Camino Joins Avant (and a bit of Canadiana)

Today Camino Global officially unites with Avant Ministries, to create one mission with missionaries in 50+ countries. The work of both continues under the name Avant Ministries.

There’s a lot to talk about, but essentially our ministry will continue – making disciples and planting churches in one of the less reached areas of this hemisphere – central Mexico.

The main practical questions right now may be financial questions – but you can see all updated information on our donations page. If you currently receive our newsletter, we emailed you (if you didn’t get the email, let us know!), and will be sending you some snail mail, which you should receive in about three weeks.

But let me give you a little background and history – and since it’s Canada Day, I’ll focus on some early Canadian connections which you may find interesting.

Avant Early History

Some fascinating things were happening in the mid-1800s. For example, a new preaching evangelist appeared on the scene in Ireland, named Henry Grattan Guinness. Yes, it’s that family – the Guinness family – think beer (the founder of the Guinness empire was a committed Christian, but that’s another story!).

Guinness visited Canada in the late 1850s, and a Canadian in southern Ontario was converted under his ministry – Albert Benjamin Simpson. Bear with me – these threads will soon come together.

Guinness was a friend of James Hudson Taylor, and very passionate about missions (Guinness’ daughter later married Taylor’s son). Simpson, a teenager at his conversion, soon caught the passion as well, in the decades ahead organizing important missions ventures.

Fast-forward thirty years later. Two Canadian women in Costa Rica are praying that God would send missionaries – a prayer soon to be answered by the founding of the Central America Mission in 1890 and the sending of the first missionaries in 1891 (see Canadians, Coffee, and CAM). The C.A.M. would eventually become CAM International and then Camino Global.

Just before the founding of Camino, Guinness’ doctor suggested he go abroad for his health, bringing him back to the USA. In 1889 he inspired a group from the YMCA in Kansas to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Among them was YMCA secretary George S. Fisher.

Several YMCA members volunteered, and missionaries went out the following year to Africa, and others over the next few years. The early missionaries went out under the mission organization that Simpson had founded.

And so unlike Camino, there was a group in Kansas sending missionaries before they had a formal organization – but that organization would be formed 2 years after Camino – in 1882. It was called the World’s Gospel Union, later becoming the Gospel Missionary Union (GMU) – and later Avant Ministries. Like Camino, Avant was influenced by a group of people promoting foreign missions that included J. Hudson Taylor.

Fisher led Avant in the early years – his purpose was to “promote Bible study, consecrated Christian living, sound doctrine, and the preaching of the Gospel where Christ is not named”.

The early founders of Avant included R. A. Torrey, C. I. Scofield (an original founder of Camino), and Luther Rees (also an original founder of Camino – and also important in the founding of Wycliffe Bible Translators – but that’s another story!). But another one of the early founders was Canadian William Holmes Howland.

Howland was the leader of what would become the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada (founded by fellow Canadian A. B. Simpson), but he had just left a remarkable career as the mayor of Toronto (see Toronto the Good). Sadly, Howland died of pneumonia only a year after Avant was founded. He was only 49.

More Recent History

In 2018, Avant approached Camino Global with the idea of uniting the two missions together. The hope was that we would be “better together” as a combined organization, which would have about 500 missionaries in 50+ countries. In November 2018, the boards of both missions agreed to the proposal.

The missions unite today, under the name Avant Ministries (in Canada Avant Ministries Canada).

There is still much work to be done in the offices and fields of Avant as the two missions come together. A lot has been done on general vision and on legal and financial matters, but that’s only the beginning. We would appreciate your prayers as we move forward together, continuing the work that began in 1890.

The missions force of the new mission is made up of about 27% “Millenials”, and 36% “Gen-Xers”, with the other 37% “Boomers” and older. But the work needs to grow, as churches work to send out new missionaries around the world, preaching Christ where He is not known.

Missionaries currently serve in Africa, Asia, North, Central and South America, and Europe.

And so the work continues – for the glory of Christ. Who knows where He will lead, and what He will accomplish around the world! As the early logo above says – “Speed the Word over land and sea!” Lord Jesus, may it be!