MISSION, BC – The calling and thrust of Village Missions of Canada is to “Preach the Word & Love the People.”
More than 60 million people live in rural areas of North America, including many of whom are isolated from major metropolitan areas. To that extent, we are not all that different than other regions and countries around the globe. Breadwinners are attracted to the populous places where opportunities appear to be more plentiful.
Nonetheless, many folks are happy living in rural areas away from the hustle and bustle of the crowded cities.
When we think of empowering missionaries to minister in foreign lands, we generally envision them going to villages in remote places where there is no church and no Bible teaching. The closest country to the United States, where the greatest amount of people live in remote, rural areas, is Canada, our neighbor to the north.
Nearly 82% of Canada’s population lives within 185 miles of the U.S. border, primarily in the metropolitan areas along the northern coast of Lake Ontario and in the area around Vancouver, British Columbia.
The remaining 6.8 million people are spread irregularly across the nearly 10 million square kilometers that make Canada the third-largest country in the world by area. Some rural Canadian villages are so remote they can make you feel like you are at the end of the world. (You’re not really, but you might be able to see it from a few.)
Shuttered and abandoned churches sit idle in village after village and town after town because they have been unable to sustain the cost of pastoral leadership. Village Missions believes that “the church is central to keeping a Gospel presence in rural Canada.”
We exist to glorify Jesus Christ by developing spiritually vital churches in rural North America. Our aim is to provide a Christ-centered community church program capable of involving the entire population of a local community with worship services, personal contacts in homes, Sunday schools, home and group Bible studies, special youth and adult activities, Vacation Bible Schools, and other activities.
Village Missions of Canada seeks spiritually qualified candidates who are willing to follow God’s call to become missionary pastors at the invitation of rural communities. Those who respond to the call commit to serving full-time to develop close, meaningful relationships within the local church and the local community.
On any given day, he may help a neighbor with farm chores, work on a broken-down car, spend the day on a fishing boat, or listen as someone shares what’s on his heart. This relational ministry allows the rural pastor to display the love of Jesus Christ.
It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the local missionary pastor coaching a soccer team or arriving at a burning building as part of the local volunteer fire department.
The missionary pastors of Village Missions of Canada invest themselves in the lives of the people where they live, witnessing for Christ 24/7 by “Preaching the Word & Loving the People.”
Read more news on Non Profit / Faith Based Organizations, and World Missions.
Sources:
- Village Missions, Official Website
- CIA World Factbook, Canada