By Ellen Cone
COCHRANE—Three times a year, our Canadian National Baptist Convention (CNBC) office mails out prayer guides, posters, and envelopes to CNBC churches across Canada.
These mail-outs are for the Canadians on Mission Offering (CMO), the International Mission Offering (IMO), and the North American Mission Offering (NAMO). It is not an easy task to get everything done, but with the help of volunteers, the load is a bit lighter.
Before we can even begin packaging and sealing envelopes or boxes, we contact missionaries to write stories and send us pictures. We edit the stories and design the layout; then we print, fold and cut the prayer guides. It is in the cutting and packaging stage when the volunteers are needed the most. We send out almost 5000 prayer guides to 270 seeds and churches.
The IMO and the NAMO mail-outs take the most time. We produce our own CNBC prayer guide and poster that highlights our missionaries around the world and within Canada. We include these with the English and other languages prayer guide and poster that the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board produce and send to us.
It is our responsibility to mail out the ones they send to us. The quantity and language that each church receives varies. We have to make sure that if a Korean church needs Korean material that is what they receive. As envelopes or boxes are sealed, they are ready for postage and thankfully we have a mail machine in our office. We put postage on each package and then take them to the post office.
Without the help of volunteers, it would take much longer for us to get things done. We are thankful when others give of their time to help us in our time of need.
Volunteers from Cochrane Christian Program were able to come and help again this year as we prepared the North American Mission Offering mail-out. Thirty Students and parents were given a tour of our building and heard NAMB church planter and featured Canadian prayer guide missionary Bo Neal of Southwinds Church, Calgary, share about his ministry.
The volunteers were entertained by Send Team Leader, Salt Jones, as he introduced them to his many masks. They then learned about missionary, Annie Armstrong, the namesake of the North American Mission Offering.
Not only was the school group a benefit to us, but volunteers from our seminary and Truth Chinese Baptist Church in Calgary were able to give of their time. They spent many hours on their feet as they came and helped with the cutting and sorting of materials. We offer a big thanks to all who helped!
It is in these times that people see what it takes for the prayer guides to get into your hands.
If you and your church are in the Cochrane area, we would love to have you come and help us with our offering mail-outs. Contact me, Ellen Cone, (econe@cnbc.ca) at the convention office and I will be happy to let you know how you can make the workload lighter and the dates we need help.