But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
The call to be a disciple is the call to walk as Jesus walked, and He called us to take the good news of the kingdom of God into all creation. Therefore we want to incorporate outreach — activities outside the classroom — as a core component of what we do. Each Thursday we will take time, whether it’s the afternoon locally or the entire day in Winnipeg once a month — to get outside of our comfort zones and allow the Lord to work through us to impact others. Occasionally our outreach day will switch depending on the ministry we are partnering with.
What does outreach look like?
- Firstly, we emphasize involvement in our local churches. We want our students to be involved in serving in their local church in some capacity while at GMDS to maintain those connections.
- Local outreaches: While these will to some degree depend on the unique gifts and passions of each class of GMDS students, these will include opportunities for evangelism, prayer walking, praying for the sick, and service here in the Pembina Valley region. We want to get out of our comfort zones and learn how to walk out the culture of the kingdom of God here at home.
- Downtown Winnipeg: Within a 90 minute of drive of Winkler, the need for the power of God to move is obvious. We will do some street ministry in partnership with ministries in Winnipeg, and also want to connect and partner with downtown ministries in Winnipeg including Union Gospel Mission, Living Bible Explorers (youth and children’s ministry) and others as doors open. God loves to show up in power in the midst of those who most realize their need for Him, and we are expecting God to do some powerful things not only in the lives of some of the most hurting people in our province, but in our own hearts as well as we minister among them.
- Mission Trip: Each year we want to take a trip to serve/minister in different settings outside of our region. For the 2023-24 year we’ll be going to Regina from November 9-12 to serve at a youth conference.
- Churches/Youth Groups: As opportunities arise we want to share what God is doing with churches and youth groups.
Testimonies
Here are a few testimonies of the things we have seen God do (there’s more!):
- One of our students was prayed for during our trip to Brandon and had her eye sight healed and cataracts removed. The next time she went to her optometrist they confirmed that she no longer needed to wear glasses.
- Two of our students felt led to pray for a couple that they saw in Central Park in Winnipeg. The lady asked for prayer for leg pain that she had been experiencing — it was really severe and in both of her legs. After being prayed for her pain was completely gone!
- We were sharing our stories with a class of grade 8 students in a Christian school and encouraged the students to pray for their classmates who needed prayer for healing. There was a girl who had been suffering from knee pain for a number of months and hadn’t been able to participate in sports because of the pain. As her friends prayed for her the pain began to decrease until it was gone! She was in tears and so overwhelmed with what God had done for her!
- Our students had the chance to share part of their testimonies at a youth group in western Manitoba. Afterwards it opened the door for some great conversations with students who were struggling with different things in their lives. It was amazing to see how the Lord used our vulnerability to touch the lives of some of the youth in that group!