Pablo and Silvina Papavero are relatively new Canadians. They came here in 2002 from Argentina. Pablo is an accountant by profession and had been hired by a business in Edmonton. Upon arrival, they walked out of the terminal and experienced their first taste of a bone chilling winter day in their new country. Thankfully, they didn't take the next plane back to Argentina! They quickly embraced their new country and found a great church home at Fort Saskatchewan Alliance Church.

Lisa Clarke, International Worker to Mexico City, was in Fort Saskatchewan for her one-year home assignment. Lisa shared the need The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) had in Mexico City for a couple who could work in the area of accounting as well as form part of a new church planting team. As Pablo and Silvina heard of this need, God began to stir in their hearts. They entered a time of prayer and seeking God to discern his calling. The pastoral team and the community of the church spoke into the Papaveros' life. It became evident that God was calling them to leave Canada and head to Mexico.

In July 2008, Pablo and Silvina, with their three children, arrived in Mexico City. Being fluent in Spanish, they were able to immediately move into their new ministries. Pablo serves as the regional accountant for Mexico and Latin America. Silvina, who is very gifted in children's ministry, has begun to reach out to the many children in the section of the city where they live. Their gifts for evangelism are bearing fruit and, together with another family and single person, are beginning a brand new church.

Another couple is currently studying Spanish in Costa Rica. They are preparing to join one of our teams in a Creative Access Country. They will finish their language studies in August and then head to their new country.

They arrived at this point through a series of events God used to shape their lives. Both grew up in nurturing church communities where they were affirmed and encouraged. Prior to marriage, they both sensed God leading them to depart from Canada to serve as International Workers (IWs). They acquired tools that would not only help them enter their new country but also show the compassion of God in practical ways. After both had finished theological degrees, the husband completed a Master?s in Community Development and the wife, a Masters in Linguistics.

Both couples were part of Alliance churches that showed a passion to help identify their giftedness and then inspire them to find ways of fulfilling it. The Apostle Paul paints an exciting picture of the heart of church life in Ephesians 4:11-12. We read: ?It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to pastors and teachers to prepare (equip) God?s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ?.(NIV)? (equip and underlining are added).

The word 'equip' conveys a particularly vivid and powerful picture. Equip was used in the culture of Paul?s day to describe the activity that coaches did to train Olympic athletes. Here is the picture portrayed - pastors, leaders, and other members of the Body of Christ are like coaches. One of their primary roles is to help each ?athlete? discover the 'sport' in which God has given them to excel. Coaches then provide an ideal training environment for their athletes. These couples had 'coaches' who believed in, counseled, inspired, and released them to excel in the sport to which God had called them.

We are in an exciting new phase in our Canadian C&MA churches. I see signs right across the country of God stirring us up to recapture the picture Paul describes. Pastors, elders, leaders and others within the church community are actively seeking to help people identify their giftedness, then equipping, empowering and releasing them to serve God in their community, country, and world.

Besides being nurtured by their pastors and local churches, both couples were also helped by the Global Ministries Department. Global Ministries (GM) is the name given to the international extension of Alliance churches in Canada. The Alliance Family of Churches chooses to work together in order to send International Workers. GM provides the organizational structure to facilitate what God is doing in our churches and the people he is calling out from them.

Another was the formation of Converge - the official division of GM that oversees the mobilization and development of IWs with the C&MA in Canada. The purpose of Converge is to work together with local churches to send people like these two couples. The word serves as a metaphor. Just as various streams converge together to form a rushing river, so too God uses multiple means and people to help identify, call, and equip people to serve as International Workers.

Those who are interested in pursuing serving God overseas are put in contact with the Converge team. The team walks alongside of people through the process of becoming IWs with the Alliance.

Since 1887, the C&MA has been passionate about going to the least-reached people. God is raising up a new wave of people to go into the needy places of the world. This is a team process. Pastors, churches, GM, and Converge are committed to helping people journey along the path as they go to the nations.

Ric and Ruth-Anne Gilbertson serve as national co-directors of Converge. For more information visit www.cmaconverge.com