President's Blog

Fellowship Chaplaincy is a ministry of presence that demonstrates the love of Christ. Fellowship chaplains are an extension of our local churches, often in closed communities. They are “closed” in the sense that clergy and congregations are not permitted or are received poorly when they seek to connect. Pastors are not permitted to walk into a police detachment to minister, but chaplains are welcomed.

Here are a couple Fellowship chaplains and their stories. Please pray for them:

Resurrection Power on the Ocean

Sunday mornings on His Majesty’s Canadian ships are the best day of my week while deployed on naval operations in the Canadian Armed Forces. This is the day believers in Christ—and whoever else decides to wander into the chaplain’s Sunday service—meet. Life on board ship can be hectic for our sailors, and sleep scarce during training exercises. In fact, it is possible to go for days without seeing the sun on the upper deck as one is immersed in operational duties. However, the ship’s captain has allowed one hour to be carved out for sailors to meet together around God’s Word to find communion with each other and with Jesus, the Saviour of our souls.

As a deployed chaplain it is important to me to offer the elements of communion at the end of every service. It is here we can experience the words of the apostle Paul, “to know Christ and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).

It is difficult to live for Christ in the military as members move often and find it hard to connect with a new church, or they fall into habits that are not honouring to Christ. But something changes on a deployment and many members look to renew their faith.

I remember travelling, during a week in Ukraine, to a group of sappers (combat engineers) and offering to share communion with anyone interested. A rough sergeant took me up on the offer and brought along one of his peers, a master-corporal. The master corporal said it had been a long time since he had taken communion. I was full of joy when this rough sergeant began to explain the Gospel and the meaning behind the symbols of the body and blood of Christ. This sergeant struggled with his faith, but meeting with Jesus and communing with Him brought a renewed strength to both him and me that day.

I remember several instances of sharing communion together on the Pacific. Sailors who were struggling to live out their faith back home were weeping with joyful repentance as they thanked Jesus for His body given and His blood poured out to make them new. To be able to sing Amazing Grace with them and then take up the very elements Christ gave to His church to “remember Him until the day He comes” is a powerful reminder of the power of Christ and His resurrection.

 I am full of joy at the conclusion of every Sunday service on ship as I witness Christ invading strongholds of darkness and making a public spectacle of these strongholds each time a sailor confesses their love for Christ. To Jesus be the glory!

— Robert Schweyer is a navy chaplain currently based at CFB Esquimalt on Vancouver Island. He has deployed once to Ukraine in 2021 and once last year on the Pacific with HMCS Vancouver.

Resurrection Power Comes to the Margins

Since early 2024, Mission to the Margins’ (M2M) first year in Kitchener, prayer walking for our city has truly become the most important part of my week, so much so that I’m renaming it our weekly “Power Walk”. In our walks a small group of us gather together for about one hour. We walk various routes in the city. As we walk, we pray for those in need in our community and for the organizations serving the poor, those organizations attempting to see past the physical symptoms and to recognize that our struggle is “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

One spot that is special to us is a building that houses women who are coming from homelessness or shelter living. After meeting their staff, I confess I had low expectations in dropping my chaplain card off at one of the most secular organizations in the city! I thought my information would be tossed. However, four days later I had a call from a staff member to see if I would come and pray through the apartment of one of their residents. This one opportunity turned into several more such as, for example, painting a couple of apartment units and meeting one-on-one with women. Additionally, we run a monthly event we call “Low-Tech Ladies Night” where a small group of M2M volunteers bring snacks and non-screen activities to share. Conversations are sparked and friendships are formed with women who are often avoided.

Prior to the “Low Tech-Ladies Night” events we set aside a half-hour to pray. We recognize our inadequacy to meet the needs of these ladies who are trapped in cycles of addiction, and struggling with mental health, broken relationships, and broken hearts.

We especially recognize the Holy Spirit’s power to take what is dead and breathe in His life! We ask Him to move and make Himself known as we enter the building, and that He would, as the song says, “change the atmosphere.”

From the outset of our ministry, both residents and staff make comments like, “I love the energy you bring to this place”; “When you guys are here, this whole space changes”, or “You guys have the best vibes!”. We’re pretty sure that the Holy Spirit has a sense of humour being referred to as “energy” and “vibes” by these women who are far from Him, but we know that it is Him in us that they are sensing!

Please join us in praying that He would bring the women we work with to life and the power of Christ. As Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.”

— Karen Bast is a community employee chaplain serving in Kitchener, ON, with Mission to the Margins who “exist to see the poor engage with the Gospel and the church engage with the poor.” Karen is passionate about going to places otherwise ignored or forgotten and pointing people in the direction of healing and spiritual wholeness available only through the work of Jesus Christ. Karen in married to James and they have three children.

THANK YOU, Rob and Karen

Karen and Rob serve as Fellowship partner chaplains with Mission to the Margins (M2M) and the Canadian Armed Forces respectively. They are an extension of our churches being the “hands and feet” of Jesus in locations where our churches often discover obstacles. Please pray for our Fellowship Chaplains.