Every year, Providence hosts a momentous event called Missio Dei. “Missio Dei” is a Latin, Christian theological term that can be translated as the “Mission of God.” The aptly named multi-day event provides the Providence community with the opportunity to reflect and refocus on Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 to “therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
The Executive Director of Frontiers Canada (he has asked to remain anonymous), kicked off Missio Dei 2019 in our Community Chapel with an inspiring talk on bringing the transformational message of Christ to unengaged Muslim people groups around the world. His open and inviting challenge of spreading the Gospel to the far reaches of the world set the tone for the remainder of Missio Dei as students, staff and faculty connected with representatives from over 15 missions organizations from across Canada. Wednesday evening, students and mission representatives engaged in an evening worship service in preparation for the day ahead.
On Thursday, the Providence community had the opportunity to catch a glimpse into various missions organizations dedicated to following through on Jesus’ Great Commission. The Hanna-Centre-turned-missions-hub hosted workshops highlighting Kingdom work being done in Turkey and the importance of sending Christian teachers to schools in South East Asia to provide students with an opportunity of learning about Christ in the classroom.
Missio Dei organizer and Student Council Global Missions Representative, Thoko Zimba, worked tirelessly in creating a successful event that proved to be both warm and welcoming to the visiting mission representatives and engaging for the students. The Missio Dei festivities concluded with a wonderfully diverse ethnic marketplace, where a variety of Providence international students cooked ethnic dishes, danced and opened up about their native country. The ethnic marketplace provided our students with the opportunity to share in one another’s cultures and traditions while also creating a greater awareness of the global community.
Darcy Friesen, Community Life Coordinator at Providence, remarked on the event: “Every year Missio Dei continues to be an annual highlight for me. Watching students become excited about missions, whether globally or locally, warms my soul in the middle of the cold winter. Thoko and her committee did a tremendous job in planning and orchestrating a fantastic event that brings about a deeper sense of awareness of being Christ’s light bearers in a shadowed world.”
