Outreach Canada - 2023 Annual Report


LeaderSHIFT Team
June 24 2024

Good News vs. Headlines

The latest Canadian Census has reported that the percentage of Canadians who identify as Christians is in rapid decline. We have also seen Christian church attendance diminishing in the last ten years.  This is discouraging news for pastors, missionaries, and other Canadian Christians who have hopes of seeing our nation transformed by the presence of the Gospel.

Teresa wondered what she could do. Confined by pandemic restrictions she started studying the Bible with friends online. She started with some local friends in Vancouver and as they invited others, the ministry grew.  In two years, God used Teresa to start over 300 Bible studies in five countries.

Before there were Christian churches, Jesus empowered and commissioned his followers to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

GOD IS TRANSFORMING LIVES

In Acts 13 the Holy Spirit called out Paul and Barnabas and they were sent out as missionaries.  The Bible is full of stories of people who were called by God to be part of His mission. Our mission has not changed in two thousand years.  Throughout history we have seen seasons of Christian growth and decline. The challenge to every follower of Christ has not changed.  We must share the good news of Jesus with others so they too can become followers of Jesus Christ.

We invite you to prayerfully consider what you can do to be, make and multiply disciples of Jesus.

looking down from above on a person standing with an arrow in front of them

GOD HAS CALLED US, WHAT WILL WE DO?

Outreach Canada missionaries recognize our calling to serve in the complex demographics of a post-Christian nation.  As the progressive social environment in Canada becomes more hostile toward biblical Christian morality, beliefs, and practices, we must become experts in loving and serving well so we may instill hope for the future and represent Christ positively in our nation. Like Teresa, we are using our unique gifts to serve and respond to needs in the community, academy, church, missions, and workplace.  

Our family of ministries is  united in our vision of serving the Canadian church and discipling our nation.  The challenge is too big to be done alone.  We partner with churches, ministries, and individuals, recognizing that we are stronger when we work together.  The Apostle Paul describes the church as a body made up of different parts, but each part has a unique contribution to the whole.  Not every part is a hand or an eye, but each part is essential to the body (1 Corinthians 12).  Not everyone is called to be like Teresa, but we all have a contribution to make in the Body of Christ. 

2023 INCOME & EXPENSES

Bar chart showing 2023 Income for OC

THANK YOU!

As the chart above displays, the majority of funds (68.5%) received by Outreach Canada Ministries are from individual donors and the churches and denominations that partner with us in our "Great Commission" focus.  We are so grateful for faithful supporters and thank God daily for His provision through them.

Bar chart show 2023 Expenses for OC 

A FAMILY OF MINISTRIES with ONE PURPOSE - MAKING DISCIPLES

  • Administration: Includes our office expenses, finance department, research, technology and communications teams.
  • Canada Ministries: Coaching and training pastors, serving churches, student ministry, and responding to local church needs. We work with individuals, churches, and denominations to encourage disciple multiplication in every part of Canada. Promoting models for discipleship that focus on simplicity, accessibility, and multiplication with the goal of seeing a movement of discipleship in our country.
  • Diaspora Ministries: Working with cross-cultural leaders, churches, and ministries in Canada, we promote evangelism and discipleship of every Canadian. This includes the Loving Muslims Together Network and Simply Mobilizing Canada (Kairos).
  • Global Ministries: As part of the OC Global Alliance, we are involved in leadership and support for 29 international missionary staff and provide missions and leadership training internationally, including Rethink Development in Burundi .
  • Marketplace Ministries: Our workplace chaplains promote wellness in the workplace where they are often the only contact an employee has with Christianity.
  • Member Care Ministries: Through our MORE Network, we lead a partnership of over 40 mission organizations that pool resources to provide exceptional member care support to Canadian missionaries and their families serving internationally and at home.

God has not called everyone to be a pastor or missionary but He has instructed us all to be faithful with the time, talents, and treasure He has blessed us with. Will you join our OC family? Whether in prayer, service or sharing financially, your participation is essential to continued growth and ongoing ministry of Outreach Canada.

 

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Outreach Canada launched into 2022 with renewed hope and excitement. Like adventurers setting out on a journey, the restraints of the pandemic were fading away in the rear-view mirror and the future looked bright on the path before us.

OC’s family of ministries is growing and healthy. We are still growing as a ministry team. We added new staff to several of our teams in the last year, and we launched a new Disciple Multiplying Movements team toward the end of the year. We had one hundred and twelve staff engaged in ministry in Canada last year and twenty-nine global associates we help support internationally. OC has seen 178% growth in the past ten years. Our networks are growing as well. We continue to add new ministry partners to the MORE network, Loving Muslims Together Network, Diaspora Ministries, and in all of our other areas of ministry. We helped start one hundred and eighty discovery Bible studies in six Asian countries last year. We are excited to see great potential for future growth.

Our family and finances are strong. We have a great team of ministry and support personnel at OC who work well together and feel like we are a second family. Our Staff are considered experts in their fields of ministry, and we are recognized across Canada for our servant leadership in many areas. Our finances are stable. Fundraising is always a challenge, and we anticipate that it will be more challenging in years to come, but the Lord has blessed us with a great team of supporters that include foundations, businesses, churches, and hundreds of individuals. We are also blessed to own our office space, a great investment that continues to appreciate.

OC encountered a significant new obstacle in our path in November when our Executive Director, Craig Kraft, accepted a call to a new position in our Global Alliance. We spent the closing months of 2022 developing a succession plan for our Executive Director. Craig has served us well for 15 years and we have formed a Leader-SHIFT Team to guide us through this next season of change. Craig has been gradually shifting to his new role as the Director for Global Collaboration for the OC Global Alliance and his transition will be complete by the end of 2023.

We continue to follow the Lord’s leading as we determine our course for the future. We are a team of missionaries serving in the complex demographics of a post-Christian nation. Our ministries are tied to our vision of serving the Canadian church and making disciples of Jesus. We desire to see Canadians discipled to follow and serve Jesus in their homes, workplaces, and communities. Our times are changing and our ministry has changed a lot in the past decades, but we remain faithful to God’s calling and the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we stay the course for discipling our nation. Thank you for partnering with us in this journey. Your prayers and financial support provide the fuel and the foundation for OC to serve well.