Vision Ministries Canada

Vision Ministries Canada Founded in 1992.

Our Vision is to help see more churches on mission & more people following Jesus, pursuing virtue, justice and the reconciliation of all things.

Moving On!I have so enjoyed being the VMC Storyteller for the last 6 years. It has been a chance to tell about 500 stori...
05/31/2026

Moving On!

I have so enjoyed being the VMC Storyteller for the last 6 years. It has been a chance to tell about 500 stories of God at work in our churches and communities. Thank you to the pastors and leaders who have talked with me and shared their stories. And thank you to those who have read this stories and joined us in giving thanks to God for what God is doing.

I will be moving on to a full time faculty position (Spiritual Formation) at Prairie College in Three Hills, Alberta this summer. It will be another front row seat to what God is doing among us and within us.

My thanks and gratitude to the VMC community! May God continue to guide and empower you to do the beautiful work that God has called you to do.

-Elizabeth Millar

40 years is a long time for any relationship or community.It goes without saying that there’s been good times and bad ti...
05/31/2026

40 years is a long time for any relationship or community.
It goes without saying that there’s been good times and bad times.
And by the grace of God, when you look back over the years, the faithfulness of God is evident.

Last summer, University Chapel (Vancouver, BC) celebrated 40 years together.
In 1985, the vision to be a missional presence to the UBC campus was born.
40 years later and God still seems to want this community of faith there.
Of course, it looks a little different than the original vision, with three language families – Korean, Mandarin, and English - worshipping at the same time under one roof.
In 2025, the church building needed some renovations for reconfiguration of some spaces and to accommodate for a growing number of children.
With a bit of wild faith, University Chapel began a capital campaign and God moved people’s hearts.
People gave above and beyond and the renovations were completed in time for their 40th anniversary in July.

As a special bonus, the final member of their pastoral team arrived from Singapore to join the celebration.
At the start of the school year the pastoral team was officially installed, and the new vision was affirmed by the church families that make up University Chapel.
It all felt a little like the faithfulness of God at work in the story of Ezra and Nehemiah.

This is a church that is committed to each other, their neighbourhood, and God, and that wants to humbly serve the world around them.
We thank God for the past 40 years and look forward with hope and prayer to the next 40 years.
University Chapel

For seven years he prayed for God to either take the longing away or to make a way possible for him and his family to be...
05/28/2026

For seven years he prayed for God to either take the longing away or to make a way possible for him and his family to be at University Chapel in Vancouver.
Last year, God made a way.
Michael and his family moved to Canada and he became the English congregation pastor at University Chapel.

Sometimes God’s stories take a while to unfold.
This one is no exception.
When Michael attended Regent College, he and his wife loved being a part of University Chapel and it was a hard decision to return to Singapore for family after seminary.
But this church in Vancouver stayed in their hearts.
Years later, when God finally opened all the doors, Michael joyfully stepped into the pastor role.

Michael describes University Chapel as essentially one big church family made up of three congregations.
Each congregation meets separately and worships in their own language but they all have their services at the same time in various parts of the building.
So they regularly see each other and are getting to know one another.
The children and youth from all the congregations meet together as one big group for Sunday worship.
They regularly and intentionally host joint events or have joint worship services with multi-language worship teams with a collection of songs that they can sing in all three languages.

It’s a unique leadership structure - the pastoral team is made up of four pastors and they’re figuring out what it means to work together as a team.
It’s been a bit of a reset so that each congregation has equal ownership and no one feels like a tenant.
Michael is grateful for the way they all care for their own congregation and the big church family.
Together as a leadership team, the pastoral team tries to make decisions that are good for everyone.
They trust each other and carry each other’s burdens.
They talk and pray for each other.

It’s a good story that God is writing.

University Chapel

It seems to take a whole life time for us to learn how to pray.Thankfully, God graces us with mentors and experiences al...
05/24/2026

It seems to take a whole life time for us to learn how to pray.
Thankfully, God graces us with mentors and experiences along the way that give us clues and guide us into richer and deeper prayer.

A weekend away to a missional prayer conference in New York City was one of those significant moments for Johnny Gordon (Forestview Church, Oakville, ON).
He and other VMC church leaders spent several days together in worship and prayer, along with a thousand other people who earnestly desired God to move in their cities.
Johnny was challenged, inspired, and prompted to continue to learn how to pray.

As a youth and young adults pastor, Johnny talks to lots of young people and he really believes that people are searching for a Saviour.
They’re looking at the world and wanting something else.
They’re rejecting the secular script, knowing that it is not the key to happiness.

With that in mind, Johnny was challenged to pray more - to contend with God.
More than just showing up or reciting a few familiar lines, this is the sort of prayer that intentionally brings people and situations to God.
It’s praying like the persistent widow in Luke 18 - regularly and somewhat insistently reminding God what God has promised to do.
It’s wrestling like Jacob in Genesis 32 - actively and vigorously participating in relationship with God.
It’s praying like Elijah in 1 Kings 18 - risking and believing that God will do great things.

Together with Johnny, let’s continue to learn how to pray as the VMC network of churches.

Forestview Church Without Walls

Photo credit: Ismael Paramo (Unsplash)

Along with other VMC young church leaders, Alex from Citizens Church (Elmira, ON) recently attended a missional prayer c...
05/23/2026

Along with other VMC young church leaders, Alex from Citizens Church (Elmira, ON) recently attended a missional prayer conference in New York City.
The first night was all about asking God to move in the city, based on the premise that God comes where God is wanted.
Alex noted that sometimes we lower our expectation of God in order to avoid disappointment.
It’s a way to protect ourselves.
It also may reveal our prescribed or preferred ways of seeing God work, meaning that we expect God to only work in specific ways.
But lowered expectations can forget the bigness of God.

What does it mean to pray with expectation?

Alex realized that it requires surrender,
depends upon vulnerability,
and reveals a deep reliance of the Spirit.
We have to be willing to take risks.
We may look foolish.

Praying with expectation may mean actually believing that God can act.
More than just saying the right things, but believing, hoping - even though we can’t see a way forward.
It may mean contending with God - reminding God what God said and what God has promised.
We may have to wrestle with God, just like Jacob did.
We may look like fools for God.

Photo credit: Jacob Bentzinger (Unsplash)

Theo saw his pastor quietly unclog a toilet on a youth trip and it struck him - this is the gospel.The best way to speak...
05/22/2026

Theo saw his pastor quietly unclog a toilet on a youth trip and it struck him - this is the gospel.
The best way to speak our faith is to live it, to act in such a way that our love for God and neighbour is evident.
That simple thing that his pastor did inspired Theo.

When Theo attended Thinking Shrewdly 2026 in Toronto a few weeks ago, his biggest learning experience came from meeting a woman who lived on the streets.
She wandered into the church and Theo gave her water and some food.
They talked together and he realized that she needed a sleeping bag.
So they went to Canadian Tire to buy one.
She preferred the smaller sleeping bag because it was easier to carry - but it cost $2 more.
She insisted on giving him the $2.

Then they went to MacDonalds and Theo offered to buy her lunch.
She graciously ordered the McValue meal for $5 and said she’d eat it as two meals.
They sat and talked together.
He learned that she reads the Bible but she can’t remember anything from two years ago.
At the end of their lunch, she said, “Theo, you are my friend.”

Sometimes it’s more simple than we think.
Like Theo says, if someone needs help, we should help.
This is participating with God.



Photo credit: Matt Collamer (Unsplash)

As a young man in China, Shawn ran with the wrong crowd and lived a life focussed on himself.He thought Christians were ...
05/21/2026

As a young man in China, Shawn ran with the wrong crowd and lived a life focussed on himself.
He thought Christians were brainwashed and manipulative.
He has no interest in Christianity and instead, preferred Buddhism which seemed more caring and less judgemental.
When Shawn lost his job in China, his auntie told him about a friend who had an apartment in Calgary that he could live in.
He only knew two cities in Canada - Vancouver and Toronto.
He didn’t even know where Calgary was!

To prepare for his move to Canada, Shawn began taking ESL classes from a teacher in the Philippines.
The Filipino teacher taught him English and, more importantly, gave him a taste of the goodness of God.
She was a wonderful woman who lived her Christian faith in real and practical ways.
In fact, her generosity to those around her meant she worked with a broken keyboard that she couldn’t afford to replace.
Shawn was a little shocked.
He had never known someone like this.
It sparked curiosity for him.

When Shawn moved to Canada, he googled churches in the neighbourhood and Varsity Bible Church popped up in his search.
He sat through sermons and 2 hour Bible studies, not understanding a word.
Even though God gave him extraordinary patience, he still didn’t get it.

Until one day.
Suddenly he just started to speak and understand English.
He could understand the Bible and could follow the sermons at church.
It was like a gift from God.
With amazement and gratitude, Shawn could grasp the gospel and began to know God for himself.

Photo credit: Josh (Unsplash)

It started with a map in her mind. During prayer at a Chinese Christian spiritual retreat, God put a map of Bradford, On...
05/21/2026

It started with a map in her mind.
During prayer at a Chinese Christian spiritual retreat, God put a map of Bradford, Ontario in Ester’s mind and on her heart.
Even though there are up to 4,000 Chinese people living in the Bradford area and is one of the fastest developing communities in Ontario, there are 17 churches but no Chinese churches.

So Ester and Ted prayed and began to dream of planting a Chinese church.
Church planting is a big career change for former research chemists but their desire for others to know Jesus moved them onward.

Ester and Ted started with a cell group gathering.
Then they held a Chinese New Year’s Celebration with dumpling making and traditional dance performances.
People wore traditional Chinese outfits and children carried baskets for candy and lucky prizes.

They looked for rental space and talked to many pastors.
The Lord led them to a friendly local pastor with a big Kingdom perspective.
The pastor said, “Our purpose is to make Jesus famous.”
He offered rental space to the Bradford Chinese Church at a very reasonable rate and supported them as they began the church plant.
Sometimes the two congregations come together for joint worship services as the bigger family of God.

VMC helped Bradford Chinese Church officially become a new registered church in December 2025.
Pray for Ted and Ester as they find creative ways to let people know about the church and as the church introduces people to Jesus for the first time.
Seeds are being planted and growth is evident!

Bin Choi (Church in Toronto) shares with us how VMC churches are working together for the sake of the gospel in the city...
05/17/2026

Bin Choi (Church in Toronto) shares with us how VMC churches are working together for the sake of the gospel in the city of Toronto…

“What could it look like for local churches to gather for the sake of collaboration, seeking to live out the mission to bring the kingdom of God into the world?”

This was the question that some of the churches in the Toronto-GTA area considered last year. We strive to be the “big-C” Church, not just a bunch of siloed communities. As a response to that question, 5 churches - Church in Toronto, Spirit of Truth Church, Mount Zion Worship Centre, Don Valley Bible Chapel, and Village Church Newcastle decided to gather last October for an evening of worship, prayer, and fellowship. It was the first time our congregations met one another, making up a gathering that was kind of awkward, but a true picture of the diversity of heaven.

However, our first prayer & worship night last fall was just the beginning of our vision for collaboration. After that initial time together, a new question emerged - how can we do mission together? So, we will be meeting again this May to discuss and pray about what missional engagement looks like for us - together. We will share testimonies, worship, and pray, hopefully empowering one another to pursue the work God has called each of us to do. It is exciting to see what the Spirit will move us to do next, as a collective, unified, “big-C” Church.”

Church In Toronto

Thinking Shrewdly 2026 at Church in Toronto! We so enjoyed a few days together as the VMC family of churches gathered to...
04/26/2026

Thinking Shrewdly 2026 at Church in Toronto! We so enjoyed a few days together as the VMC family of churches gathered to learn from Andrew Root and each other about "Gospel-ing."

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145 Lincoln Road
Waterloo, ON
N2J2N8

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