IMPACTING PEOPLE FOR CHRIST
The Missions Committee is made up of a group of volunteers whose interests lie in helping local and world mission efforts through encouragement, prayer and financial aid.
At each meeting, updates are provided on missions and missionaries. The committee is also involved in preparing an annual missions budget and in distributing undesignated funds at the year’s end. Prayer for missionaries and their work is an essential part of each meeting.
The Missions Committee provides leadership and communication services to missionaries involved with UB churches and CH Global (see below) and to missionaries from Parkwood Gardens Church.
One priority is putting a “face” on mission work – that is, making missionaries and their work known to the people of Parkwood Gardens. This might include having missionaries speak at the church or giving mission news in the church bulletin, on the TV, on the bulletin board in the foyer or in weekly emails. Our desire is that everyone at Parkwood participate in missions – by giving to missions, praying for missions or by going on mission trips.
The Missions Committee also plays a leadership role in promoting prayer and giving funding to support annual short term work in Haiti. A number of people from Parkwood Gardens have already gone down to Haiti to help rebuild churches and rebuild lives by visiting orphanages, working with women, giving medical aid, etc. The Missions Committee helps to encourage the people of Parkwood Gardens to get involved in participating in a short term mission to Haiti, or in praying for those who go to Haiti.
The Missions Committee is looking for people who have a heart for missions to be a part of its team.
Parkwood Gardens Church is happy to join with other congregations of the United Brethren Church in Canada in impacting the country of Haiti for Jesus! The denomination’s Global Outreach Leadership Team sponsors mission trips to Haiti to work with the pastors and people of our 30 United Brethren Churches there.
We also partner with CH Global (HQ in Kitchener, ON) to provide support for children, families and communities in Haiti, particularly to those at risk and those with disabilities. A child sponsorship program is an effective vehicle for this support for these precious little ones.
After the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country, a small group of leaders went on a fact-finding mission to see what could be done to rebuild the ministries of our partner churches. As a result, mission teams have worked on construction projects in Port au Prince as well as around the country.
Canadian teams travel to Haiti almost every year to do medical ministry and construction work along side the Haitian people. Contact the church office if you’re interested in joining this team.
Parkwood Gardens is one of the UB churches supporting the Glunt family in Thailand. Brian and Rachel Glunt, as well as their 3 children – Lucy, Lily and Curtis – moved to Thailand in August 2016 . They are currently living in north Thailand in Chiang Rai. The children are attending Chiang Rai International Christian School. Rachel will be involved with helping out at her children’s school. A fourth member has recently joined the Glunt family – Madeline was born in Thailand on August 28, 2018.
The Glunts’ purpose in Thailand is to reach the Buddhist people for Christ and to help the church in Chiang Rai. The last few years in Thailand have been devoted to language learning in order to have meaningful conversations with the Thai people. As well, a new community center is currently being built in order to reach out to and provide for the needs of local Thai Buddhists.
The intention of the new center is to offer English and Chinese language classes, but this could expand into other areas such as technical skills training and music and art classes. Worship services will be provided there as well. Their hope is that this will lead into discipleship opportunities and church-planting. They are currently working with other organizations who are church-planting in other parts of the city to see what works and what does not. They are also searching out various opportunities to engage with the local church and the neighbourhood. Rachel is teaching Sunday school at Joyful church and Brian and his team are offering English classes on Friday evenings to connect with the neighbourhood.
According to Brian, although Thailand is called “The Land of Smiles”, it is spiritually dark. The Glunts will be working as part of a team with others and their prayer is that God would prepare the hearts of the people of Chiang Rai and would strengthen His church that is already present in the city. There is a need also for prayer that the Glunts would connect with a foundation in Chiang Rai in order to obtain a permanent visa.
Serving with Christian Missions Resource Centre (www.cmrc.on.ca) is like experiencing God in unfamiliar places.
Unfamiliar as God provides new ministry opportunities in our quest to helping the world’s needy both spiritually and in practical gifts of help.
With projects in Cuba, Guatemala, and Peru, I have opportunity to witness churches built, pastor’s lives encouraged, widow’s homes renovated, and souls committed to Jesus just to name a few of the many forms of ministry CMRC undertakes in these Latino countries.
A big part of our ministry is equipping pastors and church leaders through seminars, personal resources, and learning libraries. By empowering a pastor one empowers a congregation to share the love of Jesus in their towns, villages and communities.
Personal support from family, friends, and churches like Parkwood Gardens Church enables me to “Take my everyday, ordinary life—my sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering “in needy developing countries.” Romans 12:1-2
Tim and Sarah Trouborst work with Power to Change at McMaster University. Power to Change wants to help people know Jesus and experience His power to change the world. On campus, they long for the day when no student will graduate without engaging in the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Sarah began working with Power to Change in 2013 and she currently mentors staff and meets with students on campus. She also does some work with leadership and gives presentations at conferences. She loves helping students dream big of changing the campus, being a disciple to tomorrow’s leaders as they grow to live Christ-centered lives and introducing students to Jesus for the first time. Tim joined staff with Power to Change in 2016. He has a passion for seeing men overcome inadequacy, know God’s love and share that with others. He has a vision for men to graduate from university as leaders for Christ in their homes, churches and work places. Tim disciples students, writes for the P2C blog and helps put together evangelism strategies. Sarah is a big extrovert. If left on a deserted island, she would probably die of loneliness before starvation. Tim would be perfectly fine on a deserted island as long as there was pizza. Tim and Sarah have recently welcomed a new son into their home. Espen was born in December, 2017.
Lowell and Gail Deering were born in western Canada, but Lowell spent his high school years in Ontario. They first went overseas with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in 1988, and served with MAF in Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia for 25 years. They have two sons, Caleb and Tobin. Caleb is now living in Australia, where he is married and working as a paramedic. Tobin presently works in western Canada as a commercial pilot.
Mission Aviation Fellowship is a non-denominational technical mission organization with offices in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia. Our team members are people from about 60 countries who use technical tools to serve needy people in remote communities around the world. MAF Canada is registered as a Canadian charity and employs about 50 families who serve in a variety of countries using their skills as pilots, maintenance engineers, educators, administrators, and IT professionals. MAF Canada missionaries raise their own financial support to provide for living expenses while serving.
In the early years, after World War Two, MAF primarily used aviation and radio communication technologies to “open” vast areas of Africa, South America, and the Asia-Pacific to the gospel. Many of the early church planters travelled in MAF aircraft to reach their remote ministry areas, and were able to communicate through high-frequency radio networks set up by MAF. In the 21st century, MAF continues to provide aviation transport logistics for many isolated communities, but there is increasing emphasis on communications, education, and information networking technologies. MAF works in partnership with over 1500 different missions and non-government organizations. Despite the changing technologies used to support many different remote people, the vision remains the same. For the communities they serve in, MAF missionaries seek to be the agents of physical and spiritual transformation in the name of Jesus.
Lowell and Gail have been able to be a part of this work for over 31 years. Lowell was trained as a pilot, maintenance engineer, and aviation safety specialist. He has used these skills to serve people in remote parts of Papua New Guinea and North Australia, as well as providing oversight and administration to the organization at country and regional levels. Gail has used her skills as an educator to home school their two sons, as well as to provide quality educational experiences to children of indigenous and international parents at a variety of locations. Over the years, they have seen God use their skills and abilities to minister to thousands of needy people through the opportunities they have had to break down barriers and improve the situation for many of these.
Lowell and Gail are presently based in Guelph. Lowell serves at the MAF Canada head office, where he is responsible for oversight of Canadian operations, as well as the recruitment of Canadian technical staff. MAF Canada operations include a flight program in Angola, West Africa, and a pilot training program in Alberta, known as the Prairie Aviation Training Centre. This requires a large amount of international and domestic travel for him. Gail provides learning therapy for clients in the Kitchener Waterloo area. This has given her opportunity to speak into the lives of Canadian students, drawing from her many years of accumulated practice and experience.