Outreach Canada Ministries - Leadership Updates

May 2020 - Ministry during Covid-19

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May 2020
COVID-19 Report to OC Partners

 

May 1, 2020

Dear Friends,

I am convinced that Outreach Canada is blessed to have some of the best ministry partners in the world.  I hear from other mission directors how many have already experienced a significant decline in their financial donations.  So far, Outreach Canada has experienced some decline, but not as significant as we feared, or as others have indicated.  We are so grateful for your partnership with us through this challenging time.

Our ministry teams continue to function well on virtual platforms.  We have experienced some significant obstacles to “business as usual” due to travel and meeting restrictions, but we are using Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Zoom to continue our work.  I would like to highlight a few of the ways your support helped us in April.

  • Your support has helped us expanded our Corporate Chaplains ministry to include a social media presence and “virtual chaplain” service for the companies where we are not currently able to visit.  Many of our chaplains continue with their weekly visits, where they have been permitted to do so. Most of the companies we serve have been able to adapt and remain open.
  • The Kairos Course is one of our premier discipleship and mobilization tools.  This has always been taught in a classroom with lots of interaction and participation.  Your faithful support has enabled our team to work with others around the globe to develop an online option for this course.  Our first Online Kairos course will take place in June!
  • Campus ministry and Missionary Member Care (MORE network):  Many of our camps, seminars, and retreats are postponed, but our team continues to connect with our partners and provide virtual solutions where possible.  Through your prayers and support, we served many students and missionaries who have been stressed and displaced by COVID 19.  It has created a lot of angst and uncertainty for people serving internationally.  Our team has been able to help.
  • Our Global Alliance is banding together to help one another.  Some of our teams have been hit much harder than others.  (One team in a primarily Mu$lim country has already lost 16 workers to the virus).  You have helped us initiate a OCGA COVID-19 Relief fund that is providing funding for some of our partners who have limited resources.  In April, we assisted with financial support for Columbian missionaries serving in Spain and Food for missionaries and the people they rescued from human trafficking in India.

Our team of missionaries, our support staff, and our board of directors would like to thank you for standing with us through this challenging time.  God is doing some amazing things in our nation right now, and you are a part of it.  Our country is hurting, and we have a message of hope.  You have helped us remain relevant and prepared to serve during this challenge.  God is rewarding your faithfulness and sacrifice.

This week we are conducting the first of four short surveys of Canadian churches.  We want to learn how the virtual presence and impact of the church is growing, how online giving is sustained, how churches are adopting new methods of evangelism and discipleship, and how churches can continue to provide pastoral care for their members and community.  We are watching for innovations that can be shared to continue the discipling of our nation.

We need you now! The following are some suggestions of how you can continue to partner with us through the challenging days ahead.

Continue to pray for us.

o   That there would be a fresh wave of creativity and innovation as we share the hope of the Gospel with a nation in crisis.

o   That we would have opportunities to share Christ despite our limited social connecting.

o   That the Holy Spirit would give us wisdom and discernment as we consider how to adapt our ministry to the changing times.

Share your stories.  We learn a lot from each other.  Your stories of how God is using you in this crisis are an inspiration and encouragement to us!  We all need to hear more positive stories.

Connect with us.  Reach out to the individual missionaries you support with a word of encouragement.  I bumped into a ministry supporter at Costco this week, and he took time to ask how OC was doing and how the support for our ministries was holding out.  I was so encouraged to know that he cared and was praying for OC.

Continue to support us financially.  We know that some of you will have to reduce or suspend your financial support to OC.  We want you to know that we understand, and we support you in caring for your own needs and the needs of your families right now.  If you must make a change to your giving, please consider reducing your support before suspending it completely.  We do appreciate the sacrifice that many of you make to continue to support us through this time.  We are grateful beyond words.

If you have any questions about Outreach Canada or our COVID-19 Response plan, please reach out to me by email (ckraft@outreach.ca). We are doing all that we can to weather this storm together.   We will reach out to you again next month to provide an update of how God is answering our prayers and how we are adjusting to this new ministry environment.

In His grip,

Craig Kraft
Executive Director
Outreach Canada Ministries


Our Office

  1. To reduce the risk of contamination, our office remains closed to all non-essential business or meetings.  Further detail is provided in our OC COVID-19 Plan.
  2. If you must enter our office environment, please maintain proper social distancing from other workers.  Please observe the 2 Meter marks which have been placed on the floor at common interaction points.
  3. Please be responsible to maintain the cleanliness of your workspace and wash your hands regularly before and after use of public equipment such as photocopier, microwave, alarm panels, etc.
  4. Occupancy of the OC office should not exceed 12 people, working in designated workspaces or offices.  No meetings to be held in the conference room until further notice.

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