill and threw it on the ground, told the bill it was no good not worth anything, stomped on it, spit on it, put it in his armpit and asked the kids how much it was worth.

let that influence you, in your view of yourself and of others.
every moment is a opportunity
carpe diem
Let God transform you

coming home with the summer

Chad Reimer - YWAM Arctic Mercy- Homer, AK-
as the fire weed grows 2/8/10

Well time seems to be moving faster than normal, I cant believe I've been out of Winnipeg for 7 months already but I guess only a slim majority of that time has been here in Homer, as I did a fair amount of traveling. The fire weed is blooming here telling us that summer is on its way out(not that we really had a summer anyways), it also tells me that I'm going to be home soon. I am arriving in Winnipeg on August 22^nd until the 31^st and then I am back up in Alaska until late November when I'll have to renew my “visa”. I again want to thank you for all your support and prayers through these hard but good months.

From July 10^th to July 24^th me and a team of 6 others the first week and 14 including 5 kids the second week we were in Ouzinkie, Alaska at a mission house owned by Kodiak Baptist Mission that YWAM Arctic Mercy is partnering to reestablish as a base of village ministry. The house was built in 1938 served at a orphanage, preschool, clinic, church, most of all I think it served as a place to build relationships. The first week was a really intense work week, we put up about 96 sheets of drywall the first 4 days, while doing a little demolition. We muded and taped the next couple days into all hours of the night usually after losing time due to a villager insisting on sharing a meal or fellowship with us, it was all welcome. From listening to a elder talk about how Jesus had met him and his family time and time again, to hearing a young teenage girl cry out in her frustration we experienced many deep heart wrenching conversations. The second week we installed 11 windows, continued with muding and taping, textured primed and painted the kitchen, installed cabinets and counter tops, and finished off some electrical work, installed counter tops at the house of a woman who just lost her brother( he was going to install them but he passed away suddenly). There is something about a old house, something about a weathered community that has put a spark in my heart.

I think this YWAM experience has taught me something about the body of Christ and how it is working. Vancouver during the Olympics, Haiti after such a disaster, even here in Homer in the face of church splits I am finding people willing to humble themselves to their brothers and sisters in the name of Christ. I ask myself why cant this be the normal church, it seems like in the face of disaster or when Christians know the spotlight is on them they can rise up above such pride and be the hands and feet and eyes and mouth etc they were made to be. Its kinda fun looking at different denominations and the different strengths they have, in Haiti I saw this with the 200 plus people from all over the world. Its cool to hear other peoples opinions on Mennonites too, we are notoriously hardworking and steadfast servants.

This past month has been really busy, I have often been working on stuff until the sun was going down which is around 11pm here now. The “projects” on my plate while in Homer have been doing the groundwork for our hockey camp this fall: advertising, website work, researching event sponsorship. Helping pioneer an Adventure DTS slated for spring-summer 2011: researching cost, seeking out the vision, making a promo video, trying to get to a place where we can get a website up. Lately I've been heavily involved with staffing a mini DTS which is a 3 week version of our 3 month lecture phase which has been good, and we just had 30 youth drop in for a couple days who were part of a different missions group called teen mania.

Colossians 3:1-17 have really been my life verses recently, I'm realizing how God doesn't want us to just avoid sin but to actually clothe ourselves with His own qualities.

Thank you,

Chad Reimer

3838 Bartlett st., 99607, AK

http://withgracealone.blogspot.com chad.reimer@gmail.com

ouzinkie blurb

From July 10^th to July 24^th me and a team of 6 others the first week and 14 including 5 kids the second week we were in Ouzinkie, Alaska at a mission house owned by Kodiak Baptist Mission that YWAM Arctic Mercy is partnering to reestablish as a base of village ministry. The house was built in 1938 served at a orphanage, preschool, clinic, church, most of all I think it served as a place to build relationships. The first week was a really intense work week, we put up about 96 sheets of drywall the first 4 days, while doing a little demolition. We muded and taped the next couple days into all hours of the night usually after losing time due to a villager insisting on sharing a meal or fellowship with us, it was all welcome. From listening to a elder talk about how Jesus had met him and his family time and time again, to hearing a young teenage girl cry out in her frustration we experienced many deep heart wrenching conversations. The second week we installed 11 windows, continued with muding and taping, textured primed and painted the kitchen, installed cabinets and counter tops, and finished off some electrical work, installed counter tops at the house of a woman who just lost her brother( he was going to install them but he passed away suddenly). There is something about a old house, something about a weathered community that has put a spark in my heart.

ouzinkie

little video of some scenery/ the mission house/ ouzinkie

report to follow

old house

july 14th 2010

Here I am sitting in a 70 year old house in a small Alaskan village, sipping 35 year old tea, reading white fang while the sun dips just beyond reproach at 11pm. Another day is eloquently coming to a end another day, i just think of all the days that this house has seen. Earthquakes, funerals, weddings, raising up kids while raising up the village's children teaching them to read teaching them to learn, one rooms inscription reads joyce's office/ examination room, wonder what wounds have been stitched, if anybody has died in this house. A house is such a simple thing wood, nails, glass, and various other materials but what makes a house more than just a house, is it simply the age of this house that makes it seems so fascinating to me, or was it the 50 summers, autumns, winters and springs that were lovingly endured in the wild of it all. I ask myself who am I to tear down a 50 year old wall, what right do I have to demolish the past. I try my hardest to soak the house in, but its not really the house that speaks to my searching heart, its the life that was so dedicated to serving a community, so dedicated to Jesus to the nails in his hands and feet, to anointing Jesus's feet with tears and perfume, with a lifetime of service. If you asked me today if i ever wanted to leave this house, i would say “no, never”. I keep on seeing this trip as a perspective changer, maybe ill have afresh way of looking at things, if anything i think it might shift my heart to be completely committed to where I am The people here are different than ive ever experienced before, we arrive at the pier with no plan on loading our gear, our material to bring them to the house, we get a truck and a driver willing to drive for us right aways, guess he didnt have much other road ahead of him as the village only has 3 miles of road. We leave the light on, so if your in the neighbourhood wed love you to come for a visit. Ill have fresh tea on, 30 years old but fresh nonetheless.

just some thoughts

chad

bon voyage

well as I type the ferry i am on is getting cleaned getting fueled and getting ready for the 9 hour trip to kodiak. long story short these next 2 weeks I am going to be in a village names Ouzinkie doing renovations on a baptist mission house. I am excited to be on this trip as I really do love the villages of alaska, and i know that we will have the opportunity to show that love these next 2 weeks. this past week was a really hard one, but I come out of it with wisdom or at least i hope so. It feels like the boat of my life is still at harbour, getting ready. i pray that grace will be my wind, love will be my sails, trust will be my wheel house, joy will be my galley(the real heart of my boat), and hope will be my gangway.

well i tried posting this like 2 hours ago and we are still sitting here waiting for the boat to be finished loading, so it may relate to my frustrations of life too if my life was a boat, but ill get where im going even if i dont know where that is.

chad

joy comes in the morning (even when you ruin your oatmeal)

Well I will be honest, I've been very up and down, side to side lately, feeling like I'm being tossed around in a whirlwind of sorrow/ regret and yet a underlying laughter. Summer is slow in coming, my heart isnt as warm as i want it to be. circumstances seem to have kicked me to the floor, well im on my knees now. this past weekend was a long weekend for us due to 4th of July there were some really key parts to this weekend, I got ministered to in a way I hopefully wont forget anytime soon. though a lot of it didn't sink in until yesterday night, God spoke through others that I am like a wall in a good way where i am constantly moving forward as a ground breaker and actually protecting the inhabitants of my heart, and my heart is to serve and to bring joy. the joy of the Lord is my strength, and last but not least that the places where i feel like ive hurt people are going to become new.
earlier last night i didnt believe any of these good things about myself, i felt like the mistakes that ive made have made God angry and that He is rejecting me for my disobedience, that He had lifted His presence off of me and that peace that He offers was too far gone, that i was a wicked man being tossed in the waves of destruction, I turned to the Bible and really it didnt help me much the first reading, to which i asked God why was i feeling such condemnation, a aha moment told me this wasnt God that was making me feel such a weight such hopelessness and believe me this feeling has been building for a while. I simply said "God has accepted me, paid for me with a price, Jesus is my hope and i put my trust in Him" bam heaviness was already being lifted off and in came some valid hope, i felt conviction for a few things that i was feeling condemnation for but i read the same words in the bible and they brought a new understanding.

this morning i woke up at 6am and went down to the beach for about a hour watching the waves, felt joy and peace again, trying to go back to the simple place of abiding in Christ, and seeing circumstances in the eyes of hope and love and those eyes are Christs eyes.
chad

sing it out

ok so here it is 12:30 am still bright enough outside to see pretty clearly one of the quirky Alaskan things, but i figured i should just bear the lateness and just write a quick something.

so its been like a month since the graduation of our winter DTS which it seems like june went speedy fast, i had half a week of time off which was nice and then we had a short term mission mime team that was passing through town come and stay for a couple days and we helped them help us in a few great service opportunities in town like helping at a desert/ auction fundraiser for 3 couples from around the community who's houses have burnt down recently, where it wasnt necessarily a christian event and the families arent necessarily Christians but people of the church community wanted to bless these people in the midst of their loss. we have been meeting every morning to have a corporate worship ( i havent blogged about it yet but one of my biggest pet peeves is having "worship time" unless you schedule it for 24/7 and stop limiting the word worship to singing) we sing, we pray, we read the bible aloud, and its really been about reconnecting with each other, trying to set our hearts on who God is and how we can serve Him best. and i spent 3 days on a canoe trip which was fun, it was my first trip like that in Alaska. we have been ferociously trying to paint our building, but then we all got really busy with planning stuff that its kinda unfinished at this point, Im glad i graffitied some stuff on the half finished wall.

looking to what is ahead things get pretty busy, we still want to consistently have time in the morning to meet and worship together, but I have alot of projects on the go. for Hockey camp at the beginning of september( one of our major local outreaches) we are starting to try to get sponsors, trying to get raffle stuff together, starting up communication with the rink to finalize some stuff, working on the website updating information, working on getting jerseys, working on advertisement, etc. And next year we want to start a Adventure DTS where pretty much we are trying to embrace challenge as opportunity going out into the wilderness but also to the people/ tourists of the trails. almost every other week we are out in the wilderness doing things like hiking, canoeing, and fishing, and then we have one week of lecture. so we have to do some more ground work, promo video and trying to get stuff together for the website, etc.

so these next months look like this, working on all that stuff^ as i am on both those projects. On july 10th to 24th i am in a small village called ouzinkee doing some more renovation on a mission house, which we have been working on for a few years, and will be glad to see completed so it can serve the purposes it was build for 50 years ago, to bring the love of Jesus to the community. and then we have a Mini DTS from july 28 and then it goes for 3 weeks. and then I come home for a week and a half august 21-31 for Kurtis's wedding, and then return to homer for the Hockey camp sept 9th to the 13th and then hopefuly go up north for a month or so and then we have staff conference in early november and then i have to fly home before november 19th to renew my "visa".

so thats my life, i really would like to update relational news like interactions with people, some of our guests have had a wealth of knowledge and encouragment but i have a meeting in 1 minute so adios. so i didnt finish this the first attemp at 12:30 at night but i fell asleep and finished it this morning.

-chad

Haiti Video

well i finally made my Haiti Video, so here are some of the things i saw in Haiti

what can I say?

Well I spent the past 3 days mon-wed on a canoe trip a few hours north of here ill share a little bit about that, but I don't think that's where this post is headed. so we headed up monday bright and early (and actually up here in alaska it is quite bright even when it is early as the sun comes up around 3(im actually not sure how early it comes up but that sounds about right)) and spent 3 days paddling, portaging and camping. We were on a scouting trip for a new DTS (discipleship training school) that is going to be an adventure DTS, so all that hard work of paddling through 23 lakes(16 different lakes), and portaging 5 1/2 miles wasnt just for fun haha. we had a few just awe inspiring moments of peaceful calm, watching a moose swim across a lake, looking at the mountains in the distance on some of the lakes. i feel so blessed to know my Creator who created the beautiful landscapes but made us in His image, we are His best work, hard to believe but we are.


....

I keep on asking myself, what are you doing with your life? measuring and judging the core of my existence, keeping notes on tangible perspective. If you will dare to venture on a trail of analogy, Haiti was HOT: scorching, boiling, ferocious. For me leading a team in Haiti was like a fire, like a test, parts of that test I "failed"( o boy did I fail), parts of that test I passed, and God rejoices in both my passing and my failing because of His sovereignty He chooses to teach through the "failings". I keep on being frustrated with myself and the severe lack of vision, endurance, passion, communication skills, and most of all courage. as i want those things to overflow from my mouth and actions, i want my life to be like the shining stars in phillipians 2, i want to be constantly pouring out and being filled. Alaska is cold: freezing, cool, ice. As i came back from Haiti i really in my heart needed to process all that i could of my Haiti experience before i got to busy to, and ive been doing it, but theres more of a depth i dont know how to get out, mostly because i dont really comprehend alot of it. this life is a journey, I am at the 20 year mark. learning to be brave, wanting to be real, finding humility, holding onto hope. this summer wherever i go, whatever i end up doing, i want to grow from what God has shown me about who He is but also about who He has made me to be. right now we as a YWAM base are in a weird season, its supposed to be a refocus/ rest time with a good mix of local and almost local outreach, and a mini dts in august and thats kinda been the story, but i was really looking for a opportunity to go out and so being a counselor at a camp on kodiak island might be in my plans and if not helping coordinate hockey camp and adventure dts and a 2 week mission house remodeling project on spruce island would fill my time. keep praying for me, i hope to drop something encouraging off soon about specifics of what Gods doing in my life and to share wisdom.

we have a team of of 14 youth here for a couple days and we are facilitating some work projects and evangelism for them and hopefully tomorrow we are going to set up some prayer stations on the spit "free prayer" today we set up/ cleaned up / helped run a auction to help out 3 couples in homer whos houses have burned down recently, i bid 200 on a quilt but didnt get it haha.

well my battery is dying now too
chad