Spying Out The Land

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I've just returned from a 5 day trip to Ontario. While I'm a westerner at heart, every time I'm there, I'm reminded about the significant place that Ontario and Toronto in particular has in our nation.  Ontario is our largest province with over 13 million Canadians.  Almost half of them live in the Greater Toronto Area.  Ontario is a centre of political and economic power not to mention a social and cultural leader.  

I felt a bit like one of the 12 spies from Numbers 13 as I walked up both Bay and Yonge street on my way to my hotel.  I kept looking up at office towers and thinking about what the view would be like from the very top.  I expect that I would look smaller than a grasshopper from the top floor of any one of those buildings.  

The height of the office towers in Toronto is really meaningless in light of the significant spiritual, philosophical and social challenges that await.  Without a doubt there are giants in the land!  It would be easy to be overwhelmed, discouraged and to take the stance that the challenge is too big, and that would be completely the wrong position to take. 

What happens in Ontario eventually becomes the norm across Canada.  This is why we must invest in the leaders of Ontario through providing intentional and purposeful pastoral ministry.  Over the past 8 years God has helped us to establish meaningful relationships with political leaders across 3 western provinces using the ministry of presence.  Simply put, we show up and we build relationships.  Those relationships become platforms of ministry where we are able to serve, speak and engage with leaders around the most important issues of life and leadership.  

7 years ago, I walked the grounds of Queens Park with a group of friends who also believed that God was calling us to establish Leading Influence there.  We prayed around the buildings asking God to give us every place where we set our foot, expecting that we would see Him answer in due time.  I believe that the time to see the fulfilment of that act of faith is NOW  and so we are investing heavily in terms of time, energy and resources to see a full time chaplaincy established in Ontario in 2015.

We need your help to make this happen.  

If you would like to sow into Ontario, we would greatly appreciate it!  If you would like to do that through supporting our IronMan of Golf or simply through a donation through our secure donor portal or by giving through cheque or online banking, we are grateful for your support.