Centre targets world evangelism
CALGARY, AB-The Billy Graham Evangelical Association of Canada (BGEAC) is moving west in a bid to set up a new centre for world evangelism.
"For 50 years the BGEAC offices have been located in rented space and Samaritan's Purse Canada [SPC] has rented for the past 30 years," says Franklin Graham, president of both the BGEA and SPC.
"When we consider the amount of money we've given to someone else during that time, we could have paid for these buildings and more."
Graham says the new complex will serve as a centre for world evangelism. "Wherever the devil is trying to stir up a storm, we want to plant the flag of our Lord Jesus Christ right in the middle of it," he says. "I want to focus on Canada with the BGEA and together we want to lift up Christ and shout His name across this nation."
Graham and 14 board members representing SPC and the BGEAC participated in a sod-turning ceremony in Calgary at the end of May for the organizations' new 75,000 square-foot Canadian Ministry Centre.
Expected to be functional in time for the 2003 Operation Christmas Child program, the base of operations for SPC and the BGEAC is being built on eight acres of land near Calgary's airport.
Plans call for the BGEAC offices to relocate to Calgary from Winnipeg.
"We see the new ministry centre as a launching pad to train workers to reach our own country and the world for Christ," Jack Neufeld, a Calgary businessman and chairman of the building committee told City Light News, the Calgary area's local Christian newspaper.
"With so many of our people travelling worldwide, we needed to be close to an airport," he explains. "The conference centre needed to be close to hotels and restaurants. SPC needed industrial warehousing space for Operation Christmas Child. All of these requirements will be met in the new facility, with room to expand."
Samaritan's Purse is a non-denominational, evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world since 1970.
Operation Christmas Child sends gift-filled shoeboxes and literature to children in desperate situations around the world. More than six million shoeboxes were collected in 2002 worldwide and distributed to children in more than 95 countries.
The goal of the BGEAC is to make known Christ's message and to edify the Christian body in Canada.
Staff of the BGEAC carry out a variety of tasks on behalf of the numerous ministries of the BGEA, including the Franklin Graham festivals.
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