Missions

At Work in the World

“And whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of my disciples, I promise you, he will not go unrewarded” (Matthew 10:42, TPT). It may sound obvious, but a dry season is a time when rain simply does not fall. All over the world, dry seasons come once a year. People plan around their dry season, preparing their lives for a time when little rain will fall. Water reservoirs slowly empty as families focus on the day when rain will come again. In Honduras, the dry season can last from No...

Mission Canada IS CANADA WORTH IT?

“God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live. God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us.” —Acts 17:26-27, NCV Have you ever been forced to leave your home in secret? Under duress? With only the slimmest hope of one day returning? Did you have to pay someone exorbitant fees to get out of...

International Missions A TRIBUTE TO A LIFE WELL LIVED IN SERVICE TO GOD

Our friend, colleague, and longtime global worker, Frank Michael Juelich, passed into the presence of Jesus on December 4, 2021. Frank was a dearly loved caregiver to thousands of Indian children and a mentor and leader to Bapu Desai, Yohan, and Jamuna Raut. Frank was born in Germany on November 21, 1935, the son of a roof maker. He lived through the Second World War, and at the age of 19, having completed a carpenter apprenticeship, he and his brother set out for India by bicycle looking for a...

International Missions PENTECOSTAL ENCOUNTERS, HEALING AND GENEROSITY

Serving in the Africa and the Middle East region, we have seen God move in incredible ways as we concentrate our efforts on unreached people groups. Our mandate is to strategize and pursue inroads for outreach opportunities. We have concentrated our efforts strategically around three seasons considered holy on the Islamic calendar as we note that people are open and receptive to having spiritual conversations at these times. These initiatives take considerable resources and are no small task, bu...

Mission Canada BECAUSE WE MUST

“God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live. God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us.” (Acts 17:26-27, NCV) The tag line for Mission Canada, the PAOC’s national mission agency, was birthed in an informal stand-up meeting in an office doorway at the PAOC International Office over a deca...

ERDO WE NEED TO TALK

Several years ago, I received a voicemail from a concerned doctor. He lived and practised in Toronto, Ont., but his native homeland was Zimbabwe. Upon returning from a recent medical mission to Harare, he left me an ambiguous message: “We need to talk.” His concern was palpable, even over the phone. This expat was raising an alarm for Zimbabwe. When we sat down to chat, coffee in hand, he began a lengthy narrative of a country once commonly known as the breadbasket of Africa. Zimbab...

International Missions CONFRONTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9, ESV) When we hear the words “human trafficking,” all kinds of images come to mind. The realties of this cancer evoke emotions ranging from disbelief to anger. Even for the dedicated Christian, a sense of hopelessness can grip our attitudes, paralyze our resolve to face the problem, and preclude meaningful ...

Mission Canada FOUR PEOPLE – LIFE-CHANGING CALLINGS

If you have been a longtime PAOC follower, do you recall the F.L.I.T.E. program of years gone by? Well, FIT4M, otherwise known as French Intensive Training for Ministry, is the PAOC’s ministry opportunity for English-speaking individuals who sense God’s call to reach francophones in Canada, but who may not be fully comfortable or fluent in the French language … yet. Tom and Val Harbour and Cal and Chrissy Krahn can relate. Each couple moved to Montreal and participated in the ...

ERDO BACK TO SCHOOL

It was the year the world shut down. We grew tired of hearing words like “unprecedented” and “pandemic,” both of which made the Oxford English Dictionary’s top words of 2020. We are now ready to hit “resume” on this prolonged pause, crumple up and throw away the “new normal,” and pick up where we left off. All done with the proverbial summer vacation, we are ready to jump back into our regular lives with all the anticipation of a student ret...

Mission Canada MAKING LIFELONG CHRIST FOLLOWERS

Considering all the spiritual lessons a child should be taught so they develop a healthy, lifelong relationship with Christ can be overwhelming. Where to begin? Genesis? The New Testament Gospels? The fruit of the Spirit? The Ten Commandments? Individuals who journeyed with God? For those who carry children’s ministry roles in the local church, a scope and sequence chart is a key tool and guideline for what a child should learn in their formative years as lesson plans are created and taugh...

ERDO 365 CAMPAIGN

Imagining a World Without Poverty All over the world, women support their families. They provide food and collect water. Women are heroes, consistently going without to make sure their families are cared for. Women are more likely than men to experience hunger in every region of the world. One step toward eradicating poverty is to empower women so they can keep changing their family’s world for the better—one day at a time. This summer ERDO launched 365, a campaign to support women ...

International Missions JOINING JESUS IN PRAYER

Our culture is not very interested in “the long game.” 1 If some activity does not appear to meet a perceived immediate need in life, our society is not deeply engaged in it. Daily focus has succumbed to an innate primacy of seeing personally perceived needs met first before others are considered. The nature of that orientation has infiltrated our faith experience, and we may be surprised at the degree to which those cultural attitudes shape our Christian practices of prayer. It tug...

ERDO SUPPORTING OUR GLOBAL FAMILY

The first time I encountered poverty, it was not a special day. I didn’t smell, taste, see, touch or hear anything out of the ordinary. Yet, for the first time, I realized how small my view of the world was. Throwing my backpack across the floor as I ran up the stairs, I was immediately stopped by my mom. I sighed in annoyance. Without a word, she handed me a photo of a girl. “This is your new sister,” she said. Recognizing my confusion, she told me that the girl in the photo...

Mission Canada A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR OF MISSION CANADA

In a recent pandemic lament, a pastor shared his dismay and distress concerning those he was entrusted to lead. “I am flying blind,” he said. “About a third of our congregation are engaging online, following on social media, connecting with neighbours, participating in an online small group, and investing financially. A second group have less engagement, give sporadically, and are watching online at their convenience. But I am deeply troubled by those with no engagement (that w...

International Missions RACE, POWER AND VOICE

The year 2020 brought new vocabulary to our lexicon that we never imagined necessary. Adding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the name George Floyd became symbolic of many things, but primarily of race, power and voice. Tucked away in Asia when the protests were most intense, I was tempted to disengage, treating the crisis as an intractable North American problem. Thoughtful global worker feedback made that impossible to do. The summer is long past, but the issues haven’t changed. (In fact, by mo...

Mission Canada AN OASIS IN A CONCRETE JUNGLE

Decades ago, when one felt “called” to the mission field, the pull was most often to a distant land. As a young girl, I recall hearing stories of Mark and Huldah Buntain and their ministry to the poor in Calcutta, India. In my teenage years, church services included times where PAOC missionaries would visit and share what God was doing in Africa, India and Central America. I would return home after those mission services and go straight to my Encyclopaedia Britannica books to check o...

ERDO CHILD SPONSORSHIP

Each morning, Ayisha’s father would leave the house to find work. He was a day labourer and took sporadic jobs to provide for his wife and children. Eight-year-old Ayisha and her 16-year-old brother had a place to live and food to eat because their father found enough work. Village of Hope (VOH) Africa and ERDO help the family with school fees, and the children are receiving an education through child sponsorship. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Zimbabwe in early 2020, families were told to...

Mission Canada CLOSED DOORS, OPEN HEARTS

The PAOC is a Fellowship of churches as well as a sending agency to the world and to our own nation. Mission Canada, our national mission agency, has five priorities that guide our missional efforts in Canada. Two of these priorities include reaching those in our urban centres and in various cultural language groups. As a welcoming nation to those immigrating from other countries, our urban centres are growing and diversifying. Some of the amazing churches that make up our Fellowship are smaller...

ERDO ELEVATING AND ALLEVIATING

“God elevates and alleviates,” said PAOC global worker Matthew Price, speaking with ERDO early this summer through Facebook Live. Matthew and Amber Price have been living in Thailand for the past four years. Amber is the director of Impact School of Missions (ISM) and focuses on leadership development. Matthew works with ERDO as the national director for ChildCARE Plus (CCP) Thailand. He oversees 17 staff across three out of four regions in Thailand, where 461 sponsored children are ...

International Missions A COSTLY FAITH

As evangelical Christians, we often speak of our personal faith. We ourselves made the decision to follow Christ, so it is indeed personal. But what else might we have assumed it means or does not mean for us individually? Is this faith something we think we own? And does that mean we get to define its impact upon our own lives? Or is the precious gift of this Christian faith something given to us with a set of parameters defined by Jesus, wherein the promised transformation is tied to the embra...