Transforming Lives In Schools
Transforming Lives In Schools
Worldwide, our missionary apprentices focus on building relationships and discipling students within their communities. Their presence acts as a bridge for young people between their placement church and the schools. In Canada, a team was recently re-established in Vancouver and is already making a great impact.
This year’s Pais Vancouver team is headed by Jess Mangnall and Hiba Danial, and they have the opportunity to serve at a local Christian school. In January, they launched an after school Youth Alpha club for students to join.
Since its launch, the team has seen an average of 30 students attend weekly. Furthermore,13 students decided to follow Christ.
Through the conversations and connections made in Alpha, the Pais Vancouver team is now mentoring a group of 7th grade girls. Join us in prayer for the Pais Vancouver team as they seek wisdom and direction on how to proceed with this group of girls.
We are seeing similar stories happening with our other North America teams serving in Calgary, Colorado and Texas. During the month of February, those teams reached 951 students in their local communities.
Do you want to support missionaries and help them reach even more lives in schools? Donate here and make a direct impact in the Kingdom!
2021 Year-In-Review: Pais America
2021 Year-In-Review: Pais America
As the year comes to an end, we are celebrating all that God has done through our Pais nations in 2021! Read below to discover the great ministry stories from our nations in North and South America:
Pais Brazil
“In August, Pais Brazil invited Apprentices who had been unable to travel to the nation they were to serve in to join our Home Office initiative. Six of them rose to the challenge of applying a Kingdom-centric gospel in their home towns as they settled in for the 6-month wait before visas would be approved and borders would open.
They were trained in our catalytic tools on Zoom and were given a series of challenges to put into action in six different cities, thousands of kilometres from each other. Over the past 4 months, they each mobilized young people from their local churches through Because You’re Loved campaigns, gathering donations to give clothes and shoes to children living in poverty, raising money to help a child who was diagnosed with cancer, helping young people from impoverished communities write their first CVs, and cleaning and restoring spaces in the local community.
In a time of disappointment and uncertainty, when they could have given up or gone back to their previous lives, these six missionaries pursued the advancing God’s Kingdom in their own towns and cities, taking young people with them to share the gospel and to bring change.”
Pais North America
“This year we re-launched a Pais team in Vancouver, Canada. It’s been many years since we’ve had a Pais team in this part of Canada. Jess and Hiba are our Apprentices who make up the Pais team and have been serving at Highway Church. Highway is a church plant that was birthed in the middle of Covid.
Despite their limited access to the community, the Pais team has been involved in various initiatives. They were granted access into a few schools where they are teaching and mentoring students weekly. On Tuesday’s they serve in a local donation food program where they distribute food to families in the community. Through this they were able to engage with an Indigenous woman who had no church background and bridged the gap between community and faith. This resulted in the woman being integrated into the church and is now serving alongside the Pais team distributing food on Tuesday’s.
THIS is what Pais is all about.”
Do you want to support and help expand the work of these nations? Click here to donate now!
Pursuing The Calling
Pursuing The Calling
Meet Feline, a Team Leader serving in Pais Calgary! Even though her Mission Year did not go as expected at first, she kept pursuing God’s calling for her life. Through her faithfulness, Feline saw God opening new doors and demonstrated an example of a Kingdom-centric life. Read her testimony below:
“I was always passionate about working with kids and students of all different ages and I was involved in a lot of youth programs back home in Germany. Through my involvement, I developed a deep passion for sharing my faith with the next generation.
I heard about Pais from a friend and joined Pais Canada in September 2020. I went into my first year with many expectations, but Covid had a bigger impact than I could have imagined. Through all the restrictions we have faced in Canada, I have learned how to be flexible and spontaneous in ministry. Even though some doors were closed due to the limitations, God opened many others elsewhere.
Even when it was hard, God showed us different ways to reach students and to study His word together. I experienced God’s guidance especially when launching the Pais Youth Academy and seeing older students stepping up as leaders for the younger ones.
I am currently serving in my second year with a new team in Calgary. I decided to stay on Pais because I felt like God wanted to use me in a different way and called me to invest more in the young people we are working with here. I’m crazy excited to keep seeing what God has in store for our team this year and how he will work in and through us during the coming months!”
Are you ready to pursue your calling? Apply for our FREE Mission Year here!
Pais North America Honors Apprentices At End Of Year Ceremony
Pais North America Honors Apprentices At End Of Year Ceremony
As the academic year comes to an end, Pais U.S.A. & Canada celebrated the ministry of their Apprentices during an End Of Year Ceremony. The National Directors handed certificates to the Apprentices who graduated and honored the work of those who are continuing with Pais.
One of the highlights of the event was when Apprentices looked back and shared encouraging stories of God fulfilling His purposes through their lives.
As a testimony, several Apprentices from Brazil were initially unable to join their team in the United States due to a Covid-19 travel ban. Yet they continued to pray during the next several months for God to open doors. In December of 2020, they were given the opportunity to quarantine in Mexico for 14 days which would allow them to enter the nation.
Around the same time, a family connected to Pais felt God calling them to bless missionaries. The family heard about these Brazilian Apprentices and decided to cover a significant part of their trip expenses. This family’s generosity started a ripple effect and allowed the Apprentices to mentor and impact the lives of many young people.
One of the Apprentices serving in Canada also shared about her time serving with Pais in a video testimonial. Letitia Olivier said her last two years as a missionary were “unexpected and life changing”. She continued to trust that His purposes were higher than she could have imagined and was empowered to fulfill her calling.
Letitia closed with Acts 20:24: “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” – watch the video below
Pais North America witnessed the wonderful grace of God during 2020/2021 and stepped up to their calling! Are you ready to fulfill the work God has for you too? Apply now for your Free Mission Year!
A Creative Boom From Missionaries In Canada
A Creative Boom From Missionaries In Canada
For the past year, lockdowns in Canada have restricted daily activities. Many were isolated from social interactions for extended periods of time. Churches were also unable to meet, limiting ministry initiatives in the nation.
Through those lockdowns, a team of five missionaries was called to minister to young people in Calgary, Alberta. While Canada’s restrictions were definitely a challenge, they also opened up space for unlimited creativity and relationship development.
The Pais Canada team believes this past year also highlighted the importance of personal connection and small groups. The only way they could connect with students was through walks and small gatherings around a bonfire in the middle of the Canadian winter.
“In a world without restrictions, we most likely wouldn’t have had the same focus, intentionality and creativity. We saw students taking ownership, stepping up in their leadership and taking steps in their relationship with Jesus” said Letitia Olivier, Team Leader in Canada.
One of the team’s creative ministry ideas were Prayer Packs. Prayer Packs have different interactive activities that are designed to help students and families engage in and build a life of prayer. They were able to deliver the packs to 67 students.
One of their Grade 6 students wrote “The Prayer packs were amazing, they were filled with all kinds of goodies and activities (…). My family and I enjoyed them, we took notes from the [encouragement] jar every night at dinner. It has brought us closer together as a family.”
Through those challenges, the five missionaries were inspired by a deep conviction that God opened the doors for them to be there, which meant he also had a plan. As the year comes to an end, their success in leading students to Jesus and equipping them to reach their peers is evident.
Follow and support the Pais Canada team here!