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The World at Our Doorstep by Dr. Charles Cook My neighbourhood is probably a lot like yours—a microcosm of the increasing diversity in Canadian culture. If you walk down my street, you’ll meet James from Ethiopia, and, next to him, Beatrice, who was born and raised in India. Three doors further, you’ll meet Sunni from Korea. Or, as you walk toward my house, you might say hello to my neighbor Sammy, from Malaysia, or Carlos and Pillar, who moved from Colombia several years ago. You’ll find people from all corners of the globe right here, on my home street. Over the past few decades, Canadian neighbourhoods have become increasingly multi-ethnic, with people from diverse cultures mingling on an everyday basis. This demographic shift results from unprecedented global migration, with people from the global south moving northward and those from the global east moving westward. Take Toronto for an example. Fifty-one percent (51%) of its citizens report being born outside of Canada. In short order, Toronto has become the world’s most cosmopolitan city. My own city, Calgary, isn’t far behind: as our nation’s fastest growing city, it ranks third among Canadian cities that have a high proportion of visible minorities. Here at Ambrose University, the Jaffray Centre is passionate about equipping and challenging the church to engage their world. Our work and our graduates take us around the globe. However, in Canada our history as a welcoming nation, means that increasingly, many from around the world continue to come to us, and we also have incredible opportunities for intercultural ministry right here at home. In this issue of Perspectives, you’ll read about several aspects of mission—around
the world and here at home. We’re pleased to highlight our ongoing international initiatives, like our teaching exchanges in the Philippines, and we’re excited to see how our discussions of reconciliation with indigenous people here in Canada can foster ongoing research and discussion about indigenous peoples around the world. At the same time, this issue has a special focus on the opportunity we have to reach the cultural diaspora here in Canada, the people who have moved here from their homelands around the world. Thus our Diaspora Network initiative continues to explore the theological, historical, psychological, and sociological factors associated with people on the move. Furthermore, in this issue you’ll find insights from the groundbreaking Canadian Evangelical Missions Engagement Study. We’re also delighted to share about some seminars we’ve developed to encourage cultural fluency—to help us understand others who are different than us. We hope that this issue of Perspectives will energize and inspire you for continued ministry, both domestically and internationally. We also invite you to keep in touch with us. You’ll find us on Twitter (@jaffraycentre), on Facebook, and at http://jaffrayglobal.com/ or email us at jaffray@ambrose.edu. u Footnotes: Surman, R. (2014, October 07). A snapshot of Toronto: 51% of residents were born outside Canada, Vital Signs Report finds. The National Post. Retrieved from http://nationalpost.com Robertson, D. (2017, February 08). Census shows Calgary still Canada’s fastestgrowing city, suburbs lead the way. The Calgary Herald. Retrieved from http://calgaryherald.com.
Perspectives is published twice a year for the Jaffray Centre for Global Initiatives at Ambrose University August 2017 IN THIS ISSUE First Peoples A new stage of reconciliation globalLearning Understanding our neighbours angExchange Educational exchange Kairos Jaffray hosts annual course Friends of Jaffray Inoue family and Jen S. Q&A with CEMES with Rick Hiemstra @JaffrayCentre @jaffraycentreglobal jaffrayglobal.com
First Peoples: a Conversation 0n Reconciliation The inauguration of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a critical moment in Canadian history. It ushered in a new stage of reconciliation between the indigenous and non-indigenous people who both call Canada home. As a result of the stories that were shared through the 6-year process, the TRC made 94 recommendations as their call to action to all sectors of the Canadian population. These recommendations have inspired Canadians from all walks of life to explore new pathways to reconciliation and to envision what true harmony would look like for all people in Canada. In many places around the world, indigenous and non-indigenous people are taking new steps toward healing. One such place is the Philippines. As in Canada, the local indigenous and non-indigenous communities in the Philippines have begun dealing with the past and working to develop concrete ways for healing and reconciliation, particularly in communities where indigenous peoples remain vulnerable to violence and injustice. In recent years, my own organization, iEmergence, has been cultivating these conversations in a quest for
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reconciliation. On May 30, 2017, the Jaffray Centre participated in an event hosted by iEmergence Philippines and the Al Qalam Institute for Islamic Identities and Dialogue in Southeast Asia. The conversation was entitled: “Reconciliation in Canada: Pathways to the Restoration of Harmony,” and Jaffray firstPeoples convener Ray Aldred was the main speaker. Ray is of the Treaty 8 Cree First Nation in Canada and is the Director of the Indigenous Studies Program at the Vancouver School of Theology. He is also the chairperson of Indigenous Pathways and the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies. Through his presentation, Ray shared about the Canadian experience, suggesting some practical steps local communities can take to live out peace and reconciliation and the important role education has for indigenous communities. 30 people—representing 12 organizations and 5 different people groups—participated, each bringing unique insights to the discussion. They expressed how the Canadian experience echoes their own experience of abuse and violence. As much as it reminded them of their
struggle, it also gave them the hope to persist in working for peace and reconciliation in the Philippines. Pastor Val, a Timuay (“Leader”) from the Teduray Tribe, commented, “What you shared was an eye-opener for us. It reminds us of the challenge to look into the past to move forward into the future more positively.” Another participant, Althea Esmael, responded, “As Bangsamoro, we can relate to what you were saying about repentance as taking responsibility, to heal the relationship with the land and with others.” At iEmergence, we look forward to collaborating with the Jaffray Centre’s firstPeoples initiative and engaging in ongoing conversation both here in Mindanao, as well as around the globe, on what peace and reconciliation can look like for all of creation. u Winta’ako te (Peace) Matt LeBlanc Director iEmergence
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Book Recommendation Brown, Ronald W., and Charles Cook, eds. The God You May Not Know: Ordinary People Leading Extraordinary Lives. Toronto: The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada, 2016. 313 p. The God You May Not Know is a collection of stories reflecting the amazing work God has been doing through the lives of the international workers with the The Christian and Missionary Alliance of Canada (C&MA) over the past hundred years. The book profiles places across the world— from Ecuador to Indonesia and Israel-Palestine to Congo—where Canadian C&MA workers have nurtured vibrant faith communities, and the volume presents brief biographies of fifteen faithful international workers from
“The God You May Not Know is an adventure book, yet this is not the stuff of fairy tales. This book tells
the Canadian C&MA.
of men and women who pioneered
Under the leadership of Dr. Ron Brown, Jaffray Centre Senior Advisor and keeperCare convenor, and Dr. Charles Cook, Jaffray Centre Director, more than a dozen contributors come together in this volume to chronicle the Canadian Alliance story and inspire a new generation of Canadians to find dynamic 21st-century ways of engaging in the mission of God.
uncharted territory to bring the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. May this compilation be an inspiring and stirring word to the Church, for we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in the
A French translation of the book is also available. To find more information visit https://extraordinarystories.ca/. u
C&MA in Canada.” Josie Vance, Missional Team Lead, Beulah Alliance Church.
Global Missions Podcast In 2015, the Jaffray Centre and SEND International of Canada began an initiative, asking, “How can we harness the tool of podcasting to promote missions?” The Global Missions Podcast was born—a bi-weekly podcast aimed at churches and missions committees— those that are sending—with the goal of providing them with resources and information on current trends in missions to help them engage more effectively in God’s global work, both at home and around the world. Today, the Global Missions Podcast is entering its third season with over fifty episodes and more than 28,000 downloads and over 315 subscribers. Near the end of season one, the Global Missions Podcast was contacted by
several other missions agencies, asking how they could help promote and engage in the production of the podcast. An advisory group was formed and the Global Missions Podcast is now supported by SIM Canada, Interserve Canada, OMF Canada, Crossworld and Greater Europe Mission. The Global Missions Podcast has interviewed experts on many topics, including short term missions, trends n missions including business as missions, tentmaking and community development, developing your church’s missions strategy, discipleship making, and cross-cultural communication and partnerships. You can also hear interviews by Ambrose faculty Terry Young and Mark Buchanan. u
FRESH WAYS OF LOOKING AT GOD’S GLOBAL MISSION
Check out the Global Missions Podcast at globalmissionspodcast.com. You can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music and YouTube.
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globaLearning:
Understanding our Neighbours
In our globalized world, and in an increasingly multicultural Canada, it’s not uncommon to come into contact with people from different cultures than our own. You no longer have to travel across an ocean to meet people from a variety of countries and cultures; rather, you can find people from around the world in your own backyard. We often think of these people as somehow different from or “other” to us. But, as Dr. Charles Cook puts it, “we are all an ‘other’ to someone.” If we value the “others,” we need to learn to understand them and their culture. Culture is woven into the fabric of our daily lives and relationships, often impacting us in ways we do not even realize. These cross-cultural interactions take place in our churches, workplaces, and communities, so it’s important that we make efforts to learn to navigate these situations with skill. This past year, the Jaffray Centre has focused on a globaLearning initiative which prepares people for culturally sensitive service in a multicultural world. This project resulted in a series of seminars on Cultural Fluency and Cultural Intelligence, offered in Edmonton and Calgary. 4
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The seminars on Cultural Fluency emerged out of a partnership with the Millbourne Community Life Centre (MCLC) in Edmonton. In October 2016, Jaffray and MCLC hosted a conversation with leaders in churches and ministries serving New Canadians. The one-day gathering resulted in the creation of the “Millbourne Statement.” This statement called for churches serving primarily Caucasian congregations to work together with churches and ministries serving New Canadians. The group identified a need for training opportunities to equip individuals to engage more effectively with their neighbors and communities. To address this need, Jaffray and MCLC hosted four weekend seminars throughout the spring on ways to engage with our New Canadian neighbours. The topics included “Understanding Our Sikh Neighbours,” “Starting a Church-based Ministry with New Canadians,” “Diasporas, Migrants, and New Canadians,” and “Understanding our Muslim Neighbours.” Each weekend seminar was hosted by local experts in the field sharing what
“I feel I am a little more equipped and prepared to start up a conversation now. I am glad I took the training. If God will call me one day to be friends with them, I certainly will try. Thank you.” Sui-Fun Li
they have learned through years of ministry. These seminars were well received. One participant, Sui-Fun Li, commented that before attending the seminars she felt fearful when interacting with people from cultures different from her own, but she now says, “I feel I am a little more equipped and prepared to start a conversation now. I am glad I took the training. If God will call me one day to be friends with them, I certainly will try. Thank you.” Another participant, Anne Stephens, noted, “All the seminars opened my eyes to the task that God is placing in our paths to win the lost who are on our doorstep.” JAFFRAY CENTRE PERSPECTIVES
Similarly, Jaffray’s partnership with several Calgary ministries revealed a desire to see more people engaging with New Canadians and a need for more training to equip lay people to bridge cultural gaps confidently. In response, Jaffray, International Student Ministries Canada, First Alliance Church, Centre Street Church, and Brentview Baptist Church developed and hosted a two-hour seminar on Cultural Intelligence (CQ), led by Dr. Bradley D. Friesen. The seminar was offered twice throughout the year on the Ambrose University campus in
Calgary. One participant reflected, “Our churches are becoming so multicultural that [CQ] is vital,” while another stated, “CQ is at the top of my mind as I think about the development of leaders who will influence the church to know how to engage with all people.” Learning how to understand and navigate the cultural difference in our neighborhoods will only continue to be a topic of importance as Canada continues to diversify. If you are interested in joining one of these seminars or hosting these at your church or organization, please let us know. u
FRESH WAYS OF LOOKING AT GOD’S GLOBAL MISSION
“All the seminars opened my eyes to the task that God is placing in our paths to win the lost who are on our doorstep.” Anne Stephens
Photos (page 4): Dr. Sadin Jay Tira sharing on Diaspora Ministry. (Top, page 5): Dr Bradley D. Friesen leading a seminar on cultural intelligence. ( Bottom, page 5): The creators of the MillbourneStatement at MCLC.
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angExchange... Opportunities to Serve! Each year, the Ang International Education Exchange provides an opportunity for Canadian professionals to serve at faith-based academic institutions in the majority world. The program, sponsored by the Jaffray Centre, provides mutual benefit: the Canadian guest shares his or her academic expertise with the host institution, and the host offers the visitor a broader cultural perspective.
Last summer, Dr. Ken Badley, a lecturer at Mount Royal University and a former Ambrose faculty member, was the guest speaker and resource person for the Christian Colleges of Southeast Asia (CCSA) faculty workshop. The CCSA faculty deeply appreciated Ken’s wealth of experience in postsecondary education and his passion for teaching and teachers. Dr. Badley was also keynote speaker and facilitator for the regional Philippine Association of Bible and Theological Schools (PABATS) in Mindanao. Participants described Ken’s insight and interactive teaching style as a highlight and said that the content was very relevant to their context.
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One participant commented that Dr. Badley shared precisely “the things that we need in our Bible Colleges.” Participants are looking forward to future opportunities for shared learning and growth through the angExchange program. Through the angExchange initiative, the Jaffray
Centre has partnered with the Ambrose Library to provide library books to support the development of theological libraries in the majority world. Previously, Ambrose librarian Sandy Ayer was also able to participate in an angExchange event and led a one-day workshop for the staff of a college library in Davao, Philippines. JAFFRAY CENTRE PERSPECTIVES
The workshop addressed online resources for libraries and examined the future of the library. In addition, three partnering academic institutions received an extensive assessment and report of their libraries. You can read about Sandy’s experience in his own words: The highlight of my recent trip to Davao, Philippines on behalf of the Jaffray Centre had to be the seminar I led for local theological librarians on the future of libraries. I confess to having been quite nervous about this presentation. “This has to be about the future of their libraries,” I thought. “What do I know
about that?” Well, I had a chance to assess three libraries prior to that presentation, so I got some idea of the work these libraries have accomplished despite the difficulties they face because of lack of money and personnel. So I decided to turn the seminar from a didactic presentation into a moderated discussion. The 26 participants discussed such topics as: What does your library do well? If you could change one thing about your library, what would it be? In this time of undersupply, how can we attract librarians to our institutions? In what ways could our libraries collaborate for
FRESH WAYS OF LOOKING AT GOD’S GLOBAL MISSION
our collective benefit? In discussing the final question, we discovered that the theological libraries in the Davao area had been working in isolation from one another for decades. Toward the end of the discussion, a respected librarian stood up and invited her colleagues to meet together in a month’s time to discuss ways of working together. That was the very thing I had hoped would happen! (I felt like dancing, but I knew somebody— probably me—would get hurt if I did). The angExchange shows no signs of slowing down. Recently, Jaffray firstPeoples convener Rev. Ray Aldred was invited to visit a Christian liberal arts college in the Philippines as a guest speaker for their faculty retreat. In June, Ray presented on “Character Formation in the Christian University.” Jaffray director, Dr. Charles Cook already has plans underway for another teaching exchange this fall. And after that? Stay in touch: we welcome fresh ideas and qualified professionals. u
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Friends of Jaffray – The Inoue Family Tohru graduated from Ambrose seminary in 2016. Tohru is married to Claire and they have two boys, Noel and Samuel who are three and one respectively. Tohru started work in Sudan in 2004 with Samaritan’s Purse and later joined SIM in 2008. What does it mean to be a part of ministry in South Sudan? I’m not sure. I’ve been involved in a number of different things over my time in the field and in leadership. Sometimes the most significant things are the ones that are not scheduled, that are not on the calendar, that just pop up during the week or during a season of the year. How to explain how God works? I remember Mark Buchanan praying referencing the wind of the Spirit blowing. It’s like the wind. We have no idea when it’s going to come or where it comes from. We just know when it’s there because we feel the breeze; we feel movement. Incidental things that end up meaning something somewhere down the road. 2005, the Spirit blew from left field. The war in Sudan ended and all
of a sudden 45 boys show up at our door. I went to the regional military commander. “We’ve got some unaccompanied youth here. We need to do something about it.” “You do something.” Claire took them in and started feeding them and teaching them English, something they requested. We did it for about two years and then we were home in
Canada for a while. Almost ten years after I last saw some of them, I traveled to a refugee camp to visit new Muslim background believers. There was a familiar face in the group singing praises to God; looked ten years older. Do you feel a breeze? Pay attention. There might be something there. Just wait a bit. u https://www.sim.ca/missionaries/inoue
Event Calendar reBoot Alberta 2017 Ambrose University August 5-12, 2017 DAI Training Millbourne Community Life Centre October 28, 2017 A Morning of Missions Ambrose University November 6, 2017 Cultural Fluency Seminars – Edmonton, AB September – December 2017
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IDI Intercultural Competency Training (in Partnership with the TIM Centre) Edmonton and Calgary September – December 2017 Canadian Evangelical Missiological Society Meeting March 2018 Kairos Course Ambrose University May 7-11, 2018 Jaffray Missiological Symposium May 16-18, 2018
The Canadian Evangelical Missions Engagement Study Ongoing Fruitful Practice Muslim Diaspora Research Concluding August 2017 Global Missions Podcast (globalmissionspodcast.com) Bi-Weekly For more information about these and other Jaffray events and projects, please visit us at www.jaffrayglobal.com or send us an email at jaffray@ambrose.edu.
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Friends of Jaffray – Jen S I attended Ambrose from 2010 until 2015. Within those 5 years I spent 2 in Niger, West Africa working with the CMA team there in various different development initiatives. After my last year at Ambrose, I wasn’t sure what God was going to do next. I felt Him leading me to not go overseas right away, even though that was hard for me to hear. So I returned to BC, to be close to family and my home church after graduation. This was a timely year to be at home as my extended family walked through some difficult things that year. I also worked for Dalit Freedom Network Canada in that first year home while interning at my home Church. During that year of waiting, I attended MoveIn’s annual conference in Toronto, having known of and been connect to the MoveIn movement for a few years but not moved in yet. MoveIn’s vision is to see thousands of regular Christians move in amongst the unreached urban poor to pray for their neighbours and create reproducing disciples. It was at that conference that God re-invited me back to Niger. In the following
months He laid out before me a plan of different trainings and preparations to enter before moving back to Niger. Two of my teammates from Niger who interned at the same time as me, have also felt called back to Niger and the three of us are returning together as a MoveIn team as of July 2017. Two of us will be teaching English and our third team member hopes to do art therapy and trauma counseling. I hope to also dip my feet in some maternal health training and to continue to work in that more over the coming years. As we live as tent makers in Niger our vision as a team is to be a family on mission, to make disciples through incarnational living, and to honor/ work alongside the local culture and community. The unreached people group we will be living amongst and working with are the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert. God is so good and faithful. He has been so gracious towards me in preparing me to move overseas
long-term and there are countless stories of God’s sovereignty in orchestrating things in ways I never could. It is so worth waiting in the fog for God’s timing when He will breathe clarity on what He is leading usto next. May He receive all the glory. u Links: • To learn more about MoveIn check out: Movein.to • To learn more about the Tuareg people check out: http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=tmq3RTkUFGU • If you’d like to get in touch with Jen email her at jen@movein.to
A Celebration of Collaboration Collaboration is a core value at the Jaffray Centre: we strive to work alongside others for the good of the Kingdom. This year, after years of informal cooperation, the Jaffray Centre and the Tyndale Intercultural Ministry Centre (TIM) have signed a two-year memorandum of understanding that will see the two centres pool resources and coordinate initiatives. This collaborative effort has the full backing of Ambrose and Tyndale, so it also models interorganizational
collaboration, showing how groups can cooperate for greater Kingdom impact. In June, the two centres joined together to host a conversation on mission at Ambrose University. This event was also co-sponsored by Lausanne Canada and EMS Canada. Dr. Narry Santos (EMS Canada), Dr. Robert Cousins (Lausanne Canada), and Rev. Thich Truong (Ambrose alumnus) spoke on “Mission, Migration, and Multiplication” and provided
FRESH WAYS OF LOOKING AT GOD’S GLOBAL MISSION
insights centered around their experiences in the Canadian ministry context. The two centres are currently developing other joint initiatives, including online training modules and research projects. One upcoming project is an online intercultural competency course for New Canadian leaders. These initiatives testify to the value of working together for the glory of God. u
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Canadian Missions Research: Critical insights into the way Canadian evangelicals think about missions Q. Who has been involved in the research? The CEMES is a research partnership between The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and the Canadian Missions Research Forum (CMRF), whose member organizations are drawn from mission sending agencies and denominations.
Q. What method did you use to gather information? Rick Hiemstra
Over the years, as the world and technology have changed, the Church’s response to missions has also changed. To prepare our churches to reach farther, we need to understand how Canadians understand and engage with missions in our current context. Jaffray Centre Director Dr. Charles Cook has been consulting on a research study examining exactly this question.
Rick Hiemstra, director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and a key researcher on this project, shares the some significant findings of the study. .
Q. Rick, what is the focus of the study? The Canadian Evangelical Missions Engagement Study (CEMES) looks at the missions engagement of Canadian evangelicals and their congregations, trying to understand how they think about “missions” or “mission,” how they participate in them, how they support them, how they make missions decisions, and how they educate their people about missions.
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The CEMES is a multi-phase research project that began in the fall of 2014. Phase 1 included a literature review and qualitative interviews with key informants from mission agencies, denominations, and Christian higher education institutions. Phase 2 included interviews with pastors and lay people about their missions engagement. In this phase, we tested the themes and findings from phase 1. In phase 3, we conducted two national surveys based on the findings of the first two phases, one with pastors (via Research.net, n = 1,410) and one with lay people (via the Angus Reid forum, n = 2,059). We found significant overlap between the perspectives of the lay people and pastors, so we will be able to compare perspectives.
Q. What does the study find about how churches understand missions? The study revealed that evangelicals have divergent views about what missions is: these differences involve the language used (missions, mission, or missional), the geography invoked (international, domestic, or both), and the activities seen as missional.
Q. Short-term mission trips have been increasing in popularity. What did the study reveal about these trips? Most churches and evangelicals see the discipleship of short-term team members as the primary purpose of short-term mission trips (STMT). Moreover, most believe that nonChristians with skills and abilities to contribute should be allowed to serve on STMTs. The study also found that one fifth of lay STMTs are to domestic locations, reflecting the desire of many to see a “rebalancing” of missions emphasis away from international fields to domestic ones.
Q. How did participants view the concept of more traditional long-term, career missionaries? Long-term, career (LTC) missions are increasingly seen as multi-disciplinary and varied. These LTC missionaries require various kinds of formation and training, beyond the theological training that many think of when they consider “classic missions.” During in-depth interviews, several informants expressed ambivalence about the missionary enterprise and the role of Canadians in it; they expressed a belief that Canadians should have limited roles due to concerns such as LTC missionaries being a threat to indigenous culture. The risk assumed by missionaries was also considered: one in three lay respondents (35%) and one in six (16%) pastors indicated LTC missionaries should not be sent to work in dangerous situations.
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Q&A Q. Are evangelicals and churches still invested in financially supporting missions? Pastors who responded to this question reported that their congregations spent 13.5% of their church budgets on missions, on average. The majority of church missions budgets include long-term, career (LTC) missionaries (80%) and at least one domestic activity (75%). Churches that spend on missions almost always spend on both domestic missions and LTC missionaries. Also, a significant percentage of lay people (41%) personally support LTC missionaries with their finances. Older evangelicals are more likely to personally support LTC missionaries: from our pool of lay respondents, half (52%) of the Silent Generation (those born in the 1920s to 1940s) said they personally support LTC missionaries with financial gifts; in contrast, only 32% of those in Gen Y (those born in the 1980s and 1990s) reported personal financial gifts to LTC missions. Another finding was that the majority (67%) of lay people were skeptical about administration fees and needed to be convinced that these fees helped to promote ministry effectiveness. 62% of pastors said the same for their churches their support for missionaries. Also, despite the emphasis on the Bible and on Bible translation as a defining mark of Evangelicalism, pastors said that Bible translation was, on average, a low priority for their congregations.
Q. How is missions being promoted in local churches? Pastors (59%) and lay people (51%) said it is usually a pastor who is the most prominent missions mobilizer in the local church. About half (47%) of pastors and one third (30%) of lay people identified the senior or lead pastor in that role. Less frequent service attenders were more likely to identify a pastor as the main mobilizer. The cancellation of Sunday evening services has increased competition for Sunday morning worship service time and means missionaries have significantly fewer opportunities to connect with congregations. Most pastors (89%) and lay people (86%) said they personally connected with their local church’s long-term, career missionaries in the last 12 months through one type of communication or another, while two fifths of lay people (41%) and three fifths of pastors (30%) indicated they do not pray for long-term career missionaries unless prompted. It was also noted that about one quarter of pastors (24%) and lay people (29%) said their local church either held or helped organize a mission conference in the last 12 months.
Q. If people are interested in reading more on the study, where can they find this information? To date, four of five planned reports have been published. They can be found on the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s website. 1. Canadian Evangelicals and Short-Term Missions 2. Canadian Evangelicals and Long-Term, Career Missions: Calling, Sending and Training 3. Canadian Evangelicals and Mission Priorities 4. Canadian Evangelicals and Missions Promotion in the Local Church
A fifth and final report is forthcoming. Following the publication of the final report, anonymized datasets will be made available to Canadian Christian higher education institutions for further research. u
Q. Are churches encouraging their youth to enter int missions? The study showed that most pastors (90%) and lay people (67%) agree that local churches should challenge young people to consider long-term, career missions. Although two thirds of lay respondents agreed that the local church should be challenging young people, only 19% strongly agreed.
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Jaffray Centre Hosts Annual Kairos Course
ABOUT
We often refer to the Jaffray Centre as a combination incubator/greenhouse where new ideas, collaborative initiatives, and fresh ways of looking at God’s global mission are nurtured, developed and then launched into service in the church and in the world.
The Jaffray Centre hosted the first Alberta Kairos course in 2013 and has continued to do that annually during the month of May. A number of Ambrose students continue to take the course for both undergraduate and seminary credit while the majority of registrations come from church ministry professionals and lay people. Facilitators were quickly trained and courses began to be hosted in churches across Canada. As of May 2016, 1415 people have taken the Kairos course, 417 facilitators and 81 head facilitators trained. Courses in Canada are currently conducted in French, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Spanish and Vietnamese Kairos courses will start in the next year. Canadian facilitators have also been instrumental in getting the course going in Poland, Gabon and West Africa.
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Kairos is an interactive 9 session learning event which helps the participant understand what God says about His plan for all people, on our street and around the world, and facilitates the participant in integrating this knowledge into a personal agenda going forward. The Kairos course is being used in 80 countries to mobilize the church towards the nations; it has been translated into 30 languages. Canadian courses with online registration can be found here: www.kairoscourse.ca. u Watch promotional videos here: https://vimeo.com/146254194 (English); https://vimeocom/161952261 (French); https://vimeo.com/152199755 (Korean)
Each of the four hubs (Research Projects and Publishing; Educations, Training and Global Awareness; Global projects and partnerships; and Church in Mission Events and Services) houses the different initiatives we’re working on, and we’re always adding more. The Jaffray Centre is made up of people like you and me who want to engage the world around them in new and meaningful ways. Through collaborative project development, training, and research projects, the Jaffray Centre seeks to rekindle and ignite a passion for God’s unending concern for people. Interested in any of our current initiatives or have ideas for new ones? We’d love to hear from you. Jaffray Centre for Global Initiatives at Ambrose University jaffray@ambrose.edu jaffrayglobal.com 403-410-2000
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