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By Narayan Mitra
SAGE HILLS Evangelical Free Church (SHEFC) might be
small in numbers – but it is big on missions.
The 60-plus adherents held their 10th annual missions
conference on the Palm Sunday weekend. Four missionary couples presented
their ministries.
The church supports five mission projects in Canada and
overseas.
While many local churches have done away with
conferences dedicated exclusively to missions, SHEFC not only makes it a
high priority, but involves whole families in the endeavour.
Bob and Deanna Van Natter, long-time Canadian Sunday
School Mission (CSSM) home missionaries, lead a team of volunteers in
planning and executing the informative weekend.
CSSM, said Bob, “has opened our eyes to the need
at our doorstep and, by proxy, to the ends of the earth. Kids saved in our
camps and Bible institutes have gone on to pastor and evangelize the
province and the nation.”
Representing EFC Missions, director Richard Peachy
recounted his time at Black Forest Academy (BFA) in Germany.
BFA, he said, “draws children of international
missionaries from all over Europe and parts of Asia . . . The students need
overseeing as well as mentoring. The staff laugh, cry, and seek to walk
with them in their shoes. As dorm parents, my wife and I were sensitive to
their immediate needs while recognizing the contributions the parents are
making in taking the gospel to the furthest corners.”
Lake Of The Trees (LOTT) camp manager Tom McIntosh said
the camp “is secluded from the outside world. But following their
summer exposure, the newly-saved and re-committed kids work as missionaries
to their classmates and family members.”
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Kevin and Janice Evans work with The Faith Mission.
From running Bible clubs in elementary schools to holding marriage
retreats, the Evans find themselves constantly travelling in the Southern
Interior from their base in Kamloops.
“To find open doors in public schools – for
the Bible and the Lord – is nothing but [God’s] work,”
said Kevin.
“The biblically illiterate kids are curious
– but never queasy about God and his word. We have seen hearts open
to him shortly after they join.”
Clubs are held in Chase, Falkland, Vernon and Ashcroft
schools. The Faith Mission operates round-the-year camps, conferences and
retreats.
Ramabai Mukti Mission, an indigenous work in India
started over 100 years ago, was also represented at the conference. The
ministry takes care of girl orphans and widows in their homes and schools
run near Pune and elsewhere.
SHEFC has also taken on SIM, OM and inner-city mission
work in Kamloops.
May 2009
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