It has been 35 years since we moved our little family west to join NCEM. In preparation we attended Nipawin Bible College for three years, attended Northern Missionary Training Camp, Eastern Missionary Training Camp, & C.O.P.E. (NCEM’s candidate training).
Altogether we have lived in four different locations (and six houses), building relationships with the local communities. If you count every move we’ve made from the beginning, it equals 11!
Over the years the Lord has given us abundant opportunities to share His hope, love and salvation. We were blessed with the privilege of bringing people to, and working at two of NCEM’s Bible camps, hosting two community outreach coffee houses, holding weekly children’s Bible clubs, hosting small group Bible studies and many folks in our home.
We have, at times, held church services in our home, as well as attempted to introduce people to already established local churches.
In the way of getting further equipped, we have attended a “Bondage Breaker” seminar with Neil Anderson, and the very first “Rising Above” seminar in Calgary. We have taken several courses, including one on “Inductive Bible Study” and one with “The American Assoc. of Christian Counselors.”
We took a 9-month sabbatical, which included counseling training with “Caring for the Heart Ministries.” We had the privilege of bringing folks to two other “Rising Above” conferences, as well as volunteering as “Prayer Partner Co-coordinators” in Montreal and Regina.
The Lord called us to Nipawin (SK) in 2010 to assist a team of four First Nations elders in establishing a church plant. We have held various roles over these 12 years and officially stepped out of church leadership and into an “assist” role of ministry in September of 2020.
Two of those elders have moved on to other ministries and two have gone home to be with Jesus. Marsden & Mandy Giesbrecht (our son-in-law and daughter) joined this church outreach team almost 10 years ago and are currently the leadership missionaries.
Marsden serves as pastor and Mandy is discipling a group of teen girls. Together they are very busy in this missionary lifestyle. Our daughter, Susan, is one of our worship leaders and her husband, Ronald, is on the church board as the treasurer.
What a blessing it is to have reached this stage of life and to be teamed together in ministry with our family. Our daughter Jessica and her family (husband Cody Hill and children Sierra and Levi) live 13 hours from here in Sexsmith (AB), and we get to spend a week with them a couple of times a year.
We are so very grateful for our three daughters, three sons-in-law, and our seven grandchildren.
Here’s a quote from the back of Debbie’s second book called, “The Fourth Quarter,” that describes our current role as missionaries:
“ASSIST MINISTRY – Neither of us wants to be done serving the Lord, nor do we feel that God anywhere indicates that His workers become ‘no longer set apart’ or ‘no longer called.’ Serving Him when we can, as we can and in His strength becomes our focus. It gives us purpose and vision.”
In a practical way, Ken helps with the maintenance and janitorial upkeep of the church building. He also fills in for Marsden whenever called upon. You can usually find him talking to strangers and trusting the Lord for opportunities to share the Gospel and to invite them to church.
Debbie has been enjoying doing some writing and has authored three books. A biography called, “It’s Time — A Life Story of Forgiveness, Calling and Healing” by Deborah Ann is available on Amazon Books. The other two, “The Fourth Quarter” and “Understanding Grief” can be purchased through NCEM’s Tribal Trails Bookstore.
