Missions

At Work in the World

Dear friends, For the past 30 years, our mission in Colombia has covered a wide range of outreach—building churches and schools, conducting mass evangelism, distributing Bibles, and more. But at the heart of it all, we are especially called to serve children, particularly those facing difficult and often heartbreaking circumstances. We’ve always believed that if there’s a Christian church in a community and a state-run children's home nearby, the children in that home would be ...

ERDO QUIET FAITH, LOUD IMPACT

Utsab’s Life in Bangladesh Utsab watched the children in his neighbourhood leave for school with their backpacks on their shoulders. As a little boy—not yet old enough to start school—he loved learning. Waving to the children who passed by, Utsab wished he could go to school, too, and hoped that, one day, his father could buy him a backpack. Utsab’s family lives in Kaligram, Bangladesh, where his father works as a farm labourer. Growing food on other people’s land,...

Mission Global IMAGINE THIS

Imagine this: from within our churches, both big and small, a generation of young people rising up—mobilized with purpose, burning with passion for God, and ready to be the church, both locally and globally. Imagine them fully awakened to the staggering truth: over three billion people may never hear the name of Jesus unless someone dares to “go.” Now, imagine those same young people boldly choosing to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth. Picture them recognizing that God is ...

ERDO A NEW CEO FOR ERDO

After five meaningful years as the director of International Programs, Daniel Lepojarvi has been appointed as the new chief executive officer for ERDO (Emergency Relief and Development Overseas). Following the faithful years of leadership and the strong foundation set by David Adcock, Daniel is ready to step into this next chapter. Alongside Daniel, our Canadian team, global workers and international church partners remain committed to passionately responding to the needs of people living in pov...

Mission Canada RIDING THE WAVE

Kevin Rogers, Mission Canada Urban Ministries co-ordinator, interviews Charles Hermelink, Cultural Language co-ordinator. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Kevin: This is from a November 18, 2024, CBC News article: Canadians are feeling increasingly uneasy about immigration and its role in generating "economic strain,” according to a new survey conducted by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Among other things, the survey found that many Canadians believe too much...

Mission Global A LIFELONG PASSION

At seven years old, I decided I wanted to be a missionary. Listening to global workers speak and share their stories at my church deeply inspired me. Of course, like most kids, I also dreamt of becoming a teacher or a nurse at one point. But at 18 years old, God spoke to me clearly at Braeside Camp in Paris, Ont. That summer, I knew I was being called to Bible college to study missions. Later that fall, I enrolled at Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (now Master’s College and Seminary). Af...

ERDO NOT JUST A NUMBER

For $41 a month, you can transform a life through child sponsorship. “41 is just a number, but every dollar is transforming someone. At the end of that number, there are powerful transformation stories. You never think you’re going to raise a giant. But giants are being raised,” says Pastor Munetsi Zowa. Pastor Zowa is a bishop in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe (PAOZ), lead minister of Hope Community Church, and the ove...

ERDO THE VALUE OF A CHILD

At the age of five, in a PAOC church in rural Canada, Barry Slauenwhite gave his life to Christ. He knew from a young age God was calling him into ministry. “Having accepted the Lord as a child, I was keenly aware of the value of a child,” Barry says. Often feeling like the church viewed children as a liability until they were old enough to be useful, Barry sought out at-risk children in his community. In his early days as a pastor, he and his wife started a kids’ camp for the...

Mission Global INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS

There has been a simmering question in Canadian Christian circles recently: Should we still be involved in international missions? The short answer? Yes! Jesus’s final command for His church was to be involved in God’s ongoing mission for all humanity. Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I a...

ERDO A SOBER CALL

“I prefer to starve rather than see my child lost,” Gamila thought to herself. After her husband stopped working due to a severe mental illness, he started to hit Gamila and their six children. The family had no source of income. Gamila sent her 14-year-old son to get a job and support the family. Still, she had her doubts. She felt overwhelming guilt that she was depriving her son of his rights as a child. When he began working as a waiter in a restaurant, he brought in enough money...

Mission Canada A PUBLIC FAITH

There are times in our shared journey when going public with our faith is a pivotal moment in our walk with God. Can you remember when you first yielded your will and life to Him and embraced a personal faith in Christ? Your initial passion reflected the incredible joy and peace the Lord gifted you during your salvation experience. You just wanted everyone to know. You wanted to shout from the top of a mountain and post on every social media channel, “I am a new creation and a child of God...

Mission Global CELEBRATING THE CHURCH

I believe in the church. My work with Mission Global takes me to places around the world where I see God’s people in action—meeting social needs, proclaiming good news to the least reached, the vulnerable, the poor, and setting captives free. I see people who, having given up on themselves and the society around them, find a new dignity and destiny for their lives in Jesus and through His church. When God’s people understand their responsibility to be God’s agents of tran...

Mission Global ELMER AND SHERRY KOMANT

It was 1973. Elmer Komant was just finishing up his four-year carpentry apprenticeship when he heard a missionary lady share at his church. Leaning against the back door of the sanctuary, he suddenly felt God speak to him, “Elmer, I want you to go into missions.” And he knew immediately that his calling was to Africa. For 48 hours, Elmer wrestled with God. He confesses, “I knew it was a losing battle. I finally said to God, ‘If You want me, You are going to have all of me...

Mission Canada WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE TO BE?

Canada has entered a Samaritan scenario. We personally didn’t ask to be here, but here we find ourselves. And we each have a path to choose. What role will you choose in our current cultural predicament? We’ll return to why this is our Canadian scenario in a moment. First, let’s allow the Word to lead us. A religious legal expert challenges Jesus with the question, “[W]hat must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). In response, Jesus employs His wonde...

ERDO JUST GO

“It didn’t matter that I was young. I saw the need and felt God’s calling. I knew that I could make a difference.” Jennifer Iacob was 17 years old the first time she travelled to Romania in 1998. On that short-term mission trip, she was exposed to the harsh reality of widespread child abandonment that plagued this post-communist country. That year alone, 10,000 children were left in Romanian hospitals. What was meant to be a month-long trip turned into a 25-year devotion...

Mission Canada PRESENCE VERSUS PROXIMITY

Several years ago, I began the process of re-orienting my entire way of life within the proximity of my neighbourhood out of a longing for a more integrated way of living and a deeper experience of connection and community. I began deceptively simple practices that I now think have the potential to be staggering in their scope in helping us and others live well. My imagination was sparked for another way of living and being. For most of my life, I lived on adrenaline and deadlines. Neighbours we...

ERDO TRAINING AND TRANSFORMATION

Every morning, Bonita feeds her children breakfast and walks them to school. Since the school is so far away, she stays until they are finished, then the family walks home together. Bonita’s husband, Hilton, is a fisherman. He was in a bus accident early last year and saw several people killed. He was left shocked and traumatized and now suffers from ongoing back and chest pain. Although he can no longer do strenuous labour, he works through the pain to feed his family. Bonita, Hilton and ...

Mission Global THE MISSIONARY CALLING

Does a missionary calling even exist? Aren’t all believers called to be followers and witnesses of the Good News? The Bible clearly states that all followers of Jesus are called, and this calling speaks to the longing of every human heart for purpose and identity. Who are we, and what are we here for? When Paul writes that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10), he is writing to the w...

ERDO SERVING IN A WAR ZONE

War in Ukraine On February 24, 2022, Pastor Sergey Eremin awoke at 1:30 a.m. with a deep heaviness in his spirit. He began to pray. Three hours later, still in fervent prayer and unable to sit still, he went for a walk outside. “I could hear things going on,” he says. “The sky was filled with military aircraft. Ukraine was being hit with rockets. Thousands of planes were firing missiles.” Other than interrupted sleep, Pastor Sergey had no warning Ukraine was about to be ...

Mission Global HONOURING VICTORIA

It was 2001 when an 18-year-old young lady from Owen Sound began working within one of our PAOC family of ministries. That started a 22-year journey that led a high school graduate to an appointment as the associate executive director of PAOC Mission Global. In December 2023, Victoria Ninaber brought her service with the PAOC to a close. I was asked if I would share a tribute in her honour. A little over 10 years ago, I returned from serving as a global worker in Africa and walked into the PAO...