Newest Update from Chain of Love
Chain of Love is one of the NAB’s international partner organizations, working with youth two cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Chain of Love protects and guarantees the rights of children and teenagers experiencing social vulnerability by serving them in a system of group homes that provide a welcoming environment and whole person care. Currently, Telmo Carmargo, the Chain of Love Executive Director, is on a tour of supporters and sponsors in the US, with his son Weslley serving as translator. (The most recent restrictions in some provinces made it unfeasible for them to visit their Canadian supporters and sponsors at this time.) They will return home at the end of the month after their final stops in North Dakota and California.
The most recent newsletter from Telmo celebrated the generosity of their supporters, many from within the NAB family.
Once again, God’s faithfulness was shown. He used many of you to contribute toward our most recent projects: medication for our children, umbrellas, and a new fridge. In fact, we received enough money to buy at least four fridges (but bought just one). We were also able to buy more umbrellas than absolutely necessary, which will sure come in handy! The excess money was allocated toward medication for our children and teenagers since this is a constant need and a fixed expense. Deepest thanks to each one of you for your dedication to this ministry. As well, those who would like to contribute (or to continue contributing) to our children’s medication are very welcome to do so and would be helping supply a very important need.
In addition to the ongoing need to cover the cost of medication for all of the children, Chain of Love is also looking ahead to the start of the school year in February, which includes new school uniforms. If you’d like to give to support the continuing work of Chain of Love, through a one-time gift or an ongoing child sponsorship, you can find ways to do so at the link below.
Identity: Part 5 – Partnerships
Over a span of six weeks, we have been sharing a series of articles from NAB Executive Director Harry Kelm about our identity as the NAB. You can read the fifth article below or find all of them on the NAB website.
The NAB can be identified by our partnerships. Our partnerships are country to country, region and association to region and association, church to church, and person to person. As a conference, we exist by our partnership with each other.
The NAB is binational, having churches in both Canada and the United States. There is a richness in the diversity that each nation brings to this partnership. The NAB International Office receives its end goals from the churches; in turn, the International Office seeks to equip and resource NAB churches for the growth of God’s Kingdom in these end goals.
The churches of the NAB gather together in associations and regions. A church does not belong to the NAB without belonging first to an association or a region. In these associations and regions, the churches support one another and minister together. These regions and associations come together to plant churches, support camps, support pastors and church leaders, and engage in Kingdom projects and endeavors.
Churches partner with others churches in supporting missionaries and in encouraging the missional focus that God has called each church to. God calls us to work together in groups and also as individuals. God calls us to allow our differences and diversity to help shape our understanding of ministry. As churches, we can do more together than we can do alone.
Church to church and person to person is also how we work in our global outreach and mission. Our intention is not to start a North American Baptist Conference in other countries but to encourage Christians to partner with other Christians in the churches that are planted in these countries. These churches then come together to work in conferences and associations. As the NAB, we prayerfully partner and serve with Christians from different cultures who are passionate about reaching the people of their nation for Jesus.
The NAB Conference also works in partnership with other organizations. That work is in theological education in North America and across the world. The NAB family is encouraged to invest money in CIF to support church multiplication and church planting. There are also partnerships that seek to benevolently meet the many needs found in our world through organizations such as White Cross and Chain of Love. All of these partnerships are not only who we are as the NAB, they also reflect the larger partnership that God invites us into as his people.
Light Blue Ocean
Light Blue Ocean, our online version of Blue Ocean, will be starting next week. Light Blue Ocean is an opportunity to learn more about what it means for us to be a church on mission, and similar to our regular Blue Ocean, we look at missional theology, our spiritual formation, and how these shape our lives and churches. We will work together through three modules over the course of nine consecutive weeks. We’ll be meeting Tuesday evenings, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm (PDT), October 19 through December 14.
If you are one of our leaders who has gone through Blue Ocean and had wanted to bring your team with you, Light Blue Ocean is the perfect opportunity to bring more people into the conversation. There is no cost to attend Light Blue Ocean.
Fill out the form at the link below, or contact Sara-May Cardy with any questions.