Hello to the HMI Pacific crew!

I trust that you are enjoying a good fall season. As we have recently come through Thanksgiving, let me tell you, I thank the Lord for you! You are such a faithful blessing to me personally and also to the ministry. Here are a few of the latest ‘goings on’ in the HMI Pacific world.

In early September, I had a pretty cool tour of one of the very best training facilities in the BCHL. Penticton Coach Fred Harbinson showed me around the Vees state of the art training room, video centre and dressing room. Oh man… that was something else! With me that day was the new chaplain of the Vees, Brock Greenhill. I ask you to pray for Brock and the many chaplains who have started brand new this year.

Within a week of touring the Vees facilities, training camps began in most junior leagues around the province. I had two full team introductions, with the Kelowna Chiefs and the West Kelowna Warriors. Other chaplains had their own introductions to their respective teams. And so the season began, with a certain strangeness, as only a limited number of fans were allowed back in arenas. (Wow, real live fans in the arena! What a wonderful atmosphere!) It had been way too long since there was cheering, passion and energy in the rink!

On opening night in Kelowna, the team management decided to honour West Kelowna Fire Rescue for their great work during the recent Mt Law and White Rock Lake forest fires. Yours truly, as chaplain of the Fire Department, sang the Anthem that night. What a wonderful night that was, being back at the rink and doing double chaplain duty!

I had the opportunity to be in Medicine Hat quite recently, where I was pleased to have coffee with young Medicine Hat Tigers forward Teague Patton. In my last newsletter, I believe that I mentioned that I had baptized Teague this past summer. I was able to attend a Tigers game and ended up having coffee with Tigers Head Coach Willie Desjardins, who was the Vancouver Canucks Head Coach from 2014 – 17. It is always an honour to chat and pray with people in the hockey world!

Back at home, what a joy it was to connect with Lee Young, the new chaplain of the Summerland Steam junior club. Lee is the pastor of Summerland Baptist Church. He will do an excellent job serving the hockey club in Summerland. Also, recently I travelled to Revelstoke to meet with the new chaplain of the Revelstoke Grizzlies junior club. Bob Loeppky has been involved with the team for years, and has felt led to serve as their chaplain. I believe that he is the right man for the chaplain’s role there. Please be praying for Lee and Bob as they shine for Jesus in the arena.

Let me tell you a little bit about chaplain Bruce Taylor, of the Trail Smoke Eaters. Bruce has been one of the very finest chaplains that I’ve known in Hockey Ministries. As far as chaplains go, Bruce is a perennial All Star. I was sad when he let me know that he was stepping down from chaplaincy, but in true Bruce Taylor fashion, he mentored a young man to take his place. Josiah Blencowe will be assuming the role of chaplain with the ‘Smokies’, and I want to extend a very warm welcome to him. I have included a picture of Bruce leading the Smoke Eaters in a pre-game prayer, which is an amazing testament to the kind of influence Bruce has and the love that the club has for him. God richly bless you Bruce. You have been and continue to be a blessing to me personally and to all those who know you.

Last, I will include a picture of Lorraine and I. She is the love of my life and I appreciate her more than words can describe. Lorraine is a big thinker with an incredibly sharp mind; she is a tremendous encouragement to me in ministry,

Thank you for taking the time to read about some of what is happening in Hockey Ministries around BC.

Keep your eyes on the goal,
Don Richmond
Hockey Ministries International
Pacific Region

Dear HMI Pacific Partners,

It has been a while since I emailed… just before Christmas to be exact. These days have been certainly difficult for everyone, but we will not give up. Right off the bat, I want to express my gratitude to you for your support of the ministry; for hanging in there with me. During these times, I have had a number of donors drop off, (I really do understand) but I ask for your prayers in the area of financial support. Your help is beyond value, and only the Lord knows the eternal results of an ongoing chaplaincy ministry to the hockey culture.

I won’t spend time here on the pandemic, but rather I’ll let you know what has been happening in the ministry in the last few months. Just before Christmas we had our 10th annual ‘socially distanced’ Warriors Christmas Hamper Drive, organized by the chaplaincy program. We found the community need to be greater than in other years, and with the help of a few sponsors, (like Tim Horton’s in West Kelowna) we were able to fill 120 hampers for needy local families! Thank you to Lord for that!

In BC, Junior hockey clubs are allowed to practise daily, but not to play games right now. The stands in the rinks around the province are empty; I call them Covid arenas. This is very hard on the economics of the teams. I am praying that they will be able to survive, because real lives and real ministry is involved here. (I thought I would include a picture of the team on the bench in West K, all with their masks on.) I was honoured when the team gave me my own personalized Warriors facemask with a cross on it. That meant a lot to me, as their chaplain. I really feel badly for (and pray for) all the 20 year old players in their final year of junior hockey. They haven’t been able to showcase their talent to scouts or to universities and colleges for scholarships, which is so important to the entire junior hockey system.

I have been able to have some hockey Zoom calls in the past while. Recently, it was great to have a group of Kelowna Chiefs meet with me for a chapel. The only thing we didn’t have was pizza and orange pop! We were able to pray together and discuss spiritual things. On that same theme, I was also able to Zoom with some of my Hockey Ministries council. It is so good to connect with these men; men who love the Lord and who have grown up in the hockey culture. I value these strong young councillors; Kolby Barnstable, Jayson Zilke and Brent Beselt.

I am including a Facebook link to an interview that the West Kelowna Warriors broadcaster Chase Johnston did just a few weeks ago. He has a weekly Facebook segment called Warriors Wednesday, which features interviews with players from as far back as the inaugural season in 2006 right up to the present. In this particular segment, he was interviewing Lucas Bahn, a great young man (and a good defenceman) from Hendersonville, Tennessee. About halfway through the interview, the topic turns to faith, and Lucas briefly speaks of the influence of Warriors chapels on his life. I was very honoured to hear him say that; I had absolutely no idea that he would. I thought you might like to hear the interview from that day, although you’ll have to wait through the hockey talk until the faith part comes up.

Finally, I ask you to pray for our summer HMI camps here in BC. We will run camps in Williams Lake in July and Shawnigan Lake in August. Young players are already registering for these camps, so let’s be praying for the wonderful spiritual influence that these camps have on young lives.

God bless you as together we continue to look to the Lord for His leading.
Don Richmond
Hockey Ministries International
Pacific Region