OC Blog Digest: Prayer

We are excited to be launching the new year at Outreach Canada with a new blog series on PRAYER. As we focus on and explore the topic of prayer, we also want to provide helpful tools for you to use in your own life & ministry.

In this OC Digest you will find: 

• a prayer of lament for a returning missionary
• a centuries-old practice to add to your prayer life - a practice that is full of promise AND flexible and forgiving 
• 5 ways to pray for Outreach Canada in 2024 - including our search for a new Executive Director
• a list of our OC staff team's favourite prayer resources 
• 10 ways to pray for Diaspora in Canada

Lament of a Returning Missionary

Loosely based on Psalm 13, here is a prayer of lament of a returning missionary. 

"How long, Lord, will I miss our former HOME where I sobbed in frustration and prayed, pounding on heaven’s door to learn language(s) & culture, and how to buy food and learn to survive, let alone thrive? " ... Read More

Resolution of Delight

Did you make a new year’s resolution for 2024?

Many of us are afraid to make resolutions because we have failed too many times.

According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology (University of Scranton), 45% of Americans make resolutions – only 8% achieve them. 

If your desire is to make a resolution to know God better – but you are afraid of failure – let me introduce you to a centuries-old practice full of promise that’s flexible and forgiving ... Read More

5 Ways to Pray for Outreach Canada in 2024

Standing at the head of the trail that will wend through 2024, we at Outreach Canada can see clearly where we are right now, and perhaps even a step or two ahead.

But although we think we know where we’re going, very quickly the actual path disappears into the future - potentially full of twists and turns, unknowns that are unseen from where we stand, and opportunities and challenges alike, just around the corner.

None of us can know what the year ahead will bring, so would you join us in praying for Outreach Canada as we start the year? Here are 5 trail markers to guide your prayers for us ... Read More

29 Recommended Prayer Resources for 2024

We asked our Outreach Canada team for their recommended prayer resources - apps, podcasts, videos, books, prayer guides - especially those resources that have had impact in their own lives. And then we rounded up all the recommendations in one list to share with you!

Our desire is to share from our own experience and to encourage you to dig a little deeper in prayer. On behalf of our Outreach Canada team, we hope you take the leap, and jump into exploring one (or more!) of these incredible resources. 

As we kick off our new focus on PRAYER, here is our list of 29 Recommended Prayer Resources for 2024 ... Read More

10 Ways to Pray for Diaspora in Canada

Diaspora are those people who have dispersed or spread from their original homeland. By that definition, most of us living in Canada are diaspora, but the term is generally used to describe recent migrants, their children, and grandchildren.

People migrate to Canada willingly (for a better future) or unwillingly (to escape calamity). They may have come from a country where there are more churches and Christians than we have in Canada, or they may come from a place where they would never have met a Christian or heard about Jesus Christ.

The diaspora story in Canada is complex and full of opportunity; so let’s pray! ... Read More