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M2M QUARTERLY UPDATE: SPRING EDITION 2023

Eric&Sonja Klassen

Hello friends! Welcome to the Spring Edition of the M2M Committee’s Blogpost!

Before we begin, please take some time and listen from our three partners in this video below :)

Abundant grace of god maternity clinc

We started 2023 with a wonderful visit from my sister MJ and her family who spent 2 weeks with us exploring the Philippines and meeting Achao's family in Bugnay. Don't let my mother-in-laws's face fool you - it was a great time of our two families connecting in the village :).

Prior to my family's arrival, a nurse-midwife from Holland arrived to spend 6 weeks volunteering at the clinic. She spent time training some of our newly hired midwives and also visited the Bugnay clinic where she assisted with a birth and then accompanied us on outreach to Buscalan.

After 3 years of limited travel, locally and otherwise, we have started our regular outreaches into the community again and attending clinical trainings and conferences.

The next few months will be filled with more conferences, leading local midwifery workshops in Tabuk City, hosting some International midwifery students and interns all while caring for many local families through their pregnancies. 

Abundant Grace of God clinic recieves a certificate of appreciation for our partnership with Kalinga State University's midwifery program.

Some of the amazing team of midwives that run the daily operations of the clinic so well! We have 10 full-time midwives right now to keep up with all our patients.

Achao has been hard at work on multiple renovation, furniture and mechanical projects since being back!

MACAD FAMILY updates

Our family is doing well, and the kids have almost finished their year of homeschooling. All I can say about that experience is that we survived!

Some exciting news for Emmaus is that he was accepted to Faith Academy in Manila for next school year. This is an American International school that caters to missionary kids from all over the Philippines and Asia. Emmaus will be staying in a dormitory with other students and a host family.

BIG changes for all of us! Prayers greatly appreciated!

Praise & Prayer updates:

Praise:

  • Praise God for the support from our beloved Table community who raised $1275.00 towards a purchase an ultrasound machine to be able to offer free ultrasounds to all of our patients.

  • Praise God for a great time with our family when they visited in February.

Prayer:

  • Please pray for the final months of school for the kids and new experiences for all of them next school year.

  • Please pray for our first time leading a workshop for local government midwives - that good relationships will be built.

To support the Macad Family, please click on the MSC image below :)

To support the Abundant Grace of God Maternity Clinic, please click on the MSC image below :)

Thank you for continuing to support and pray for us! Being able to live here and support the families of Kalinga is a privilege that we dont take for granted!

Street hope victoria (SHV)

At Street Hope Victoria we celebrated the risen Lord Jesus by giving out Easter bags filled with chocolate, sweets, cookies, granola bars, poems, and a book about Easter.

Thank you so much for all the goodies you gave and for all the baking that was done! Because of your generosity we were able to give out an incredible 127 Easter bags! It was wonderful to be able to share the joy of Easter in this way with people who are living their lives on Pandora Avenue.

Over the past month a few of us have been prayer walking around the city on a Wednesday morning, praying especially for those who find themselves without a home or suffering from substance abuse, or in a cycle of poverty for whatever reason.

If you’d like to join us on a Wednesday morning just let me know, or if Wednesday mornings don’t suit you, it would be great to have multiple groups throughout the week praying on the streets of our city. If this sounds like something you’d like to do, please do get in touch with me as well!

Our soup making at Street Hope Victoria has become an industrialised operation over the last couple of months! A Missional Community from Lighthouse Church is using the kitchen at COOL to make enough soup for the month. This is a great step in making SHV more sustainable for the future. We have also seen a few more people volunteering with us on a Tuesday evening which is exciting.

Thank you again, so much, for your continued prayer, time, support, and generosity! So grateful to God for you all at The Table!

Debs

Street Hope Victoria Outreach Director

deborah@thresholdministries.ca

praise & prayer updates:

A longtime Street Hope friend :)

Praise:

  • Praise for a successful Easter treat turnout.

  • Praise for the soup makers, new volunteers and making new connections with people. 

Prayer:

  • Pray for those who received the Easter book and poems that they would be open to hearing Jesus calling them by name.

  • Pray for Debs and Mandla Moyo as they continue to settle into Victoria’s vibrant community.

Thank you for your constant prayers, Support and time :)

intervarsity christian fellowship university of victoria (UVIC) | Camosun college

"I don't know why I didn't expect this, but I didn't expect for people to be so welcoming. I expected people to be cliquey and awkward. But people were really kind."

"InterVarsity really values people's cultural backgrounds. Like everything seems to be done so intentionally about creating space for people from different cultural backgrounds. 

"I'm really thankful Alan was so persistent in inviting me. Like it took four times, but I am thankful he didn't stop."

"People really value growing spirituality there. I don't know, but being at spring camp taught me its really important to invest in your spirituality. I'm not a Christian and I don't know where to start, but I know I want to invest."

"That was the best Bible study I've ever been to. Your application question - about success and trustworthiness - that's the exact thing I'm wrestling with. This summer I'm beginning a new job and I'm asking that exact question."

"Thank you for praying with me. God really met me there. But it was after when he did the miracle."

Talk about encountering the Creator in scripture, in community, in nature, and in prayer. These are just a few of the comments that Terri and I have received from students in Victoria who attended InterVarsity's annual spring scripture camp. 

We brought 16 students and two volunteers to Pioneer Pacific Camp. Four of these students did not identify as followers of Jesus and the majority of these students had never participated in an inductive bible study.

But it's not just about the numbers. These students had beautiful and meaningful encounters with Jesus within the gospel of Luke. Through the comments above, you can see how he welcomed them with big open arms. We are excited to see how they continue to respond to his wondrous hospitality. 

As you read through this newsletter, may Creator encourage you with the many ways that students continue to encounter Jesus along his way of welcome. 

encounter stories

One of the highlights from this past winter semester was our Reading Break Retreat on Denman Island. Above our students can be seen enjoying a delicious Bibimbap meal. We were really intentional with modeling Kingdom hospitality through different cultural cuisines (My favorite meal was cooking a Brazilian Stroganoff Cristiano, with one of our Brazilian students). 

One moment at the retreat stands out above the rest. After our first meal, as I was washing dishes, I heard one of our students from a Sikh background ask another student to tell him her story. She began sharing the story of how she first encountered God, and within minutes I watched as students began listening in and then began creating small groups of their own where they began to share similar stories.

What a marvelous moment of community and faithful witnessing! It was beautiful and sacred!

Many of these students attended our spring scripture camp with us and have begun participating our leading our summer Bible Study of Ephesians. 

campus community fellowship at uvic & camosun college

This spring, we hosted a massive Amazing Race event on campus. Our hope was to increase our presence on campus, create spaces for our students to grow in influence, and build trust with their friends and peers.

The race was a lot of work, but great fun. We were incredibly thankful for the thirty volunteers who helped us run this event.

We look forward to hosting similar outreach events with our students next year.

We've been really thankful to see students stepping up to lead this semester.

One of my favorite examples of this was a prayer meeting for student movements around the world, that was hosted by one of our student leaders. What made this time so special, was the time the student leader took to reach out to leaders and members of global, student fellowships.

We prayed for students in Turkey and Iran and Ukraine and Belarus as well as the student fellowships here in British Columbia. 

One of my favorite and most hilarious moments this past year was a debate that began at Camosun College during our Lunchbox Chats about whether pizza or quesadillas were better. The debate ended with one of the students exclaiming joyfully that he would make Quesadillas for us all the next week. 

The next week I showed up early to set up and discovered that this non-religious student had invited three of his friends to come to help him prep food for that week. What a surprise! The day continued to get better as more of this student's friends, including one of his professors, showed up and joined in our weekly conversation while enjoying some tasty Mexican food. 

Journeying With Curious Non-Religious Students - An Update - 

Update on our 'Thomas Hobbes' Student - This student is still home in Bangladesh but he continues to ask me questions about following God over Whatsapp. A month ago, he asked for a few spiritual exercises to try out and I introduced him to the Examen practice. I'm excited for this student to return to Victoria in September, so he can study the Bible with our fellowship in person.

From praying with crystals to attending spring camp: Earlier this semester, a non-religious student shared with me that he often prays with crystals and sometimes feels drawn to read Genesis. I was super excited when he responded to my first invite to spring camp by joyfully exclaiming, "I think I would love that."

One of my favorite moments at spring camp occurred after the first session of musical worship at camp. I asked this student how he was finding the camp and he said, "I am so glad I'm here. I'm really loving this Jesus. Can I get a Bible? I think I need to spend like two years really figuring this Christianity thing out."

Praise the LORD! Yes! We can definitely get you a Bible. (We did, and I spent the rest of camp watching this student reading it in his free time.). Upon returning from camp, this student has committed to taking the next year to read the Bible and explore ONLY the Christian faith. 

summer plans

As many of you know, summers can look a little bit different from our regular semesters. Here are a few things that I am looking forward to this summer:

  1. Leader's-In-Training Program (July 1-15) - I'll be helping out with this leader's program for high school students again. My role will be in hosting sessions on prayer and creative engagements. Which pretty much sounds like the best roles ever.

  2. Wedding Seasons -  I have several weddings which I'm a part of this summer. Pray for me as I travel and prepare for the various roles I hold in each of the celebrations. 

  3. Summer of Fun - I'm partnering with my church, the Table, to host a series of fun gatherings for students in Victoria

  4. Vacation - I am looking forward to time to rest and time to visit Rivendell, one of my favorite retreat centers. 

partnership opportunities | praise & prayer updates:

Hey friends! Thank you so much for partnering with me financially and in prayer. It has been beautiful to watch God provide. For the 2022-23 school year, I look forward to seeing how God might use any additional funds that might come in throughout the upcoming year to empower students to be missionaries on their university campus this year. If you are considering making a special donation, I would like to encourage you to consider giving to the InterVarsity UVIC fund. I've provided the link below.

We want to also thank all our volunteers who partnered with us in our ministry throughout this past year! We enjoyed celebrating the year with you through our Volunteer Appreciation Dessert Night!

Ways To Give:

  1. Online to Personal Fund: Click here.

  2. Online to Uvic Fund: Click here and in the 'Select Designation' box choose the University of Victoria.

  3. Cheque mailed to InterVarsity: InterVarsity, 1 International Boulevard,Toronto, ON M9W 6H3

    • Please include in the memo: Alan Thorimbert - Undergraduate Campus Minister

If you are already a monthly donor,  would like to increase your regular giving, or would like to transfer your donation to another staff or campus ministry – you may also contact Donor Services at donorservices@ivcf.ca or at 1-800-668-9766

Join our Intercessory WhatsApp Group to stay up to date on a bi-weekly basis:

Are you interested in receiving a bi-weekly message about how you can be praying for students in Victoria? We'd love to invite you to partner with us in prayer by joining us on WhatsApp. Message me if you would like to join the group. 

Prayer Updates:

  • Pray for students' curiosity towards our student fellowships and to Jesus will lead them to begin to encounter God.

  • Summer Bible Study - Pray that students would encounter God as student leaders host a  summer Bible study of Ephesians this summer. 
    Summer of Fun - Pray for my continued partnership with the Table Church, as we host fun gatherings for students in Victoria over the summer months. 

  • Pray for students graduating and/or moving on to new programs