CAMPBELLVILLE, ON – Missions Box recently featured a story about Village Missions in Canada. I decided to follow up on that with another Christian missionary agency that is also committed to sharing God’s Word with our neighbors to the north. That decision may be somewhat connected to the fact that I lived there for nearly a decade.

Oh, Canada!

I love Canada. Mostly, I love Canadians. For the most part, they are kind, congenial, and downright neighborly. I received one of the highest compliments of my life when, a few years after returning to the U.S., I happened upon a Canadian friend. We exchanged greetings, and he asked, “When are you planning on coming home?”

He never realized that I was not Canadian. That’s quite an accomplishment. I had managed to live in a different culture – much different than most people realize – without exposing myself as one of those self-absorbed Yankees south of the border.

He helped me to realize what I loved most about Canada. It was the people.

Whether they are among the millions who reside in modern cities within 100 miles of the U.S. border or are among the millions scattered across the vast northern part of our continent, it is not where they live that makes Canada so special. It is the Canadians.

We could compile an impressive list of similarities and disparities between Americans and Canadians. However, as Faith Mission Canada reminds us,

Make no mistake about it Canada is a mission field. There are multitudes who have never heard the Gospel.

In the Beginning

All too often, Christians in America are willing to travel to the far-flung reaches of the world while forgetting that our closest neighbors need to hear the Gospel as well.

Faith Mission was founded by Scotsman John George in 1886. The work was originally limited to Scotland. The Mission had committed to the principle of absolute dependence on the Lord for every need.

From its inception, The Faith Mission has not asked workers to raise support, believing the truth of Hudson Taylor’s words ‘God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply,’ mission staff having heard the call from God step out in faith taking every need to God in prayer and all praise to God. He has never failed to supply through all the years.

Faith Mission Canada began in response to a request from a pastor in the growing city of Toronto in 1927. The first three missionaries were Helen Gibb, Phebe Rowdon, and Agnes Waugh. Following the pattern used in Scotland, similar results ensued.

In 1933, the mission began the process of becoming an independent entity.

Prayer, Evangelism, & Revival

The Faith Mission ministry was founded and continues to build upon the practices of prayer, evangelism, and revival.

• Prayer. The work is inseparable from praying without ceasing. The ministry website reminds us that “John Wesley was correct when he said, ‘much prayer, much blessing. Little prayer, little blessing. No prayer, no blessing.'”
• Evangelism. Small communities where there is little or no Gospel witness remain the primary focus of Faith Mission Canada. From evangelistic meetings to vacation Bible schools and from camps to Bible conferences, the ministry is dedicated to coming alongside local churches to assist in whatever way they are needed to help share the Gospel.
• Revival. Man cannot orchestrate revival. We can promote a preaching conference and call it a revival, but revival only occurs when hearts are prepared, and the Lord moves. This usually happens only following an abundance of fervent prayer. And so, we are back to prayer.

Just as man cannot orchestrate revival, neither can man empower a ministry to successfully win the lost and train them in the faith once delivered to the saints. Plans can be developed. Facilities can be built. Missionaries can be sent. However, “unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (Proverbs 127:1)

The Lord’s blessings always accompany believers who build on His firm foundation with prayer, evangelism, and revival.

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