Dear friend,
Can we talk about how important relationships are?
Relationships are what I was looking for when I began a journey that became a dramatic shift in the focus of my life and career. After finishing a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a season doing field research, I had this strong sense that I needed to pursue something more relationally oriented. I couldn’t really explain this at the time, but now I see that God was preparing to bring me here to Youth Unlimited Edmonton (YUE). I have now been part of the team for over 3 years, and I am so excited and grateful to be part of the amazing things that are happening at YUE. I’ve been blessed through relationships within our staff and volunteer teams, with the youth I have gotten to know, with many people like you who participate in this work as partners, and in my growing relationship with God.
As I’ve spent more time working with youth, I’ve come to realize that I’m not the only one who is hungry for relationships. Despite being connected through technology pretty much continuously, many youth are plagued with loneliness, anxiety, and a wide variety of mental health concerns (especially since the pandemic). Many of them have strained, challenging, or downright harmful relationships with their families. Some of them realize it and some don’t, but they are longing for real, meaningful relationships. I think we all are. God created us to be in meaningful relationships with each other, and we suffer when we aren’t. That’s why we strive to create spaces for teens to develop meaningful relationships with each other, and pro
vide stable and caring adult relationships that might otherwise be lacking.
I want to invite you to partner with me in this exciting work. Your support gives teens a safe place, where they know they will be accepted; where they can let loose and have fun, laugh and feel free to just be a kid; where they find people who genuinely care about them and want them to thrive. Your support gives teens a place to just BE, even if it's only for a couple hours a week, and the impact of that is absolutely priceless.
I would love to meet with you to talk more about this opportunity, and how you might be able to partner with me in this exciting and important work!
Hope to hear from you soon,
Daniel Ripmeester
Partner with Daniel Ripmeester, and give a gift HERE. Be sure to select that you want your donation to go to "Youth Programming by Daniel Ripmeester".
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