RIVERWOOD
MISSIONARIES
Donovan & Char Epp
- The Philippines
We are working with the Dupaninan Agta in the Philippines. The Dupaninan Agta are a semi-nomadic people numbering roughly 1500. They live on the north eastern coast of the Island of Luzon, Philippines.Our main role has been church planting among the Dupaninan Agta people. We were able to present the gospel in 2016. Since then we have been teaching the Bible, teaching literacy, discipling believers, and developing Bible teaching curriculum. Among these ministries, Char also homeschools our son Zane and does medical work as emergencies arise in our location.
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Nate & Camille Schmidt
- Amsterdam
We are full time missionaries with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands!. YWAM’s main vision is “to Know God, and make Him known” With this vision in mind, we both have different roles on our campus here in the city!
Nate is 1 of the 4 Base Directors who, together, lead 120 full time staff! Camille is a part of a team called Ending Bible Poverty Now, which focuses on seeing the Bible translated, published, distributed, and engaged with, in every language that has yet to have a Bible. She mainly focuses on engagement and distribution of Oral Bibles in unreached places, with people who have yet to hear the gospel.
Jerry & Chrissie Baker
- Romania
After serving with Torchbearers Romania for the last 8 years with Jerry as the Bible School Principal, we have moved on to serve in a local church - Calvary Chapel Brasov- in the city of Brasov. Jerry has taken on the role of Outreach Pastor and the focus of his work is to encourage and support the congregation in reaching out to the local community with the good news of the Gospel. Both Jerry and Chrissie are active in leading worship, teen and student ministry, sports ministry, discipleship, pastoral care, and evangelism. The area of Brasov is spiritually dark and is considered an unreached people group. Please pray for open doors and hearts as we share Jesus’ love with the people of Brasov!
Matthew Parkinson
- Ukraine
I am serving full time as a Middle Years Teacher at a Christian School in Kyiv, Ukraine. Alongside other missionaries from both Ukraine and abroad, our mission is to impact Ukrainian families with a biblical worldview in all areas of life and learning; in order to equip the next generation of Ukrainian leaders to serve God, others, and their country. Together, we are blessed to see how these kids have already begun to change the world around them and make a positive difference in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
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INTERNATIONAL
LOCAL
Matthew Macloskie
At Inner City Youth Alive, we minister to the youth and families who live in the “North End”, focusing on reaching at-risk youth by mentoring and forming relationships that help lead to Christ. I am the Camp Program Coordinator for Gem Lake Wilderness Camp, meaning that I get to plan and run our programs for summer and winter camp. Our camp runs all of July and August and weekends in January and February; giving campers ages 10-18 the chance to escape the pressures of the city and experince God in nature. I also get to connect with campers throughout the year at our Teen & Jr. Teen Drop-Ins, community events, and through one-on-ones.
Angie Pickel
I serve as a full-time missionary with Africa Inland Mission (AIM).
Currently, I work as the Provincial Mobilizer for Manitoba and Saskatchewan-meeting with new potential applicants wanting to serve overseas; as well as sharing in local colleges and churches about the work of cross-cultural missions. After serving abroad
in Tanzania for 8 years with my husband, Jeremy, and our three children, I am excited to help
others pursue their calling into cross-cultural ministry.
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Jennifer Pichette
I work at Hope Centre Ministries. This ministry exists to celebrate the gifts and uniqueness of individuals who live with disabilities and to support them in their walk with God and their faith community. Some of my responsibilities include mailing monthly care cards & birthday cards to HCM members, planning weekly opportunities with the team, assembling “at home” kit components, and planning resources for individuals with disabilities.
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Chelsea Tielman
I serve as the Assistant Director at Genesis School of Dance - a new dance ministry, I co-founded in October 2022. Genesis School of Dance is a comprehensive, community-oriented, Christian dance school with a focus on excellence. At Genesis, students from ages 3 all the way to adult, have the opportunity: to be enriched by quality training in the arts, to be motivated and enabled to use the arts to praise God, and to be supported in their personal and spiritual growth, providing them with the skills and attitudes to flourish in all areas of life.
John Courtney
In December 2019, I finished 47 years of ministry with Youth for Christ - 43 of them as Executive Director of YFC Winnipeg. I then accepted an appointment with Youth for Christ International where I am coach to both National and Regional Directors around the world in over 30 Nations. It has been the perfect transition where I get to share from my 50 years of experience in leadership. I seek to inspire National Directors with vision, leadership skills and partnership development.
Brock Groening
I have served with Youth For Christ Winnipeg for nearly 17 years. For the first 15 years I was the Soccer Program Director. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to move into the role of Director of Facility Operations. My current role involves supervising the hospitality, custodial, rentals, and maintenance positions, as well as continuing relationships with many soccer youth alumni. I enjoy being able to use the many years of experience as a Ministry Director to serve the wider YFC organization to carry out our mission to help every young person live fully in Christ. It has been exciting to be a part of helping to build some great partnerships between Riverwood and YFC over the past 2 years in regards to Sports Camps and the Faith & Fitness program.
Steve Koepnick
Steve is passionate about seeing youth follow Jesus and loves seeing God work through the exciting Youth for Christ Ministries every day. Steve serves with the professional accounting team, and processes donations for over 70 missionaries and three yearly fundraisers. Steve’s sense of humour, encouraging words and willingness to pray for colleagues and donors is a wonderful asset to the team at YFC.
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Marie Thiessen
Marie, along with her husband Caleb and two girls, Kezia and Ady have relocated from teaching and counselling in South East Asia to counselling in downtown Windsor, Ontario at the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative. The organization has a variety of intentional community support initiatives that support the unhoused, new immigrants and addict populations, but Marie will be primarily helping adults, youth & families affected by Trauma and Addictions. Her service and help includes: counselling all ages and families, leading group education programs (attachment parenting programs, trauma education through RE/ACT, healthy character development, characteristics of Jesus) and doing relationship mentoring with staff.
Gwen Foord
Gwen serves as the National Director for Child Evangelism Fellowship of Canada, where she has the privilege of working with individuals both across Canada and around the world to help children come to know Jesus. In addition, her role involves training others in sharing the gospel and guiding them in helping people grow in their faith.
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Doug & Carolin Sadler
Doug and Carolin Sadler are
full-time missionaries for Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and serve from right here in Winnipeg. YWAM's main vision is to; "Know God and make Him Known" which Doug and Carolin seek to do in their unique ministry roles. Doug teaches ESL/TESOL locally in the city and occasionally overseas, and he and Carolin minister to International Students in the city. Carolin enjoys serving in various intercession/prayer ministries as well.
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