Michael, VTI team leader, reports on the recent trip to Costa Rica by a team from Westpointe Community Church in Grande Prairie:

Pura vida! This is what they say in Costa Rica when asked how they are, how the day is going, how the meal was…. Costa Rica was full of special times to reconnect with several friends made during my visit in 2006…and meet several new people to be thankful for… pura vida!

It was a privilege to be in Costa Rica with the team (14 youth and 4 leaders) from Westpointe for 10 days! We were able to assist the church in La Fortuna (5 hours from San Jose, the capital city) in a number of ways, including a mixture of outreach and practical work, visiting people in their homes, handing out Bibles and praying with people (one of the highlights of my time there)! 

During the door to door visits we invited the community out to our program, to share how Zaccheus had a life changing meeting with Jesus. It was clear that we were "reaping" the church’s persistent, prayerful efforts. For the first time, many people from the community came to the church's outreach efforts. After the program, the younger children sat in one group to make a paper tree craft with us, while the older children made a bracelet to tell the wordless book story.

Volunteer opportunities vary throughout the year. Projects will be coordinated and supervised by the Discovery Lodge Maintenance Director and/or Executive Director. Volunteering for any length of time (a couple of days, a weekend or even longer) is greatly appreciated! We have specific work days coming up on May 21 and 22. Please contact us for more information.

If you are interested in a tremendously rewarding discipleship opportunity, this is for you! Training staff prepare our teams for ministry, teaching and mentoring in a variety of areas: drama, dance, ministry to children and youth, crafts/games, creative teaching/illusions, Bible teaching, teamwork, and more! VTI Alumni would be a perfect fit for many of these training positions! The following positions are currently vacant:

• Drama Director - You would lead our Drama team. Responsibilities would include assisting with recruitment of actors, writing drama scripts/mimes/vignettes for various age groups and audiences. Experience in directing and teaching drama would be an asset.
• Dance Director - You would lead our Dance team. Responsibilities would include assisting with recruitment of dancers, developing choreography and dance/drime routines.
• Music/Worship Director - You would lead our Music team. Responsibilities would include helping in recruitment of musicians, training in music, worship and songwriting and sound systems. You would also manage the team's sound equpiment.
  

If you have skills in these areas, please contact us so that we can discuss where you may fit.

Minimum qualifications: Bible college degree and sufficient training and experience. You enjoy discipling and mentoring youth and are willing to model a life of dependence on the Lord in front of our teams. You have the ability to teach or train and enjoy seeing yourself "multiplied" as team members use this training to reach the world. You must be willing to spend some parts of the year at Discovery Lodge, our training centre in Water Valley, AB (about an hour northwest of Calgary), as well as time in our office in Calgary, and possibly some time on the road. Part of your role will also be to assist with recruitment, helping young people see the possibilities for missions and for life. The ability to be a team player and work closely with others on the staff team is essential.

Salary: These are support-raising or volunteer positions.

Status/Start Date: Full or part-time.

Last year I booked the first ever Canadian Extreme Tour. The Extreme Tour is a faith-based organization out of the States who seek to share the love of Christ to cross cultural youth using music and sports. I travelled along with 3 other bands through Western Canada last August. Besides putting on skate competitions and concerts for youth, we made it our focus to do everything we could to just "love" on them. Dancing with the people, playing games, doing "shout-outs" to certain individuals, we made the night all about them and not ourselves. My heart just went out to the young people we met who were thirsting for love and acceptance. What a cool opportunity to share the life-changing love of Christ!

Here we go again!

I am pleased to say that we will be back at the Canadian Extreme Tour starting in May when my husband, Michael and I will fly down to Nashville for leadership training and then we will lead a team of bands through MB, SK, AB and into the Northwest Territories. God has opened some incredible doors as I have been faithfully booking the tour and we will have the opportunity to go from small towns to cities to First Nations reserves in search of the lost and hurting. We will be on tour for June and July and absolutely covet your prayers. Many teens we will encounter are caught in addictions of all kinds. We are excited that God could use us to bring light in the darkness. This is a mission trip. No one on the team is paid to be on the team so please prayerfully consider if you can help support the tour. Michael and I will need to raise $6300 for support and another $6300 for travel expenses.

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