Hi Alliance family. I love how spring brings everyone outside—I’d almost forgotten how many people live in my neighborhood, and it’s so good to be reminded that spring provides yet another opportunity to interact and catch up with them more.
The hope that warmer weather brings is contagious, isn’t it? When you look outside and not a coat can be seen, or maybe less of them. Everything feels lighter to me.
And so I pray that as you’re preparing for Easter and sharing the good news of Jesus, it will be equally contagious to those around you. The weather changes so many things—but the good news changes everything. And as the seasons change, what we wear also changes. And in a similar way—because of Jesus, we are no longer clothed with grave clothes, but like Lazarus, have been raised into abundant life. And so I pray that each of you experience the vibrant joy of Easter, just as we enjoy the vibrancy of a sunrise on Easter morning.
We recently wrapped up Global Gathering and the short-term missions trips that surrounded it. Simply, it was special to be together. Those who went on short-term trips got to see and experience a day-in-the-life of an international worker and to join in the ministry they’ve been supporting and praying for for many years. Stories are coming in of many meaningful and impactful moments during these trips. At the conference in Chiang Mai, we talked about our missiology and how God is at work around the world with people on the move—for instance, did you know that nearly two-thirds of immigrants coming to Canada are already Christ followers? How does that inform, change our ministries, our churches, as we consider this wave of workers the Lord is bringing to Canada from the global South?
Then, Tim Teakle with Alpha Canada reminded us that there are 4.4 million teenagers in Canada. Studies show that 53% of these have unanswered questions about faith, and 45% of those who have no faith have neither a positive nor negative view of Jesus. This is good news!
Additionally, we were reminded that Gen Alpha is globally connected because teenagers in Spain are watching the same TikTok videos as teenagers in Coquitlam.
Some of these discussions highlight how our international and national work is more and more intertwined all the time.
As I think of our times together, like General Assembly and this first-ever Global Gathering, days like this are but a tangible representation of how the Lord is already at work in and amongst our movement.
Yes, it is a privilege to be able to join together in person when we can, but even more so, it’s encouraging to me and I hope it is to you—the unifying and aligning work the Spirit is already doing in the hearts and minds of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.
I’ve talked to quite a few pastors and international workers since, and many people already ask me, when’s the next global gathering going to be?
I don’t have an answer for that yet. But as we begin to look towards district conferences and then General Assembly, I’m confident that as we pray and follow the Lord’s leading, there will be many, many more opportunities to look forward to and to engage together.
Speaking of shared times together, district conferences are right around the corner. Don’t miss your district events. Please attend. There's something really special that happens when we gather, pause, and seek Christ together. Please also be praying for these events as they are important times of decision-making, discussing strategy, networking, and being together as family.
Next summer feels really far away, but save the date for General Assembly 2026. It is going to be held June 9-12 at First Alliance in Calgary. I hope to see you there and I can’t wait to see what the Lord will do.
Some of you were at Global Gathering and watched the premiere of City on a Hill, the Ukraine documentary that we put together. We planned to launch it for our churches by Easter. We’re just working on a few final resources for promotion and a discussion guide, so you can use it in your churches to have a watch party and follow up with conversations. You want to stay tuned. And I think for your Easter services, it might provide a next step for the many guests that we are praying come to your church.
Lastly, I want to show you a short recap of Global Gathering and tell some of what God did, and we’ll see you in a month with a new update very soon.
Global Gathering Recap Video:
We want to go places that are hard to get to, where life is difficult. We want to share the hope of Jesus and bring the transformational work of the kingdom wherever we go.
And so our missionaries have been led into the most difficult and remote regions and enabled to introduce the Gospel to many sections where Christ has not been named.
Brothers and sisters, this is our story. This is in our DNA. It is who we have always been. It is who we are. It is who we will always continue to be.
Calling requires belief. Belief requires hearing. Hearing requires preaching. Preaching requires someone to send.
So then the natural corollary of that is, what does sending require?
Sending requires a church.
Churches therefore need to be creative and adaptable. They need to consider how they create meaningful moments and experiences for Gen Alpha, both in the virtual and the real world. But the church is always one generation away from extinction. We believe short-term missions can be a catalyst for the church to reach the new generations, not only in North America, but around the world. The generation that is coming wants—they’re hungry to know. They want to know truth. They want to know that the leadership is accessible to them, that there’s room for them to grow. And if our churches aren’t providing that for them, they’re going to find it in other places.
Envision Canada is a resource of The Alliance Canada. And the mission of Envision is to help our churches and districts to identify, equip, and launch the next generations.
The speakers have challenged us in ways that I’ve never been challenged at a level before. Movements that receive migrants and enfold them into their movements and denominations will continue to experience growth. And movements that fail to recruit and draw from immigrants will continue to experience decline, which means for the foreseeable future, we’re going to be immigrant dependent. No matter how much we don’t like it, we’re going to be dependent on immigrants. I brought a team of ten from my home church. Some of them were learning what it means to surrender fully to God, his will, his purposes. Friends, our framework isn’t about more work. Doubling our reach is not about trying harder. Am I willing to let go of the old? Am I willing to allow the Father to prune and be open to new ideas, that he will bring our way, branches so that more fruitfulness might come?
This week has been a really unique opportunity because it’s highlighting the need for collaboration and unity amongst international workers and churches in Canada.
We really are a partnership. And I think to move forward and moving in the vision that has been cast for the next ten years, that need for partnership and collaboration will be even more important to fulfill that.