IMPACTING PEOPLE FOR CHRIST
The Missions Committee is made up of a group of volunteers whose interests lie in helping local and world mission efforts through encouragement, prayer and financial aid.
At each meeting, updates are provided on missions and missionaries. The committee is also involved in preparing an annual missions budget and in distributing undesignated funds at the year’s end. Prayer for missionaries and their work is an essential part of each meeting.
The Missions Committee provides leadership and communication services to missionaries involved with UB churches and Karis Global Partnerships and to missionaries from Parkwood Gardens Church.
One priority is putting a “face” on mission work—that is, making missionaries and their work known to the people of Parkwood Gardens. This might include having missionaries speak at the church or giving mission news on the bulletin board in the foyer or in weekly emails.
Our desire is that everyone at Parkwood participate in missions—by giving to missions, praying for missions or by going on mission trips.
The Missions Committee is looking for people who have a heart for missions to be a part of its team.
Parkwood Gardens Church is happy to join with other congregations of the United Brethren Church in Canada in impacting the country of Haiti for Jesus! The denomination’s Global Outreach Leadership Team (GOLT) supports various needs in Haiti through Pastor Supreme, superintendent of the UB churches in Haiti.
We also partner with Karis Global Partnerships (HQ in Kitchener, ON) to provide support for children, families and communities in Haiti, particularly to those at risk and those with disabilities. In Haiti, Karis works with UBIC churches and a local Haitian representative. They sponsor children, give students in UBIC schools accessible education (grades 1-6), teach disability awareness and hold children’s nutrition programs.
Haiti has experienced numerous problems recently. Gangs have caused much violence and fear, there has been political unrest and flooding occurred in 2023. Canadian teams which used to travel to Haiti almost every year for construction work and medical aid are currently on pause until the situation improves there.
Parkwood Gardens is one of the UB churches supporting the Glunt family in Thailand. Brian and Rachel Glunt and their 3 children—Lucy, Lily and Curtis—moved to Thailand in August 2016. They are currently living in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. Since arriving in Thailand, two more daughters have been added to the family—Maddie and Mia.
The Glunts’ purpose in Thailand is to reach the Buddhist people for Christ and to help the church in Chiang Rai. Earlier years for the Glunts were devoted to language learning in order to have meaningful conversations with the Thai people. The Good Soil Community Center was later built to be able to minister to the Thai people through classes, meals and celebrations.
Currently, there are classes in languages, music, baking, morals, creative inventions, crafts and art. A new sports program has also been added. Friday night films and snacks, a meal once a month for the neighbourhood and a meal once a week with teens are also part of the schedule. Christmas is celebrated yearly with children singing and dancing, a meal and a talk from a local pastor. Visiting people in the neighbourhood, praying with them and helping them with their needs have become an important part of the ministry as well. The Thai people see those who work at the GSCC as “people who care”.
According to Brian, although Thailand is called “The Land of Smiles”, it is spiritually dark. The Glunts are working as part of a team with others and their prayer is that God would prepare the hearts of the people of Chiang Rai and would strengthen His church that is already present in the city.
Sarah Trouborst works with Power to Change as the director of the Catalytic campuses ministry. A Catalytic campus is one with no staff worker at the campus. Sarah has ten people under her who are directly involved with the campuses.
Power to Change wants to help people know Jesus and experience His power to change the world. On campus, they long for the day when no student will graduate without engaging in the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Sarah began working with Power to Change in 2013. She loves helping students dream big about changing the campus, being a disciple to tomorrow’s leaders as they grow to live Christ-centered lives and introducing students to Jesus for the first time.
September is always a busy time to connect with students on campus as they try to find a Christian group and church in the area. Power to Change helps with that. As well, a weekend called “Summit” is held in the fall to help students make friends and grow in their relationship with God through teaching, worship and prayer. Sarah coordinates the main sessions and is a speaker there. She has also done inner city mission work in the summer with Power to Change.
Sarah is married to Tim Trouborst and has two young sons—Espen and Hart.
Lowell and Gail Deering were born in western Canada, but Lowell spent his high school years in Ontario. They first went overseas with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in 1988, and served with MAF in Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia for 25 years. They have two sons, Caleb and Tobin.
Mission Aviation Fellowship is a non-denominational technical mission organization with offices in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia. Its team members are people from about 60 countries. They use technical tools to serve needy people in remote communities around the world. MAF Canada is registered as a Canadian charity and employs about 50 families who serve in a variety of countries using their skills as pilots, maintenance engineers, educators, administrators, and IT professionals. MAF Canada missionaries raise their own financial support to provide for living expenses while serving.
In the early years, after World War II, MAF primarily used aviation and radio communication technologies to “open” vast areas of Africa, South America, and the Asia-Pacific to the gospel. Many of the early church planters travelled in MAF aircraft to reach their remote ministry areas, and were able to communicate through high-frequency radio networks set up by MAF.
In the 21st century, MAF continues to provide aviation transport logistics for many isolated communities, but there is increasing emphasis on communications, education, and information networking technologies. MAF works in partnership with over 1500 different missions and non-government organizations. Despite the changing technologies used to support many different remote people, the vision remains the same. For the communities they serve in, MAF missionaries seek to be the agents of physical and spiritual transformation in the name of Jesus.
Lowell and Gail have been able to be a part of this work for 35+ years. Lowell was trained as a pilot, maintenance engineer, and aviation safety specialist. He has used these skills to serve people in remote parts of Papua New Guinea and North Australia, as well as providing oversight and administration to the organization at country and regional levels. Gail has used her skills as an educator to home school their two sons, as well as to provide quality educational experiences to children of indigenous and international parents at a variety of locations.
Lowell and Gail are presently based in Guelph. Lowell serves at the MAF Canada head office, where he is responsible for oversight of Canadian operations, as well as the recruitment of Canadian technical staff. MAF Canada operations include a flight program in Angola, West Africa, and a pilot training program in Alberta, known as the Prairie Aviation Training Centre. This requires a large amount of international and domestic travel for him. Gail provides learning therapy for clients in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. This has given her opportunity to speak into the lives of Canadian students, drawing from her many years of accumulated practice and experience.