It’s that time of year again and Providence College is getting ready to host their annual mission conference, Missio Dei, which means the sending of God. The conference will coincide with Missionfest Manitoba, and will feature acclaimed speaker, George Verwer. The two day event will take place on the Otterburne campus on February 4th and 5th.
George Verwer is the founder of Operation Mobilization, and has authored four books, including Out of the Comfort Zone and Hunger for Reality. Verwer will lead two plenary sessions at Missio Dei entitled, “Vision. Grace. Action.” and “Book of Acts Reality.” These sessions will address the marrying of gospel proclamation and social action.
“We are very excited to have George Verwer as our speaker for the conference. He has a real passion for college students and he’ll be perfect for Missio Dei,” said Megan Kamei, Missions Representative on Providence Student Council and one of the coordinators for the event.
The conference, which was formerly called Missions Encounter, underwent a makeover to reflect changes in the world of mission work. “The face of missions is changing,” said Kamei. “It used to be associated with just teaching, preaching, and evangelism, and while all those things are still important, we need to focus on humanitarian issues as well, such as poverty, equality, and the environment. We need to learn to focus on all aspects; spiritual and otherwise.”
Dr. Kara Mandryk, professor of Worship Studies, is the faculty advisor for Missio Dei. “We wanted to redesign the conference in the light of our diverse student body and their diverse desires. Since 1925, Providence has been committed to teaching and training people for mission work. At Missio Dei, we want to honour our heritage as well as highlight the changes taking place in mission work.”
Missio Dei will feature a diversity dinner where attendees will be treated to foods from different countries. There will also be a Missions Marketplace that will showcase games, displays, and other activities from around the world.
Providence’s Missio Dei is open to anyone interested in attending. It will offer participants a chance to explore missions, in all its methods. “We want all who come to be aware of the multitude of ways they can participate in the kingdom of God, locally and globally,” said Mandryk.
Missio Dei begins on February 4th with registration at 4 pm and the Diversity Dinner at 6 pm. Verwer’s plenary sessions will be February 5th at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm. For more information and a full itinerary, see prov.ca/events or contact Kara Mandryk at 1-800-668-7768.
