Our primary purpose is to be available for the needs of people in our local area. To facilitate this we have established a local board made up of outreach minded, mature Christian individuals from the Bulkley Valley. Our desire is to see people from different denominations, functioning together under the common goal of reaching the lost with the gospel.

Some of the benefits of having a local organizational structure are:

1) Resource accessibility: As opposed to larger missions, a local mission has a more streamlined access to the material and personnel resources of the Church in a given area. The outreach effort becomes the community's, rather than just the missionary's.

2) Responsiveness to needs: A local mission is able to focus more clearly, and adjust more readily to the needs of the community.

3) Responsibility and accountability: A local mission encourages the believers in an area to take responsibility for the needs of the lost right around them. Also local missionaries would be accountable locally for their service. Meetings between mission members, volunteers, and the board are greatly facilitated by a local structure.

Another priority of Streetcorners Ministries is to maintain grassroots vision. In other words, it is our goal to be a bottom-up association, rather than a top-down corporation. In this arrangement, the field workers themselves have a vital say in discerning the needs, and seeking God’s heart for the ministries that will best meet these needs. It is their responsibility to be in consistent prayer and fellowship with other believers to accurately determine the will of God as He leads all our efforts. We believe that God gives His vision to those who are actively seeking His will in their own lives, and those who are surrendered to Him moment by moment. We have a Board of Directors who are also seeking God’s direction in their own lives, that they also might be “in tune” with His purposes for Streetcorners. The board exists to facilitate the business arising out of the ministries, provide accountability, to pray, and to give practical direction where needed. It is also our priority to have missionary representation on the board itself to provide perspective from the field.

FAITH PRIORITY

It is our goal to have always before us the clear leading of the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Scriptural principle of waiting on the Lord rather than walking ahead of Him. We believe that God's work, done God's way, will have God's supply. We don't believe in pressure tactics of solicitation. We believe in 1) seeking God's vision for outreach in a community (grassroots vision) 2) presenting the vision to the larger church body, and 3) After seeing support and confirmation of the vision, presenting the needs as the Lord leads. We believe in disclosing our needs fully while not using any pressure to solicit funds.

Our goal is to be Spirit led and obedient to what God has called us to do. We believe that anyone associated with the mission should have a lifestyle that clearly demonstrates a commitment to these principles.

UNITY PRIORITY

It is our goal to be an arm of the outreach effort of this community. We seek to complement individual Churches, and other existing Christian ministries. We whole heartedly support the work of the local Church, and other Godly Christian ministries. Our intent is to see individuals commit to regular fellowship in a church of their choosing. We seek only to develop an additional network that brings the needs to the Christian body, and then brings the Christian body to the needs. Streetcorners Ministries is a non-denominational ministry. We believe, as reflected in our statement of faith, in majoring on essential salvation related doctrines, and minoring on doctrines particular to individual denominations.

Will we plant churches? In isolated cases where no healthy, Bible-believing church exists, a church plant may be a viable ministry.  Otherwise we will work together with already existing churches.

Our goal is to develop a cooperative association of faith missionaries, tent-maker missionaries, board members, advisory members, churches, volunteers, and those committed to prayer and financial support. Presently, Streetcorners has 2 missionary couples, who presently serve among native and non-native peoples in the Bulkley Valley area.  We are supported in prayer and finance by individuals, organisations and churches. We present the needs but do not directly solicit funds from anyone.

Streetcorners Ministries has a governing board of 8 men from 6 local denominations. It is a registered non-profit society in British Columbia Canada, and is also registered with Canada Revenue Agency as a Charitable Organisation  in Canada.

Practical Work We Do

Practically we fulfill our objectives in the following ways:  We hold Bible studies, Kid's Clubs, prayer meetings and evangelistic meetings.  We preach the Christian Gospel in various places, including churches, speaking to those around us each day and we distribute literature to let people hear the reality of knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way.  We also help people in other practical ways, such as mowing lawns, cutting firewood, visiting the sick and elderly, helping with groceries, distributing used clothes, carpentry, fixing cars and meeting the needs of those around us as the needs are identified and as we are able.

If possible we introduce people to the local churches so they can become a regular part of the church community.  In this way the church can also help them to be strengthened in their faith.  We endeavour to work alongside the existing churches in our area of service.  Streetcorners Ministries is a member of the Smithers Ministerial Association.

We know there are many people around us who have spiritual and physical needs, we reach out mainly to those whom other organisations have not reached out to, which often entails travel to remote areas.

We are committed to a relationship centered ministry that seeks to build disciples, not simply make converts. We emphasize the importance of placing Jesus Christ, his Word and his love in the highest place in our lives. We believe that this foundation leads a person to a healthy, holy relationship with God himself; transforms his immediate relationships within his family; and then overflows to the community. We seek to be involved with ministries that emphasize this type of Spiritual growth in believers

Our paper, “The Streetcorner.” is an evangelistic publication featuring the testimony of a local person, teaching on Scriptural principles, and a gospel challenge. We are very excited about the silent witness of such a tool as it circulates around the Bulkley Valley area and beyond.

The Future.

As we look down the road we believe that God is giving us a vision for future ministries. He is challenging us in the area of prayer. Scripture says that we ought to “Pray without ceasing,” (2 Thess. 5:17) and “Devote yourselves to prayer” (Col. 4:2). We believe that God will lead us to pray, and will answer our prayers in regards to reaching the lost in the Bulkley Valley area.

Also we sense that God is leading us towards having an outreach center in the future, to help those who need a place of rest and to help them to integrate the Christian life with everyday living.  We would help those, who do not at this time feel they have a place in society, to acquire life skills and thus to help enable them to reintroduce themselves into society as productive members of society. In other words this would be a fixed-base ministry of focused discipleship, spiritual training, mentoring, life-skill development, and crisis refuge. We are seeking the Lord regarding appropriate facilities where this could occur. We have built a cabin, where people who need it can come to focus on the issues that God is dealing with them in their lives. We believe that a ministry such as this would best develop as a cooperative effort of the larger Body of Christ in the Bulkley Valley.

Thank you for your interest in this ministry. We covet your prayers as we seek to be faithful to God’s calling in our lives, and to encourage others in their walk with the Lord. May God lead and direct you in deeper faith towards him and in worship as you daily surrender to him.

If you would like to know more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ please click here. How Can I Be Saved?  If you would like to know more about Streetcorners Ministries please contact us through the mail at Streetcorners Ministries  P.O. Box 771,  Telkwa BC,  Canada V0J 2X0  or e mail us at  thestreetcorner@hotmail.com