CRIC in Actionat the

First RCCGNA, Canada Convention Edition
A PUBLICATION OF RCCGNA, COMMUNIT Y RELATIONS INITIATIVE CANADA
Supporting our seniors
– the river of life
Harnessing the power of the Youth
– the backbone of our future
Recognizing the value of health promotion
Honouring our Public Safety
Building lives and Eroding Homelessness
Food Banks
Soup Kitchens/ Never go Hungry
Health Promotion
Food Safety/Skills
Community Kitchens/Gardens
Food Social Enterprise
Daddy GO Setting the pace
tapping into community needs
Impacting Communities
CRIC in Action at the
Western Canada Zonal Conference
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC): Feed The Need, A commitment to nourishing
EDITORIAL
Plant A Church
And Feed The Need
O
ur church’s mandate to make Heaven and take as many souls to
heaven as possible plays out with its church planting goals. The
process of starting new parishes is very much dependent on the
community at hand. Each parish has a unique set of demographics, climate,
constituents and environment. In order to settle down into and positively
impact our chosen community, it is important to know the key needs in the
community and be able to feed these needs. Food needs assessments are
often the easiest way to breakthrough in a new community and at all levels
of need. Statistics have shown that 54% of Canadians experience some sort
of hunger or food insecurity at particular points in their lives. As we have
all witnessed, worldwide revolts with food at the core are on the rise as the
upward spiral in world energy and food prices hit each person’s bottom line.
The revolts mean that the warnings of a new food crisis are being taken more
seriously. Food security is back on the agenda and at very local levels.
Working out how to feed a community spiritually and physically requires
careful mapping of a myriad of complex problems that exist, and might
seemingly have nothing to do with hunger / food insecurity; they could
manifest as homelessness, drug addiction, theft, debt and ill health, to name
a few.
The threat posed by the power politics of the globalized food industry,
threatens food security and free markets, hence making them uneasy bedfellows in the absence of social safety nets provided by strong institutions such
as RCCGNA and the CRIC initiative and its network of churches that work
down to the communal and individual levels.
So from the basis of food programming, a host of social services can morph
to serve the unique needs of each community, making the church relevant,
a force to be reckoned with and a critical mass for change in global food
politics.
Funke Ilumoka
CRIC Admin
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 2
CONTENTS
3
RCCGNA, Community Relations
Initiative Canada (CRIC)
– From the Chairman’s Desk
4
CRI Canada (CRIC)
– The Director’s Plan
5
6
6
RCCG– Global Community Impacts
7
Covenant Chapel at Covenant
House and the Community in
Greater Toronto
7
8
Focus on Community
The Mission Administrator on CRIC
CRIC in Action at the Western
Canada Zonal Conference
The Journey thus Far
Grace Chapel, BC
10
Bevan Seniors Abbotsford
Gateway Chapel at work
10
Fort Saskatchewan Prison
Outreach
11
12
Ottawa Supporting the Cure
Information In Practice
From the Chairman’s Desk, RCCGNA Board of Coordinators - Pastor James Fadele
COMMUNITY RELATIONS INITIATIVE CANADA
The Dawn of A New Era
As you converge, the RCCGNA Canada Zones and Parishes to
create an awareness of community relations necessities, initiatives and impact, I bring you greetings on behalf of the entire
leadership and membership of The Redeemed Christian Church
of God North America.
On a typical day, the Lord Jesus sat with His followers as He
usually did and began to tell them stories. He ended with an
insightful mention of the eternal significance of some of our
actions in this world. He spoke as follows in Mat chpt 25;
“34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick,
and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye
came unto me.
By this time, the followers listening to Jesus must have been somewhat perplexed,
wondering whether He was going to become
destitute or get into trouble with the government or what? Jesus goes further to address this concern saying, 37 Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or
thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw
we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed
thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came
unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
You mean there is a divine vicarious dimension to the assisting
of those who are disadvantaged? How interesting? This group
was unaware of this principle but unknown to them, in their
kindness of heart they had unwittingly stumbled on an aspect
of service that was so dear to the Lord’s heart.
The story however, does not end on a happy note because it
appears that another group was not quite as fortunate as the
previous group. Jesus now addresses that second group saying, 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave
me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was
a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me
not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Just like the first group, this second group was unaware of the
divine vicarious dimension to the assisting of the disadvantaged. In their own case though, they did not extend mercy and
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 3
kindness to the
disadvantaged.
Jesus
said
to
them,
44 Then
shall they also
answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an
hungred, or athirst,
or a stranger, or
naked, or sick, or
in prison, and did
not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to
one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
In their failure to assist the disadvantaged, this second
group offended the Lord and would suffer far-reaching
consequences of their actions. The consequences
were irreversible unto utter damnation. On the other
hand, the first group would abide with the Lord Jesus
for eternity.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The parables and narratives of the Lord Jesus as
contained in the four Gospels are not stories or historical accounts. No, not at all. They are deliberate warnings and admonitions about God’s righteous expectations of
us.
How does God expect us to regard those who are disadvantaged and / or less privileged? Does it matter to God how we
treat those who are helpless and destitute? Does He in any way
hold us accountable for the upliftment of others? Beloved, the
answers are in the above narrative.
Child of God, consider the above narrative and place yourself
within the story? Where would you like to end up? ”everlasting
punishment” or “life eternal”. At the end of the day, the decision
and / or direction is yours.
We thank God for COMMUNITY RELATIONS INITIATIVE CANADA,
a new move and the dawn of a new era. Hearty congratulations
to you as you embark on the journey of being the care-givers of
your communities. We are proud of you for the awesome and
divine sense of responsibility you have assumed on behalf of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an inspiration to the RCCGNA family in the others parts of this region.
Well done!!! By His grace you will not lose your rewards. Be
blessed in Jesus name.
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC)
THE PLAN
Pastor Bayo Adediran
When I was asked by the chairman of RCCGNA, Pastor James Fadele, to take on the task
of directing, under the Holy Spirit, the Community Relations portfolio for Canada, it was an
opportunity to grow, share, broaden and deepen the vision that was already on ground in our
zone and several other zones across Canada who already have outreaches to the needy in their
communities in form of community kitchens, breakfast/lunch outreaches, food bank supports,
etc. Through the CRIC, emphasis will be on employing spiritual and physical nourishment to
reach our communities for the Lord and in His name. Following some research into the food
related issues across the country by a team of faithful stewards in our zone, the big buzz phrase
was “Food Security” This refers to the availability of food without fear of hunger or starvation, it also means having access
to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Commonly, the concept includes both physical and
economic access to food that meets people’s dietary needs as well as their food preferences.
The mission and vision of the Community Relation Initiative are: to feed the need, promote food security, facilitate
access to nutritious food, encourage healthy lifestyles, supplement food budgets, provide adult/youth food and health learning,
revitalize communities and neighbourhoods and develop social support networks. Based on the above definition, the CRIC
programme aims to encourage community engagement through food initiatives at the community level through 6 different
launch pads: Food Banks, soup kitchens – never go hungry, community kitchen/ gardens, health promotion, food safety/skills
and food social enterprise. It is noteworthy to point out that these 6 basic launch pads allow each parish to get their programs
going in some way, shape or form, and over time adapt to the unique needs of their community, as they become apparent.
These six focal areas also give us a galvanizing point as we meet at the local, zonal and nationwide levels.
In order to put forward a united and instantly recognizable front, CRIC has developed a brand and a toolkit to assist all parish
get started step by step. Each parish is encouraged and strongly advised to get their working set. The CRIC secretariat will
provide the branding guidelines, such as logos and other graphic parameters so it can be customized for each parish. CRIC
publishes this newsletter The CRICket bi-annually and organizes the annual CANstruction Challenge, where cans are used to
build structures, the hope is that this event will occur on the same day across the country, the proceeds of which are to go to
the local food bank. The day will also feature an evangelistic, go-a-fishing cook-out and other fun activities that will attract
members of the community to the goodness of Christ.
As partnerships play a key role in making progress in our community initiatives, it is imperative to get to know the players in
our communities, form alliances and encourage joint projects. Each parish should also get to know their local food resources,
distributors, producers, processers, farmers, manufacturers. Introducing the church and her community services to the city
mayors and other city officials, outlining to them the community relations initiative and finding out where and how best to be
of service to the community will be a sure way to get involved in order to impact them for Christ. Schools, hospitals, prisons
and seniors’ programs and others are examples of places where we could be involved.
Now that to the glory of God we have our very own Canadian Convention (praise God!), the plan is for all CRIC teams from
all zones to meet annually at the convention for a CANstruction event, of which the proceeds will go to the local food bank.
This event encourages team building, planning and creativity.
Finally, it is important to incorporate the Community Initiative into all our parish projects as we plan for the future. If for
example you are believing God for your building project, as it comes to realization remember to plan it as a centre that is open
to community, design into it your food pantry, commercial kitchen, banquet style dining facility, your cold weather shelter, the
operation open door area, a cultivation area, warehousing facilities and social enterprise space.
We should remember that the church is not about empire building nor is it about making a name for self, it’s all about Jesus,
who as a Man of the community ‘went about doing good’ (Acts 10:38). Our Master, the Lord Jesus has given us the same
mandate. We are not only to make disciples of nations, we have been called to lighten up our world as the light and bring
sweetness, taste and preservation to our communities, as the salt of our earth, doing good to our Community, feeding the need
will make us follow in the footsteps of the One who has called us to virtue. I welcome you on board of CRIC, as we impact
the Canadian community together.
BECOME A VISIBLE FORMIDABLE FOOD FORCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY, AS YOU FEED THE NEED
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 4
RCCG – Global Community Impacts
RCCG Worldwide-Winning Souls, Helping Lives, Feeding the Need
Olaitan Olubiyi, Editor Redemption Light
O
ne thing that is central to Christianity is love. God Himself bears the
name of love and has love reflected in all His dealings with mankind. After
Jesus completed His task here on earth
and as he was about returning to heaven,
He gave a commission to all who believe
in Him to go out and preach the message
of God’s love to all mankind. The message, He instructed, must reach everyone,
everywhere even unto the uttermost part
of the earth. The assignment and purpose
of the RCCG came from this commission. With a vision focused on making heaven and taking as many people
as possible along, the RCCG wants
to have at least a member from every
family in all nations. Towards realizing
this objective, the church adopted an
unusual church planting culture which
has made it one of the most aggressive church planting organizations in
the world today. Presently located in
cities, towns and villages in about 130
countries across all the continents, the
RCCG’s commitment to soul winning
and church planting is legendary. To
date, the church has close to 10,000 Parishes all over the world. In the drive to
reach all, the church created a number of
agencies through which it ministers to the
specific needs of certain groups. The goal
was not just to preach the love of God but
to show and practicalize the love of God to
those who appear lost to worldly vices and
upon whom it appears that the society had
given up. The thrust of the mission’s efforts
was not just about church but about helpCommunity Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 5
ing the lost rediscover their life purpose
and live meaningfully both for themselves
and for God.
One of the agencies by which the RCCG
is helping lives is the Christ Against Drug
Abuse Ministry, (CADAM) which caters
for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug
addicts, as well as public education.
The RCCG believes and appreciates that
health is a gift of God which must be
protected and treasured. The church also
in Israel, during the ceremonies, The message of unity and companionship was the
common thread in all the speeches at the
ceremony. Rev. E.A. Adeboye, General
Overseer of RCCG, delivered the blessing,
“May the Almighty Lord restore full peace
in Israel.” The MDA representative Tali Paz
Zinman told the Post, “This contribution is
heart-warming. It shows the strong bond
between our religions.” After the speeches,
the brand new ambulance was unveiled by
Pastor Adeboye along with his wife.
Continuing on with health and nourishment the church provides support
for those living with HIV. This led to
the establishment of The Redeemed
AIDS Program Action Committee
(RAPAC) to coordinate the Church’s
response to the pandemic.
believes that sickness is not of God and
considers all ill-health as undesirable. The
Church realizes her responsibility as the
body of Christ, to provide care for the sick
and ensure that her members and persons
within host communities live a healthy life.
In order to meet the health and social needs
of her members, and ensure that each member lives a fulfilled life on earth and make
heaven when they pass on. To this end, the
church donated an ambulance to the MDA
The Africa Mission in Canada (AMC)
supports the Living Water Project constructing bore holes in parts
of East Africa where water is very
scarce. In 2009, AMC completed the
construction of a bore hole in Turkana,
Kenya, due to the harsh weather this beautiful
region is turning into a nightmare.
.
In Canada the Church’s goes further to
focus on Food Security, as what is deemed
an affluent society with an abundance of
food, has 54% of its population hungry and
unable to afford the food it wants to eat.
A handful of food monopolies control food
content, production and distribution.
Making Community Connections in Canada
From the Desk of Pastor Femi Olawale Mission Coordinator.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God in Canada has come a long way in preaching the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Over the past 16years, the Church has expanded, spreading across the provinces of
Canada and we are committed to the spread of this gospel of peace.
Alongside of our Church planting program is the community relation activities. Every Pastor in charge
of the branches or local Church are encouraged to focus on community relations as their immediate
number two assignment. Some of our activities across the nation include; Run for Life, Visit to prison
inmates, Food supply to Shepherd of good hope, Christmas gifts to prison inmates, Donations to teen
challenge, Hospital visitation and the list continues. We commit money and time to realize the community relations goals and we maintain a budget for this project. The intention is to intensify our present activities and expand the horizon
to cover new grounds by providing relief to the less privileged and those in need in all our communities across Canada.
We will continue to clothe the naked, visit the sick, take in the strangers and visit the prisoners until Christ returns. Jesus has given this
mandate in a succinct statement of Mt.25:34-40 and the fact that our final eternal destination depends on it further confirms that this
mission will not back off from this vision anytime in the future. The RCCG will always support government efforts in alleviating the
challenges facing different communities within the Country and that is our commitment.
CRIC
in
Action
Western Canada Zonal Conference
D
uring the Western Canada Zonal Conference which took place May 20 –
22 in Vancouver, BC, the CRIC team was in action. Led by the chairman,
RCCGNA Board of Coordinators, Pastor James Fadele and the Canada Mission Administrator, Pastor Femi Olawale, supported by coordinators and
pastors from the three zones in Western Canada, were on ground to support the
homeless and transient in the community, by providing over 100 care packages
that contained basic toiletries and non perishable foods for clients of the “Lookout Emergency Aid Society”. The society is situated exactly 3 minutes walk
from Grace Chapel the Secretariat of CRIC. The CRIC Coordinator, Pastor Bayo Adediran said the location is of particular importance, because when the church moved into its current location, the building that house the Lookout Emergency Aid Society was
originally a red light bar and hotel, attracting crime, violence and prostitution. On vigil nights the true nature of the neighbourhood
came to light. A group of people in the church actively took on the burden to pray for a change in the nature of the neighbourhood,
particularly the focal point of the hotel and bar. Eighteen months later, the hotel closed down and renovations started. The church
watched eagerly as the changes occurred, and were excited to see that the Lookout Society had developed the property into a shelter and
single room occupancy facility, that provided services to those in need of temporary shelter in the immediate community.
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 6
COVENANT CHAPEL AT COVENANT
HOUSE AND THE COMMUNITY IN
GREATER TORONTO
T
he vision of Covenant Chapel is to redeem destinies and restore dominion;
changing and affecting lives within
our community, to fulfill their God-ordained
purpose. We do this through our Community
Outreach Ministry, through various efforts
that involve support, assistance, training,
and evangelism. The church has a prayer
based hotline that caters to the community’s
welfare to promote communication, encouragement and assistance to needy individuals, church members and the community at
large.
In the past several years, Covenant Chapel
has organized and supported a number of
food and homelessness drives and programs
in the community. These include food drives
anchored by North York Harvest, 640 Lawrence Avenue W, Toronto. We shall continue
to embrace this exercise on an on-goin basis.
Similarly, in December 2010 we donated
some items (Electric Kettles, Rice cookers
and Bread toasters) to Covenant House, 20
Gerrard Street East, Toronto – a shelter for
homeless youth. This was to support their efforts in rehabilitating homeless youth in the
community.
A free-for-all annual picnic is organized during the summer months, Also, in each of the
summer months of May – August, 2010 we
organized a special outdoor event/barbecue
tagged ‘Summer Sunday Fest’. The occasions included drama skits, ministration,
games, raffle draws, and much more. In the
winter months, we prepare hot meals for the
homeless and all those who need food. This
program is tagged “Out of the cold”
The Covenant chapel choir is essential to
the growth and outreach of the church, as
music is a form of evangelism; the choir is
multicultural and open to all, it particularly
reaches out to youth in the community to engage the understanding and playing musical
instruments. Songs are rendered by the choir
typically, in languages that appeal not only
to the church members but to the community
at large. In addition, we organize music and
vocal training classes for the youth, in order
to further sharpen their skills, and to encourage more youth to develop interest in music.
These classes are conducted by our team
of highly skilled instrumentalist. To further
encourage kids and youth in their education, fully qualified teachers are paid by the
church to assist students after school hours,
with subjects they find challenging. Our
Sunday school sessions make sure that the
children are instilled with Christian values.
Our Career initiatives make efforts to
transform lives positively by encouraging to people excel in their chosen careers
or businesses. To this end, we have set up
the Career Enhancement Centre (C.E.C) to
provide professional guidance events, organize career talks, source and disseminate
government resources, link members with
community to enhance job search skills, and
maintain a current and functional job board,
where diverse job postings will be displayed.
In addition to the Career Enhancement Cen-
tre, we also have the Immigrant Settlement
and Integration unit, as part of our effort to
eliminate the challenges faced by new immigrants.
The other programs that we are involved
in are: the Rose Ministry. This unit brings
wholesome and refreshing Christian fragrance into the lives of prison in-mates, we
participate in the Angel Tree program, where
we provide Christmas gifts to their children.
Through Halfway House, we minister to men
and women re-entering society, for them to
receive the intensive love and support they
need to make a fresh go in life. We teach
challenged youth how to overcome youthful barriers and succeed in life, by having
faith in God, and His word. Camp Jumoke
is particularly dear to us, we provide funds
to assist at this camp organized for children
with sickle cell disease. We also provide assistance for research purpose into the cure
for sickle cell disease..
CRIC’s focus on food serves as a launch pad into the community. Based on the
nature of each community this focus can evolve to encompass the needs of the
parish and the community. This plays out at Grace Chapel in Zone BC 1, where
there is a large concentration of tertiary education institutions with international
students. Outreach to the students has staved off homesickness, peer pressures,
and has resulted in a competitive soccer team, an inspiring youth choir and an
excellent quarterly publication called “Generation 360”. The youth have great
fun and are fast becoming the pulse of the parish; take a look:
continued on page 8
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 7
The Journey Thus Far Grace Chapel, BC
Making the Most Difference in Zone BC1
T
he Redeemed Christian Church of God - Grace Chapel was established 7 years ago; in 2004 and since then, the church has been
making inroads into its community physically, spiritually and
materially. At present, our services include English as a Second Language
(ESL), feeding the homeless with nutritious food once every month in the
church’s premises, Community Kitchen – where women from different
cultural background come together once a month to learn how to prepare
nutritious foods for their families, Soccer club to reach out to the youths
in the community, Reaching out to struggling families in the Community,
Free counselling support and integration services.
Immigrants who come to Canada are from non-English speaking countries where English is not spoken at all or is learned just as a subject in the
school with little or no mastery. On arrival in Canada, the greatest challenge is the inability to comprehend or communicate in English. Presently,
there are thousands of such people in need of a place to learn settlement
English to be able to integrate successfully into the Canadian system,
culture and workforce. To solve this problem, Grace Chapel started the
ESL program to assist members of our immediate community to acquire
the needed language skills and to date, we have 33 students from 10
nations of the world, (Japan, Pakistan, China, Latina, Chile, Iran, Mexico,
Congo, South Korea, Taiwan) registered since inception of the course.
The church also has in place a “gather and give” group to gather needed
items from different locations and give them to the less privileged in the
community. This culminated into a mentorship program whereby struggling families in the community were paired with trained church members
to assist and mentor them.
Once every month, the benevolence team feed the homeless free of
charge with nutritious meals in the church’s premises. They come in
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 8
to eat and drink and some of them usually stay to attend the Sunday
worship. Through that, some of them have given their lives to Christ.
During the Easter period, a barbecue outreach was held at a popular park
in New Westminster (Moody Park), where more than 300 members of
the community interacted with the church membership, eating drinking,
playing games and ministering. The community kitchen furthers the focus on food and nourishment by gathering women from different cultural
backgrounds once a month to learn how to prepare nutritious foods for
their families.
This has given women the opportunity to learn how to prepare meals from
other countries, to socialize and to acquire the needed skills to survive on
a low income. Going hand in hand with food is physical activity. God has
used the Redeemer’s Eagles soccer club of the church to reach out to the
youths in the community. Last year, they played in the league and they
will also play in the league this year. The soccer team represented the
whole of Canada at the convention in Dallas last convention and came 2nd
place. They will be representing Canada again this year, including other
athletes who will be competing in other sports, we are encouraging sport
and physical activity as a key component not only to a healthy lifestyle but
also to attract the unsaved to hear the gospel.
Other programs such as the Alpha course has become a great tool to
connect with the community; the church youth who are in colleges and
universities have been organizing free tutorial classes in the community
to assist students in their studies, and the annual free tax filing service
has just concluded for 2010 filing season. Through these different departments and avenues, the church has been making the most difference in
New Westminster community and BC1 in general, to the glory of God. All
the programs are run by volunteers.
REACHING OUT TO
INMATES AT FORT
SASKATCHEWAN
CORRECTIONAL
Bevan Lodge Nursing
Home Ministry
RCCG, GATEWAY CHURCH COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
We started the monthly and sometimes
bi-monthly visitation to the Bevan Lodge
Nursing Home in November 2009 as part
of our community initiatives/outreach
programs.
Bevan Lodge is a private licensed care
home providing all levels of care from
nearly independent to complex residential care for frail elderly and disabled
residents. Bevan Lodge is located in the
city of Abbotsford, in the beautiful Fraser
Valley, 35 kilometres east of Vancouver,
British Columbia.
others; it was a door to a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ for the very
first time, to the glory of God.
Most recently, we had the mother’s
day celebration with the residents of
Bevan lodge and each female resident was
presented with a stem of rose flower,
which meant so much to them from the
expression on their happy faces. God is
using this outreach to do amazing things
and He is opening new doors for more
outreach ministries.
We are privileged to minister to an
average of about 25-40 seniors at a time.
We sing hymns with them (usually from
their hymn books), share the word of
God with them and also pray for their
needs as best as we can.
Brother Wes and Sister Sharon Hagglov
with the rest of their teams have consistently loved these seniors with the genuine love of Christ. It’s not surprising to
hear that they look forward to having us
around them every month.
Some of the seniors have enjoyed our
ministry that they are interested in
attending our Church services. An 80
years old resident even offered to play
the keyboard while we sing the hymns
during our visits, and has been doing so
for almost one year. This fellowship has
afforded some residents the opportunity
to rededicate their lives to God and for
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 10
In conclusion, we have two other initiatives in the offing, the Prison Mentoring
Programs which one of our sister (Sister
Jaci Redlin) is already involved in (teaching life skills) and also the Children
After School Club which is due to start
in September 2011. We are committing
more people into the prison mentoring program, and they are undergoing
security clearance at the time of writing
this report.
CENTRE
The prison outreach began in 2008 as part of
Church commitment to affect our community through the preaching of Gospel of Jesus
Christ. It takes place on every fourth Thursday
of every month, between 6:30pm and 8:30pm
in Fort Saskatchewan (about 40minutes drive
from Edmonton). A minimum of three brethren
make this trip every month. The correctional
centre has a chapel that has a capacity of about
50, and by the grace of God, all men or women
inmates are always in attendance every month.
Most of the time, different sets of people are
being ministered to, because many of them are
there for a short time.
The aim of the program is to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ, to counsel and pray
with those who are depressed and discouraged
and to interact with the inmates and create
awareness of RCCG ministry. Since inception,
about seventy five percent of the inmates give
their lives in every outreach altar call; Lives
are being transformed through the ministration and prayer; more people are becoming
familiar with the name, Redeemed Christian
Church of God in Fort Saskatchewan and
Edmonton area, and this is a useful instrument
in Church planting
R.C.C.G OVERCOMERS CHAPEL COMMUNITY OUTREACH’S INVOLVEMENT
IN THE CARLETON UNIVERSITY “RELAY FOR LIFE”
The Carleton University (C.U) Relay for Life is an annual program
organized to raise funds and awareness about cancer. The main role of
the participants is to raise funds and then walk around the field house in
Carleton University all night (at least one member of each team should be
walking at all times), the idea was that participants walk all night because
cancer never sleeps. In order to keep people awake, various programs
were taking place including dancing classes, musical performances, and
massage tables.
However, at Overcomers Chapel, the vision is Spiritual integrity and
Community service. So we felt it was a timely and great opportunity for
the church to make her presence felt in the community, most especially
during the C.U’s Relay for Life.
$100 and in order to achieve this goal; Overcomers Chapel supported
her team with some funding while the team raised the rest of the amount
involved. The team ended up raising $587, which was handed over to
the organizers of the program as donations from the RCCG, Overcomers
chapel team
On the night of the event, Overcomers’ team wore “T” Shirts with inscriptions like “Jesus loves you, Christ is color blind, Jesus cures cancer, God
cares for you, the battle is the Lord’s and God is love” on the backside
The members of R.C.C.G Overcomers Chapel team that participated in the
community service at Carleton University are Itunu Enikanolaiye, Tomiwa Odetoyinbo, Ernest Egbule, John Iyaniwura, Dolapo Disu, Damilola
Disu and Tope Adetayo who is the leader of the team.
As part of the Relay for Life activities, each participant is to raise at least
and then proceeded to walk around the field house. Overcomers’ team
had a few people from a Christian club comment about how they really
respected and appreciated the team’s form of evangelism. The team also
seized the opportunity to hand out tracts at the end of the program.
One remarkable impression was that the members of the team that participated felt a sense of fulfillment, taking a stand for God and coming out to
showcase their beliefs, while sending out the message that Christians can
take Christianity out of the four walls of the church and that we care about
what is going on in our community and the world at large.
COMMUNITY ACTION
AT ROYAL HOUSE, ST.
CATHERINES ONTARIO
Royal House has been involved with charitable
and community activities since the inception
of the church on June 1st 2003. Some of our
activities include Out of the Cold, Celebrate
Recovery, Easter Parade, Service of Honor for
the Community Police & Fire Department and
Royal Soccer Team. Royal house chooses 2
non for profit organizations and donates money once a year during the church anniversary.
Community Relations Initiative Canada (CRIC) 11
The Out of the cold program feeds the homeless, from Nov 1st to March 31st during the
winter months where homeless people can
get a hot meal and a sleepover twice a week.
No drugs or alcohol is allowed, volunteers
from different churches including royal house
take part in supervising and making sure the
homeless adhere strictly to the rules. The
Celebrate Recovery program assists people
with addictions, by taking people from where
they are with all kinds of addictions including
drugs, sex, alcohol, gambling etc to be saved.
The program helps them to deal with their denials as they are working through their issues,
the program gives them an opportunity to give
their lives to Christ, it then helps them to live
the life of Christ.
Royal house recognizes the police and fire
department for their efforts in protecting and
providing a safe community to the residents
of the city of St Catharines hence the Service
of Honor for the Community Police & Fire Dept
program. Royal Soccer Team: Royal house
organizes friendly soccer matches with other
churches to provide entertainment to less
privileged people in the community, who can’t
afford to pay to watch games and to encourage healthy lifestyles.
CRIC in Line with CRA
It is imperative to be in line with the Canada Revenue Agency at all times, hence as we fundraise for our activities, please be
in constant touch with CRA. Above are some useful excerpts and links:
What is fundraising?
As a general rule, fundraising is any activity that:
• includes a solicitation of support for cash or in-kind donations.
Solicitations of support include sales of goods or services to raise funds;
• is part of the research and planning for future solicitations of support; or
• is related to a solicitation of support (for example, efforts to raise profile
of charity, donor stewardship, or donor recognition).
Fundraising does not include requests for funding from government or from other registered charities, or the operation of a
related business as defined in the Income Tax Act.
Recruitment of volunteers is not considered a solicitation of support.
Fundraising includes activities carried out by the registered charity, or someone acting on its behalf.
In circumstances where a receipt is issued for any part of a transaction, the activity is deemed to be a solicitation of support
and therefore the costs associated with the entire activity must automatically be allocated to fundraising expenditures.
When should costs associated with donor recognition be reported as fundraising?
Donor recognition is the acknowledgement or thanking of a person who has made a gift. The costs of gifts or other forms
of acknowledgement to thank donors must be reported as fundraising expenses unless they are of nominal value.
The CRA considers recognition with a per-donor cost of $75 or 10% of the donation (whichever is less) as nominal.
When donor recognition expenses are nominal and are not reported as fundraising expenses, they must nevertheless
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cps/cps-028-eng.html
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cps/cps-024-eng.html
http://www.centreforsocialenterprise.com/f/Legislative_Innovations_
and_Social_Enterprise_Structural_Lessons_for_Canada_Feb_2009.pdf
LINKS IN ALL 7 ZONES TO FOODBANKS
Food Banks British Columbia
313-720 6th Street
New Westminster, BC V3L 3C5
Phone: 604-830-3989 Fax: 604-544-4007
www.foodbanksbritishcolumbia.ca
[email protected]
Alberta Food Banks
30-50 Bellrose Drive
St. Albert, AB T8N 3L5E
Phone: 780-488-9719
Toll free: 866-251-2326 Fax: 780-488-9716
www.afbna.ca/
Banques alimentaires Québec
3005, boul. Matte, bureau 100
Brossard, QC J4Y 2P4
Phone: 450-444-4040 Fax: 450-444-4757
www.banquesalimentaires.org
[email protected]
P.E.I. Association of Food Banks
33 Belmont St
PO Box 1177
Charlottetown PEI C1A 7M8
Phone: 902-892-7092 Fax: 902-628-2054
www.feedpei.org
New Brunswick Association of Food Banks
c/o Grand Falls Regional Food Bank
363 Portage Road
Grand Falls, NB E3Z 1M2
Phone: 506-473-2001 Fax: 506-473-6883
www.foodbanksnb.com
FEED NOVA SCOTIA
213 Bedford Highway
Halifax NS B3M 2J9
Phone: 902-457-1900 Fax: 902-457-4500
www.feednovascotia.ca/
Community Food Sharing Association of
Newfoundland & Labrador
P.O. Box 6291
St. John’s NL A1C 6J9
Phone: 709-722-0130 Fax: 709-722-1611
www.cfsa.nf.net/
Manitoba Association of Food Banks
c/o Winnipeg Harvest
1085 Winnipeg Ave
Winnipeg MB R3E 0S2
Phone: 204-982-3663 Fax: 204-775-4180
Ontario Association of Food Banks
555 Bloor Street West, 2nd Floor
Toronto ON M5S 1Y6
Phone: 416-656-4100 Fax: 416-656-4104
www.oafb.ca/
Food Banks of Saskatchewan Corporation
c/o Battleford District Food & Resource Centre
P.O. Box 657
North Battleford SK
S6V OZ9
Phone: 306-937-5505 Fax: 306-937-7063
CRIC SECRETARIAT CONTACT, UNIT 100- 60 8TH STREET, NEW WESTMINISTER, BC V3M 3P1
TEL: (604) 526-7732 [email protected] Follow us on Facebook
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