This past week, five Church Partnerships Departments gathered at the FCJ Centre in Calgary for a retreat and budgeting meeting. The retreat's theme was, "Journey and Joy of Generosity," and the highlight of the business meeting was a time of discussing vigorous collaboration between departments. 

JJOG is a program recently developed by SIL. It comprises the following ideas: As recipients of God's abundant grace and disciples of Jesus Christ, who gave all of himself for us, when we give/share abundantly, a chain reaction and resonance occur, and we experience the incredible joy of living an abundant life. 

[Photo below: Outside the FCJ Center in April snow, with the Bow River flowing through over the garden. A physical representation of God's grace and outpouring that is always overflowing and abundant for us at the JJOG training.]

I think it will be used as a valuable service program for churches and individuals who partner with us in the future, so we are planning and preparing for the Korean translation and training schedule in the near future. We would appreciate your prayers for this initiative. 

We also had a meeting to prepare for budgeting for the next fiscal year and discuss interdepartmental collaboration. Five departments gathered: Marketing & Communications, Development, Prayer, Mobilization, and Diaspora Engagement. We shared each department's challenges and future focuses, prayed together, and were encouraged by the practical talks about close cooperation between departments. Bert, vice President of CPD, wrapped up the session asking the team members grace and accountability in this collaboration like we do love one another with the truth.

In particular, for the Diaspora Engagement Team, we talked about the rebuilding of the Chinese Diaspora Engagement Team, the situation of the church after the pandemic, the implications of the influx of many immigrants from Hong Kong into the Chinese church after the Hong Kong crisis, and our priority ministries. Please pray that the Diaspora Engagement team will be able to help diaspora churches in Canada firmly establish their identity based on God's mission and its mission to make disciples of all nations and that we will be able to share how essential and foundational the Bible translation ministry is in this work.