Nathan Bryant of our Grace Brethren church-planting team in Canada (shown here with his wife Jennifer and children) has requested that we post the following update and explanation to supporters of Team Canada:
Dear Faithful Supporter of Team Canada,
You may have already received an announcement from Grace Brethren North American Missions, regarding their cessation of operations. If you haven’t you can check it out on www.fgbc.org.
This news happened quickly and we have only just recently learned of it ourselves. We apologize for not being able to let you know what was happening until now as we were asked to wait until GBNAM sent out their official announcement first.
Although GBNAM is winding down operations as a mission, we here in Canada are not. We are as committed as ever to establish a movement of churches here in Canada. We had a great year in 2007 and we anticipate many more to come!
While we will no longer be functioning under GBNAM, we will continue functioning as a church planting agency in Canada. When we came to Canada we created a Canadian corporation, “GBCanada” which is a recognized Registered Charity with the Canadian government. We needed to do this to function legally in Canada.
GBCanada has its own board of directors and files charity information returns with the Canadian Government in order to maintain its charitable status. We will continue operating under this agency without change as it has no impact on what GBNAM is doing.
In order for us to continue receiving your U.S. donations, we are seeking 501(c)(3) public charity status for GBCanada so that we can also receipt U.S. donations for our ministry here. It looks likely that we will be approved but it will take time to file the necessary paperwork with the IRS and have them review our application.
If you are currently giving to the effort here in Canada but are concerned about where to send your support, we have made temporary arrangements with GBNAM to continue receiving all designated GBCanada funds as GBNAM winds down its operations. If you are a church and don’t need a U.S. tax receipt then you can simply send your support directly to GBCanada (address below).
Once we have received IRS approval, we will be asking all of our donors to give directly to GBCanada which will make things easier for all of us. Until then please continue giving to GBNAM designated to us personally or to Team Canada.
You should be receiving our special newsletter very soon celebrating 10 years of ministry in Canada. It will highlight all of the things God has done in the last 10 years and will also give you the vision for the next 10 years and beyond.
Thanks so much for your partnership in the advancement of the kingdom through the establishment of new churches here in Canada.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns.
Living for the King,
Nathan
GBCanada
7575 Danbro Crescent, Suite 100
Mississauga, ON L5N 6P9
