VITALITY (Spring/Summer 2018)

Spring/Summer 2018
THE NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP MAGAZINE
CHURCH PLANTING CROSS-CULTURALLY
MARRIAGE AND HUMAN SEXUALITY
HOW TO PRAY FOR A CHURCH PLANTER
VITALITY
SOWING LIFE IN
PARCHED GROUND

Spring/Summer 2018
A CHURCH PLANTING
RENAISSANCE
by Steve Jones
Something special is happening in Canada as it relates to church planting. Our Fellowship is currently involved in
36 church plants, with dozens more in the incubation stage. I had the joy of attending the Momentum conference
in the fall of 2017 along with over 50 Fellowship church planters and leaders. Momentum is one of Canada’s premier
church planting conferences where planters come to learn best practices, case studies, workshop training, and receive
inspiration. During the conference, Fellowship National hosted a “Fellowship Night” for our planters that included
dinner, time of sharing, and prayer. It was a joy for me to see church planters from BC and Ontario sharing their stories
in small groups while other planters from Montreal and Halifax prayed together.
Why Is Church Planting So Important?
THE FIRST WORD
The spiritual need in Canada is immense. Church attendance has declined from 70% in the 1950s to 15% in 2006, and
the fastest growing group is now those who identify as “no religion”, which has increased from 12% in 1985 to 19% in
2004. In spite of these numbers approximately two-thirds of Canadians still identify themselves as Christian. People
are still open to hearing the Gospel. Christian leaders believe the biggest need in Canada is a clear and winsome presentation
of the Gospel — most Canadians have simply never heard.

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Along with the significant influx of new Canadians who are often far more open
to hearing the Good News as they transition into their new country and environment,
an opportunity to leverage the Gospel in Canada among immigrants is
presenting itself now.
Our churches need to be guided by several principles in our church planting
efforts:
1. Churches best create churches.
CHURCH
ATTENDANCE
HAS DECLINED
FROM 70% IN
THE 1950S TO
15% IN 2006...
• Planting churches is best accomplished by local churches multiplying
themselves, whether that be a mother church, association partnership,
or “Antioch” church * .
*
An Antioch church is a proven multiplying local church in our AÉBÉQ
(French) Region.
2. Churches best create leaders.
• Leadership is vital. Leaders are best developed through mentoring and
ministry training done in the context of the local church, whether that
be through internships, cohorts, or our Immerse program * .
*
Immerse is a church-based theological educational model founded in our
Pacific Region and adopted/modified in our AÉBÉQ (French) Region.
3. Churches best make disciples.
• Studies and surveys consistently show that church planting is the most
effective way to win the spiritually lost, and the church is God’s chosen
instrument for making disciples.
In this edition of THRIVE, you will learn about the efforts of Fellowship church
planters and missionaries in Canada and beyond. Also featured are the efforts to
revitalize many of our local churches as we reintegrate the Great Commission
DNA back into our movement of churches.
Our theme verse for 2018 is Romans 12:12 (NIV):
“Be joyful in HOPE, patient in AFFLICTION, faithful in PRAYER.”
The church remains the greatest HOPE of our nation. Consider spending time in
daily prayer for the church health (vitality) and church planting (multiplication)
efforts of our movement.
Steven Jones is President of The
Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist
Churches in Canada. Follow Steve on
Twitter @FellowshipSteve

4 / thrive Spring/Summer 2018
THE
FELLOWSHIP’S
THEME VERSE
FOR 2018 IS:
“BE JOYFUL IN
HOPE, PATIENT
IN AFFLICTION,
FAITHFUL IN
PRAYER.”
ROMANS 12:12 (NIV)
14 OPPORTUNITIES
You can connect with us on FACEBOOK:
www.facebook.com/FellowshipNatl,
on INSTAGRAM: @FellowshipNatl
and on TWITTER: @FellowshipNatl.
Come and join the conversation.
2 THE FIRST WORD
A CHURCH PLANTING
RENAISSANCE / Steve Jones
5 FOUNDATION
FELLOWSHIP FOUNDATION / Gord Baptist
6 OUT THERE
CHURCH PLANTING CROSS-CULTURALLY
DDM THE OBJECTIVE, CPM THE
OUTCOME / Dave Marttunen
10 TRUTH TALK
MARRIAGE AND HUMAN SEXUALITY /
Steve Jones
14 GROUND WORK
7X7=1: AN UPDATE / Terry Cuthbert
KARATE FOR CHRIST CANADA /
Neil McGillivray
16 UP TO SPEED
CHURCH PLANTING UPDATES
AWAKENING THE LOCAL CHURCH
COME BACK CHURCHES
22 THE LAST WORD
HOW TO PRAY FOR A CHURCH
PLANTER / Valerie Heaton
out there
love extended
11 LOVE EXTENDED
HOPE IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS /
Valerie Heaton
12 ESTABLISHING NEW ROOTS
FOR MORE GREAT STORIES, VISIT
OUR WEBSITE: thrive-magazine.ca
MISSION STATEMENT: Thrive is the official magazine of
The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. It
is published to enhance the life and ministry of church leaders
and members in Fellowship congregations by providing articles,
resources and news that reflect evangelical values, a common
mission as well as a shared sense of identity and vision. Thrive is
published three times a year and is available in English and French.
© The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada
MINISTRY CENTRE: P.O. Box 457, Guelph ON N1H 6K9
T: 519-821-4830 F: 519-821-9829 EMAIL: president@fellowship.ca
thrive-magazine.ca
SENIOR EDITOR: Steven Jones MANAGING EDITOR: Valerie Heaton LAYOUT & DESIGN: Ampersand
Email: thrive@fellowship.ca POSTAGE: Return undeliverable Canadian address to Circulation Department, P.O. Box 457, Guelph ON N1H 6K9

thrive-magazine.ca
foundation
FELLOWSHIP FOUNDATION
As I have now passed the threshold
of being 60+ years of age, when it
comes to accessing information, I find
myself in a state of constant confliction.
I love having the printed page in my
hands. I’m not one that likes to access
my news media by a smart phone, iPad,
or computer screen. I still like the sound
of rustling paper and the stain of ink on
my fingertips. However technology just
won’t allow that to continue. And so as
I struggle to deal with our world today, I
find myself now conforming to what it
demands. If I want to share and promote
what I need, technology is a major part.
Therefore, we now have online accessibility
to our Fellowship Foundation
on our webpage. And in actuality, it
does it better than print. The Foundation
helps to facilitate the generosity of God‘s
people to Fellowship ministries; anything
that you need to know about us
you can now access on our Foundation
webpage.
For example, we have our promotional
and reference forms readily available
for you. Through our “Promotional
Materials” link, you can access our brochures,
which give an overview of what
the Foundation can do. For more detailed
information, our “Reference Material”
link enables you to access and download
our Bylaws, Policy Manual, Financial
Statement, as well as our Bequest and
Investment forms.
For an overall understanding, you can
view our video, which gives a clear
picture of the Foundation’s purpose —
connecting the passions of our donors
to good works. Currently, many have
expressed this by tithing in their Will.
Fellowship ministries to date have received
over $2.5 million in pledges from
Legacy Giving to advance His Kingdom.
If you want to be part of this great movement,
I invite you to go online to see
how you can partner your generosity to
God’s glory. Join us at www.fellowship.
ca/foundation. And for those who prefer
old-fashioned personal help, you can
reach me using the contact information
provided below.
— Gord Baptist
is Fellowship
Advancement Director
and can be reached at:
519.821.4830, extension
244 ~ fax 519.821.9829
gbaptist@fellowship.ca
by Gord Baptist

Spring/Summer 2018
CHURCH PLANTING CROSS
OUT THERE: FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL
PATIENCE, CONSISTENCY
AND INTENTIONALITY
by Ricardo Castro
It’s 10:00 am; I’m going to have a coffee on the central square. Sitting, I’m
waiting for someone to engage in conversation, since this is the most
important hour in the village’s life. In a few minutes, people will arrive,
and conversations will start. Sometimes I initiate spiritual discussions,
sometimes not — but it’s always important to be there, to be part of
who they are. After this, Ingrid and I have an appointment to organize
a Gospel choir with non-Christians in the village. We are happy:
there have been 16 enrollments for this project in only two days,
and we pray that the Lord would open hearts among the villagers.
After that meeting, we will have dinner with a family with whom
we have already shared the Gospel. After two dinners, we have
gained their trust and they begin to ask us real questions.
Patience, consistency, and intentionality are essential ingredients
to gain people’s trust — to hear from them — although in
a culture very much based on relationships, those people do
not want to be apart from their community. In such a context
progress is slow, so the challenge consists of making disciples
who then will reproduce themselves in their own network
of connections.
By God’s grace, after two years spent in this area we have
two small groups, one in Zafra and the other in Llerena.
We are putting a lot of energy into discipleship, hoping
to sow the DNA of multiplication.
As another means to give this region a boost, I have
been involved in the development of a very young
Seminary which is still in its infancy stage, where
leadership development and church planting are the
focus.
Please continue to pray for our discipleship and
training efforts in Spain, that God would use us as
tools to accomplish His purposes in this region,
for His glory!
— Ricardo Castro is a Fellowship International
missionary serving in Spain.
PLANTING AND WA
DISCIPLE-MAKING
TRAINING IN INDON
by Edwin Karwur
The agricultural metaphors of
planting and watering a seed is
elaborated by Paul in 1 Cor. 3:5-9.
We know that the elaboration
was given by Paul to overcome the
problem of divisions among the
Christians in Corinth, but I think
Paul is also giving us an indication
about the principal of collaboration in
the mission fields that God has given
us.
The fields are God’s possessions, and God
also determines the growth — but God
uses instruments to accomplish His will.
That’s the way it is within the ministries
of the church; every person’s ministry is
significant. The statement Paul uses in 1 Cor.
3:9, “we are God’s fellow workers,” refers to Paul
and Apollos. This is the Near Eastern metaphor
of a family working together in the field (cf. 2
Cor. 6:1). This verse has three possessive genitives:
Paul and Apollos belong to God, as does the
church in Corinth. 1 The aim of the collaboration is
to enhance the well-being of the church. 2
Together in partnership, Fellowship International
and the missions department of the Convention of
Indonesian Baptist Churches have a thriving evangelism
ministry. In one area they have been able to reach
approximately 140,000 people with the Gospel of Christ
and have baptized 70,000 since 2005. These new converts
are scattered in close to 17,000 house churches, with only
eight people in every house church.
PATIENCE, CONSISTENCY, AND INTENTIONALITY ARE

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-CULTURALLY
TERING: TAKING PART IN THE
MOVEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
ESIA
The numbers are astonishing, and they will continue
to grow. We praise God for these amazing
results, yet we still see the need for sustainable
discipleship and leadership training programs.
These leaders are focusing their time and energy
on evangelizing. They need more people to
come alongside and help with discipleship and
leadership training. In light of this, Fellowship
International, through LeadersFormation (our
leadership training and discipleship program),
will come alongside the Convention
of Indonesian Baptist Churches to disciple
as many people as we can. We plan to do
this through leadership training programs
among the leaders of at least 20 house
churches in that area. LeadersFormation
will have another cohort at the
Seminary in Manado, which will involve
30 Seminary graduates who are
now leading their own churches. We
hope to be able to begin these two
cohorts soon and continue for five
years to come. I hope that at the
end of those five years those who
are being trained in both locations
will carry on the works that
LeadersFormation has begun in
their areas and beyond.
— Edwin Karwur is a
Fellowship International
missionary and serves as
President of the Indonesian
Theological Seminary in
Manado, Indonesia.
CHURCH PLANTING
CROSS-CULTURALLY
by Bechara Karkafi
The rabbit church movement is the fastest multiplication/discipleship
model in use across the globe, especially
in areas where severe persecution is taking place.
Rabbit churches are small groups of believers that multiply
rapidly, planting many new churches in short periods
of time. In Lebanon, we were blessed to be able to encourage
and support the rabbit church movement on several levels,
and we are witnessing unique growth as a result of this genuine
discipleship ministry.
“Discipleship is all about living life together rather than just
one structured meeting per week” (Francis Chan, MULTIPLY:
Disciples Making Disciples).
This is exactly what is going on in rabbit churches in Beirut:
believers are living in community, eating together, worshipping
together (without music), praying together, and teaching each
other through reading the Scriptures. During our visits to these rabbit
churches with other Fellowship pastors from Canada we felt as
though we were meeting people from the early church! We noticed
that their faith is all about Jesus and their convictions are built on simply
believing in scripture. Our heart’s desire as we serve in the Lebanon
and MENA area is to partner with and support genuine leaders who are
participating in rabbit churches. Please pray for the 18 rabbit churches
in Beirut, as well as for the leadership team. Also pray that we will see our
Fellowship churches getting involved, partnering with, and supporting
these rabbit churches in order to see an amazing church planting movement
spread across the region.
— Bechara Karkafi is a Fellowship International missionary serving in
Lebanon, the Middle East, North Africa, and Canada.
ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS TO GAIN PEOPLE’S TRUST
1
R. J. Utley, Paul’s Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II Corinthians (Marshall: Bible Lessons International, 2002), 44.
2
C. H. Talbert, Reading Corinthians: A Literary and Theological Commentary On 1 & 2 Corinthians (Macon: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2002), 19.

8 / thrive Spring/Summer 2018
DDM THE
OBJECTIVE,
CPM THE
OUTCOME
by Dave Marttunen
A DISCIPLE MAKING MOVEMENT (DMM) IS CAUSITIVE AND A
CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT (CPM) IS THE RESULT.
OUT THERE: FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL
How can Fellowship International dare to dream of planting
1,000 churches in the lifetime of a single missionary? It
sounds preposterous.
“I HAVE FOUND
THAT THERE
ARE THREE
STAGES IN
EVERY WORK
OF GOD:
FIRST IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE,
THEN IT IS
DIFFICULT,
THEN IT IS
DONE.”
HUDSON TAYLOR,
FOUNDER OF CHINA
INLAND MISSION IN 1865
The first step is to PRAY.
Others have dreamed,
prayed, and acted. As
William Carey, the often
cited Father of Modern
Missions, writes:
“Expect great things from
God; attempt great things
for God.”
These two issues —
prayer and acting in faith
— may be the biggest barriers
for us to overcome
in the area of planting
new churches.
Changing our ministry
model by expecting and
attempting is not an easy
task. Thankfully there are
inspiring examples for us
to look to.
Indonesia is one such
example. Over the last
12 years, about 12,000 small church clusters have been
started — some of which have reproduced up to 16 times.
Thousands of people have come to Christ, and half of these
are estimated to have been baptized. The leaders of these
small churches have changed their model: discipling precedes
planting.
Let’s compare two different ministry models using the
metaphor of rabbits and elephants.
A mature female African elephant weighs three tons and has
a gestation of 22 months. At birth, a baby elephant weighs
260 lbs. An elephant is not ready to reproduce until it is 15
years old. The female will give birth every five years. Starting
with one female elephant, the estimate is that at the end of
five years there could be three elephants (one adult, one juvenile,
and one baby) for a total weight of approximately 10
tons — an impressive weight for three animals!
On the other hand, a female rabbit’s gestation period is about
one month, and it can breed within days of giving birth.
Furthermore, a female rabbit is able to have its first litter
when it is six months of age, and usually breed each month
thereafter. Following a five year cycle, the outcome is very
different from the elephant. If one female rabbit produces
three other females each month, at the end of the first year
there would be 37 females ready to breed by the start of the
second year. Using this formula we can estimate that at the
end of five years there would be 69,293,304 rabbits in total
(Source: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/scary.html).

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FELLOWSHIP
INTERNATIONAL
MISSION: CATALYZE
NATIONAL DISCIPLE-
MAKING MOVEMENTS
AMONG UNDER
REACHED PEOPLE.
Fellowship International exists to catalyze
Disciple-Making Movements in strategic
populations by empowering nationals.
The average rabbit weighs four pounds. Utilizing the previously
used formula, at the end of five years there would
be 34,647 tons of rabbits! Incredible!
I am not suggesting that “elephant churches” aren’t valuable
or that they fail to glorify God. They are wonderful!
However, my point is this: if we dream great dreams with
God and pray great prayers for God’s glory, then it may
follow that we must also change our actions. Carey did. He
left England and served God in India, where he started a
missions movement.
Fellowship International has adopted a new model and
is willing to try new things to help fulfill our dreams and
prayers. In August, all our missionaries will gather for a
Summit in Poland. Together we will learn, pray, dream,
talk, plan, and then return to our fields to act. Our hope
is Jonathan’s hope, who said to his armour bearer:
“Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder
the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
1 Samuel 14:6
With God’s provision, planting 1,000
churches in the lifetime of a missionary
is not beyond the realm of our
dreams, prayers, and actions.
— Dave Marttunen is Director of
Fellowship International.
VISION: PARTNERING
WITH NATIONALS FOR
KINGDOM IMPACT
Fellowship International personnel work
strategically among under-reached and
unreached peoples to catalyze ‘Disciple-Making
Movements’ (DMMs) and promote leadership
development by partnering with nationals for
evangelism, social justice, business and relief
initiatives to advance the Kingdom of Christ.
VALUES:
Discern, attuning to God
Catalyze, leading the way
Collaborate, building teams in partnership with
our churches, and others.
Empower, resourcing for mission
Multiply, cultivating disciple-makers

truth talk
Spring/Summer 2018
MARRIAGE
AND HUMAN
SEXUALITY
POLICY
by Steve Jones
TRUTH TALK: THEOLOGY AND TRENDS
During our Fellowship National
Conference (November 12-14,
2018) in Richmond, BC, our churches
will be voting to approve a new policy.
This new policy will replace the current
“Fellowship Marriage Policy”,
which was adopted February 22,2007.
The motivation for a new policy is
due to the societal and legal realities
that have transpired in Canada
since 2007. There is a definite need to
define Biblical marriage and address
gender identity issues. The new policy
in question has been developed over
a two-year process, which included a
task force that studied the subjects in
question and drafted the policy. This
team consisted of three pastors, three
professors, and three National Council
members. It has been vetted by pastors,
five Regional Directors, National
Directors, and Regional and National
Councils. The policy will be distributed
to our churches in the Fall 2018 for
consideration and adoption at our annual
Fellowship National Conference.
No policy is a perfect document, but
this policy is a solid attempt to define
our view of Biblical marriage and human
sexuality while seeking to protect
our churches and clergy.
The policy states that homosexual
practice is a violation of God’s definition
of human sexuality. It is contrary
to God’s created order and is behaviour
viewed in Scripture as a serious
violation of God’s basic moral laws.
Nowhere in Scripture does one find
any Biblical trajectory toward its
approval.
The policy seeks to address these
Biblical truths in a spirit of grace,
mercy, and kindness, emphasizing the
need for our churches to be safe places
for people to experience healthy, restored
relationships with God and others.
The church is called to affirm the
dignity of all people, treating everyone
with respect in grace-filled communities,
providing love, support, and
accountability.
The policy makes clear the official
position of the Fellowship concerning
the solemnization of marriage and
the result of a church or clergy acting
contrary to the Fellowship’s policy
statement on “Marriage and Human
Sexuality.”
— Steve Jones is President of
Fellowship National.
THE POLICY SEEKS TO ADDRESS THESE BIBLICAL TRUTHS IN A SPIRIT
OF GRACE, MERCY, AND KINDNESS, EMPHASIZING THE NEED FOR OUR
CHURCHES TO BE SAFE PLACES FOR PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE HEALTHY,
RESTORED RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD AND OTHERS.

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love extended
HOPE IN THE
MIDST OF CHAOS
by Valerie Heaton
The DR Congo has been wrought with violence and
war for decades; it permeates every aspect of life there.
Citizens continue to protest their corrupt President, and
are met with brutality in return. There is so much violence
happening on the streets that people are afraid to risk going
outside, even to go to church, for fear they might be caught
up in police conflict. In an attempt to keep the rest of the
world from seeing the truth, the government has gone so far
as to silence the people from reaching out on social media,
shutting down internet and mobile phone connections for
days and sometimes weeks at a time.
Fellowship International missionaries Apollo and Lois
Midigo serve in Goma, DR Congo, helping church leaders
preach the Gospel, teaching reconciliation and forgiveness,
and training pastors in
evangelism and missions.
The long history
of violence in the Congo
has left its citizens battered,
disillusioned,
and in desperate need
of the healing power of
the Gospel. Many pastors
who come to the
Midigos for help ask for
teaching from the Bible
on forgiveness and reconciliation,
so that they
can in turn teach their
congregations how to
deal with their wounds
from the past and fear in the present. Their next training
session focusses on training in war trauma counselling as
well as basic counselling skills to help victims of rape and
torture. They also provide training to chaplains who serve in
the military, prisons, schools, and universities that deal with
survivors of war.
Recently Apollo and Lois were approached by a pastor from
an area outside of Goma where violence is pervasive; he
had heard that they were distributing Bibles, which were
supplied through our recent Sowing the Seed appeal. He and
two other pastors from the area had only parts of select
books of the Bible — one had part of Mark, one had Job, and
the other had Deuteronomy — and were thrilled to receive
a full copy from the Midigos!
The Midigos need our prayer support as they continue in
their ministry in Goma. Please pray for God to continue to
keep them safe in the midst of ongoing violence, and for
a peaceful resolution to the political situation there. Pray
for their upcoming training sessions, and that God would
provide safety during their meetings. Pray also that God
would provide more Bibles for them to distribute to pastors
throughout the Congo.
Through the act of discipling and teaching pastors and chaplains
who then go on to disciple and teach others in their congregations
and communities, the Midigos are helping to build
God’s Kingdom in Congo — one life at a time.
— Valerie Heaton is Managing Editor of Thrive Magazine
and Communications Administrative Assistant for the
Fellowship National office.
LOVE EXTENDED: FAIR

12 / thrive Spring/Summer 2018
ESTABLISHING
NEW ROOTS
Canada has become home to people from a wide variety of cultures, providing a safe place for
them to establish new roots, build their families, and contribute to their new community.
Statistics Canada projects that by the year 2031, visible minorities living in Toronto will account
for 63 percent of the population. Oakville and Mississauga are two cities that are a part of the
Greater Toronto Area and each has particularly high concentrations of new immigrants. With
God’s leading, City Center Baptist Church (Mississauga) and Faith Baptist Church (Oakville)
are seeking to plant Arabic-speaking churches in their neighbourhoods in order to spread the
Gospel to new immigrants and Arabic-speaking Canadians.

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thrive / 13
STATISTICS CANADA PROJECTS THAT BY THE
YEAR 2031, VISIBLE MINORITIES LIVING IN
TORONTO WILL ACCOUNT FOR 63 PERCENT
OF THE POPULATION.
Faith Baptist Church, Oakville, ON
With a total population of 193,832, Oakville is a bustling community
that has an Arabic-speaking population of 4,635 (2.4%
of population). Faith Baptist Church, under the direction of
Pastor Les Clemens, is seeking to reach this population — which
is predominantly Muslim — through a new church plant. The
majority of those who attend Faith Baptist are non-Canadian in
ethnicity, a trend which has inspired the church to reach out to
the growing population of Arabic-speaking immigrants in their
region.
City Centre Baptist Church, Mississauga, ON
City Centre Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor
Deric Bartlett, has also felt the need to plant a church with the
intention of reaching out to the 29,900 Arabic-speaking peoples
living in the Mississauga area (4.1% of the overall population).
Pastor Deric sees this as an opportunity to make City Centre
reflect the community of Mississauga — diverse and multicultural.
These thousands of Arabic-speaking immigrants have
landed right on the church’s doorstep; City Centre doesn’t want
to waste this opportunity!
These two churches have great vision and tremendous opportunity.
It is our hope that we, as a Fellowship, can partner with
these churches and help support them in these two exciting
projects. Our goal is to raise a total of $60,000 so that we can
give $30,000 to each of these ministries.
The goal: $60,000 — $30,000 for
each church plant.
Please consider giving toward these important church planting
efforts and, in doing so, help to spread the Gospel to Arabicspeaking
peoples in the Oakville and Mississauga areas.

ground work
Spring/Summer 2018
7X7=1:
AN UPDATE
by Terry Cuthbert
Since the inception of the Fellowship, English churches across Canada have recognized francophone
Canada as one of their God-given mission fields just next door. Through their missionary
efforts, a francophone movement of Fellowship churches was born which today, numbering
around 80 congregations, is ably led by the francophone leadership of the Fellowship French
Region (AÉBÉQ). This mature movement exists within a mission field in which the number of
evangelicals is under 1%, thus still justifying our continuing assistance — but in a different form.
Since the beginning of 2015, the Fellowship has been encouraging partnerships between English
churches from across Canada and French reproducing congregations, their church planting projects,
or specific francophone regions with sparse Gospel presence. In the last three years, seventyfive
church partnerships have been established: Bramalea with Terrebonne-Mascouche; Forward,
Cambridge, ON with Saint-Jérôme; Stoneridge, Lower Sackville, NS with Saint-Léonard; Fort
Saskatchewan, AB with Oasis, Deux Montagnes; and First, Timmins, ON with the Abitibi Regional
Project, just to name a few.
GROUND WORK: FRANCOPHONE AND CHAPLAINCY MINISTRIES
What do these partnerships look like in real life? Terrebonne-Mascouche sent their youth down
to Brampton, ON to interact with the youth at Bramalea Baptist on their own turf. Ecclesia,
St Jérôme bought an old theatre in the heart of their mission field. Partners provided teams of
volunteer workers to help with the renovations. For several years now,
francophone church plants have been inviting their respective communities
to join them in showing acts of kindness to their neighbours. Teams
from partner churches needed to learn little French to participate in these
initiatives and yet leave a significant and lasting impression. New and
creative ways to express these partnerships are left to the imagination of
those involved in these cross-cultural but not too distant relationships.
— Terry Cuthbert serves as Francophone Mobilizer Coordinator.

thrive-magazine.ca thrive / 15
KARATE FOR
CHRIST CANADA
by Neil McGillivray
Recently at a Fellowship Chaplaincy training event
on “Apologetic Dialogue” with Reverend Dr Joe
Boot, I was sitting with our President Steve Jones
when he posed the question, “What are the obstacles
that exist in our current ministries?”
When it was my turn to share, I expressed that one of
my biggest obstacles in ministry is getting Fellowship
Baptist Churches to open their doors to our Karate
for Christ Ministry. Our start-up location at Cedar
Creek Church, a Fellowship church in Cambridge,
ON, is still operating but all our other locations meet
in AGC, PAOC and Christian Reformed churches.
My mentor, Reverend Gervis Black, always said, “The
church exists for those who aren’t in it.”
Karate for Christ Canada is a para-church organization
that comes alongside the local church to reach youth
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through teaching
Karate. We have had great success in reaching youth
that otherwise would never step foot into a church. At
some of our locations the classes are made up of 95%
unchurched and unsaved youth from the surrounding
community. At every class we teach a Bible lesson
on topics like who God is, who Jesus is, who the Holy
Spirit is, the authority of Scripture, and prayer. Along
with Bible lessons, we require scripture memory work
for each belt level and present certificates and a wooden
sword to students who read the entire Bible. Please
take advantage of the synergy afforded by church and
para-church partnerships. We exist to serve the church
— Fellowship churches included!
— Neil McGillivray is a Fellowship Chaplain and
Executive Director/Senior Instructor at Karate For
Christ Canada.
“THE CHURCH EXISTS FOR THOSE
WHO AREN’T IN IT.”

Spring/Summer 2018
CHURCH PLANTING
UPDATES
UP TO SPEED: REGIONAL UPDATES
CHURCH PLANTING BOOM
When asked about the current state of church planting in the FEB
Central Region, I am so encouraged to tell the story of what God is
doing.
Currently in FEB Central we have 37 churches in “church plant” status
and we have an additional 19 churches at some point in incubation.
That is a big change for us and it has taken years! Today the
majority of our churches when they approach capacity are asking
“where and how do we plant?” rather than, “where and how big
do we build?” There have been a number of contributing factors
that were and are intentional.
First, we communicate the need for church planting at
National and Regional events. I remember the first President’s
Address that Steve Jones made. He said, “We need to become
a church planting machine!”
Second, we celebrate our church planters and their wins. It
doesn’t take long before what you celebrate takes root in
your DNA.
Third, we have established good systems for recruiting,
assessing, equipping, and coaching church planters.
These help us to direct people into ministry roles that
fit and to avoid many potential pitfalls.
Lastly, we relentlessly pursue the vision to see all of
our churches engaged in church planting in some
way in order to reach the millions of lost people
in our Region. Church planting is one of the three
main focuses of FEB Central, alongside church
health and leadership
development.
— Tom Haines is
Director of Church
Planting for the FEB
Central Region.
30% GROWTH
BY 2022
IN OUR
FELLOWSHIP
PACIFIC REGION
By 2022, Fellowship Pacific will “… innovatively
develop relationships and
resources that propel every church in
Fellowship Pacific to be accountable to
their Gospel mandate.”
One of our strategies of this vision will be
the addition of 30% new congregations.
This will primarily occur through church
plants, satellites, and new additions. For this
to occur we need healthy churches developing
healthy church planters leading healthy
church plants.
Our plan? Prayer. Clarifying our values and philosophy.
Gauging our current church health and
reproduction. Finding resources. Working through
our churches. Supporting new planters and church
plants. Partnering. Reproducing.
“We need pastors and churches who care more about
their children than they do about themselves. The
only way to do that is to make babies.” (Bob Roberts Jr.,
The Multiplying Church)
— Todd Chapman coordinates
Church Planting and Multi-Ethnic
Ministries and serves on the
Church Lifecycles Team for the
Fellowship Pacific Region.

thrive-magazine.ca
thrive / 17
ESTABLISHING A VILLAGE IN OUR
FELLOWSHIP PRAIRIES REGION
September, 2017 saw the launch of Village Calgary in the Fellowship Prairies Region.
Pastor Vinh Doan and his wife, Laura, felt the Lord leading them to serve in Calgary,
and He lead them to The Fellowship. Of course, the Lord did this right around the same
time that He was stirring in the hearts of our Westbourne church to close and “re-boot”.
Wouldn’t you know it? This also aligned with Village Church’s (Pacific Region) vision to
plant a satellite in Calgary.
An average attendance of 240, another staff position (welcome, Pastor Nathan!), the beginning
of a youth ministry (lay-lead), and His provision for the location of the church
are examples of some early highlights.
You can hear the very Mind of God now, can’t you?
Why stop at a miraculous story of how this church came into being? Let’s keep it going, with an ongoing miraculous
story of it currently ‘being’.
He’s that kind of God.
— Mark Breitkreuz is Director of the Fellowship Prairies Region.
Pastor Vinh and Laura Doan,
with Grace and Aubrey.
THE ANTIOCH MODEL IN OUR
AÉBÉQ (FRENCH) REGION
Based on the model of the Antioch church presented in Acts 13, we are
adopting this inspirational template for all our churches, which generates
a new dream. In that passage, we see a mature church that radiates
Christ and has several gifted leaders. Moreover, listening to the Holy
Spirit, this church never hesitated to send workers to unreached areas.
Its most elementary definition would read: “An Antioch church is a
healthy church on mission who is getting stronger, who equips its people,
radiates Christ, and who plants churches by the Gospel movement.”
A church:
• is radiating, doing evangelism work in a contextualised manner,
developing missionary initiatives which aim to reach its town, a
target group, an unreached area, or country for Christ.
• is reinforcing itself when it is aiming to live out the Gospel in all
aspects of its life.
• is equipping its people when it is training, influencing and deploying
leaders according to their call and vocation.
• is planting churches when its sends workers to start a new
church, because of a missionary initiative which grew and
multiplied.
In church planting, an established church becomes an Antioch
church, acting as a mother church for a plant project. Such a church
takes the entire responsibility to go through all the steps of pregnancy,
until the daughter church reaches maturity.
That’s the reason why the focus and care of AÉBÉQ will be emphasized
towards Antioch churches, which have
evangelism projects aimed at church planting.
Is it not true that mothers who take good care
of themselves will produce healthy babies?
— Jean–Pierre Gagné is Director of Church
Planting for the AÉBÉQ Region.
EAST COAST START-
UPS AND RENEWALS
It’s true that in many rural places in our Region you
can’t go 20 kms without passing two or more church
buildings. A visitor recently asked a man who was
painting a church in the center of town what time the
service was on Sunday. The man replied, “Oh no by’
we’s don’t meet for church here anymore. Actually
none of d’ese villages has a preacher in em right now.”
There may be a lot of church buildings, but there is
a desperate need for a movement of Gospel renewal
and church plants. Many of these congregations
have moved far from a Gospel that has the ability
to save lives. Others have simply become buildings
that are used for occasional weddings or community
get-togethers.
We are beginning to see some church plant and church
renewal traction in our Region. There are 15 church
planters and leaders who meet monthly to work
through what planting in our Region looks like. We are
seeing the Fellowship’s two recent plants in our Region
making significant strides into their rural villages as
they get asked to serve in various roles in the communities
— even in coming alongside a couple of dying
congregations to see Gospel renewal happen!
Recognizing the need for both planting and renewal
movements, PAXnorth Church is hoping to raise
$30,000 a year over the next ten years to train twenty
pastors and planters who will impact our Region. Join
with us as we pray and work
towards a Gospel renewal in
our Region.
— Brad Somers is lead pastor
of PAXnorth Church in Halifax,
NS.

Vitality Te
18 / thrive Spring/Summer 2018
AWAKENING
THE LOCAL
CHURCH:
UPDATE ON THE
CONGREGATIONAL
VITALITY PATHWAY
“…I (Jesus) will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18b)
God continues to build His
church for His glory.
Since 2016, starting in Quebec and
now also in FEB Central, an exciting
work has begun to strengthen
Fellowship churches, using the principles
of the Congregational Vitality
Pathway – an approach developed by
the US-based Evangelical Covenant
Church. The CV Pathway has been
utilized in many different countries
and contexts. We are excited about
its potential to help re-invigorate local
churches across Canada.
The CV Pathway contrasts with typical
church health strategies because
of its preparation period of improving
the culture of a church before
initiating change within the church.
“Preparing the soil” in this way
demands more time and effort than
jumping directly to assessments and
solutions. However, the focus on understanding
and improving the culture
within the body will ultimately
improve the quality of the eventual
harvest.
In the last few months, the principles
of CV Pathway have been shared
with many church leaders, including
a workshop at FNC 2017. So far,
four churches in AÉBÉQ and five in
FEB Central have decided to embrace
this revitalization approach which
invites a coach to journey with the
church for this season. While the CV
Pathway takes about 18 months, the
early reports have been encouraging.
The leadership teams have been
encouraged and excited about the
initial stages of the approach. Each
VERITAS workshop that kicks off the
journey with the whole church has
been spirit-filled and energizing, as
the church prepares to seek the Lord’s
face and guidance. One of the foundational
principles of the Pathway is
the belief that God will provide for
the ministry to which He calls His
church. Part of the approach prepares
congregatıonal v
VITALITY IS NOT A PROGRAM; IT IS A PATHWAY…a transformative
that occurs over time. With these excellent resources and supportiv
along the way, many established churches are discovering hope as
congregational vitality pathway. The answers are not in the informa
in this brochure; the answers are in the conversations you have abo
information as the Holy Spirit leads and guides.
VIM Conversation
with the Pastor and
Church Leadership
UP TO SPEED: REGIONAL UPDATES
DO YOU REALLY WANT YOUR
NEXT TWO YEARS OF MINISTRY
TO BE LIKE THE LAST TWO?
Co-op Learning Community
Each pastor and Vitality Team
leader will participate in a
learning community. The group
convenes to share progress,
praises, and problems that
we can mutually address.
Participation helps the church
to move along the Pathway at
the most profitable pace.
Telling
Congre
A works
the lang
includin
churche
mission
will set

thrive-magazine.ca thrive / 19
the church to better discern and respond
to His work in and through us.
If your heart longs to see your church
re-awakened to its mission with new
passion and vigour, the CV Pathway
is an approach worth considering.
Churches of any size or age can become
more healthy and missional by focusing
more on where God is already at work
in and around the church.
— Andrew Hurrell lives in Ottawa, ON,
and is an independent church health
consultant who has been retained by
AÉBÉQ and FEB Central to promote
revitalization in the local church. You
can reach him at ahurrell@lighthousecom.org.
ıtalıty pathway
process
e coaching
they walk the
tion presented
ut this
am
Relational Covenant
Service of
Consecration
Joshua 3:5
You shall know the truth
and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32
Strategic Ministry
Planning Team &
Implementation
the Truth about
gational Vitality
hop that introduces
uage of vitality,
g the four types of
s and the ten healthy
al markers. The truth
you free.
Empowering People,
Inspiring Change
A workshop that offers tools
for change management,
including helpful constructs
for your leadership and
church. All living things
change.
A Congregational
Vitality Assessment Tool
A congregational assessment
that measures the currently
reality and trajectory of your
church using the 10 Healthy
Missional Markers.
A Unifying Approach
to Strategic Ministry
Planning
A workshop that guides
the Strategic Ministry
Planning team in the
discovery, development and
deployment of a ministry
plan. Jesus had a strategic
plan.

20 / thrive Spring/Summer 2018
COME-BACK CHURCHES
UP TO SPEED: REGIONAL UPDATES
EXPERIENCING GOD AT WORK
Immanuel Fellowship Baptist Church, Abbotsford, BC
How did this happen? What do we do now? How will we recover from this?
Those might have been questions mulling around the heads of the leadership team and church family
at Immanuel Fellowship Baptist Church in Abbotsford, BC, just over two years ago. Their lead pastor
had resigned. Three out of five of their other staff members left over the next five months. They
were in the midst of planning a whole new vision for the church and suddenly all that work came to an abrupt halt. They
lost three board members. Over a short period of time their congregation plummeted from 500 to 200. And from all that,
their finances suffered greatly. The future looked uncertain, but those still there didn’t lose hope and they had the desire to
move forward. They began to pray, formed a search committee, and trusted that God would provide. The leadership decided
to find an interim pastor first, someone who could come and help them heal and walk with them as they worked through
painful issues.
They didn’t know who God was already preparing for them, and soon their paths crossed. Pastor Dennis Bunio and his
wife Dianne felt God calling them to move from their church in Armstrong to the Lower Mainland area. They were looking
for an associate position, but graciously accepted the interim role at Immanuel. Then Dennis began to do what he does
best — connect and encourage people. He used his experience as a lead pastor to work with the leadership team, initiating
a process to develop a whole new vision that went deeper than the previous one. The church was seeing God at work in so
many ways: new people began to attend and others came back, church attenders stepped up and took risks to serve in new
ways, and a number of people in the church began to
give sacrificially, which provided them the financial
means to continue to move forward. The leadership
team stepped up and eventually they hired Dennis
as their Associate Pastor and added an Immerse student
(overseeing Youth Ministry) to their staff.
In March of 2017, Immanuel welcomed Kyle
Corbin as their new Lead Pastor and he and his
wife Amy moved into the community. Kyle
and Dennis, along with the leadership team,
completed their work on the new vision
and rolled it out to the church. March also
brought a new worship leader to the staff
team. Last fall, they celebrated as their
Immerse student graduated and came on
staff full time as their Youth Pastor.
— David Horita is Regional Director of
the Fellowship Pacific Region.
PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE:
Kyle Corbin, Lead Pastor, Immanuel Baptist, Abbotsford, BC
Coming in to a church that had been going through what
Immanuel had been experiencing is quite a challenge, but an
exciting one. While we developed the new vision, I focused on
preaching and building trust with the congregation. By God’s grace
we now have a healthy church, leadership team, and staff. Our
congregation is growing (we are now between 275-300 on a Sunday).
But, even more exciting than that, we are seeing the amazing lifetransformation
that only comes from individuals encountering Jesus.
Since I began in March, we’ve seen a number of children and high
school students decide to follow Jesus and we’ve had 7 adult and youth
baptisms. We’ve seen people leaving lives of addiction, individuals with
incredible life challenges experiencing freedom — and it’s all happening
because God is on the move. If there’s one thing I know for sure it’s this:
God hasn’t forgotten Immanuel; in fact, I believe He plans to use us to see
His Kingdom come in Abbotsford as it is in Heaven.

thrive-magazine.ca
thrive / 21
CONGREGATIONAL
VITALITY PATHWAY
IN THE FEB CENTRAL
REGION
We are truly thrilled to be able to offer the
Congregational Vitality Pathway as a process for
church revitalization in our Region. The combination
of church-wide engagement, on-site facilitating, formation
of a vitality team, and ongoing coaching enhances
effectiveness and Spirit-led change. Our prayer is to see
many of our churches utilize CVP for spiritual renewal,
plus raise up our own CV Pathway leaders to be used in
our own churches. Andrew Hurrell, CV Pathway certified
coach and church consultant,
is a gift to us and we appreciate
his service and ministry to our
churches.
— Bob Flemming is Regional
Director of the FEB Central
Region.
CVP IN THE AÉBÉQ
REGION
Over the past two years we at AÉBÉQ have been creating
a CVP Field Team with the purpose of encouraging
and supporting our churches to become both
healthy and missional. The tools and approach of
the Congregational Vitality Pathway program have
served as our starting point. This spiritual approach
involves both church leaders and members in the
process of asking God to reveal the portrait of health
for their church. Our conviction is that a lasting
vitality change in a church must begin with a true
health portrait. One of the first spiritual fruits that
we have seen so far is a change in the relationship
culture amongst the leaders
first, and eventually amongst
the members.
— Louis Bourque is the
Regional Director of the
AÉBÉQ Region.
A CHURCH THAT’S REACHING —
ALL THE WAY TO CUBA!
Kinmount Baptist Church, Kawartha Lakes, ON
Kinmount Baptist Church, located in the north end of the City of Kawartha Lakes, is a small church having an impact
in their community – and in Cuba!
Kids’ Camp in Kinmount had 30 children registered – 25 were unchurched kids from the community. Kids’ Camp
Sunday service followed, where 22 campers and 12-15 parents/grandparents came out to hear the Gospel. Kids Zone
will begin on Sunday mornings in September and all the children who attended the summer camp are invited.
The church is continuing to grow spiritually and numerically. Recently four new members were added and Pastor
Dave Sedore expects that another three will be welcomed soon. Over the past two years they have had 11 baptisms
and are anticipating at least two more before the year-end.
Kinmount has also planted a church in Cuba! Pastor Dave met Elieser Lopez-Hernandez a number of years ago on a
missions trip. At the time, Elieser was in seminary. Pastor Dave kept in touch and had a strong impact on his spiritual
growth. Now Elieser is planting a church in Madruga Mayabeque and is on Kinmount’s payroll. The church has
short-term mission trips planned for October and January to help remodel a house purchased to be turned into a
church building.
Another note of praise: Pastor Elieser recently attended seminary classes in the south end of Cuba where Fellowship
pastor, Steve West, was teaching. The seminary paid all of the church planter’s expenses so that he could attend.
God is good!
Let’s pray for Kinmount as they reach out.
— Bob Flemming is Regional Director of the FEB Central Region.

Spring/Summer 2018
HOW TO PRAY FOR
A CHURCH PLANTER by Valerie Heaton
There are many wonderful things one experiences
as a part of our Fellowship family: community,
support, guidance, and the privilege to be able to
pray for one another. Our National office publishes
a monthly Prayer Partners bulletin, which acts as a
guide for those who wish to be “in the know” about
specific prayer requests from various Fellowship ministries.
However, one ministry that isn’t always included
in the monthly guide is that of church planters.
Those planting churches do so by trusting in God’s
provision, guidance, and faithfulness each and every
day, waiting on Him to make headway in their communities.
Many church plants are located in spiritually
desolate areas such as French-speaking Quebec
(where less than 1% of the population identify as
Evangelical), which can feel like an unwinnable
battle. And yet these church planters and their teams
keep on going in spite of the difficulty.
Have you ever wondered how to pray more effectively
for a church planter? We’ve reached out to
some of our very own from across Canada to give
you an idea of what to pray for specifically. We spoke
with some who are still struggling to gain financial
independence as a new church, and asked for prayer
that God would bring the funding needed to be able
to be self-sustaining. Others asked that we pray for
their members to have courage in their faith in their
individual workplaces — that the Gospel would be
proclaimed boldly and that people would hear it, accept
it, and live it. Many asked for prayer for the Spirit
to lead them where He wants them to go, and that
they would continue to glorify Christ in every facet of
their church. Some with military connections asked
for prayer for those whose family members were serving
overseas, that they would have strength and lean
on the Lord for provision and comfort. Others asked
for prayer that church planting teams would see the
sacrifice often required of them as a gift instead of a
loss — that they would be ready, willing, and excited
to give what is needed to expand God’s Kingdom.
Those working in the AÉBÉQ (French) Region reported
that there is the possibility of beginning some
Muslim-focused church plants in the near future, and
asked for prayer that God’s hand would be evident in
shaping the future of this ministry.
These are but some of the ways we can uplift our
Fellowship church planters in prayer. Please join with
us in bathing our church plants and their leaders with
constant prayer, asking God to bless their ministries
and go before them, preparing hearts to receive Him.
— Valerie Heaton is Managing Editor of Thrive
Magazine and Communications Administrative
Assistant at the Fellowship National office.
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