Volunteering
The start of this month was full of volunteering. For the first five days the Enduro Race in Davos was taking place! For two days I got to meet a bunch of amazing locals here in Davos and work together with them to set up the mountain bike trails on multiple mountains that the racers would be going down. I was given a mountain bike for the five days to make this all easier. During this time we would go up and down mountains with lots of supplies in our backpacks in teams of two - safely marking off each trail as we went down. As the race took place, I was stationed at different spots of the mountain to make sure every competitor made it down safely.
Eye opening
During the first race day I was stationed on the very top of one of the mountains with a team of maybe six people. It was about 8:30am, a beautiful sunrise and we were on our bikes, riding on the spine of the mountain to get in position. The whole group was moving at a faster pace and I stayed a bit behind because a 60 year old man was volunteering and he was a bit slower. Mountain biking was his passion I had heard and is where he came alive and felt free. As the group went ahead the man stopped to take a break, or so I thought and then he suddenly fell head first into the rocks alongside the mountains. He was wearing a helmet so lucky that saved a lot of the blow. I dropped my bike and ran to him. As I got to his body his face was purple and he was unresponsive. I knew this wasn't good. Luckily not too far up the mountain behind me yet was a police man from Davos on his day off about to go base jumping. He also saw the situation out of the corner of his eye. He ran over to me and we flipped the man over and started CPR instantly. By this time the whole group of six that was with me had run back up the mountain and were all very concerned. We called the helicopter paramedics and took action into our own hands for about 30min. I could go really deep into detail but I think that's enough. Over an hour into the helicopter paramedics working on Franco (the man who passed out) they made the call to stop. Unfortunately Franco didn't make it back to life. This was the first time I've witnessed someone pass away right in front of me and it was pretty shocking. All I could do is pray.
What this was for me
I couldn't ignore the fact that life is not promised. Every day is a gift. For Franco his plan I'm sure was to have a fun day of volunteering then go home, have a nice meal and get some sleep. Also what shocked me about this was the fact that I have no idea if he knew Jesus as his Saviour. This was a shock in those aspects for me and put more urgency in me to spread the Gospel. I have this thought of Franco showing up at Heaven's gate and then having no idea about Jesus or who God is. With me, a follower of Jesus behind him and the first person to run to him in the accident. I felt like this is what God was showing me through this situation. I didn't feel super guilty that I didn't do anything different because there was nothing I could do to be honest. But it was God reminding me in that moment that life isn't promised and if no one tells them about Jesus how will they know.
In closing
This was deeply sad but I learnt some precious things from it. Life is a gift, and tomorrow isn't promised. Things can change in a moment and we should be grateful for every step along the way. I knew these things before but after this accident they have been really highlighted to me.
Rest of the month
DBS Start
The Discipleship Bible School has started and we're back to cooking for 14-16 people now! It has been so nice to have more people on the YWAM base and see how on fire they are for God. It is so cool to see a school full of young people excited about the Bible and that they will read the whole Bible in just three months - studying it along the way! It's a really unique school and so important I find to get young people excited about the Bible again. This school running in our house has made everyone more excited about reading the Bible and seeing what God says in it! Seeking truth.
Ministry
Christian, a staff member from Ontario, Canada, and myself, have started our new ministry this month as well. This first month has mainly just been focused on gathering people from town and trying to build new connections. In YWAM it is so easy just to hide in your house and feel safe and comfortable but we believe we have been called to Davos to make an impact! So going into town and connecting with people outside of YWAM has been what we have been doing. It has been a really cool time of getting out of our comfort zone and just spreading the love of Jesus to people who do not know Him! So far so good, but covid numbers are starting to rise in Davos again so we are nervous that this may have an impact.
So far my favorite night has been one where we hosted a pizza night for all of our friends in town, some from the gym, some we met at the beach this summer and some we have met in church. It was a really cool night where we could show them some hospitality with good food and drink. Often how Jesus met, ministered and showed love to people was through food. It was a great night of connection and fun!
Prayer points
Ministry
Guidance in it
Safety in health
Bigger building to host these nights (some options may be available)
Open nights
We usually host open nights at our Ywam Base. with covid we could not and it has been part of a project of mine to get it running again. I have met with a church in town where we can now host it and next week it will be running for the first time again since February this year! So prayer for safety and guidance in this would be great.
Health
It's flu and cold season and it changes into winter in Davos, prayer for health in our community would be awesome.
Thanks so much!
-Lucas Kroeker
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