Awesome people of faith

I have met some truly amazing people over the last few days, and I would like to introduce you to some of them.

Firstly Apostle Ken Gill.



Every photo I take of Ken has his mouth open and his hands waving. He is a passionate, energetic man- one of those whom it is always good to be around. He has spent most of his life in one of the Pentecostal denominations in Canada, firstly in Ontario and then here in Calgary. He is a big man, a man of visions and big heart. He networks with people, cares about hurting pastors and just loves people. Some years back he raised enough money in his church to purchase a hotel which was converted into the "Dream Centre", a place of refuge for homeless people. There, they provide accommodation, food, clothing and weekly church services.

After serving his previous church for 16 years, he was undermined and thrown out by some nasty treachery. He harbours no bitterness and now pastors The Ripple Centre" church and heads up "The Ripple Leadership Network."

This is Mark and Lawrie Bruebaker (I'm not sure I got that surname correct.)



Mark until recently was a long-distance truck driver, but found that when he got married just under a year ago, trucking and marriage don't work well together. So he left his job and is looking for work with people with disabilities or the homeless. He believes that God wants to use him in some form of entrepreneurial ministry at some time in the future.

Mark has been our driver this week. He has a real gentle nature and just loves to help people.

Lawrie is studying make-up classes. Her goal is to use her skills to help young women to improve their self-esteem. She sees people at their lowest as she volunteers at a church pregnancy counselling centre. She has visions of running some kind of ministry that combines these, in partnership with Mark.

I was very impressed with both these young people. They love the Lord and are just wanting to offer their lives in serving Him.

One final hero of faith for now- Don Young.



Don is an extremely intelligent man- it just seeps out of him. He really loves people and has a great heart. He and his wife moved to Beijing to plant a church there something like 10 years ago. They returned to their home in Canada, but soon felt a conviction to go to Shanghai to again plant a church. Don speaks several languages including Mandarin.

Don came up to the mountains with us. While we were standing in line to buy tickets for the gondola ride to the summit, there was behind us a young man and woman of Chinese heritage but with Australian accents- those accents were everywhere in Banff! They were holidaying in Canada with the girl's mother. We met up with them again at the top of the mountain, so Don said a few words in Mandarin to them. They then switched to English. Don noticed that the girl was wearing an engagement ring, and asked them when the wedding was going to be. Then he asked them if they wanted their marriage to last a long time because in Chine that is everybody's hope but in reality most marriages only last a few years due to everybody pursuing business and wealth. Then he asked each of us to say how long we were married, and both the boy and the girl were wide-eyed as we said "20 years", "30 years" and so on. Then he said to them, "We are all christians and it is Jesus who makes marriages last longer. Here in Australia, and in China, christians are more likely to have longer marriages than non-christians." He didn't pursue the point as the mother was getting edgy, but it was a happy conversation and I pray that they will take to heart the message of this missionary to China.