Recently I had the joy of representing Georgia Baptists at the Canadian National Baptist Convention meeting at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. As you know, Georgia Baptists have established a missions partnership with the wonderful Southern Baptist folks in Canada. I found them to be gracious, generous in their expressions of appreciation for the partnership, and looking forward to the years ahead as we work together to plant churches in Canada.

It all began as I attended an executive director meeting in Western Canada a couple of years ago and was deeply touched by the moving appeal of our host, Gerry Taillon, executive director of the Canadian National Baptist Convention. That evening, Gerry spoke of the multitudes of Canadians who do not know Jesus Christ and stated his vision to plant 1,000 new churches in Canada over the next several years.

At the conclusion of the evening, I approached Gerry and said, “With the help of God and the commitment of Georgia Baptists, I believe we can help you plant 100 of those 1,000 churches. Our Convention approved the partnership and now it is time to get to work.

I want to encourage you to contact Michael Gravette or John Tarrer in our Volunteer Missions Ministry to offer your willingness to get involved in Canada. I assure you, your people will be incredibly blessed by the gracious Baptists of Canada, and you will be deeply impressed with the need. Would you pray about Canada as a mission opportunity?

The mission statement of the Canadian National Baptist Convention is, “We are churches in covenant giving ourselves away to advance the Kingdom of God.” Referring to the convention theme, “From sea to sea to sea,” Gerry Taillon said, “We have moved from being a western denomination to a movement that stretches from sea to sea to sea. We now have congregations in every province and two out of three of our territories. Some of our strongest churches are in Eastern Canada. As of today, 128 of our 258 congregations and seeds are east of Manitoba. We have become a ‘national’ family of churches.”

While our Georgia Baptist Convention is running behind last year’s Cooperative Program receipts by 4%, we should be inspired by our Canadian fellow Southern Baptists who are giving generously to support SBC missions through the Cooperative Program. In his report to the Convention, Gerry Taillon commented, “We have also continued to grow (11 percent increases in membership and worship attendance this year) and expand while being subject to a devalued US dollar and the ensuing 45 percent decrease of income. Our Cooperative Program giving has increased by more than 30 percent in five years at an average rate of 6 percent per year. Our special offerings were all up by record percentages.”

In my message to the Convention, I encouraged our brothers and sisters in Canada to come to Georgia to assist us in reaching the lost of Georgia and inspiring our churches through their profound commitment to reaching their nation for Christ and supporting Southern Baptist mission work through the Cooperative Program. A partnership is reciprocal and as Georgia Baptists go to Canada we should invite, encourage and welcome Canadian Baptists into our churches in Georgia.