A COVID-19 update from Craig Kraft, Outreach Canada's Executive Director.
To download a PDF version of this update please click here.

April 2020 COVID-19 Update

April 3 2020

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  Lamentations 3:22,23

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. We are finding ourselves in uncharted waters these days, and we are grateful to have you standing with us. We need your help to weather this storm.

On March 13, we enacted an OC COVID Response plan. Since that date, we have suspended all travel, training events, face to face group meetings, and the use of public transportation. Our office is closed to all but essential administrative staff who can work in isolated workspaces. But our ministry carries on.

We have been working as a “virtual team” for several years, and our staff is accustomed to using Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, and other tools to have virtual connections with people around the world. For most of us, we have been able to pivot quickly and adjust to our changing environment. While we have had to suspend training events, we are adjusting to more one-on-one coaching, discipleship, and serving as agents of hope wherever we can. Our team is creative, and we are developing some new online ministry resources that will be available soon, including online chaplaincy, discipleship resources, and ministry training. Additionally, many of our team members are now writing blogs, teaching online, and facilitating live worship, prayer, or Bible study meetings.

Our COVID-19—Response Plan will help us ride out the storm. We are adapting our ministry plan and making temporary adjustments to reduce our expenses and keep as many people working as possible. We are encouraged that our income was only down 5% in the first quarter of 2020.

We need you now! The following are some suggestions of how you can continue to partner with us through the challenging days ahead.

• Continue to pray for us.
  • Our Vision is to see Canada transformed by the presence of Christ in the lives of people. Canadians need Christ today!
  • Our Ministry Strategy is to:
    • Recognize critical needs and opportunities
    • Respond with innovation and relevance
    • Rally the body of Christ toward cooperative solutions.
  • Please pray that our eyes and ears would be open to see the new needs and opportunities as we live through this pandemic crisis. Everything around us is changing, and the way we respond needs to change. We are asking the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom into how we can respond in innovative and relevant ways. We are also leveraging our extensive partnerships and the use of technology to learn and encourage others through these challenging times.
  • Pray that some of our current fundraising efforts would yield fruit.
• Share your dreams and inspired ideas with us. God builds His Kingdom through the Body of Christ, not just through pastors and other leaders. You are a part of our extended ministry team. God may have given you ideas that would be a benefit to our ministry and the ministry of our many partners. Let us know your suggestions for discipling our nation in times of personal isolation.
• Share your stories. We learn a lot from each other. Your stories of how God is using you in this Crisis are an inspiration and encouragement to us! We all need to hear more positive stories.
• Connect with us. Reach out to the individual missionaries you support with a word of encouragement. Ask how they are doing and how their ministry is changing. Share about your family and let them know specifics of how they can pray for you.
• Continue to support us financially. We know that some of you will have to reduce or suspend your financial support to Outreach Canada Ministries. We want you to know that we understand, and we support you in caring for your own needs and the needs of your families right now. If you must make a change to your giving, please consider reducing your support before suspending it completely. We do appreciate the sacrifice that many of you make to continue to support us through this time. We are grateful beyond words.

If you have any questions about Outreach Canada Ministries or our COVID-19 Response Plan, please reach out to me by email (ckraft@outreach.ca). We are doing all that we can to weather this storm together. We will reach out to you again next month to provide an update of how God is answering our prayers and how we are adjusting to this new ministry environment.

In His grip,

Craig Kraft
Executive Director
Outreach Canada Ministries