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A Blog Post

The Value of Partnering in Mission

For over 140 years Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) has been bringing Canadian Baptists together with church partners from around the world to spread the love of God to a broken and hurting world.  This past week Terry Smith (Executive Director), and Jennifer Lau (Director of Canadian Partnerships) travelled to New Brunswick for the purpose of listening and learning from small gatherings of pastors in Moncton and Saint John.  We had the privilege of joining the groups each day and we were blessed to hear many stories of how CBM has been a part of their lives through such things as short-term mission trips or special projects such as crisis response or providing food aid for the worlds hungry.  We also heard many great ideas on how CBM can provide leadership for Canadian Baptist as we seek to spread God’s love around the world through word and deed.  It was great to have Randy Stanton (Atlantic Rep.) and Malcolm Card (CBM Board President) take part in the gatherings as well; they added a lot to the conversations as they shared from their own experiences.

Terry & Jennifer

Jennifer Lau & Terry Smith

Terry and Jennifer led the groups by asking a number of questions designed to help stir reflection on past experiences and generate discussion on the future work and ministry of CBM.  Terry, who was recently appointed as the new Executive Director, is committed to hearing from Canadian Baptists from coast to coast as he begins to lead CBM into the future; providing opportunities for Canadian Baptists to extend the good news of the Gospel around the world is at the heart of what CBM seeks to do.

CBM Alumni

Bob Malcolm, Bob Berry & Charlie Harvey

On Friday, we were blessed to have three legends; former CBM missionaries Bob Berry, Charlie Harvey, and Bob Malcolm.  It was amazing to listen to them share stories of their time with CBM as they served overseas in places like Zaire, Angola and Indonesia.  They shared that even though they served in a period of time that was drastically different then today (no Facebook, E-mail or text messages) they still felt a deep connectedness to the local Church in Canada.  At one point in the day Charlie Harvey stated that he travelled from one end of the country to the other while on home assignment and each and every church he visited he felt connected with because of the deep commitment of Canadian Baptists to send and support missionaries abroad.  Canadian Baptists have been committed participants in sharing God’s love around the world through word and deed for a very long time and these men are a living testimony of this commitment.  It is a humbling reality for us as we begin to receive the support of so many churches and individuals as Partners-in-Mission.  We have begun sharing our story in churches around Atlantic Canada and we have been blessed and felt this same sense of connectedness that Charlie Harvey experienced.  Our ability to serve God in the Philippines is only made possible because of the many individuals and churches who are committed partners in the work God is doing around the world.

We have been asked a number of times why we feel it’s important to Partner-in-Mission?  During one of the conversations this past week someone said we serve a global God and we are a part of a global Church“.  By becoming a partner in mission, by being involved in sending a missionary (whether through prayer or financially) you are participating in the work of God around the world.  Joining with other Canadian Baptist churches and CBM to share God’s love around the world through sending missionaries and supporting mission projects is a great way to connect with the global Church.  It was also pointed out that missionaries often learn and experience things overseas that are useful for our Canadian context as well.  There were a number of examples given of how CBM Field Staff have been able to help Canadian church partners with their own local ministry.  As we reflect on our future role in Marketplace Ministry we look forward to opportunities to share our knowledge and experiences with our partners to assist in the work of building God’s Kingdom here in Canada. We are excited for the opportunity that God is giving to our family to participate in spreading God’s love as Global Field Staff with CBM in the Philippines and we invite you to become one of our Partners-in-Mission.

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We ask for your support, both Prayer and Financial!

If you would like to become a Partner in Mission with us please contact Barbara Keys at bkeys@cbmin.org or visit our Partner-in-Mission page at http://www.cbmin.org/who-we-are/field-staff/michael-melanie-waddell/