In the spiritual rhythms of Christian Life Assembly, February is our mission emphasis focus. We have a prophetic call to bring salvation to our local area, nation and world. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" Acts 1:8. To be at CLA is to be a part of this mission.
This month we focus on our "Jerusalem" as we celebrate, WE ARE MISSIONS. At the heart of Christ’s Gospel is a personal call to action.
We have chosen four themes for our focus on in February. Recovery. Women's support. City Serve. Refugee Engagement.
- British Columbia is experiencing a significant addiction crisis. Drugs and alcohol are destroying lives. The highly toxic and unregulated street drugs are contaminated with drugs like fentanyl causing fatal overdoses and addiction. Mental health issues compound the challenges of recovery. There are limited facilities, but we are proud to stand with three every month, Hope for Freedom, Wagner Hills and Teen Challenge. In addition, we have a Recovery Church that meets every week at the Langley Campus. These friends offer hope and deliverance. They are our hands extended to a broken world that needs Christ's freedom.
- Our society has abandoned the unborn. We have neglected women in their hour of need and have not offered Christian solutions the way we should. CLA wants to change this by supporting ministries like Advokate and South Surrey Pregnancy Options clinic. We desire to empower loving action toward Godly alternatives. Let's get involved in supporting women to find friendship, mentoring, counselling and hope in their times of crisis. CLA has always had a deep commitment to families and kids. We value them. It is our local mission.
- City Serve is a daily expression of the love of God towards our neighbours. From our campuses "rivers of living water" flow to kids, schools, families, refugees and the marginalized. This practical arm of CLA is one of compassion, good deeds and generosity. Through community partnerships City Serve addresses homelessness, food scarcity, education of refugees and loneliness. Under the direction and leadership of Mandy Martens we seek creative ways to love and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Refugee Engagement - behind the scenes CLA has a refugee committee working to sponsor people in dire need. This is transformation of lives! Bringing people to Canada to give them a new start, to protect them from persecution and to help them practice their Christian faith freely is radical transformation. This process is costly and time consuming. In addition, we partner with agencies like Raphael House to help give new Canadians an orientation and to foster community connection. Our CLA School, English Studies for Life in Canada (ESLC) helps teach people English. Last semester this embraced 70 students from 21 countries. Christmas was a beautiful opportunity to share the story of Jesus's birth. In February we look forward to introducing Sam and Aliya to you as we sponsored them to escape Pakistan to begin a new life in Canada.
Join us over the next four Sundays to learn, to be motivated to pray and to help support our $200,000 goal.
