local projects

'BUILDING CARING NEIGHBORHOODS'

“What is required of you, O man, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.” Micah 6:8

The ability to lead a society is earned, not inherited, and it is earned through acts of mercy. Money, manpower, and mailing lists are not the keys to cultural transformation - mercy is.

Our vision has been to mobilize Kelowna’s city church to build caring neighbourhoods by placing a House of Mercy (HOM) on every street, praying for the welfare of our city, and connecting people in need of help to available community and church resources.

Our practical expressions of this is the Houses of Mercy program, the Rutland Community Food Center, the Home of Refuge on Hein Road, and working with the churches and organizations of Kelowna to serve our city and neighbours through acts of love and mercy.

Rutland Community Food Center

The Rutland Community Food Center is open on Tuesday nights from 6:00 - 8:00pm. Contact the office for information at 250-762-9559.

Last year we served close to 1000 people and distributed well over 500 food hampers to the poor and needy of our community and church body.

The 'Home of Refuge' on Hein Road

Ben and Rachel Peters recently moved on to Hein Road to establish the 'Home of Refuge'. They have been building relationships and sharing the hope of Jesus with their neighbours. For more information visit their updates.

UPDATES

For over 25 years we have organized Family Fun Night on October 31st for the young families in our community as an alternative to the Halloween celebrations. The gospel message is shared on many levels through carnival games, hayrides, a bible maze, drama, and our wonderful volunteers. Every year is a great success and over the years we've seen countless salvations, some adults and some children.

Report from October 2010
I wish to thank the Mission’s committee for getting behind this outreach event again this year. I believe the evening was appreciated by all who attended and the Gospel was preached in many ways (sometimes with words).
We had 103 families register for our free raffle draws. On our form we had a space to indicate which church you attend and how often. There was also two check boxes if they would like more information about our church and its services or our school (HCS). There were 214 children entered into our children’s free raffle draw.
37 of the families attend KCC on a regular basis; 49 of the families regularly attend other churches. There were 17 families who we are working on following up with. 12 of these indicated no church involvement at all. Steve Brooks was gracious to volunteer to call these families to ask what they thought of the event, invite them to any/all of our church activities as well as to offer prayer for any personal needs they would like to share.
The Gospel message was portrayed through the graciousness of all our volunteers who greeted at the door, took photos, ran the games, served the food, ran the hay ride and marshmallow roast. In our famous Bible Maze, the GMTC students presented a clear redemption message through the drama and gave every child a ‘glow-in-the-dark’ cross to take home. They were given opportunity to pray a salvation prayer at that time also.
In the Ministry Center, Doug Horley, a children’s musician/worship leader and his wife from the UK, led an entertaining time of singing with lots of actions, puppets, storytelling and a gospel presentation. Included was an opportunity to pray along with a salvation prayer and they were invited up afterward to meet with Doug, Belinda or one of our Kids Church teachers. Several children and a couple of adults came forward and also received a booklet Doug has written that explains salvation. I have heard confirmation that one adult made a definite decision to make Christ her Lord at Family Fun Night. I also believe that a lasting impression was made on the hearts of the children.
Thank you again for your support.
 
Christine Bitgood
Children's Pastor
Kelowna Christian Center
250-980-5604

 

Every year the Global Ministry Training Center puts on a wonderful event for our community and neighbors during the christmas season. With a lot of help from our community businesses and volunteers, every year it is a wonderful success.

Report from December 2009
On December 16th, 2009, Global Ministry Training Center hosted our 8th annual Christmas Banquet for single parent families and the residents of Hein Rd. The evening included a drama presentation, specials from our KCC worship team and a full course turkey dinner along with gifts that were handed to each child at the end of the evening. Overall there were over 250 people in attendance, many of which came the evening of to see if they could still get in. With over 50 volunteers to help make the evening a success it was an incredible blessing to be able to bring the message of ‘Immanuel – God with Us ‘to people who could be encouraged by the message of a Savior with us, even through financially difficult times.  Our table hosts had opportunities to pray with individuals who so desired and many thanked us for an evening that lifted their spirits and provided them with gifts that blessed their families.  Once again, Global Ministry Training Center would like to extend a huge thank you to all the volunteers and people that contributed financially to make this event possible.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

 

Westgate Church - Youth Outreach Project

Act NOW - Alexandra Gardner House Project

Missions Now - City-Wide Missions Conference

Victory Life - Year Round Outreaches

Father's Day Pancake Breakfast