Fondos - World Christian Ministries fonds

World Christian Ministries was established in 1958 as Christian Mission Publishers by Michael Derkatch, George Derkatch, Joseph Obelnycki, David Krasowski, John Seaman, and Andrew Horbatiuk. Attempts were made to register the organization under the name of Gospel Mission Publishers but when they were unable to do so the name of Christian Mission Publishers (CMP) was adopted. The purposes of the organization were to promote an interest in the study of the Gospel according to the articles of faith of the PAOC, to conduct public or private meetings of religious or evangelistic nature, to print, publish and distribute literature of every kind relating to PAOC doctrine and faith and to receive, acquire and hold gifts, donations and bequests. The focus of these endeavours was at first on Ukrainian people and then on Slavic people generally. During the Cold War, Christian Mission Publishers focused primarily on distributing Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. Although initially the organization purchased equipment to run their own printing operation, by 1964 those assets were sold and printing was done by an outside firm. In the early 1970s plans were underway for radio broadcasts into eastern Europe from Portugal and in Washington state. The early 1970s also saw discussion about a possible amalgamation with the Eastern Slavic Branch Conference of the PAOC. In 1972 proposals for the production of a film were accepted. In 1975 the PAOC became involved when the General Superintendent was asked to sit on the Board of References of Christian Mission Publishers. That same year the name of the organization was changed briefly to Global Christian Ministries, becoming World Christian Ministries two months later. In 1985, George Derkatch turned the ministry over to the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada in order to pursue other opportunities. It continued to do primarily literature work in Eastern Europe under the supervision of a director appointed by the PAOC until 1997 when the decision was made to cease operations and drop its status as a registered charity.