Starting with the End

Fr. Loren Fox and his wife were missionaries in Southeast Asia for seven and a half years as members of Anglican Frontier Missions (AFM).  Fr. Loren continues as an adviser to AFM and as a board member for New Wineskins for Global Missions.  He is the author of Engaging the Adventure, a primer on the cross-cultural missions.  Our commitment is begin our prayers and concerns for the world with those people who have no access to the Gospel or to the Church in their own heart language.  We call those people the unreached peoples or those who are at the "ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).  Church of Our Savior has begun to specifically pray for the Dong People in China, a people of more than 3,000,000 among whom there are less than 500 believers.  Only now are the Scriptures becoming available in the Dong language.  They help us as a parish to be thinking of others--those who are half way around the world and those who live right next door.

A Partnership with the Global Church

Partnerships are about relationships and a common purpose.  Our relationships with the Global Church share the common purpose of sharing the hope of Jesus Christ and building up His Church.  We partner with Fr. Benedict Vani in Bolahun, Liberia.  Fr. Vani returned to Liberia in 2008 after his forced exile during the Civil War.  He is enjoying preaching and teaching for the first time in his mother tongue of Bandi. The Rev. Shirley Morris is a priest of the Church in Uganda, born in the US, and sent by Uganda to the south of England at the beginning of 2009.  During the previous four years, she developed a powerful ministry among the women in the Diocese of Hoima in the Bunyoro-Kitara region. Our Diocese has a companion relationship with the Diocese of Honduras. Our parish has supported one of the young men at El Hogar.  Several of our parishioners have been to Honduras over the years. Patricia Waber is returning to the Dominican Republic.  She had been there previously before spending four years in Uganda.  She will return to Jarabocoa to start up a new venture, working with mothers and their undernourished babies.

An Openness at Home

Missions crosses many boundaries--sometimes right at home. We are a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic parish. We take seriously the opportunity to reach out to many cultures right here in Palm Bay and Brevard County.  We are always looking to invite people, especially internationals, into the life of our parish.  This includes the many international students at Florida Institute of Technology.  If you know someone from outside the US, who is looking for a Church here, we encourage you to invite them to visit Our Savior--we want to extend this hospitality to our brothers and sisters from around the globe.  Likewise, if you know a person from outside the US who is exploring the Christian faith but is struggling to connect Jesus to their own culture, we invite you to bring that person to Our Savior.  The Scripture is full of references to the many cultures and languages of the peoples in the Bible.  Church of Our Savior is continually learning to welcome all people and share Jesus in a way that respects the different cultures and languages that God has created and honored.