Greetings CLA!
I have the privilege of serving the CLA community in the arena of Family Ministries. And when I think about missions and kids, I think about myself. Why? Well, that’s when I felt the whisper of the Holy Spirit’s call to mission. Children start dreaming about who they will become before they can read and write. They’re influenced by moms and dads and people who are introduced to them. Well, my home church and my parents thought God’s mission was massively important and that brought global workers into my church and into my home. All those moments, introductions, and opportunities became part of God’s whisper to me. And that whisper, with some preparation and determined planning, became a reality.
Almost 30 years ago, CLA became our sending church and my husband John, and I became one of your Global Partners. For the last 20 years John has served as the Canadian director of an international humanitarian organization. We can’t mention the name of it here for security reasons, but we’re happy to talk to you in person about what we do, and where we serve. We’ll tell you about some of the “impossible places” in countries that restrict their citizens from hearing the Good News of Jesus and where it can be dangerous for Christians to live their faith openly. We have had projects in places like: Afghanistan, Darfur, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Somalia and The Yemen.
CLA has been instrumental in contributing to many of our projects as well. Last year, you made a difference in: Turkey, Syria, Libya and Morocco. There are needs everywhere but generosity is the trowel that digs a place for the seeds of the gospel to be planted.
John carries a photo in his wallet of a Kurdish soldier putting a makeshift cross on top of a bombed-out church near Mosul. On the photo John added the following words: “Lord, as you build your church in impossible places let me be faithful to carry your cross.”
This is our prayer as we strive to follow Jesus, whether for me here at the Langley Campus pastoring CLA families or extending the reach of global projects through John’s work. Both can feel challenging, and sometimes even impossible because our enemy, the Devil, seeks to devour and destroy lives everywhere. But we do this work because God still loves his creation and he’s still calling children, youth, and adults of all ages, to follow Jesus in obedience to complete HIS mission.
We’re grateful to be on mission with you CLA Family
