Set against the backdrop of British Columbia's breath-taking coastal mountain range and rising from the banks of English Bay, Vancouver, with a metro population of nearly 2 million, unites urban excitement with outdoor adventure like no other city in the world. Vancouver is celebrated as one of the most vibrant multi-cultural cities in the world, and a gateway city to the East.

Sitting on the east side of downtown Vancouver just adjacent to the grittiest part if the inner city is the Commercial Drive district. "The Drive," as the locals call it, is a vibrantly progressive and counter-cultural pocket of diversity with over 63 nationalities represented in one twelve-block radius. It offers a variety of diverse cultural expressions from an Eastern Indian cinema and an animal rights shelter to a marijuana smoking café and neighborhood run soup kitchens. Earnest political conversations can be heard echoing from art galleries and numerous vegetarian cafes and third world solidarity coffee shops.

This socially and ethnically blended community is one of the major urban development projects in the world and yet it is one of the least churched areas in North America. A vast majority of the city's immigrants know very little about Christianity and only 5% of Vancouverites say they attend church regularly. Tucked inside a pocket of stunning scenic beauty this funky urban playground provides a rich training soil for those cultivating a life of incarnational presence, mission, and leadership.

Our NieuCommunities team in Vancouver will be anchored by CRM staff Amy Wilson and Tim and Ute Warkentin, who have moved onto "The Drive." Let us know if you've got any questions about the city or the unique nature of NieuCommunities unfolding on the The Drive in Vancouver.