World Article

At Work in the World

Mission Canada REACHING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Twenty years ago I walked into my first ministry position in East Vancouver. Fresh out of Bible college, I was full of evangelistic fire to reach students for Jesus. I was learning hip-hop dance at the time and decided to offer my new skill to the school across the street from the church. Before long I was teaching dance to the entire student body as part of their physical education classes. In addition to that, I wrote and directed a musical dance production which featured their students. I&rsq...

International Missions MIDDLE EAST SCHOLARS PROGRAM

When I reflect on the significance of the start of the Middle East Scholars Program (MESP) in Tbilisi, Georgia, the first thing that comes to mind is what a privilege it is to be part of a program that seeks to help a significantly marginalized population to dream again, to hope again, and to somehow become significant members of a community. The political climate of the world is changing so fast we can hardly keep up. The program was intended to assist war-affected Syrian youth to get on a path...

ERDO REBUILDING HAITI

Ruins, rubble and chaos—this was the reality of Haiti after a massive earthquake struck the country on January 12, 2010. More than 200,000 people were killed, much of the capital city was destroyed, and 2.3 million individuals were left homeless. Through the faithful support of the PAOC Fellowship, ERDO was able to respond strategically and promptly to the disaster. What originally began as crisis response soon transformed into long-term community development to help Haitians rebuild their...

ERDO BE LIKE A GPS THIS CHRISTMAS

I was recently rereading the Christmas story in Matthew 2 about the Wise Men visiting the newborn Jesus. Verse 9 resonated with me in a fresh way: “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” I found it fascinating that the star not only guided them through the desert to Bethlehem, but right to the house where the Christ child was. When they located Him, they w...

International Missions ACHING BLISS

Each morning the alarm beeps at 5:35, and I silently beg for five more minutes. Yet time marches on. The birds continue their chatter, and my four children insist on attention to their morning needs of nourishment that come both from food and my reassuring presence. We scramble through that early morning rush all too often—changing diapers, answering questions, putting clean clothes on two little children, and getting school uniforms ready “just so” for two more who head out th...

Mission Canada TRANSCENDING PERSECUTION

Persecution is more than uncomfortable or inconvenient: it hurts. Emotionally and socially, it’s demoralizing. Physically, it’s painful; damaging, even to the point of death. My friends, “Thomas and Wendy” (yes, those are pseudonyms for their continued protection), experienced great persecution in their homeland. Ultimately, moving from house to house, from apartment to apartment, and even from one city to another wasn’t enough. They had to flee the country. They c...

Mission Canada TRUE WEALTH

Fortune, in our secular world, is rated by the amount of money in one’s bank account and the value of any accumulated worldly possessions. However, Jesus teaches another definition when it comes to wealth. Through His lessons, I have personally come to a new conclusion of how to be truly rich as I follow Jesus: The most valuable things I have are stored in my heart. That is the only treasure that will remain when I die. Humble self-assessments lead me to the realizati...

International Missions LESSONS IN MISSIONS

In the fall of 2004, while my wife, Sandra, and I had been serving as pastors at Kennedy Road Tabernacle in Brampton, Ontario, I began to sense that the Lord was calling us to the mission field. We answered the call, arriving in Thailand in August 2005. Over more than 10 years of serving in missions, we learned innumerable things about ourselves and others. Here’s our top 10 list. 10. Jesus is enough, and now we know what that means. It was so hard at that stage of life to leave a gr...

ERDO THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Being a parent involves tough choices. Sometimes the correct answer isn’t obvious or you’re faced with a daunting and unpopular decision. But what if you had to choose between medicine for your sick child or feeding the rest of your family? What if sending your child to school, their only chance for a better life, meant that the whole family went hungry? What parent could face those kinds of choices? In the area of Kenya where Akililu Hunqe grew up, his family and many in his communi...

International Missions A WONDERFUL WORLD?

In childhood I truly feared … Frankenstein coming up the stairs A werewolf under my bed A tornado flinging our house into the air A house fire in the night War, atomic bombs and nowhere to hide The Rapture, being left behind Armageddon My parents getting divorced, or worse, being killed in an accident Getting head lice In adulthood I truly fear … Getting into a horrible car accident Losing a child Kidnappers Losing my husband Losing my parents or siblings Getting fat...

Mission Canada TRANSITIONS

A testimony interview with Dr. Robb Powell, national co-ordinator for Campus Mission Canada t: You’ve mentioned that it’s important to prepare students in high school for their transition into post-secondary education. Could you elaborate? RP: I often think about transitions. And this one is huge. This is the point where the youth becomes an adult. They head out on their own and learn to negotiate a new, fascinating and powerful world. It’s a drifting cosmos in which there is ...

ERDO HOPE FOR BANGLADESH

“No matter where you are in the world, you want the best for your child.” These are the words of David Adcock, chief executive officer of ERDO, and they carry the ring of truth. Whether you live in Barrie, Ontario, or in Bangkok, or in Bangladesh, wanting the best for our children is universal. But imagine if caring for your children was so difficult, there were days it seemed impossible. What if your only water were tainted with naturally occurring arsenic, which made your child sic...

Mission Canada CONSIDERING FRENCH MINISTRY

Over the last year, our Bible college chapel time has focused on the theme “At the school of Moses (À l’école de Moïse).” The greatest principle that stuck with me from the chapel messages was Moses’ tenacity: in all that he experienced and in everything he did, in spite of the obstacles, he never quit. Moses pursued his calling. Hans Finzel writes, “In my mind, calling is about following a higher purpose in life. It is listening to and obeying Go...

ERDO LEGACIES

One of the joys I have in my work with ERDO is connecting people’s desire to love and serve God with opportunities for sharing their resources. When people really bond with a cause and find a ministry like ERDO’s that aligns with their desire to help meet human need in developing countries, the energy and enthusiasm are tangible. I am thrilled when people get excited about making a ministry gift and helping fulfil ERDO’s biblical call: “Do good. Seek justice. Help the opp...

International Missions IT BEGINS WITH “ONE”

One of the most often quoted yet least obeyed passages in Scripture is found in Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV), where our Lord commanded His followers to “… go [into all the world] and make disciples of all nations.” We are commanded to leave our own place of comfort and move out to reveal Christ in places where He is not known and worshipped—not a single region is exempted. “Nations” refers to peoples and language groups that live anywhere and everywhere. To see a n...

Mission Canada UNASHAMED

Recently, Scott McConnell, vice-president of LifeWay Research, shared the findings of a major study on Christian spirituality. The “Transformational Discipleship” study from LifeWay examined the spiritual habits and attitudes of 1,000 pastors and 4,000 Protestant churchgoers in North America. They included 1,086 Canadian lay people who go to church at least once a month. Researchers looked at eight attributes that are common to spiritually mature Christians. Among them is “unas...

International Missions JESUS IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH!

God’s Spirit is moving mightily in Ethiopia. Since the fall of communism in 1991, the church has grown significantly. Emerging from persecution and the restrictions on ministry activities, they have embraced their freedom to proclaim Christ. This zeal and passion continues as the church engages to fulfil the Great Commission. This is happening in many areas of the nation where the church has not yet been planted. I want to share a few stories about how God’s Spirit is working and enc...

ERDO ERDO AT WORK

Public recognition for a ministry like ERDO’s comes with mixed emotions. We are grateful for acknowledgement of the work we do because it inspires new donors to support us. But we’re reminded that the work we do centres on alleviating human suffering and the effects of poverty. Gaining recognition in the public eye increases our ability to serve people in the name of Jesus and in doing so introduces more women, men and children to the God of justice and love. We are humbled by the di...

International Missions GREATER MILESTONES

My first memories of Andrew bring a smile. He loves to dance and worship God. When he does, it’s as if no one else is in the room. To watch him, one can’t help but laugh with joy at the uniqueness of this blissful young man who loves God with all that he has. I had the privilege of being a part of Andrew’s formative years in ministry. I have watched him grow from a young man who loved to be the centre of attention to one who serves God with confidence and boldness. The doors th...

ERDO FOLLOWING JESUS, THE REFUGEE

Through media coverage, Canadians have witnessed the struggle of Syrian families fleeing danger and desperation, and seeking refuge. The real story, however, is actually much larger than a 30-second news bite, or even a half-hour special report. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission of Refugees) reports that by mid-2014, there were over three million Syrian refugees, a small part of the then 18.1 million refugees worldwide who were registered with the UNHCR. This number doesn’t i...