It's March... Already?

Wow, it's already March! When did that happen? I am torn between excited at how quickly things are moving along, and scared at how much I still need to do!

God is good, He has been providing throughout this support raising journey, my outgoing fund is already at almost two thirds raised! Thank-you to everyone who is supporting this ministry!

Praise God, the last Ebola patient in the DRC was discharged this week. Though  there is still a 42 week waiting period before we can officially say that the epidemic is over, this is an encouraging step in the right direction. (Read the WHO article here)

The last Ebola patient in DRC

Though it is exciting to see positive development in the outbreak, there are still many challenges. There are so many preventable diseases that here in North America are non-issues, but in the DRC can prove fatal.

The DRC has only 1 doctor for every 10,000 people, so getting medical assistance can be nearly impossible. Particularly for those living away from major centers. Due to the distance and poor roads, sick people sometimes can't even physically get to a hospital to get the life saving medical care they need.

Which is where MAF comes in. Though it may take several days of driving on difficult, muddy roads to get to a hospital, MAF can fly a patient to the hospital in an hour; not only saving time, but also the health toll such a journey would otherwise take.

MAF's vision is "isolated people physically and spiritually transformed in Christ's name", and these medivacs demonstrate that vision perfectly. We are able to physically transform the patient's life as we get them the help they need, but we also take the time to pray for and with them, sharing the Gospel, and practically demonstrating Christ's love.

 I am getting more and more excited as I get closer and closer to launch day, and I'm so humbled to see God's provision as He brings in the funds that I need to go.

Thank-you to everyone who has, is, or will partener with my ministry. If you want to know more about MAF and how you can join my team, let me know, and I'd be happy to fill you in!

I will be speaking at Ear Falls Bible Chapel on March 22nd, feel free to come out to see me, and hear more about my ministry!

Back in Red Lake

I am finally back home in Red Lake after over a month away. My brain is slowly catching up.

It was great to spend Christmas and New Years with my family, and then I was off to Nampa to visit the MAFUS headquarters for two weeks.
I was there for candidacy, when they bring in all the MAF candidates and pull back the curtains to show us what MAF is doing around the world. The second week we spend a lot of time learning about what its like working in a cross-cultural environment, as well as practical lessons on how to grow and thrive in such environments.

The January 2020 MAF Candidacy Class

There were about 16 candidates in that class, much more than in my candidate class with MAF Canada! It was a huge answer to prayer for MAF to have so many willing to come and serve, the need is great, but our God is greater! And although I already knew my country of assignment, most of the other candidates did not, so it was during that trip that they found out where they were going. There was excitement all around, even for me; a few of my classmates will be joining me in the DRC.

After those two weeks, I returned to Kamloops where I started off my week of ministry partnership in Kamloops by speaking at Sahali Fellowship Church, the church that I attended when I was young. I spent the rest of the week visiting and sharing my ministry. I also got to talk to the youth group that I used to attend and share about missions with them.
Thank-you everyone who took the time to sit down with me and chat! If you missed me, don't worry, I'll be back in Kamloops later this year. I'll catch you then!

I say this a lot, but I mean it: Thank-you everyone who is supporting my ministry with MAF, you are all a huge encouragement to me.

As always, if you want to hear more from me, you can check out my webpage, or my Facebook, or you can e-mail me at dvilleneuve@maf.org

Have a blessed month!

Dominic

To a New Year

Firstly, Happy New Year!

Or not, if you're reading this later. In which case, happy day!

It's been a good year, but I'm not going to wax poetic about that. I want to talk about this month instead.

I officially started with MAF on December first, and God has been going ahead of me throughout the support raising process. It had been only a month, and I'm already past 25% of my support!

Thank-you to everyone who is supporting my ministry. Seeing this response has been a huge encouragement for me!

Last week I flew back to BC to spend the Holidays with my family. I conveniently "forgot" to tell my parents that I was coming, so they were very happy to see me on Christmas Eve. We then spent a few days in a cabin near Wells Gray Park, where we had no reception or internet (sorry if you tried to get a hold of me). We spent the day snowshoeing, reading, and playing cards.

Our little cabin in the woods

This weekend I will be heading down to the MAFUS base in Nampa for candidacy. I will be there for two weeks learning more about MAF, and about working cross-culturally.

I will then be returning to Kamloops, where I will be speaking briefly at Sahali Fellowship Church on January 18th (feel free to come if you're in the area), and meeting with friends and supporters. If you're in the area and want to have coffee, let me know!

Thank-you (again) to everyone who is supporting my ministry, thank-you to everyone who has been praying for me, and thank-you to you, for reading this.

As always, if you want to hear more, you can check out my webpage here, or my Facebook page here. Or you can e-mail me at dvilleneuve@maf.org.

Thank-you everyone, may the Lord bless you through 2020.

The Beginning

Saturday was my last day at my job here in Red Lake. I am now full-time with Mission Aviation Fellowship, preparing to serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As I said in my last post, my first ministry assignment is to build up a ministry partnership team that will pray for me and contribute to the financial needs of my ministry. And so, that is what I have started doing today.

From one of my last flights

I am excited to start this new season, though I am sad to leave the job I have had for the past two and a half years. Looking back, I can see how the Lord has been preparing me for this ministry, and I praise Him for His faithfulness.

From my last day

I am excited to see what God will do in and through me in this next season. Though I am nervous, I have faith that everything will work out for His glory.

Please prayerfully consider whether the Lord is calling you to invest in this MAF ministry; your support can impact so many lives for Christ.

Wherever the Lord leads you, please pray for me as I build my team and share about the calling that God has placed on my life.

You can learn more about my ministry at my webpage by clicking here, or through my Facebook page by clicking here.

Thank-you for reading, thank-you for your support, and God bless!

Dominic

On The Next Chapter

When I left off on my last post, I was getting ready for candidate orientation with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Guelph.

Well, that was last week, and now I'm back in Red Lake. It was a great week, the folks at the home office are great, and I learnt so much! It was also a blessing to go through this orientation with the Stutzmans, who were friends of mine when I was at Prairie.

A big chunk of the week was spent learning about ministry partnership, the art of sharing God's calling on my life, and inviting others to partner with me, both in prayer and financially. I also learnt a lot about how MAF works, and what the next year will look like for me.

Myself and the Stutzmans at the MAF headquarters

What do I mean by "the next year"?

Well, while I was in Guelph, I found out that I will be serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a french speaking country in central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa, and the largest french speaking country in the world.

MAF has been in DR Congo since 1961. Today, they have three bases, ten aircraft, and employ seventy nationals. MAF is committed to supporting the Congolese church with aviation and communication technology.

DRC is in central Africa, right on the equator

In the past 20 years there has been widespread violence, particularly in the east of the country. At the moment there are over 100 armed groups, making everyday life very difficult for the Congolese church. Add to this an Ebola outbreak that has claimed thousands of lives, and the need for a service like MAF is critical. If you want to learn more about MAF's work in the DRC, click here

Keeping pilots and passengers safe from Ebola

But before I can go to the DRC, I need to build up a team of prayer warriors and financial supporters. So that's what I will be doing over the next little while. It usually takes about a year to raise all the support needed, though I have heard of people getting there in substantially less time. The raw numbers are simple enough, I need to raise 6000$ in monthly support, and 30,000$ in one time support.

If you want to hear more about what I am doing, there is a ton of ways to do that. Of course if you see me on the streets, say hi! You can also leave a comment on this post, e-mail me, follow me on Facebook, or you can check out my MAF page!

I'll have prayer cards soon, so if you want one, let me know! If you want to sign up to receive my newsletter, let me know! If you have any questions, let me know! I you want to get together for coffee and chat, let me know! Basically, if you want to touch base with me, let me know!

 If the Lord is leading you to support my ministry, let me know, or just go to my MAF page and follow the links there. You can also call or email them (their contact info is on the website).

Please pray for me as I begin this new chapter and start sharing God's calling on my life, and building a support team.

Blessings to everyone,

Dominic

Completely unrelated to MAF, but we had a nice sunrise the other day

Onwards and Forwards

Well, fall has come and, in my neck of the woods, almost gone. We are falling back into our cold weather routines and, in a way, I love it.

SO

MAF has invited me to join them for their orientation class in Guelph the week of November 4th. I will be learning about ministry partnership (the part where I go around asking for prayer and money), as well as the nuts and bolts of MAF. Shortly after that week is done, I will  be heading out to raise support and ministry partnership full-time. There is still a lot of unknowns about exactly when I will do this, and where exactly I'll go, and what exactly I will be doing. Most of that should be sorted out while I'm there, or shortly thereafter.

I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also a feeling quite a bit of trepidation about starting out on this new journey. I know I've had almost a year of preparation to get ready, but the rubber is about to hit the road, and I'm going to have to take a very real leap of faith as I get ready to leave my work to raise this support.

Please pray for me as I go ahead with this that I would find peace in the knowledge that I am following in the Father's calling.

The snow started coming down this week. It looks cool with the fall colours

















 

 

I got to go on a fly-out moose hunt this fall

We were way out in the bush

And the weather was brutal!

We didn't get a thing.

Back Home

Well, I'm about a week late posting this, but hey, better late than never!

Last week I was in Nampa, Idaho doing my technical evaluation with MAF. I'll cut to the chase now; I got a positive recommend. Thank-you all for praying for me!

It was a lot of fun, but also very stressful. It all started when my flight out of Winnipeg got cancelled. Unfortunately the soonest they could get me to Idaho would be the evening the next day, but I had to be starting my evaluation in the morning! Thankfully the folks at MAF are super flexible and understanding, and we were able to fit everything we needed to do in four days instead of five.

But the Lord has a hand in everything, and as a result of that flight cancellation I had a chance encounter with a missionary working in Winnipeg, and was greatly encouraged. And to then, as if that wasn't enough, I was able to have lunch with an good friend of mine from my Thompson days!

Well, finally I made it down to Idaho and began my evaluation. The TE consists of three flights in a 206, and a flight (broken into two parts) in a flight simulator. They not only want to see that I have skill as a pilot, but also that I am a teachable pilot.

The flights were a lot of fun, but also very stressful. They intentionally don't give any feed-back after each flight, so you have to put mistakes behind you and keep pushing on.

Finally, Friday came, and I went in to debrief and find out what they thought. It was scary walking up those stairs to talk to them, all I could think about was all the mistakes I made! But thankfully they saw more positives than I did, and so I walked out of that office greatly relieved.

Now I have the next step in my application process. MAF has sent me a mountain of questionnaires asking about my mental, physical, and spiritual health that I need to answer. It's gonna be a bit of work.

Thank-you all for your prayers, please continue to pray for me as I continue to work towards ministry.

Blessings,

Dominic

The Cessna 206 that I flew while in Idaho. MAF has added extra fuel tanks to the wing, allowing it to take off on very short strips. On the left is a picture of that 206 next to a caravan; the kind of plane that I fly here in Red Lake.