To the faithful supporters of Hockey Ministries in BC!

This past week has been a whirlwind…. the McDougall Creek wildfire broke out above West Kelowna, and suddenly everything went crazy. The wind picked up and in less than a few hours the fire swept 15 kms and more. The forests in the Central Okanagan were ablaze. The burning embers actually jumped Okanagan Lake and consumed properties on the Kelowna and Lake Country side of the lake.It was absolutely fearsome, as many homes were lost. We evacuated our home on Thursday Aug 17 and were not allowed to return until Thursday evening, Aug 24. I am grateful to the Lord that our home still stands, however it was incredibly stressful on the people in the area. (Lorraine and myself included) As the West Kelowna Fire chaplain, I am so proud to support the firefighters as they work long and hard to preserve the homes of the people of West Kelowna and area. Please pray for those devastated by the wildfires in BC, not only in the Okanagan but also throughout the entire province.

Interesting side-note: On August 25 I was at the fire hall when the security suddenly skyrocketed and out of a vehicle emerged the Prime Minister! I had the opportunity to chat with him and convey that I serve as Chaplain for West Kelowna Fire Rescue. He thanked me and we shook hands. As a chaplain, I never know what a day showing up for Jesus in this world will look like!

As usual, in my HMI world, summer means hockey camps and weddings. I was pleased to be at the Vancouver Island camp at Shawnigan Lake in July, where 7 young campers received Christ into their hearts. That is simply amazing! The camp was a wonderful success, with everything running quite smoothly. It was so nice to have Ben Walter (Head Coach of TWU Spartans men’s hockey in Langley) as our Head Instructor, and many of the Walter family including Ben’s dad Ryan. Ice times, chapels, dry-land training, all went very well, and I am thankful to the camp staff for making it all happen.

On the wedding front, it is always an honour to officiate at hockey related weddings. I have included just a few pictures of some of the weddings this summer. It is amazing how so many former players gather for their teammates’ wedding and how it turns into a fabulous opportunity for me to reconnect as their chaplain.

And of course there is always time for one on one coffees with players who are in town. I appreciate these opportunities, and of course we always end our coffee times with a prayer. I am including a picture of one of these with Canadian Jr A Champion Rylan Yaremko and myself.

As the hockey  season approaches. chaplains are meeting with coaches and preparing for the season. Every year there are some changes, both in coaching staffs and sometimes with chaplains as well; I would ask you to please pray that in these transitions that chapel programs would continue operating well.

Finally, in the summer I spend time at Kelowna’s main baseball park (Elks Stadium) and football stadium (The Apple Bowl), homes of Kelowna Falcons baseball and Okanagan Sun football. I serve both these clubs as their chaplain during the hockey ‘off-season’. I’ll end with pictures of both Falcons and Sun chapels. It is simply a joy to tell these young athletes about faith in Christ Jesus.

I am so very grateful for you all, and I thank you for being on ‘Team HMI Pacific’.

Don Richmond

Hockey Ministries International

Pacific Region