Spreading Good News Globally
God is on the Move, Here and Around the World
(Don't miss the Local Initiatives update, too!)
Hi Friends,
Despite this COVID-19 saga, I want to remind you that God is at work; He hasn’t stopped and isn’t surprised by what is happening! So, as a way of stepping back to see the bigger picture, let’s remember some of the highlights from the past year.
By far, the biggest thing that happened this past year in missions was our Missionary Retreat! You can watch a short video recap of the weekend here, https://www.crossroadschurch.ca/blog/3060/Missionary-Retreat.
We hosted 44 special guests from all over the world in October, 2019. Our week-long retreat began at CrossRoads on a Sunday. Missionaries read scripture in multiple languages, were commissioned and served communion, then we celebrated and mingled over lunch before heading out to Nordegg.
Time in the mountains was exactly what many needed. The first day gave everyone the chance to experience the majesty of the Rockies, and the second brought a gift of a different kind; winter. As heavy snow fell it was like a blanket of peace upon the retreat and the people: permission to rest, to reflect, and to be restored. Pastor Dan’s teaching on Psalm 23, worship led by Pastor Dallas, Dave & crew, workshops, outdoor activities, multiple opportunities to connect and, of course, permission to nap - made this retreat a gift beyond gifts for the missionaries. The “thank you” notes continued to come in for weeks afterwards to say how much they appreciated all the details and care put into this time. Thank you CrossRoads for your giving, prayers, notes and, of course, the baked goods! Please don’t forget you can encourage one of our 20 missionary units any time- their contact info is on our webpage, or when our church building opens again, visit our Missions Corner.
Through your support towards Missions, we are blessed to support heroes around the globe: a Bible Correspondence School in Pakistan, Bibles in China, church planters in Ethiopia, India, and Cuba, leadership training in East Africa, youth ministry in Romania, church planters in Greece, ministry workers in Lebanon and Muslim ministry here in Red Deer.
Another big win this past year was with our Global Compassion Committee. The team is in its 11th year and, in 2019, we were once more able to present a solid Christmas Compassion campaign. The response from the congregation was huge with our biggest Christmas offering received to date of over $434,000! The team also sent a few members last summer to participate in the International Needs Uganda 25-year Anniversary and the grand opening of the Buikwe Secondary School’s new Girls Dorm, which we funded. Thank you, CrossRoads!!!
As your Missions Pastor, one of the things that gets me most excited is when I am able to facilitate people becoming aware of and engaging in God’s Mission. Two consistent ways I get to do this is through Kairos and our Short term outreaches.
Kairos is a phenomenal, interactive discipleship course on God’s Mission. It develops the major biblical theme of God’s heart for all the nations of the world - both globally and in our neighborhood - and His desire to use His people to be a blessing to them. This past year we hosted our first one-week intensive which was well received.
The other great opportunity that consistently brings people to a deeper engagement in God’s Mission is our Short Term Outreach program. Prior to each team departing, we take participants through a 6-month discipleship course, highlighting material from Helping Without Hurting. We also equip the team to prepare and share their testimonies, raise support, learn about their spiritual gifts and how they deal with conflict, and discuss culture shock and re-entry.
Recent Short Term Outreach Teams:
- Greece: Hellenic Ministries, June ’19: Serve refugee families
- Haiti: Haiti Arise, Nov ’19: team postponed due to unrest. April ’20: team again postponed due to Covid-19
- Uganda: International Needs Uganda, March ’20: Serve in Buikwe (team pictured below)
The remainder of the teams for 2020, which included 2 Greece teams, a Rwanda team and another Haiti team have, unfortunately, been cancelled/postponed due to COVID-19.
A great joy of mine is working closely with our partners and taking every opportunity to bring them to you live. This past year we had a number of partners join us at our church including Marc and Lisa Honorat (Haiti Arise), Jason Pohl (Global Disciples), Moses Ndahiro (World Relief Rwanda) and who can forget the amazing day we had with Ron Pearce from Empower Ministries. He gave us a quick tour of what God is up to around the world and helped us move from talking about Persecuted Believers to now seeing Persevering Believers!
Our church has been involved in helping New Canadians settle in Red Deer. Last May we were able to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the arrival of the Balah and Al Haj families. We continue to ask for prayer for one remaining family, the Bako family, as they are still awaiting security clearance and approval to travel. Please pray that when COVID-19 is no longer an inhibitor, this file will indeed get pushed through the final stage and we can finally welcome the Bakos into our CrossRoads family.
As we move further into this season of uncertainty, I know things will continue to look different for some time. Without face-to-face, I look forward to connecting with you through my Weekly Update videos each Tuesday, through our web page, and posts on social media. Be assured, even in this time, our missionaries and partners continue to serve Christ and the global Church passionately and with great creativity!
Thank you to my staff team of Laurie Whitaker, Karen Marriott and Chantelle Schmidt along with the key lay leaders of Nicole Nowochin (Missionary Member Care); Tim Burns, Shelly Dibben, and Benno Fath (Missions Advisory Team); Kurtis Kooiker, Adam Minke, Bill Shaw, Richard VanderLeek, Dan Wilson and Charlene Young (Global Compassion Committee). Your incredible compassion, dedication and faith makes this work lighter, stronger and way more fun!
Thank you to each of you at CrossRoads who faithfully pray, give, or engage. We can’t do this without you!
