Missions

At Work in the World

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...

Mission Canada INTERCEDING FOR OUR CANADIAN NEIGHBOURS

Recently, I was travelling through Chicago O’Hare International Airport, waiting for a flight connection back to Canada. I found myself in a very long line of weary travellers trying to navigate the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security clearance. As the line got longer, the airline representative encouraged passengers to try the new facial recognition program to avoid the throng of passengers waiting to be screened. Tempted by the offer, I read the fine print on the sign....

ERDO FOOD AND FAITH

In certain areas of Uganda, food is not available. Families in Kotido, the northern part of Uganda, have resorted to eating small plants or shrubs and picking leaves off trees for food as nothing grew during a long-lasting drought. However, because they were eating food not meant for human consumption, they developed stomach aches, headaches and other health problems. The thought of life without food is hard to process. Everyone, regardless of where they live, should have access to nutrition. E...

Mission Global A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

As I zig-zagged down the “road” along the rocky edges of the steep mountains in northwest Pakistan, making my way back to Islamabad, I couldn’t help but think, “Don would have loved this!” I had just wrapped up three days of leadership training with 60 select pastors from across Pakistan. We had met at a remote retreat centre not far from the Afghanistan border. We spent some incredible time together, diving into the leadership material that Don and a small team&mda...

Mission Canada FAITH AND THE NEXT GENERATION

Have you ever prayed a prayer over and over, with deep sincerity, asking God for something specific? I have. This past year, I’ve been asking God to show Himself to the next generation—that they would see, hear, know and experience the deep love of God and the miracle-working power of Jesus; that their faith would grow and be steadfast and unwavering; that they would stand strong and not be shaken. What I didn’t realize was that God would use us—my husband and I—to ...

Mission Canada CALLED TO THE URBAN CORE

As a Mission Canada urban worker, I have the privilege of representing Jesus in the core of the city and making Him known to people who live or work in the urban hub. I love what I do! As I reflect, the 2023 spring season was filled with wonderful opportunities. They included building trusted relationships with families without connection to Christ or the local church, completing my degree in Ministry Leadership from Horizon College & Seminary, and participating in the Our City Conference ...

Mission Global FOR GOD SO LOVED TURKANA

While just a young teenager, Deborah Sirjoosingh distinctly heard God’s call to serve Him. She was kneeling in the prayer room during a Sunday evening at Bethel Pentecostal Church in Ottawa, Ont., when God spoke Isaiah 61:1 over her. A deeply special moment for her, she would recall that evening many times over, reminding her of God’s plan and purpose for her life. For the past 40 years, Deborah has devoted her life to bringing the holistic gospel to the remote Turkana people in nort...

ERDO BLINDSIDED BY WAR

Alina and her daughter, Kateryna, were watching TV when a special report was broadcast. Their country had been invaded. Soon, Alina’s son, Kateryna’s brother, went to serve in the armed forces. Kateryna’s husband, her sister’s husband, her sister’s son and her niece’s husband—all the men in the family—enlisted in the army before the week was out. Alina and Kateryna were left at home with no income. In a matter of days, parts of the country were b...