Want to Be a Missionary?

Cristosal board member Padre Kevin Dixon, Rector of St. Mary's Kerrisdale, British Columbia receives a birthday blessing along with church members baby Genesis -- (held by Pd. Dixon) and Sylvia Landaverde

Amy and I had a busy past couple of weeks involving two branches of mission support in the Anglican/Episcopal Church's work in El Salvador, both of which are supporting our work here. The first week we had a great time meeting with members of the board of Cristosal and were glad to have the opportunity to thank them for their support. Cristosal is a non-profit organization whose board is made up of Canadian and U.S. Anglican/Episcopal clergy and lay persons and whose mission is to support the work of the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador. The Very Rev. Richard Bower is Executive Director and a founding member of Cristosal, and a person for whom Amy and I hold a very deep respect. In addition to acting as the channel for our financial support (and that of other missioners), Cristosal funds the Diocesan Human Rights Office, the Communications Office, and supports Continuing Education in the Diocese. A new Center for Pastoral Work and Development in the Bajo Lempa region is currently underway and in addition to the current clergy and lay missioners, will be staffed with a new Cristosal funded missioner- our good friend Noah Bullock.
We then were on our way to Florida for a Discernment Retreat hosted by the Episcopal Church's Mission Personnel Office, under the Anglican and Global Relations Office of the Episcopal Church Center. They have agreed to take us on as Volunteers for Mission of the Episcopal Church. Though we had already discerned our call and had a place in the field, we were invited to attend the Discernment Retreat to meet the staff as well as new potential missionaries in the various places in their processes of discernment. It will be interesting to see where they end up and hear about their experiences in the dioceses where they will be working.

Amy and I hope that anyone feeling even a slight interest to work in mission in another country would contact the Mission Personnel Office. Check it out and see where it leads you. They are great people to work with who can help you discern your call and provide tools to fulfill what you may feel God is calling you to do.
Specifically, in regards to El Salvador, we would also strongly recommend contacting Cristosal. They are doing important work here in accompaniment with the Salvadoran people and should be a contact for anyone working in the Episcopal/Anglican context here. Both organizations are strong agencies for helping one discern a call to mission and make it a reality. If you are feeling even the slightest pull or push from the Holy Spirit we urge you to get in contact with either organization. If the MDG goals are to be addressed to any kind of significance by the church, then its members need to overcome their fears and step out in action.
Contact info- Cristosal website- www.cristosal.org
Anglican and Global Relations Office of the Episcopal Church- www.episcopalchurch.org/agr.htm

Staff from the Anglican and Global Relations Office of the Episcopal Church with future and current Episcopal missionaries, and in the middle, the Rt. Rev. Leo Frade bishop of Southeast Florida at the Duncan Retreat Center in Florida.