It has been said, “If your church wasn’t there would anyone notice? Would anyone care?” When EFC was built on its current location in the late seventies, a lot of the surrounding area was open field. Today we would say that God has brought the mission field to us.

As the principal of a Christian international school in Northern Thailand, I have the privilege of seeing firsthand how God uses education to transform lives. The stories may seem small, but they are powerful reminders that God is at work, often through the youngest among us.

Helping people come closer to Jesus is what I want to do; whether it is running in the Berlin Marathon (or any other marathon) or just conversing about running (shop-talk), I want my interactions with people to lead to spiritual questions.

First of all, there is no such thing as local versus global in kingdom work. When we’re talking about the church being missional, the default mindset should be yes to all things that the Holy Spirit is leading you into.

As we consider the current context of ministry in Canada, there are many reasons to be encouraged. Openness to the gospel itself is higher than ever, and willingness to accept an invitation to church is way up.

The slower pace of summer can feel ordinary, even obvious. But perhaps it is also an invitation.

“What has kept us from planting more churches in the recent past?” EMC Director of Canadian Outreach Carl Heppner asked this question as part of his report during the April 18, 2026, conference council meeting (see the more detailed report on the weekend meetings on p. 25). It’s been five years since EMC has planted a church, he said; the most recent is Bow Island EMC in Alberta, which was planted in 2021.

While I’m not entirely sure if it was the pastor’s plan, the senior lady began going to each of the young people gathered in the front and praying individually. There were prayers for growth in their love for Jesus, sensitivity to the Spirit, and acknowledgement of challenges. The prayers were personal even though she didn’t know all the kids, youth, and leaders she was praying for.

Do you believe in human freewill? Two basic approaches have been debated for thousands of years. First, some Christians believe in libertarian freedom. Here, freewill means people really could choose to act differently than they do. Sally chose to follow God, but she could have chosen to follow Baal instead.

When my husband and I decided to put our antique collection online in 2017, the budget-friendly option was a free tutorial course that I completed while being a stay-at-home mom. Speaking of motherhood, I joke that building the website was more painful for me than giving birth. But that’s not a fair comparison. I had pain medication and a medical team for childbirth. For the website, I was on my own.

The subtitle for Mary Brandt’s memoir No Limitations is “How God called me into the mission field knowing I would go blind.” This book clearly shows there is no limit to what God can do despite inadequacies and disabilities, and it leaves the reader in awe of Brandt’s courage and trust.

The Board of Missions is pleased to announce that Chris and Katie Koop (Kleefeld EMC) have been accepted to join the mission work in Guadalajara, Mexico. They have begun pre-field orientation and are preparing to leave this summer for Texas to begin learning Spanish at RGBI.