Horizon

Canadians are helping Canadians be “on mission”

Church Administration / The Baptist Horizon / Canadian Baptist Builders

Canadians are helping Canadians be “on mission”

By Kimberly Ma

Published in The Baptist Horizon, October, November 2007
Last year Canadian Southern Baptists gave $51,257.69 to the Canadian Mission Offering (CMO) which helped fund four volunteer mission teams, one church strengthening event, two church starting projects, 16 sharing Christ activities and 39 students who went on mission trips in Canada, the US, Cambodia, Botswana and Turkey.

Each fall the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists (CCSB) promotes the CMO—or more aptly stated, the “Canadians On Mission” offering. Our churches collect donations and send them in to the CCSB office.

These contributions are distributed as grants to help CCSB churches, ministers and students to be “on mission,” reflecting our passion to give ourselves away and to encourage every church to be involved in ministry and missions.

Last year, with help from CMO funds, two different mission teams worked on rebuilding homes of hurricane victims in Louisiana and Mississippi; another helped with a church start in Saskatchewan. Two churches took reciprocal mission trips, ministering to churches that had previously come to help in Canada.

With the help of the CMO, Canadian Southern Baptists are discovering how many ways our mission statement, “…giving ourselves away to advance the Kingdom of God,” can be expressed: One church provided training to members who went out in teams to encourage struggling churches; two churches helped with two church starts. Evangelism events were also partially funded: a Christmas event, a student banquet, a “car spa,” camps and a MOPS (Mothers of preschoolers) program.

A new mission opportunity has been added to CMO distributions this year. CCSB ministers and their spouses are being encouraged to use grants from the offering to go on a mission trip to work alongside one of the 15 international mission families connected to CCSB.

Students who are members of a CCSB church may apply for a grant toward a portion of the cost of a mission trip to a SBC related ministry here in Canada or in another country.

Volunteer teams and individuals may also receive grants to assist a sister church or partner with ministry projects, such as disaster relief, construction and church based outreach and evangelism events.

God has blessed our churches who have, in turn, given generously to the Canadian Mission Offering, therefore we have money available to help more churches, students and ministers.

If your church is planning an activity to share Jesus, support a church start, encourage a sister church, or take a mission trip, please fill out an application.

If you have students in your church who desire to go on mission trips, direct them to apply for CMO grants.

If you are a minister wanting to experience international missions, encourage a missionary family overseas and get your church involved in missions, we want to help make that a reality.

This year's Canadian Mission Offering goal is $55,000