By Shane Spannagel
CALGARY—The local convention planning team in Calgary is working and praying hard for the annual convention of our CNBC, July 5 through 7, 2011. We hope you will join us for a special time of fellowship, training and inspiration.
Our theme is Generations: Now, New, Next—taken from Psalm 78:4b: “We will tell the next generation of the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.”
Our speakers will be geared up to help us reach and tell Canadians the great things that God has done. You will have an opportunity to get to know and hear from Dr. Kevin Ezell, the new president at the North American Mission Board. Before coming to the board, he led Highview Baptist Church in Lousiville, KY, to grow to six campuses in two states and three counties.
We have also invited Afshin Ziafat, lead pastor at The Providence Church, Frisco, TX. Afshin was saved out of an Iranian Muslim background and his family disowned him. For the last ten years Afshin has travelled the world speaking in camps, conferences, schools, and churches, reaching out to the next generation and training leaders to reach them. In addition to pastoring, Afshin also speaks weekly to thousand of university students at the Vertical Bible Study at Baylor University.
Throughout the conference, you will hear testimonies of the amazing things that God is doing in Canada and around our world. If you know of someone who is doing a remarkable job of reaching the next generation would you please tell us about them. The Equip sessions will be designed to help us reach children, youth, university students, and beyond.
In the spirit of western hospitality, we want to invite you and your family on July 5 to a free afternoon and evening at the CL Ranch, home of the CL Western Town and Movie Set. The afternoon activities will begin around 2 pm and include tours of the movie set, dramatic re-enactments, miniature horse drawn wagon rides, horseshoes, and a creek-side fire pit. A barbeque dinner and concert will begin at 5:30 pm. Worship, “Cowboy Style” will begin at 7 pm and Afshin will share about his journey from Islam to Christianity and his passion to reach the next generation. The CL Ranch is located 20 minutes west of Calgary, off the Trans Canada Highway.
The balance of the meetings on July 6 through 7 will happen at Richmond Hill Baptist Church, where I am pastor. Our church is looking forward to hosting and serving you. In the upcoming months we will keep you posted on activities for your children and youth, registration, updates, schedules, accommodations, ministry opportunities, and vacation possibilities in the Rocky Mountains. For those who can stay a little longer the Calgary Stampede begins on July 8.
I concluded a 21 day Daniel Fast on January 30; I have been praying that God will anoint our gathering and use our churches to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of our Lord.” In the meantime tell someone what God has done for you.