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“If you say the word Gideons to someone, they will immediately have an image of a Bible in a hotel room,” he said, “and our ministry is so much more than that now.The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently released a new form which allows charities to easily update CRA on any changes to their directors, trustees or like officials. But in the end, it was time to leave the name behind. The Gideons are well known, and members of the Canadian organization value that history. ShareWord has a footprint in 47 countries with extensive work happening in about a dozen.Īnderson admits says the decision to change the name was not easy. Anderson said ShareWord has been welcomed to spread Scripture in Cuba and give bibles to school-aged children in Nicaragua. ShareWord will also continue to expand its work in foreign countries, especially as new doors open. “I think we’ve built up fears that are not necessarily accurate.” “If you can get over that fear barrier, it turns out there are more people who are interested than you would think, and there are far less people who are hostile than you would think,” Anderson said. As ShareWord looks ahead to the next five years, Anderson said he’d like to see partnerships with 5,000 churches, training 100,000 Christians to share the good news. “In North America, it has almost become wrong to share your faith, and there’s a tremendous social hesitancy to do that,” Anderson said.īut he believes that there’s no better time for an organization like ShareWord to help Christians get past those hesitancies. Similar research conducted by Barna in the US found that 44 percent of Gen Z feel that it’s wrong to share your personal beliefs with someone of a different faith.Īccording to the Alpha research, “Perceived antagonism toward Christian values and the Christian church” was the number one reason people aren’t evangelizing.
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Their survey conducted earlier this year found that 65 percent of Canadian church leaders reported evangelism hasn’t been a priority for their congregations over the past several years. “We were able to invest far more heavily in partnership, especially partnership with the local church,” Anderson said.Ī recent study by Alpha Canada and the Flourishing Congregations Institute reveals there is a great need for a revival of personal evangelism.
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The Canadian organization also removed the vocational requirement that members be businessmen or professionals and took steps to work more directly with churches. “We took a step a back and asked ourselves, ‘What are we trying to accomplish?’”
“Sometimes the methods get confused with the purpose,” Anderson said. The Gideons in Canada wanted to open the organization to women in the US it remains a men-only ministry. But there were also some ideological differences. One had to do with the Canada Revenue Agency’s requirements for reporting money that was being sent overseas. There were several reasons for creating an autonomous Canadian organization, Anderson told CT. This new name comes a decade after the Canadian branch of Gideons International distinguishing itself from its mother organization, The Gideons International, which is headquartered in Nashville. “God has called us to expand our evangelistic efforts internationally and come alongside our brothers and sisters across the world with tools, resources, and inspiration to be faithful-not just to a brand name, but to Jesus himself, who instructed us to ‘go and make disciples of all the nations,'” said Alan Anderson, ShareWord president, in the announcement. Gideons International in Canada will now be known as ShareWord Global. It’s a recognized brand, with a well-publicized purpose, but it’s getting a new moniker in Canada. Say “Gideons,” and the vision that comes to mind for most people is Bibles in hotel nightstands and pocket-sized Scriptures passed out to students.