Psalm 40
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
With these words on my heart, I'm excited to let you know that I have been accepted onto
staff at YWAM Island Breeze, partnering in music ministry. After over a year of soul
searching, prayer, conversation and many open and closed doors, we have found a ministry home as we work to build a unique music ministry right here in Southern Manitoba.
When I look back through my life, the one passion I can find threading through the years is performing music for others. From elementary and Sunday school programs, recitals and plays, to rock bands and worship teams. These opportunities have always been a driving force in my personal development, and something that I always dreamed of spending my life pursuing.
My biggest regret in this is that insecurity and depression convinced me that this was a foolish dream, and that the only people who could pursue such things were better than me. But God works through all things, and in our weakness he is strong. I want to use my own journey and passions to share songs and stories of pain, healing and hope in Jesus Christ.
So what will this ministry look like?
First: as part of the Island Breeze Production Team, we bring the songs and dances of the Pacific Islands to schools, churches, and private functions all over Canada and beyond.
Beyond a message of diversity, Island Breeze uses their unique background to share how all people and cultures are made in the image of God. I will be playing bass, helping with recording, and maybe even learn a dance or two!
Second: Island Breeze is allowing me to build a separate, worship focused ministry which we have called Rescue Story. The goal of Rescue Story is to provide contemporary worship Leading services to churches,
conferences, retreats and other outreaches. We've seen that there is a real need for high quality, experienced worship leading to minister to a variety of groups and demographics. Our goal is to build a team of people who also feel called to this unique kind of opportunity, and share our passion and our personal stories as we worship together.
Third: I have been offered a position leading Steinbach Bible College's worship team, Free Servant. In this role, I will work with a team of student musicians and technicians to better understand and build many of the practical skills of worship leading and playing in a band. There is a small salary with this job which is a real blessing, but accepting this position wouldn't be possible if I wasn't full time invested in music ministry.
While Covid-19 has pressed pause on live events, we continue to prepare and find unique ways of ministering. Typically, Island Breeze can perform anywhere from 2 to 10+ times per month. As the Rescue Story band, I would eventually like to book around 2 events per month, some of which I expect to be weekend long events. Free Servant performs around 10 events per academic year plus a short tour. Island Breeze also runs a Discipleship Training School (DTS) for 5 months of each year. Many of these things are on hold or unknown at this time, but will eventually return to normal.
One of our long term goals would be to eventually run a worship focused DTS out of the YWAM base, a natural extension of the gifts we already use. While this will be several years down the road, God is opening doors and we are following through them as best as we are able. As we learn from this process and build our ministry and follow our calling, we want to provide the opportunity for young musicians to do the same.
As YWAM staff, we are responsible to build our own support teams. Will you join us?
With your prayers
With a monthly or annual financial contribution
By connecting us with your church. Our mission is to partner with you in worship!
Invite friends, family and contacts to join us
If you would like to stay updated on our activities, visit our family's support page HERE to join our mailing list and get more information on partnering with us.
Thank You and God Bless,
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