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First Filipino
Alliance Church (FFAC) is a church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA)
denomination in Canada. Given that Missionary is our middle name, we are
focused on proclaiming the good message of the Gospel in places many have not
heard.
That is why
some of our missionaries serving in countries where the national church is well
established have been redeployed to Limited Access Nations. We strategically
send our workers there to be a presence to display the gospel lived out before
the nationals whom we are trying to reach. We long to see a visible church in
places dominated by the other world religions.
Our speaker
today, Rev. Raul Santos, is quite knowledgeable and has hands-on experience in
reaching people that know very little about or even adverse to the Church
established by Christ. It would be a treat to hear him deliver God’s message
from His Word as to how we at FFAC can increase our involvement in our
denomination’s missionary efforts. What is at stake and where is the Christian
witness most desperately needed?
I encourage
many of our care groups to invite Raul and Donna Santos, who will be in our
city this coming week. They sure would like to meet as many of you in small
group settings. Ask any questions at all. It’s your chance to interact with real-live
missionaries who have chosen to leave the comforts of Canada and reside in a
place that is not normally open to Christianity. They are on home assignment
this year. Raul and Donna are serving as staff of Rockyview Alliance Church in
Calgary.
Raul and Donna
need no introduction to FFACers who have been with us for at least 5 years.
After all, they were and are still a part of FFAC. Raul is a former elder and
has served in just about every ministry and committee there is here. Donna
served as administrative assistant for the Filipino International Network
(FIN). They have been actively involved here since the early years of FFAC.
They were married here. Mitch and Kirsten, their teenage children, were both
dedicated here. So one could say, the Santos-es, is one of those workers
home-grown in and deployed from right here, at FFAC. Welcome home Raul and
Donna!
Alliance History &
Thought
Some 20 FFACers
are taking Dr. Stewart Brown’s class. They still have 2 sessions to go. Find
out about the humble beginnings of the Alliance, the meaning of our
denominational logo and the spiritual values that drove the pioneers of the
movement to what we stand for today.
Get a better
appreciation for why we do what we do. I was so moved by the story of our
founder Dr. Albert B. Simpson and his teaching about our utter dependence upon
God’s Holy Spirit, which the Alliance literature refers to as the crisis of the
deeper life. I was also inspired by the courageous effort to send workers
overseas to spread the gospel when very few, if any church at all were sending
missionaries overseas towards the end of the previous century. The quest to
seriously follow Christ and the zeal to reach lost people continue today in the
C&MA. It is a privilege to be part of this missionary movement.
If you have not
yet taken this course, I encourage you to sign up for the next time this course
is offered. It’s our way of putting to action what we say we’re committed to
do: help people become healthy followers of Christ.
FFAC Anniversary
Two weekends
from now (October 11-12), we celebrate our church anniversary. Let’s invite as
many of our friends to come on Saturday evening and Sunday worship celebration
at 10:30am. Our guest speaker is Rev. Jeof Barrun of Fraser Valley Alliance
Church in Surrey, BC. We also invited his wife Vangie to join us in our
celebration.
What a way to
celebrate Thanksgiving weekend. It’s our way of saying to God, “Thank You Lord
for the 19 years of ministry as a church. May You be pleased to use FFAC to
reach more people for Christ for the rest of this century here in our city and
to the far corners of the world.”
ricky p. mapa
pastor
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