Director announcement coming soon

The CMI board is negotiating with a director applicant. An announcement of the outcome is expected sometime next week.

General Office Manager Position

Continental Mission Incorporated

(“the Organization”)

Position Description for General Office Manager

Job Title:                              General Office Manager

Reports To:                         General Director

Term:                                   Initial term of 2 years

Position Overview:

The Board of Directors has completed phase I of a Re-Visioning Project for The Organization which has defined the Mission statement as “Growing Christian Leaders in the North”.

The General Office Manager will be expected to provide the day to day managerial support for the General Director.

·         Keeping regular office hours

·         Completing day to day paperwork,

·         Ensuring that communication and bookkeeping are up-to-date

·         Other tasks as assigned

The General Office Manager will work as a part of the Organization’s leadership team with a primary focus on efficient administration.

Responsibilities

·         As a senior administrator of the Organization, the General Office Manager is responsible for

o   Assisting in the administration & oversight of all current programs specifically as regards accessing grants, communications and public relations media

o   Finances

§  Managing the annual budget

§  Being sure that all financial affairs are adhering to legal requirements

§  Providing financial reports to the General Director on a monthly basis.

o   Providing the General Director with regular reports on the status of ongoing public relations plans and communications

o   Edit and manage the major public relations campaigns of the organization

·         As an asset manager, the General Office Manager will manage the payment of bills, property maintenance and play the role of landlord for rental groups  using the organization’s assets.

·         As a team member, the General Office Manager will be personally involved in “Growing Christian Leaders in the North”

·         As an ambassador for the Organization, the General Office Manager will be responsible for communicating with other organizations as necessary.

·         As a servant of the General Director, the General Office Manager is expected to respond with flexibility and collaboration to the needs of the Organization (both internally and externally) when directed by the General Director.

Skills & Characteristics

·         Strong personal faith and testimony

o   Ability to achieve a healthy balance between vocation and personal life

·         Demonstrated leadership qualities

o   Planning

o   Organization

o   Bookkeeping

o   Independent  Work Ethic

·         Strong communication skills

o   Excellent verbal communicator

o   Comfortable with multiple media forms

Employment Model

·         The head office of the organization is in Thompson, Manitoba

·         Target compensation for this position will be $3,750 per month

§  Initial month salary would be drawn from General Fund, with active increments negotiated to move toward a split salary with an increasing portion coming from support raised funds to decrease the burden on the General Fund.

§  Travel and home office expenses will be identified to provide legitimate tax-advantageous treatment of total compensation

Happy New Year

It’s a New Year                                                                                  January, 2012

               

What a privilege to experience another new day in another New Year. It is easy to forget what a privilege it is to have life and hope. This New Year will bring some joys and some sorrows, but it is our privilege to be a part of it and we should thank God for that. It is also important to remember with the Apostle Paul that departing to be with the Lord is far better.

Here at CMI we are starting the New Year with some New Life and New Hope. I am thrilled to see a full van load of youth going with Morgan and Krista Serger to a Youth Retreat at Camp Cedarwood this weekend. The teens are so excited. I am pleased to hear of the exuberance at Steinbach Bible College as the students prepare to come north next Tuesday.

The new General Director is almost here! We ask you to pray with us for the board and candidates as the hiring process moves forward. You can expect an announcement of the successful candidate by this time next month.

We have chosen a new date for the CMI Annual Meeting. After quite a few years of having our annual meeting on May Long Weekend, we are going back to an older tradition of having it in March. We are actually blending traditions since we are hosting the meeting at Hilbre rather than in the North as used to be done years ago. I encourage you to mark March 17^th on your calendar and plan to join us for an informative meeting and supper at Eagle Bay Camp and Retreat Center.

We are choosing a new financial target. We are so enthused about God’s faithfulness and the generosity of his people that allowed us to meet our target of repaying the $27thousand borrowed from reserved funds as we close the books on 2011. It is such a privilege to be a part of God’s people. As we finalize plans for the 2012 budget, we want to do so planning carefully, trusting God fully and communicating to our supporting constituency graciously.

CMI is looking for new staff. We are looking for a General Office Manager to work closely with the General Director. See the job description under that tab on CMI Home page.  

May God give you wisdom and joy as you embark on this New Year.

Ferlin Abrahamson

Interim General Manager

204-281-2879

Time to move forward

                                                                                December 2011

Dear CMI partner,

                It is time to move beyond the interim! The time has come to hire a full-time General Director. The application deadline for this position is December 15. Please pray that God will draw the right applicants. Hiring the General Director is the critical next step before proceeding to put our ministry plan into effect throughout the organization.

                It is time to celebrate the coming of Jesus. The Advent season reminds us that we are celebrating the greatest gift that has ever or can ever be given. We must not take this gift for granted. I want to wish you a joyful and encouraging Christmas season.

                It is time to grieve.  The death of Evans Merasty leaves a large hole in our hearts at Thompson Bible Chapel and CMI. Please pray especially for his wife Debbie and their boys. We have been reminded this week that we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. We have also been reminded that we do grieve; and the pain is real. For each of you who are feeling the sting of grief at this time of year, I pray that you will also experience the comfort of the Prince of Peace.

                It is time to give. Enjoy the Christmas season, and cherish the gifts and the opportunities with which you have been blessed.  Respond to those blessings with generosity of your own. Like so many organizations, CMI is faced with a financial shortfall.  Please consider our organization as you plan your “expressions of generosity.”  

                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                Ferlin Abrahamson

                                                                                Interim General Manager

                                                                                Cell: 204-281-2879

                                                                                                 

I hurt people

I hurt people a lot before! So begins the “creative writing confessional” I received recently from an inmate who spent a lot of time on a fairly simple message. He carefully and skillfully crafted each letter to accomplish his purpose. He wanted to state very clearly his awareness that he had blown it pretty bad in life. He seemed a bit amazed that anyone could ever give him another chance after the depth of his failure.

I am impressed by the diligence of his creative writing. I am happy for him as he experiences the ‘surprized hope’ that comes when you are given another chance after failure. But most of all I am reminded of how much I also need forgiveness and another chance. I have never landed in jail or been on the wrong side of the law, but I also have hurt people- a lot.

Even more importantly, I have hurt my heavenly Father. I have disappointed him with my words, actions and thoughts. I have chased after things of this world when He told me to love him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. I have been apathetic towards things that break his heart even though I know he accused the people of Tyre and Sidon of being worse than Sodom and Gomorrah when they ignored the work of God in their midst.

As I have re-read the simple message in complex writing from the hands of an inmate, I am challenged as I read his closing phrase “People, be strong, not weak.” It really reminds me of God telling Joshua to be strong and of good courage. It is true that these words were given to a great political leader, but here I am reminded how much all of us need this challenge.  As we look around our community and ask God how He wants us to respond to various needs there, I think it is good for us to concur with the inmate.

Certainly, there are differences between you and the inmate, but there are none of us who have not hurt others. All of us need forgiveness, and all of us need the courage to stand up for what is right. Thank God for forgiveness, and let us be known as those who offer it freely to others, as we remember the challenge of Jesus that only those who give forgiveness are eligible to receive it.

Vallinga's resignation

 

Travis & Susan's resignation announcement

September 27, 2011

 

Hello friends,

 

We are enjoying fall colors here in Lynn Lake… mostly shades of yellow.

 

God has been at work in redirecting our family over the past months. After living in an isolated community for the past 5 years we felt that it was time for us to move on.

 

As we looked into the possibilities God directed us to contact a small rural church in Dorion, ON (near Thunder Bay) who were looking for a Pastor. We sent in our resume and other information after which they decided to have us begin the candidate process. We have been communicating with them and recently went as a family to visit the church. We spent 4 days there making new friends, exploring the community and Travis preached on Sunday.

 

On October 25th we received a call from them after the church voted and they have extended a call to Travis to become their new Pastor. We are very excited !!

 

Our house is sold and we have booked a U-Haul truck for the last week of October. It will be nice to move before winter settles in too deeply in the north.

 

Plans have already been made for a follow up Camp Meeting to be held on Saturday October 1 at 2 pm. The campers, their families and friends are invited to sing camp songs, view camp photos and hear a story from the Path Finders Bible Adventure books which we will be handing out to each family. These are from NAIM written using First Nations stories from their own culture which are used to present the gospel and include drawings by First Nations children. They were donated by the Caronport Community Church.

 

We appreciate the prayers and support that many of you have given over our time in Lynn Lake. I believe October is the last month we will be receiving support from Continental Mission. If you have been supporting us regularly you may wish to contact them to transfer your support to another missionary.

Continental Mission continues to go through a revisioning process with the goal of focusing more on the training of Native people. Feel free to contact Ferlin Abrahamson (Interim General Manager of CMI) for further information at (204)778-4491

　

Please pray for us as we pack and move. There are many details to be sorted out and a 21 hour drive when we go. Stephen and Bethany are planning to attend the local high school starting in second term but will continue to be home schooled this term. Lance & Cheryl are also planning to move … Lance is already working in Alberta in a year round construction job. Cheryl plans to join him as soon as they can find a home in Alberta or BC.

 

We will be in touch again to give you further information from CMI and to let you know what will be happening with Berge Lake Bible Camp and at least once to update you on how things are going as we settle into our new ministry. We will also give you our new contact information.

 

Blessings,

 

Travis & Susan, Stephen and Bethany

　

This Letter from CMI offfice

 

Dear friends and supporters of the Vallinga family,

     Thank you for the support and encouragement you have provided to the ministry in Lynn Lake through Travis & Susan Vallinga and family. Continental Mission has been pleased to have them serving as the pastor of Lynn Lake Gospel Church for the past 5 years. They have served enthusiastically in church and camp ministry in that community.

    They have come to the conclusion that the time is right to move on to another assignment and have resigned from CMI to accept a pastoral call to Dorion Bible Fellowship near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Though it is hard for CMI to lose staff members, we can see the wisdom of this move and offer them our blessing as they move on to fresh challenges.

    CMI wants to offer some assistance with moving and resettling costs and will be offering Travis and Susan a November pay-check in order to do this. This means that CMI will continue to accept support designated to the Vallinga’s up until the end of November. This support will be passed on to the Vallinga’s.

    After December 1, CMI will not be be continuing the Vallinga fund. We welcome your contribution to other worthwhile ministries or missionaries.

                                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                                Ferlin Abrahamson

 

                                                                                                               CMI general manager

                                                                                                                cell 204-281-2879

Harvest Time

 

                                                                                                                                               

                                       

                                                                                                  September 2011

                                                                 It is harvest time!

Last evening at dusk as I was operating a combine in an area where many combines were busy thrashing grain and the harvest dusk hung like a thick blanket all around, I was reminded again of one reason I get so excited about being part of “bringing in the sheaves.” It is always a privilege to get involved in something that is so much bigger than you, and yet feel that you are also making some significant contribution. |I know that the annual grain harvest is about “making a living,” but it is also meaningful to me to be participating in activity that feeds the world.

Here at Continental Mission, we are also privileged to be a part of the harvest. Many people over many years have been sowing the seed and there is a harvest waiting to be brought in. Though the timing is even less predictable than harvesting grain, the harvest is real and so is the privilege and responsibility to be a part of it.

In “Bringing in the Sheaves” the songwriter, Knowles Shaw, talks a lot more about sowing than he does about reaping, even though harvest is the focus of the song. We often feel that there is need for a lot of sowing, but we never want to lose sight of the reason for it all and the harvest that is to come.

We continue to wrestle with the implications of our new Mission Statement “Growing Christian Leaders in the North.” We are in the midst of finding a new full-time director who can lead us into the future God has in store for us. Your prayers and gifts are appreciated so much.

                                                                                For the harvest,

                                                                           Ferlin Abrahamson         

                                                                           Interim General Manager