Our church is actively involved in supporting various Christian missions at home and abroad. We are currently involved in a three year project in Bolivia, we support missionary families working in Canada or around the world, and we have participated in various infrastructure projects in third world countries.
We recently raised funds to assist with two water projects in Kenya:
Mariakani in the Coast Province of Kenya is situated approximately 132 kilometres from Mombasa city along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway. The soil in the area is predominantly sandy with some loam. Crops grown in the area include coconuts, mangoes, cashew nuts, maize, beans, peas, and bananas, among others. This region receives about 1000 millimetres of rainfall per year, has relatively warm temperatures due to its proximity to the Indian Ocean, and is generally sparsely populated except near shopping centres and marketplaces. Money raised at First Baptist Church was used to help build a 40000 litre water tank to store water from the Mzima springs in the Kyulu hills. The local community provided most of the labour for the project and the tank is expected to provide water to 100 households comprised of 100 men, 150 women, and 350 youth and children.
Kasasule is located in the Eastern Province of Kenya approximately eight kilometres west of Thange on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway. The main sources of water are pans and dams, rivers and springs. The project here involved the construction of a weir to collect water during the rainy season. Even though the weir was not complete, it did collect water from the short rains in the fall of 2008. The long rains which were experienced just after the weir was completed have partially refilled the weir. The finished dimensions of the weir are approximately 3.9 metres high by 26.5 metres long. The weir benefits 500 households comprised of 500 men, 1000 women, and 1500 youth, plus 1800 livestock. The people began planting tomatoes and vegetables in small gardens in the vicinity of the weir. They are carrying water from the weir for domestic use.
We sent a team of four members of our congregation to Bolivia in November 2009 for about a two week period. Details of their trip will be posted soon...
As part of our work within the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), our pastor recently attended a conference at Lac Brôme in Quebec. One of the results of that conference is a declaration of support for French language Baptist ministry in Quebec.