Welcome Norton to the team!
This week, our new FAIR Director, Norton Lages, begins his ministry with Fellowship National.
Welcome, Norton and Tati!
I wanted to give you an opportunity to greet and welcome Norton and Tati to our Fellowship National team. You can connect with him at nlages@fellowship.ca.
Norton is well suited to lead our relief, development, and justice ministry (FAIR: Fellowship Aid and International Relief), thanks to his past experience and his passion. The following is a brief bio of Norton and Tati.
Introducing Norton and Tati Lages
Norton Lages of Montréal, QC accepted the call to become our next FAIR Director commencing March 11, 2024. Norton is married to Tatiana (Tati) and together they followed God’s clear call nine years ago to leave Brazil to serve God in Québec. They have been church planters (with Église 21), and Norton was cofounder of Mission Québec and the Director of Development for AEBEQ.
Norton and Tati served with World Changers International and Metamorfose, two relief ministries working in impoverished neighbourhoods in Salvador, Brazil, along with serving on the Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Advocacy Committee working in areas of freedom and justice.
Norton is Brazilian by birth and a Canadian citizen. He is fluent in four languages—Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish—which is a tremendous asset as many FAIR projects are located in countries where these languages are predominant. He has a Master of Missiology (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, North Carolina), a Master of Business Administration (Salvador University, Salvador, Brazil), and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Communications in Marketing (Polifucs College, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil).
When asked what ultimate purpose he saw humanitarian ministry having among our Fellowship churches, Norton responded, “When it comes to mission, holistic or humanitarian ministry has the ultimate purpose of pointing people to Jesus: ‘Missions exist because worship doesn’t.’ (John Piper) It is the natural expression of the saints (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:7, 14) that invites people to glorify God. According to Matthew 5:16, people will see holistic or humanitarian ministry and give glory to the Father.
“FAIR enables Fellowship churches and individual donors to alleviate human suffering and injustice in the name of Christ. Different from an interdenominational faith mission agency, FAIR interacts exclusively with Fellowship churches for them to have opportunities to participate in existing projects with our missionaries and formal partners, and also to discover new ways (according to wise parameters and concrete possibilities) to glorify God by serving the poor and suffering worldwide. Our Fellowship churches’ culture, modus operandi, and theology will play a significant role in the way this interaction occurs.”
Join me in thanking the Lord for providing God’s servant to our FAIR ministry.
We encourage you and your church to welcome Norton and Tati via email at nlages@fellowship.ca.