Mission Connexion set

for Vancouver

      TUALATIN — One of the Northwest’s largest annual Christian events takes place next month in Vancouver, Wash.., but more than 120 pastors traveled to Tualatin last month from as far away as Bend and Tillamook for a preview.
       The pastors’ luncheon to promote Mission ConneXion Northwest was held Nov. 16 at Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin.
       Featuring plenary speakers Bishop Joel Juene, Bill Job, Fouad Masri and Miriam Adeney, the ninth run of Mission ConneXion takes place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20 and 21 at Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver.
        A video at the luncheon introduced Job, who has run a glass-making business in China for many years.
       “To combat poverty, wealth has to be created,” he said in the video. Through his business practices, he models the Christian life and helps Chinese believers understand how to walk daily with Christ, and as a result, many of his employees have launched church-planting efforts and compassion ministries impacting many in the city of Xiamen. Business as missions will be a key focus at this year’s conference.
       Juene is founder and director of Grace International, a network of 270 churches, 65 schools, three orphanages and a medical clinic in Haiti. Born in Lebanon, Masri founded The Crescent Project, which helps North Americans sensitively share their faith with Muslims. Adeney, who teaches at Seattle Pacific University, is an author and expert on the globalizing forces in mission work.
        Mission ConneXion Northwest does what most individual churches cannot do: Assemble world-class missionary leaders and speakers for a yearly two-day conference, offer 25 workshop tracks with 25 different workshops, and mobilize a wide range of churches to do missions.
        The luncheon program was a smorgasbord of testimonials: Tad and Nikki Raichart, a young couple from Sonrise Church in Hillsboro, told about meeting a Harvest of Hope representative at a past Mission ConneXion Northwest. When Tad said he was an electrical contractor, the representative told of construction needs in Africa. Since then, the Raicharts have spent two weeks in Tanzania and are now waiting for God’s further leading.
       Mike McDonald, missions pastor at Solid Rock Church in Beaverton, sends monthly teams to Haiti. He credits Mission ConneXion Northwest’s founder, Bill MacLeod, with introducing him to Forward Edge International, with which he has created a partnership for his church’s Haiti outreach.
        Mitch Lamotte, evangelism and missions pastor at Southwest Hills BaptistChurch, pointed out that conferences similar to Mission ConneXion Northwest often cost several hundred dollars to attend. But Mission ConneXion’s leadership wants this conference to remain free. Thus MacLeod gave pastors an opportunity to become Mission ConneXion Northwest partners through funding a conference workshop track or helping pay for a conference speaker or regularly giving through their church’s budget.
         Pastors received a promotional video to show at their churches and literature about the January conference.
        “This is our time in history,” Lamotte told the pastors. “Each of us is called to be God’s instrument in evangelism, training, and mobilizing the church…. Let’s harvest together as partners.”