...fresh ways of looking at God’s global mission
Message from the Director Canada has a rich heritage of global engagement. In the midst of our present global realities, we must not succumb to the temptation to retrench and pull back our resources. Signs of hope abound. A new generation of Canadian twenty- and thirty-somethings are eager to engage in the mission of God. New approaches to working together as a global church are increasing. Churches in the global south are sending out personnel in significant numbers and new ways of training people for global service are being developed. Learning to navigate our increasingly interconnected world, in concert with our global church family, is one of the primary challenges for our resourcerich Canadian church. Increasingly, Christians from the global south are seeking to become evangelists to Christendom and so the missions enterprise has come full-circle — the “missionized” are themselves becoming “missionaries.” The result is that missions in the 21st century is no longer primarily a western enterprise but a collaborative global effort. Missions is now, as Samuel Escobar observes in The New Global Mission, from “everywhere to everyone.” Non-Christian faiths are also on the move, carried to Canada by the currents of technological advances and the immigration policies of the late 20th century. The continual flow of new Canadians with their diversity of
cultures and religious perspectives is forcing Canadian Christians to developer deeper understanding of their faith. We are called to a renewed commitment to a life in Christ that is authentic, with the skills and knowledge needed to articulate the claims of Christ in meaningful ways to a culturally and religiously diverse population right in our own neighborhoods. In response to this new global context, the Jaffray Center for Global Initiatives brings together interested Canadian and international partners to generate innovative, collaborative new initiatives: initiatives that integrate research and reflection in a way that leads to action and implementation. We provide formal and informal educational opportunities for our constituents in various regions in Canada and around the globe, we partner with our stakeholders in the task of developing globally oriented and locally engaged disciples, and we model kingdom values in the context of collaborative initiatives that integrate the Christian community in its local social context. Join us in this exciting journey to bring honor to God as we intentionally engage these new global realities. u Charles Cook is Professor of Global Studies and Missions and Director of the Jaffray Center for Global Initiatives at Ambrose University.
Perspectives is published twice a year for the Jaffray Centre for Global Initiatives at Ambrose University January 2017 IN THIS ISSUE The AngExchange Supporting the Friends of Jaffray REBOOT Helping young adults transition to Canadian life Coffee, Comfort and Community Business as Mission The Jaffray Centre Engaging the world in new and meaningful ways Friends of Jaffray Thich Truong Diaspora Missiology with Sadiri Joy Tira @JaffrayCentre @jaffraycentreglobal jaffrayglobal.com