Location: Delta BC
Outreach Canada
Executive Director
Dr. Craig Clinton Kraft was born on December 11, 1967, in Mountain View, California, to Gerald and Susie Kraft. Craig has a younger brother, Chris, who has been a life-long friend and fellow adventurer.
The family attended the First Baptist Church of Los Altos, where Craig’s father and grandfather were both on the pastoral staff. Craig remembers receiving Christ as his Lord and Savior at a young age with his mother and being baptized by his grandfather. In his high school years, the Kraft family moved to Canada, where Craig’s father served as a Baptist pastor and missionary. Craig graduated from South Delta Secondary School and enrolled at Northwest Baptist College in Vancouver, graduating with a Bachelor of Religious Studies degree in 1989. It was during his college days that he met and married Heather Collum.
Pastoral Ministry & Graduate Studies
Craig and Heather entered ministry together in 1988 at Northstar Fellowship Church in Quesnel, BC. Craig served as an associate pastor for three years before being called as the lead pastor at Departure Bay Baptist Church and later West Edmonton Baptist Church. During his pastoral years Craig completed a Master of Arts in Religious Studies at Northwest Baptist Seminary at Trinity Western University (ACTS Seminary). Fifteen years of pastoral ministry and graduate studies instilled a great passion for the church, leadership development, and church revitalization.
Outreach Canada Ministries
In 2003 Craig was invited to join Outreach Canada Ministries (OC) with the goal of serving as a missionary in Africa. Craig and Heather, along with their four sons, moved to Johannesburg in 2005, where he was involved in training pastors and church planters in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini.
After three years in Africa, the Kraft family was asked to return to Canada for Craig to assume the Executive Director role at OC. Outreach Canada Ministries is a para-church organization that serves leaders and makes disciples in Canada. Craig and his family returned to Vancouver in 2008, where he continues to serve as Director of OC.
International Leadership & Doctor of Intercultural Studies
Since returning from Africa, Craig has been significantly involved in the development of the OC Global Alliance (OCGA), a partnership of fifteen mission sending organizations around the world. Craig has served in various capacities on the OCGA Guidance Team, where he is currently the Moderator.
As Craig became more involved in missions and international leadership, he determined to continue his studies at Asia Graduate School of Theology, where he completed the Doctor of Intercultural Studies program. Craig’s dissertation is entitled, Welcoming Strangers: Church Revitalization Through The Practice of Biblical Hospitality Toward Syrian Refugees in Canada. Craig is also the author of New Life in the Church, and several articles and blogs on biblical hospitality.
Today
Craig and Heather live in Delta, BC and have four adult sons who are devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Their first grandchild is expected to join the family in April 2022. When he is not working, studying or spending time with leaders, Craig can often be found outside walking his Labrador retrievers, hunting or fishing with his sons, or helping build or repair something.
6/24/2019 7:32:46 AM