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Why did we join YWAM?

We acknowledge and are thankful for the many different missions organizations around the world.  We don't believe that anyone is better or "more Godly" than another.  We are all working together to futher the Kingdom of God and we often partner together!

That said, we did chose to become missionaries with YWAM for several reasons:

1>We love the heart and focus of YWAM.

2>We enjoy the community aspect that life in YWAM offers.

3>Adam was greatly impacted by a YWAM missionary in LaRonge.

4>Kim did a DTS after high school that changed her life.

5>YWAM provided the broadest opportunities.

6>YWAM gives us the freedom to pursue areas where God has given us a passion and vision.

Adam`s Story....

Adam was born to young parents (Jim and Laura Atkinson) in Red Lake, Ontario, Canada in June of 1974.  A few years and another child later Adam's mother divorced Jim and married a man named Bruce Smith.  After living a short time in North Western Ontario the family moved to Northern Saskatchewan where Adam grew up in a remote town called la Ronge.  His family attended an Anglican church during Christmas but Adam did not have a relationship with God. 

About this time Adam's grandmother Rae Kiebuzinski became a born again Christian and after attending Bible College in her 60's became one of the Anglican Churches first female priests in Canada.   Adam's grandmother began to send Adam and his sister to an Anglican youth camp for a week every summer where they both made some friends and enjoyed the games but had little Christian influence.

Although he was not a Christian, Adam was asked to be a camp counselor for a week in the summer of 1991.  The camp Chaplin that week understood that many of the camp staff did not have a relationship with God nor did they understand the Gospel.  During spare time in the morning this Chaplin spoke to Adam and the other staff about having a personal relationship with God.  When the Chaplin spoke about having a friend that would never leave or forsake him Adam's heart began to beat! 

That night while everyone else was sleeping Adam couldn't sleep because he was suddenly aware that the God that created the Universe wanted to have a relationship with him!  Adam went to the camp dock and prayed his first prayer simply asking God if all this was true.

The following day Adam was supervising some campers when something came over him.  There was a strange feeling in the air and Adam new that something was happening to him.  He ran out of the building and into the forest where he could be alone.

The moment that Adam entered the forest he received a vision from God.  Suddenly Adam was standing on a hot dry hilltop with a huge crowd to his right, some women and a man huddled in front of him, and a man hanging on a cross to his left.  The man on the cross looked at Adam and the look went straight to his soul.  Instantly Adam knew that this man was God, that He was one the cross to pay for Adam's sins, and that this man Jesus wanted Adam to follow Him.

Adam fell to his knees and began worshipping and weeping as the enormity of meeting God began to sink in.  There was no hesitation as Adam gave his life to God and vowed to follow Him for the rest of his life.

When Adam next opened his eyes 3 hours had gone by and the bell was ringing for everyone to come for supper.

 

Kim`s Story

 

I have a testimony much like many of you.  Became a Christian at a young age, grew up in the church.  In my early teens I attended Camp Nutimik where I re-dedicated my life to Christ and decided that I really want to live my life totally for Jesus. 

             I graduated from High school with no real vision for what I wanted to do.  Everything I had thought would be fun or neat was a closed door.  God lead my mom to hear about an organization called Youth With a Mission in Honolulu, and I did a Discipleship training school with them that year.  Upon returning home, my heart was full of God’s incredible power and the things I seen and heard while reaching out in Japan and attending training with YWAM in Hawaii.   I was so excited to live in his Kingdom and do his work.  All the teaching I had ever had was reinforced and I became totally sold out and convinced the Jesus was God’s greatest gift. 

     After coming home from Hawaii, I decided to attend Providence College to begin my Bachelor of Education because I knew that being a teacher was something that God could use anywhere in the world.  It was at this place where I met the man who would challenge me forever…Adam.  We met and married several years later, we’re practically an old married couple at 6 years.

             Adam and I have always talked about YWAM and since the first day we talked we both desired to go somewhere with YWAM and work with them.  After 6 years of praying and dreaming God finally opened the door for us to go this last year.  God challenged us to live a life of faith and that meant giving up some of the luxuries we had come to depend on…a house, a boat, a couple of vehicles, and our own personal space.  We felt that as youth ministers who teach and challenge our students to live by faith, we had to live it to the extreme so we could teach it to the extreme. 

         God also put the desire in our heart to live extreme.  We were happy with life, but felt sort of mediocre.  We were getting caught up in the need for money and things.  Christianity was good – but we didn’t feel it was the “life to the full” that God offers in John 10:10.  We felt that God was offering us so much more.

         November 2003 we were heading out on a plane to Kona, Hawaii to take a Crossroads Discipleship training school.  We were excited and couldn’t wait to see what God had in store for us!

            As usual, God did not disappoint us in the least!  We met with 70 other people from ages 24-80 years old who were just as excited as us.  We experienced God in ways that we had never imagined.  We were challenged to go deeper into our relationship with Him, to not hold anything back from him, and taught so many new things. 

         It made us so excited about what God is doing around the world.  It was so encouraging to share with a small group at a Chinese church and then to lead and teach Thai children their first Bible stories and expose them to the power of God as written in his word.

         On going to Hawaii (and part of our own faith journey) we knew that God was taking us on a different path that he would reveal to us while we were there.  Here is how our incredible God works…

         While we were in Hawaii, we had to a pick a family from the school before ours to pray for while they were on their outreach.  We prayed for a Kroeker family from Medicine Hat.  When they returned from outreach we spent a couple of hours with them sharing with them and listening to their exciting stories from the Phillippians.  We shared our heart and vision with them and they asked us if we had ever heard of Eagle’s Nest Ranch.  They said we should look it up – that God is starting something amazing there and it sounds similar to what we were excited about.

          We thought it was so weird because we had just recently (about a year before leaving) been contacted by the only Atkinson whose family are Christians.  He was so excited to hear that we were in ministry and he drove down from Medicine Hat to meet us.  He is on the board for Eagle’s Nest Ranch (the children’s camp and the YWAM base) and had left some brochues and stuff for us to read.  This family also knew Adam’s uncle Art and it was a small “Wow-God” moment.

         God’s confirmation of this whole situation continued when we sent an email to Eagle’s nest ranch and they called us on the phone less than hour later saying that they had been praying for a couple in their early thirties to come and become a full time part of their ministry.  We talked to the ranch staff a few times and the director.

         We knew for sure this was were we were to go when we mentioned it to our school leader (for whom we have great respect).  He was so excited because he became a Christian because of a guy named Rick Sorum (the director at Eagle’s nest).  Our leader told us that if we could ever get under the leadership of Rick and Judy Sorum we would learn so much, and that they are truly servants of God.

            WOW GOD!!

          There were many other details to work out, but everything kept falling into place.  I was afraid that God would tell us to go right away and I felt there were many unfinished things at my job, but he gave me another year there, he gave Adam a year to study and set up a small internet business, he gave us Gideon and even gave my parents some full time grandparenting so they don’t feel like they are missing everything to do with their first grand child!!       

        God is so faithful and we were incredibly excited about the ministry opportunities at Eagles Nest.  Sometimes the decision to move terrified me to death…with a new baby, no paying jobs…what were we thinking.  But then I begin to remember all of the promises God gives in his word for taking care of us and I look back at his faithful hand bringing us this far and I know that he will not leave us now.  His work in us is far from finished just like Phil 1:6 and he will be faithful to complete it in us.

      Now, we have done a huge move to YWAM Blackfalds, we have an amazing home in a great community and two fantastic boys!  We continue to marvel at the faithfulness of God and are so excited about His continued work in our lives and what He has in store for this community!

 

If you want to know more about this God we serve, please contact us.  We would love to answer any questions.