A Summer of Service in Okotoks

“Hello, I am Andy Burnaman, and I just returned from an exciting and fruitful mission trip to Cornerstone Church in Okotoks, Canada. Cornerstone Church is a new church plant supported by many churches in Louisiana, including Calvary Baptist Church. Cornerstone is in a very important place because Okotoks is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada. Right now, it has 35,000 people, and within the next 10 years it is projected to be over 70,000. This gives Cornerstone Church a great opportunity to become a central part of the community and continue reaching lost people as they move to Okotoks.

My team and I spent eight weeks in Okotoks serving Cornerstone Church as summer interns. We volunteered in the community, served during Sunday worship, and learned how church planting works. Church planting is unique because there are normally no buildings, which means the church needs to be portable. Chairs, sound systems, and other supplies must be set up each week and then packed away after church. Cornerstone is already a tight-knitcommunity because they serve alongside each other every week. Their love for the Lordgrows not only through worship together but also through serving together.

While at Cornerstone, I had two primary roles. During the first half of the summer, I helped organize plans for three mission teams that would be coming during the summer. From creating door-to-door evangelism routes to making grocery lists and planning block parties, everything was prepared so groups had jobs ready when they arrived. During the second half of the summer, I had the privilege to preach. Over three weeks, I preached at Cornerstone Church twice and at IBEA Church, another church plant in the area, once. This was my favorite part of the summer because I got to study the Word of God again and again and then share what I had learned with the church.

By the end of the summer, we saw clear signs of growth. Through our evangelism efforts, three new families began attending church each week. Through VBS and soccer camp, we were also able to begin relationships with many new families searching for community. Please pray that the Lord will continue to draw lost people toward Cornerstone and that they will come to know Him as their Savior. This summer gave me firsthand church planting experience that will prepare me for day-to-day ministry after college. I saw both the easy and hard parts of ministry, which helped me better understand what ministry is really like.

Thank you, Calvary, for supporting me this summer while I was in Okotoks. I cannot wait to see how the Lord continues to work through Cornerstone Church as it reaches lost people in Okotoks.” — Andy