SPRING 2018

Art Schroeder—Executive Director

WITH ALL YOUR HEART Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own

understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths

straight.”

The other day a young mom called to let me know that she was in a tough place

again. She decided to give up her daughter because of her own poor choices. She

was discouraged and at a loss for what to do next. As we discussed some of her op-

tions, she opted for the easier, quick fix.

As I look back over my life, I was a lot like this mom. I often chose the quick fix to my

problems. Unfortunately for me, the easier option rarely ever worked. After exhaust-

ing all my simple fixes, I would return to the choice I was trying to avoid due to the

pain I felt would come with that decision.

When Solomon wrote,” trust in the Lord with all your heart”, he was on to something.

Where we end up in life comes from what we put our trust in; Jesus, self, others,

possessions, etc. When we put our faith and trust in the Lord, He will guide our

paths. Sometimes those paths are difficult ones to take, however, they are the ones

that God has chosen for us. As the mom who gave up her daughter was faced with

whom to trust her future, so each one of us is faced with the same decision.

In the past three months, we have had ten youth trust their lives to Jesus!! Many of

these youth come from broken homes. Please pray with us as we walk with them on

this new journey of following Jesus. Jesus has a plan and a purpose for each one of

these students and we want them to find it! Thank you for praying for us as we minis-

ter to the youth in our communities!!

Recently, the passage from Ephesians 6 about the armour of God has been a constant theme at YFC. It’s amazing to think how we

can often be fighting the wrong battle as Christians! This passage reminds us that we are not fighting against people, but against

the evil behind them.

As I think of spiritual warfare, I can often become frightful. If I’m not careful, I begin to imagine Satan overtaking everything I’m

doing and me simply hiding away, scared and on the defence. If we’re honest, I think many of us have been taught this way of

thinking. We’ve come to see the world in Satan’s grip, while we are simply trying to survive and run from him, waiting for Jesus to

finally come and save us.

However, when you read scriptures such as Matthew 16:18, John 16:33, James 4:7, 2 Peter 1:3-4, 1 John 4:4, we see a different

mentality as Christians. One in which we see Satan doing the fleeing and we, through the power of Jesus, living victorious lives.

This is a picture that I want to hold onto and offer the youth of Portage. Portraying the Christian life as more than an escape plan

when they die, but as a conquering lifestyle! After all, we are more than conquerors through Jesus! We are children of the

Almighty God who holds the whole world in

His hands and reigns as King of Kings and Lord

of Lords! Why would we live or expect anything

less? 60 Tupper St N, Portage la Prairie, MB R1N 1W8 (204)239-6763 www.yfcportage.com

Richard Giesbrecht

COWARDS OR CONQUERORS

Imagine with me that you are tired, burdened, frazzled, weighed

down by sin and the pressures of the world. People have hurt you, you

have hurt people and your own choices have hurt you. What do we

do? Where do we turn? Imagine further that you and I are sitting before

the cross of Jesus. We look and see that this is a place of rest. A place of

healing where we can unload our burdens, deal with our sin and know

that, “It is finished.” It is also a place where we enter in to the pain of

God’s heart as He watched His Son sacrifice Himself and pay our debt.

When I think about this imagery and the stories of Youth that I hear

about behind the

counter and tables

at our Drop In, I

can’t help but think of what a huge task, and also an honor, it is to lead Youth

to the place of sitting at the cross of Jesus. There is no doubt in my mind that

there is any better place to lead people to than here. There is nothing that

sustains me in ministry more, than seeing the beauty, power and love at the

foot of the cross! I need to see Him there. Youth need to see Him there and

even you, dear friend, need to see Him there!

Let’s go sit at the cross together!

Ways To Donate

ONLINE Visit www.yfcportage.com

MAIL or IN PERSON

YFC Portage Inc., 60 Tupper Street North Portage la Prairie, MB, R1N 1W8

LEGACY & PLANNED GIVING

More information is available on our website at www.yfcportage.com or call our office

at 204.239.6763

Deanna Stearns

LET’S GO SIT TOGETHER!

This past year has been an amazing time for

me in my role in the local high school here in

Portage. This is where I have spent a good

portion of my time this last year and it has

been extremely

beneficial. This

story is about a

guy I will call “M”.

If he is in the

room with 100

other teens it will

be his voice that

you will hear

distinctly above all the rest. Usually it is spat-

tered with colorful language and talk of all

things fantasy related. He is not someone

that I have a whole lot in common with but

none the less we have built a relationship in

the past few months. One day we met in the

hall as he was on a spare and we began a

conversation that ended in the cafeteria an

hour and a half later. He had just recently

experienced the passing away of a friend to

suicide and so this led to talk of eternity and

what he “felt” about all that. Many other

topics were talked about as well and I believe

that he was challenged in many of the things

that he “felt”. I often laugh in these situations

when there are 15 or so other students in the

cafeteria and “M” is talking without a clue as

to what an inside voice is, I figured, “why

don’t I just match his level?” I might not have

gotten quite as loud as him that day but we

sure did get a lot of interesting looks from the

other students that day!

Jon Giesbrecht

LOUD MOUTH

Catching up with those who have come through our programs

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Growing up in Portage was definitely a challenge for Brian. Bouncing around between foster homes made it hard to put down roots in a school and make friends. The constant upheaval of moving created a deep layer of distrust in people. This took its toll in his social life, school, and work. Brian became a very angry young man.

It was this anger which led Brian to his involvement with YFC, albeit reluctantly. The years of inner trauma & anger, an abusive, bullying teacher, and the expression of all this in a homework assignment in a manner deemed “too negative” and “threatening,” led to a one-year expulsion from school. His only route to re-enrollment was through counseling at YFC.

YFC staff worked with Brian to get him returned to school. Not only did they teach him anger management skills, but they showered him with the love of God. They rebuilt his self-esteem,

showing him who he was in the loving eyes of the almighty God. He learned that he has meaning and value to God.

A YFC volunteer invited Brian to attend church with him one Sunday. It took a few weeks, but soon Brian began to feel a genuine love from the others who attended. The more he attended, the happier he became. He began to make new friends as others began to see a change in him. In 1997, Brian gave his life to the Lord and was baptized in 1999.

Brian’s life changed dramatically. His self esteem has grown. He knows he is a child of God and continues to depend on the Almighty daily.

In 2010, Brian moved to Winnipeg to further his career. He worked at a national hotel chain for a few years, moving on to becoming a cook for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In the 2017 off-season, he volunteered in a food program at the Winnipeg YFC. He has since been hired as a cook at Camp Cedarwood and

is in training to be the head cook for the camp.

Brian says, “Right now, I think this is where God wants me. I am in good community doing what I love and am also being challenged at the same time. “

Prayer Points

Lebanon Trip (Steve H., Apr. 12-26) • Life impact on the Portage team as they serve the Lebanon team. • Open hearts in the youth they will be sharing their

faith with. • Remaining finances to come in. Costa Rica (MAG, Summer 2018) • Pray for the planning and fundraising for a summer

missions trip for the MacGregor, Austin and Gladstone chapters.

Student Life • Pray for the students who have come to Christ through

our programs so far this year. Pray that they would become well grounded and established in their new- found faith. Summer Programming • Pray for the team as they plan summer programming,

especially in light of funding needs. Staffing & Programs • YFC Portage has openings for both full-time staff and

volunteer staff in all programs. There are openings for approximately 30 volunteers. Pray for our programs:

- Drop-Ins - Basketball - Skatepark - Girl’s & Guy’s Bible Studies - The Door - Small Groups - Kid’s Club - Supper Club - Girl’s Craft Night - School Ministries: Dakota Plains, PCI, North Memorial, LaVerandrye.

“Do you ever think you’ll return to ministry?” Once a pastor, I would occasionally hear this

question from friends and family. It ran through my own mind more frequently, however.

Would I? It took 20 years before the answer came, and it was answered at the 2017 YFC fall

fundraising banquet. God took me through many steps to prepare me for this answer. My

Bible college training and stint pastoring churches academically and practically revealed my

gifting in administration. However, it would take 20 more years of training for God to prepare

me for this. I was looking for an administrative position in a church to apply for, however,

they were not as common back then as they are today. A friend suggested I apply for an

opening in his economic development office. It was a one-year term position, and I had a

growing family to feed. God stretched that one year into 18. Throughout that time, He taught

me many more things about running a business that I would need to know in ministry. Add a

couple of years of unemployment, then place me at a table at a fundraising banquet where

an administrative position in ministry was being advertised — what would be the odds? God

is good. He works in His timing, however, and sometimes we wonder what He is doing. “But

God, you told me you were going to…” “God, weren’t you leading me there? I thought your

call was so clear?” “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises” (2 Peter 3:9). Remain faithful

to God and rest assured that He is preparing you for a place and a place for you. When you

are both ready, He will introduce you to that place—even if it takes 20+ years.

Paul Warthe - Office Manager

A POSITION 20+ YEARS IN THE MAKING