London, ONT

The church in London (Download Report as PDF)

The church in London began with a home meeting in the late 1960s. By 1975 it had grown to about 15 saints, most of whom had been saved from the community. Around the end of that year there was a migration of 6 saints from Toronto and 6 saints from Vancouver to strengthen the church here. By 1983 the church had outgrown the storefront that it had used as its meeting hall. The church purchased the property at 725 Viscount Road and began to build a meeting hall there. Almost all the construction work was done by the brothers and the hall was completed in May, 1984. Also in 1984 the Lord began to add Spanish speaking people who had recently come to Canada as refugees from Central America. By 1994 the church had again outgrown the meeting hall and built an addition to the hall which was larger than the original one. In 1998 a number of saints from London began meeting as the church in Metcalfe, a rural community west of London. Then in 2006 saints from the church here began visiting relatives of the saints who were living in Central America. Through preaching the gospel there by saints from London, churches have been raised up in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

There are about 155 saints meeting as the church in London, including 7 college age and 18 junior high and high school young people. The first language of the majority of the saints is Spanish, second is Chinese, and third is English, but by now most of the saints speak English and that is the main language in the meetings.

Current Needs and Burdens:

City Overview

London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximately 200 km (120 mi) from both Toronto and Detroit; and about 230 km (140 mi) from Buffalo, New York. It is the main city and approximate geographical center in the area known as Southwest Ontario. The population of London is about 500,000. It has 3 main hospitals that work together in providing medical training and research in addition to standard care. The main employment opportunities in London are in medicine including medical research, manufacturing, business, information technology, and education. The average price of the houses sold in London is now $427,000. London is very mixed demographically with many relatively new immigrants to Canada especially from Latin America, the Middle East, and the Far East, in addition to the long term residents.

Western University is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The university operates twelve academic faculties and schools. It is most known for advanced programs in medicine, business administration, and law. It had an enrollment of 30,693 full-time students this past term.

Fanshawe College’s mission statement is to: Provide pathways to success, an exceptional learning experience and a global outlook to meet student and employer needs. In other words, its 200+ programs are aimed at developing the skills that prepare its students to enter the workforce. It had an enrollment of 45,700 including both full-time and part-time students. 21,000 of those are full-time students at the main campus in London but Fanshawe also has smaller campuses and sites in London and in various towns in Southwest Ontario.

Southwest Ontario

Some Christians began to be attracted by excerpts from the ministry shared in a form of low German on WhatsApp by a brother from Belize. In 2001 saints from Leamington began visiting the church in Kitchener. Then in 2016 other families from Forest and Inwood also began to visit, followed by more families from Aylmer and Dresden. By now there are about 15 families with many children ranging in age from zero to 18 in rural communities in southwest Ontario who are desirous to gain the Lord and enter in a practical church life. The main clusters are 4 families living near Aylmer and 6 families in or near Dresden. The families near Aylmer are presently meeting with the church in Kitchener and the families from Dresden and Forest are meeting with the church in Metcalfe even though the hall there is too small for their needs.

Beginning in 2018 the church in London joined with other churches in Southern Ontario to care for these families. The main labor together is in what we call the Southwest Truth Pursuit with monthly meetings in London along the lines for truth and life. This is being carried out through the joint labor of saints from London, Kitchener, Toronto and Hamilton.

Other than near Kitchener and London, the economy in southwest Ontario is mainly based on agriculture. The average cost of houses in southwest Ontario is higher than London as you go east and lower than London as you go west. The median price of houses sold in Dresden is currently $229,000.

Current Needs and Burdens:

• The growth of the saints in truth and life
• The blending of the saints with the churches
• Raising up of churches in Aylmer and Dresden where there are clusters of families
• Migration of families experienced in the church life to these communities
• The gospel in these communities

London Reports