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Abbotsford, B.C.
Discipleship and mission training centre launched



On July 18, 2000, the MARK Centre officially became a registered society in British Columbia. This new ministry takes its name from the second New Testament Gospel and is dedicated to the priorities of discipleship and mission training. Information about the MARK Centre can be found on a Web site (www.markcentre.org) that opened on July 28, 2000. The Web site states: “The vision of the MARK Centre is to provide experiential training that facilitates the building of character.”

Background

In 1996, Harold Ens, general director of MBMS International, brought together a group of Mennonite Brethren leaders to discuss a training centre proposal written by Ray Harms-Wiebe and Steve Klassen. (Harms-Wiebe is an MBMSI missionary in Brazil, and Klassen was then Canadian director of constituency ministries for MBMSI.) The 1996 consultation took place in Abbotsford, B.C., and the result was a decision to put seed money towards the launching of TREK, a one-year discipling program of Youth Mission International. Evangelism Canada, MBMS International and Mission USA all committed funds, and MB Biblical Seminary gave support through services in kind. Steve Klassen was hired by Youth Mission International as part-time TREK director in 1997 and was encouraged to see TREK as “phase one” of the broader vision of the proposed training centre. This fall, TREK began its fourth year of operation as about 20 young adults have come for two months of training and will then be sent out on eight-month assignments before they return for a week of debriefing.

Proposed services

The MARK Centre focus on experiential training comes at a time when many institutions are recognizing the value of hands-on training, but many Bible schools are either closing down or becoming academic colleges. As well, leaders are in demand, and those who are currently in leadership are often in need of refreshment. The MARK Centre intends to address both of those needs by offering training for young adults and retreats of various kinds for leaders. Specifically, the MARK Centre provides services such as: consulting, mobilizing, training, sending, debriefing, facilitating leadership retreats, and offering training resources.

Partnerships

The B.C. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches opened a MARK Centre account in February of 1999 and has provided receipting services since then. Youth Mission International and MBMS International are already partnering with the MARK Centre in various ways:

In October 1999, five people (Liana Penner, Cheryl Plett, Steve Klassen, Norm Nickel and Steve Berg) were sent out from Abbotsford on a “prayer journey” to Peru. The one-week assignment was a joint venture of MBMS International and the MARK Centre. More prayer journeys are being planned for the future. MBMS International has provided staff member Don Klaassen to the MARK Centre as a board member. Steve Klassen has been invited to lead a three-day spiritual retreat for MBMS International’s Team 2000 this fall. This team of six adults and their children will be travelling extensively among the North American MB constituency before departing for Thailand for a 10-year church planting commitment in January 2001. Randy Friesen, director of YMI, serves on the board of the MARK Centre. YMI’s TREK program looks to the MARK Centre to provide housing for its participants during the two-month training phase that takes place in Abbotsford each fall. On Aug. 15, 2000, the TREK office (Steve Klassen and TREK staffer Sam Dick) moved into the MBMSI offices at Columbia Bible College.

Harold Ens states, “I believe the Mark Centre has the potential to help MBMS International in calling out, discipling and preparing a new generation of missionaries for the global harvest. It will also be a place of rest and renewal for those already working on the front lines of ministry.”

The other members of the MARK Centre board are Randal Bartsch (software sales), Lori Nickel (bookkeeper and homemaker), Pam Dyck (sales associate) and Steve Berg (senior pastor of South Abbotsford MB Church).

The MARK Centre board is currently applying for non-profit charitable status and pursuing the purchase of a property and facilities in Abbotsford. The board was scheduled to meet in late September to continue shaping the direction of the MARK Centre. Though the MARK Centre is a Mennonite Brethren-based ministry, it is also committed to partner with other denominations and agencies in the body of Christ.

 – MARK Centre news release

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Last modified December 3, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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