Thank You!

You have made this possible...

When we closed the office on March 13 and told people they would have to work from home for a little while, we thought the COVID crisis would pass in a couple of months.  Little did we know that it would have such a profound impact on all of us.  While we are all feeling a sense of loss and grieving that this Christmas will not be “normal,” Outreach Canada is excited to report that we have had a great year, and our ministry continues to grow amid the challenges.  Thank you!  God has blessed our ministry through your partnership, and we could not have done this without your support.  I will share three brief highlights related to finance, personnel, and ministry.

FINANCE – We shared with you in August that donations were lower than in the past three years, and we asked for your prayers and your help.  Our donations have been lower than in 2019 by about 7% to date, but we have also been able to reduce our expenses, and we will be able to finish the year in the black with funds to carry us into the new year.  Not only has the Lord provided for our needs, but we were able to raise $30,000 to assist our other missionary partners around the world who have struggled to meet the needs in their countries.  Of these special gifts, $26,000 has helped our partners in India to feed people on the streets and rescue young women and children from human trafficking.  Thank you for helping us meet these critical needs.

PERSONNEL – When the pandemic started, we had to lay-off some of our staff.  Today we have brought people back to fill all of the vacancies, and we have welcomed several new people to our ministry teams as employees and volunteers.  God has blessed us with a fantastic team of people who have adapted well to working from home and virtually.  Thank you for your prayers and financial support to all of our missionaries.

MINISTRY – We have had to adapt in every area of ministry, but our team has innovated many new ways of training, coaching, and serving virtually.  Our ministry has been more focused this year, and we have had the opportunity to go deeper and invest more in smaller and more concentrated ministry contexts.  The result is that we have expanded our virtual capacity and have found ways of accomplishing more with less travel and expense.  We exercised agility by adapting to new opportunities, and we have seen growth in all of our networks and in the lives of people we are discipling.  Because of our significant networks and relationships across Canada, we were asked to partner with the Jesuscares.com project.  We will present the gospel to millennials and GenZ Canadians through social media.  We are very excited to see how God uses this to connect with individuals who have no other connections with the church or with Christians.

I look forward to sharing more with you in the new year, but we wanted to say a great big “Thank You” to you as we approach the end of 2020.  This year has been challenging, but the Holy Spirit has breathed wind into our sails as we navigated these uncharted waters.  To God be the Glory!

In His grip,

Dr. Craig Kraft
Executive Director
Outreach Canada Ministries