a devastating crush

there was a major car accident just outside of niverville in early may.

a young man named ryan died after being hit by a vehicle while riding his new motorcycle for the first time. four young men were in the vehicle, four young men that we at the drop-in centre have been getting to know in the last few years.

a devastating crush to all parties involved.

now the question remains, what happens to those left behind? one man had life and lost it, and four others are left with lives they hardly want. this all seems quite backwards. but when you look and the redemptive heart of God, it may not be completely backwards. One of the guys recently posted on facebook, while going through this season of intense eternal perspectives. the post was the bible verse that follows:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, Will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing"

we must understand that this reference wasn't just some comfort words pulled from some archive in this young man's life. with no church or christian background, these words were new, fresh, and revealing to him, unlike any characteristic of his past.

sometimes the most devastating blows can cultivate the best soil for change in our lives, change that brings us into reliance on God, and relationship with him.

Dance On It!

Last month we as the Niverville Youth Ministries hosted our 4th annual "Crave." With the help of a very modern youthful atmosphere, we opened the doors for the youth to worship God in a very atypical fashion.

In the midst of the music and dance, we gave everyone a chance to experience what we call "dancing on it." With a black-lighted atmosphere (see pictures below) we used highlighters that glowed to write on the dance floor things that we worried about, or brought us down. With that, the music pumped up and we were all able to dance on our situations, dance unto God and worship Him in the midst of our problems. The really neat thing that happened was that as we physically danced on the hightlighted words, they faded away under our feet. This was a perfect representation of what God does in our lives as we "dance on it" in the midst of our trials.

In another stream of the event, it was an outreach to many unchurched youth, and they came by the droves. We had about 200 youth, grades 9-12, show up and experience this Crave, whether it was by being right in the middle of the dance floor worshipping God with others, or on the sidelines watching...wondering what kind of energy makes these people move. We pray that this subversive expression of our faith takes roots in youth that are on the fringes.

a flock of youth crammed onto the illuminated dance floor

the night was lead by DJ DROPS (Chris Dropko, youth pastor of Maranatha) &
MC ROBOKOP (Rob Redekop, youth pastor at NCF)

teenagers writing writing some difficult issues onto the dance floor with highlighter

freedom was in the atmosphere as we praised God

the lighting was really cool, too.

on the Edge

With one last hoorah of indoor skating while the snow was still on the ground, covering our outdoor skatepark...we headed for the Edge. The Youth for Christ Winnipeg-run indoor skatepark dubbed, "the Edge" was a fantastic time for the youth to jump-start their skills before the spring melt. Presently, the Niverville Skatepark has been flooded with young people skateboarding in the wonderful weather we've been having. Here's some pics of our Edge trip:

CRUD fruit

here is the creative fruit conceived from the culmination of staff, volunteers, and students at the Drop-In. enjoy!



music by local artist Joel Wiebe.

a fire in the night

Most times I've heard or used the phrase "fire in the night," I'm referring to a prayer movement or revival that has to do with seeking God at night. But alas, now I'm referring to a literal, tangible fire that happened in Niverville last week. It burned down our local bakery, which happened to be the business that my (Mark) wife (Kristen) owned with her family, while my coworker and brother-in-law Eric's wife (Melodie) worked there as well.
The hit was hard.


But there is one thing in common with this fire and the prayer movements: they usher in something new. It's a tough time for us, Eric is saving up for his wife's maternity leave to have their baby this summer, and I was just about to make an offer to purchase a house (now likely rejected because of the loss of the business). As Eric and myself are hit with financial uncertainty and instability, we are called to press into God's CERTAINTY and STABILITY! It's a new kind of dependence on God, a new kind of relationship with Him and between us and our wives. And it's great because His is SO GOOD and His hands are HUGE! (though sometimes we don't feel like this is the case). So we're left to fundraise our salaries with YFC and rely on God's goodness to come through. Please pray for us!

the updater

here are a few updates on the life of the drop-in:

1) our renovation is pretty well complete! we have an amazing new bar counter and shelving, and functioning oven. but sadly, by the time we finished the reno our fridge supplier yanked our fridge from us, as we couldn't fulfill their quota of caffeine purchases. so now we're out to find a fridge!

2) niverville's midget boys hockey team (sr. high) won the championship on wednesday!

3) program director eric mcmahon and executive director gordon kroeker happened to have their respective family vacations at the same time in the same place...florida! so the first two weeks of march were lonely for mark von riesen, but now all three are back in action and right into the thick of it again!

4) music has been pulled out of the woodwork once again...with back to back coffeehouses at the drop-in on the 16th and 17th featuring live local musicians.

5) discovery time - a weekly class at the elementary school teaching about the christian faith - is winding up soon. the yfc staff have been teaching a grade 6 class for the last 6 years! many grade 12 students hanging out at the drop-in first met mark von riesen in their grade 6 discovery time class.

Kounter Kultural Kaeleb

Q: who is Kaeleb?
A: self-employed carpenter, husband, and YFC volunteer of five years.
Q: what makes Kaeleb so "kounter kultural"?
A: his name is spelled with a "k" rather than the conventional "c."
Q: is that it?
A: no.
Q: ...?
A: right...well, in the last year he started his own business and this winter in 2011 he came to a lull in his work. he took this opportunity to renovate the drop-in.
Q: is this really that counter cultural?
A: you mean, kounter kultural?
Q: sure, whatever.
A: that wasn't a question.
Q: ...?
A: anyway...the background info on volunteer-kaeleb is that he has a new business, meaning high overhead costs and low surplus funds. in a lull, he has even less fund-age, and so he comes to volunteer his services for the youth centre. not only so, but he has the time to do an amazing job and so he ends up doing some of his best work for charity. kounter kultural?
Q: yes.
A: that wasn't...
Q: i know, i know...?
A: that's better.
Q: can we see kaeleb's kounter?
A: yes...and behold!

check out www.heartwoodcarpentry.ca for more information on this guy.