Great Lakes ASK grew out of an existing branch of the Auxiliary Lecturing Society, centered in Brantford, Ontario, and representing ecclesias in southern Ontario and Detroit. The ASK name and logo were adopted in the late 1960s for their advertising value and as a method of ecclesial cooperation with New England.
Early on, Great Lakes ASK became a registered company in order to acquire property. Shortly afterward a pickup truck and exhibition trailer were purchased for preaching purposes. The trailer became widely known at the ASK Trailer. Promoting “God and His World”, as a counterbalance to the 1968 World’s Fair theme, “Man and His World”, the ASK Trailer was used at fairs’ and exhibitions across the continent for many years, well into the 1970s. The trailer featured a Christadelphian-guided visual tour of the Bible. Beautiful, back-lighted pictures took the visitor from Creation to the Kingdom. The tour ended with an offer of a free correspondence course to anyone who wished to learn more about the Bible.
Eventually the focus shifted, and large campaigns were held in cities such as Windsor and Sudbury. Initially these campaigns had limited success. Because the nearest ecclesia was often far away, it was difficult to provide adequate follow up. The Ottawa campaign changed the way these campaigns were carried out. With ASK support, a missionary couple moved to Ottawa, and the campaign became a sustained effort. Helped by regular visits from other brethren as well, the Ottawa ecclesia has grown and continues to preach with ASK support.
Every year Great Lakes ASK sponsors a booth at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. The CNE runs for 18 days in the summer and attracts well over a million visitors. Bro. Peter Wisniowski is always looking for volunteers to help with this large project. Beyond our local area, we support preaching efforts from Winnipeg in the west to the Atlantic Provinces in the east. ASK also stocks a large selection of literature which is available for any ecclesia to use.
The mission of Great Lakes ASK is threefold: first, to preach where no ecclesias exist; second, to help smaller ecclesias carry out gospel proclamation work, and, third, to provide a uniform banner under which any of our ecclesias can carry out the advancement of Scripture knowledge. We pray that our Heavenly Father will continue to bless us in this work of preaching the Gospel message.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One