Joyce Hancock
Joyce was raised in a Christian home in Thunder Bay. She came to faith in Christ when she was
a child and her relationship with God grew through personal Bible reading and involvement with Sunday
School, church, camps and youth activities which provided many opportunities for developing her
leadership skills. Throughout her school years, Joyce looked forward to a career in teaching and in missions.
Her interest was heightened through meeting missionaries at camp, in her church and through her parents.
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Following high school, Joyce attended a year of leadership training studies at the Baptist Leadership
Training School in Calgary. She graduated from Lakehead University. After her term in Indonesia,
she studied at Acadia Divinity College.
Joyce served as Director of Christian Education at First Baptist Church in Dartmouth, NS, where she was
involved in many aspects of Christian training, youth work, mission tours and community outreach. While
serving in Dartmouth, Joyce participated in short term assignments with Canadian Baptist Volunteers
and Acadia Divinity College on a study tour in Bolivia, and with a Growth Ministry Team in India, and a CBV
mission tour to Trinidad. Each of these experiences confirmed her desire to return to overseas mission.
Joyce was first appointed by Canadian Baptist Ministries in October 1978, and served for four years
in Manado, Indonesia teaching missionary children and English as a Second Language, and helping
with Christian Education work throughout the province.
For eleven years, Joyce worked with The Sharing Way's ministry to street youth in Brasilia.
During that time, she spent much time on the streets and, with Brazilian colleagues, formed
an association which created Ministério SERVO (Servant Ministry), a rehabilitation centre in
Brasilia designed specifically for youth. The program for this centre was based on needs
expressed by the youth themselves - to stop using drugs and doing crimes, to change their
lifestyle and become more integrated in society, and to gain training that could lead to employment.
Since May 1993, when Joyce was re-appointed as a Global Field Staff she has ministered
in the city of Brasilia, Brazil, working along with others in outreach to abandoned children.
In 2004, Joyce and some friends launched a prevention program in the city of Águas Lindas
in the state of Goiás, not far from one of Ministério SERVO's centres. They committed themselves
for one year to see what God would do with this work. They began courses, counselling and
evangelism with the intention of attracting youth from a needy section of the city and off the streets,
hoping to change their direction in life by giving opportunities for study, music, recreation, computer
knowledge, job training and spiritual formation. This ministry eventually became Free Flight Association,
signifying the intention to help people soar in life. Joyce and others work full-time with this ministry now,
which has expanded to help not only youth, but children and adults as well. In June, 2005, they were
able to buy property which allows them to develop more courses, sports and other outreach activities.
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