Canadians have had access to the Gospel for a long time. 

Christian churches have been present in Canada since the first settlers arrived and brought their faith with them.  In recent years we have identified many sins and failures of Christian churches in our history.  At times, power has been abused and the message of the gospel has been obscured by our failures to live out the gospel.  As a result, many Canadians see churches as temples of hypocrisy, judgement, ignorance, and exclusion. 

The true Gospel of Jesus needs to be shared with Canadians. Unfortunately, negative perceptions of the church often get in the way of Jesus’ message of love, hope, grace, and acceptance.

Young Canadians need to hear this message, but where will they hear it?

Our younger generations are often aimless, distracted, and confused. They are broken and lost. Jesus would classify them as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:35-38). COVID has brought great uncertainty for the next generation. They are looking for hope, but not in churches. 

Young Canadians tend to live on their smartphones and converse through social media, so we are reaching out to them through these channels. This year we have partnered with Groundwire to share messages of hope on social media and invite young Canadians to discover the Gospel online.  We are placing high-quality, contextually relevant ads on various social platforms to invite people to reconsider their faith or to discover for the first time that Jesus cares about them. 

We are helping young Canadians find hope and meaning for their lives.

Lisa's Story

Last month, Nineteen-year-old Lisa* saw one of our ads, went to the website, and chatted with one of our online coaches. She said, “I am feeling bored with my life... nothing makes me happy anymore.” 

Our trained coach spent the next eighty minutes chatting with her about loneliness, life, and Jesus.  Their conversation ended with Lisa praying to receive Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. 

Lisa signed off saying, “I feel like my brain was just washed from doubt, and fear, and worries. Thank you.” 

She was directed toward two local churches in her community and provided some online follow-up resources.  

Jesus Cares Canada 

Outreach Canada has been serving the church in Canada since 1984. Our roots were in research, evangelism, and discipleship in western Canada.  Our ministry has grown to include marketplace chaplaincy, mission mobilization, training, member care, church revitalization, and diaspora ministry in Canada. 

We are currently building partnerships with churches and disciple-making ministries across Canada to provide a full menu of discipleship options, including church connections, virtual discovery Bible study groups, online discipleship resources, virtual Alpha groups, and more.

Following three fruitful years of JesusCares outreach in America, we launched our Canadian campaign on March 1, 2021, with $30,000.  We have had over two million ads viewed, over twenty-thousand website visits to the www.jesuscares.com, and over seven-hundred and fifty Canadians have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. 

We are currently translating ads into French for increased effectiveness in Quebec, where over one hundred people have already responded to our Gospel presentations.

Will you join us?

Our goal is to raise $300,000 to run the JesusCares Outreach in Canada for the rest of the year. We believe we will see over 10,000 Canadians choose to follow Jesus through this campaign.

The timing is right. 

COVID has made the impact of this campaign even more remarkable as more people are experiencing isolation and mental duress and are increasing their time spent on social media. 

We invite you to help us make a difference. 

This campaign is scaled for manageability but can be extended for further impact. Social media provides a great opportunity for fresh, unencumbered access to the Gospel.

If you would like to learn about how you can participate in the Jesus Cares Canada Campaign, check out our website. 

To check out the Jesus Cares website with all of the videos, ads, testimonies and gospel presentation, go to JesusCares.com 

*names have been changed to respect the privacy of individuals.

Dr. Craig Kraft is the Executive Director of Outreach Canada. Craig and his wife Heather have four adult sons. After 15 years of pastoral ministry in western Canada, Craig served with OC in southern Africa before returning to lead the ministry in Canada. Upon his return, Craig assisted with the formation of the OC Global Alliance, a partnership of over one thousand missionaries working around the world. Craig is a graduate of Northwest Baptist Seminary at ACTS and a graduate of Asia Graduate School of Theology with a Doctor of Intercultural Studies. His study has focused on diaspora missiology in Canada.  His dissertation explores the potential for revitalizing Canadian churches through the practice of biblical hospitality with refugees and immigrants.