Photo: OC's last three Executive Directors: Chad Bruneski, Craig Kraft, Gerry Kraft
On November 21st, I had the privilege of joining Outreach Canada to celebrate its fortieth anniversary as a Mission in Canada. The theme of the evening was Thanksgiving, and they had a fun program with videos, live presentations, and virtual interviews interspersed with worship, prayer, and the commissioning of Chad Bruneski as the new Executive Director.
Outreach Canada was launched in 1984 with a vision to reengage Canadian evangelicals in church planting and evangelism. They focused on partnerships with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and several denominations as they researched the health and spread of the evangelical church in Canada. Their early research showed declining attendance and stagnation. Canada needed healthy churches if they were going to plant new churches. Their vision shifted toward discipleship, renewal, and revitalization to “Empower churches to Grow and Plant.”
In the following decades, Outreach Canada has continued to build partnerships and advance their vision of serving leaders and discipling nations. The ministry has grown to nearly one hundred staff and volunteers nationwide who serve in many different ways. The Celebration featured video interviews with pastors and other leaders who have been a part of OC’s ministry or impacted by it. They also featured a panel discussion with the leaders of their Diaspora, Marketplace, and Missionary Member Care teams, who shared some stories about how OC is serving and impacting the church.
The highlight of the night was Chad Bruneski's commissioning as Outreach Canada’s new Executive Director. Former Directors Gerry and Craig Kraft were both on hand to participate in the commissioning and added to the celebration. Chad concluded the evening with a brief address and challenge to support the Ministry of Outreach Canada.
Four things stood out to me in the celebration. First, God has honored the faithfulness of OC’s leadership and expanded their tent to include ministry in eleven languages and in every province. Second, OC partners well with others. From its earliest beginning, Outreach Canada hasn’t launched into ministry alone; it has forged partnerships and networks to multiply ministry effectiveness, reach, and responsiveness. Third, Outreach Canada has found an effective ministry strategy that recognizes needs, finds innovative and contextually relevant responses and rallies partners to go with them. Finally, OC gives all the glory to God. There is a great honor and respect for their leaders, but any success they experience as a team is because of God’s faithfulness.
The evening was live-streamed, and the video can be viewed here.