President's Blog

From 1981 through to 1984 I was the Monday evening chaplain at the Toronto International Airport. I was a young seminary student fulfilling my mandatory Christian service requirement at Central Baptist Seminary. Founding Fellowship Chaplaincy Director and Senior Airport Chaplain Phil Phillips took a chance on a young seminary student who was also very young in the faith (only two years old). I walked the terminal of Toronto’s Pearson Airport talking to employees and passengers. What started as fulfilling my “Christian service requirement” became a weekly opportunity to provide a ministry of presence in a very needy environment. So many possibilities arose as I found ways to begin conversations and meet with travelers in our chapel. The experience left me with a profound appreciation for the ministry our Fellowship chaplains provide week after week, often in “closed” communities where local churches are not permitted to minister.

Mike Garabedian is our current senior chaplain at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. He leads an excellent team of chaplains in the chapels located in both Terminals 1 and 3. Every year I receive reports of dozens of people who have come to Christ through the ministry of our Fellowship chaplains demonstrating the love of Christ at the Toronto Airport.

I asked Mike to share a brief report on the work of our Fellowship chaplains at Pearson. My hope is you’ll commit to praying for our chaplains. Mike writes:

“When I was first introduced to Fellowship Chaplaincy in 2018, I was surprised by the variety of opportunities to serve in numerous different settings. There are nearly 15 different areas in all, each of them distinct in their own way. But what does an airport chaplain do? you might ask.

“Pearson International Airport is home to over 400 employers with approximately 50,000 employees serving 50 million travelling passengers each year. Part of my responsibility is to help oversee a team of 15 evangelical volunteers who provide spiritual care for the airport community. This leads us into all sorts of interactions with both employees and travelers, and even a few surprise guests. Here’s  a breakdown of our efforts from last year (2023) to help provide you with some perspective:

• Employees = 80% of our engagement:

  • Within terminals = 60%

  • Outlying buildings (including parking garage) = 15%

  • Airside (including ramp and baggage) = 5%

• Travelers = 15% of our engagement:

  • Inbound, outbound, connecting = 12%

  • Special (including international students and refugees) = 3%

• Extraordinary = 5% of our engagement:

  • Homeless = 3%

  • Crisis = 2%

“Does it surprise you that we spend the vast majority (80%) of our time with the employees? Let me assure you—this is quite intentional. Most fruit in our ministry is produced with those we can follow up with. Airport Chaplaincy is a ‘ministry of presence’, which means we intentionally position ourselves to intersect with people at their point of deepest need. Then we aim to journey with these broken-hearted ones by pressing in with intercessory prayer and using their sufferings as the gateway for the Gospel.

“The best part is—we don’t wait for them to find us, but we go and seek them out. Praise God for the open door of opportunity for our chaplains to freely roam every corner of this vast mission field – a microcosm of the Greater Toronto Area – with people from every nation, language, ethnicity, and religious background under the sun.”

Consider supporting Mike Garabedian

Mike is a full-time employee chaplain who must raise all his own support just like our Fellowship International missionaries. Mike is one of about 25 other Fellowship employee chaplains who rely on our local churches and donors to support them in the ministry to which God has called them.

Mike is currently underfunded and needs some Fellowship family donors to join his personal support team. If the Lord prompts you to consider joining Mike’s team, please contact Mike (MikeG@pearsonchapel.com) directly or connect with David Dobson (ddobson@fellowship.ca ) to ask any questions about Mike, the Pearson Chapel Airport ministry, or how to start giving. David serves as our Donor Relations Coordinator and would be happy to connect with you.

Please consider joining Mike’s support team and consider visiting the chapels at Toronto, Montréal, or Halifax Airports where Fellowship airport chaplains serve.