About Us

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by. As we are hoping you will get involved in this exciting adoption fund raiser, we thought it would be good to introduce ourselves.

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by. As we are hoping you will get involved in this exciting adoption fund raiser, we thought it would be good to introduce ourselves.

Jamie and Kim Arpin-Ricci

Jamie was born in Minnesota in 1977, but grew up in the small town of Rainy River, Ontario, Canada. Being a dual citizen of Canada and the US has been an important part of Jamie's journey. Growing up in a Christian home, after an early graduation, Jamie decided to attend a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). He has been a missionary ever since. While serving with YWAM in BC, Jamie met a young woman from Australia named Kim.

Kim was born in Canberra, Australia in 1980, but lived in the small town of Sutton. Growing up Kim was heavily involved in sports, school and youth ministry until 1999, when everything changed. Partly due to an illness, Kim took a dare from a friend and applied for a DTS in Canada. When she arrived, she was met at the bus station by a group of missionaries, including a young man named Jamie.

While good friends, we didn't start dating immediately. After Kim's DTS we both joined staff with YWAM in Vancouver with the goal of recruiting a team to plant a new ministry center in inner city Winnipeg, MB. Over the years, as we grew in experience and leadership, we also grew quite fond of each other. On August 18, 2001, while visiting family in Winnipeg, Jamie proposed to Kim at sunset in a canoe. Of course, she said yes.

On October 13, in what was meant to be a quiet legal signing, we were legally married in an intimate and joyous event thrown by the YWAM Vancouver family. Then on December 15, 2001, in St. Simon's Anglican Church in Canberra, Australia, we married again with Kim's family and friends. Not to be stopped there, we then returned to Canada, to Rainy River for Christmas and another wedding on January 19, 2002. After three weddings, the knot was well and truly tied!

After our third and final wedding was behind us, we headed to Winnipeg to start our new life. Moving into the West End neighbourhood, we began the work of pioneering a new urban outreach with YWAM. After a few years we bought a house from a local church. The house was a former gang house, restored as a symbol of hope for the community. Despite its challenges, our neighbourhood is a wonderful and diverse place to live. Having tried to start a family for a few years, our doctor encoruaged us to consider pursuing adoption.

So, here we are, after six years of marraige, ready to start a family together. We hope you will help us by being a part of that story.

WHY ADOPTION:

After a few years of marraige, while trying to start a family, we went through the heart breaking experience of a miscarriage. As difficult as this experience was, we were not prepared for the further pain and frustration of being unable to get pregnant again. After consulting with a specialist, we discovered that we were facing "unexplained secondary infertility"- in other words, there was no apparent reason why we weren't getting pregnant.

While we could have pursued some medical options, we felt strongly that adoption was the course of action for us. In our work, both here in Canada and abroad, we see so many children who desperately need a home. After much consideration, prayer and consultation, we decided that adoption was the best option for us.

We also decided to pursue international adoption. As a multi-cultural marraige (Jamie being dual American/Canadian, Kim being Australian), we wanted to celebrate this in our family as well. We considered several options, but decided on Ethiopia. In addition to the outreaches we lead to East Africa on a regular basis, we also live in a very multi-cultural neighbourhood with a large Ethiopian community. We want to encourage our child to know and embrace their heritage.

Our adoption is being processed by an authorized adoption aganecy, for more details feel free to contact us.