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Henry Willms, an associate pastor at North Langley Community Church in Langley, B.C., passed away suddenly April 7 of heart failure. He previously served as interim pastor of several Mennonite Brethren churches: Peace Arch Fellowship, South Surrey, B.C.; Murrayville Community Church, Langley; Coaldale (Alta.) MB Church; Chilliwack (B.C.) Central MB Church; La Glace (Alta.) Bible Fellowship; and North Langley Community Church. Prior to that he pastored La Glace Bible Fellowship for three years, Richmond Park MB Church in Brandon, Man. for 10-and-a-half years, Highland MB Church in Calgary for eight-and-a-half years and Dalhousie Community MB Church in Calgary for six-and-a-half years and was associate pastor at Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C. for three-and-a-half years. He studied at Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alta., and earned a B.Th. from MB Bible (now Concord) College in Winnipeg and a B.A. from Waterloo Lutheran (now Wilfrid Laurier) University in Waterloo, Ont. He is survived by his wife Vi and two grown daughters.
Clinton and Amy Friesen of Farnham, Quebec have accepted a call to pastor Carrot River (Sask.) MB Gospel Mission, effective this June. Clinton is currently pastoring at Église L’Alliance Chrétienne et Missionnaire de Farnham, a Christian and Missionary Alliance church near Montreal, where he has served for two years. Previously, he was youth pastor at Église Alliance Chrétienne et Missionnaire de Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Que. for two years. He has a B.Th. from Canadian Bible College in Regina and is pursuing a master’s degree from Vision International University in Los Angeles. Amy has a B.A. from Canadian Bible College and is planning to study toward a master’s degree in Christian counselling. The Friesens have two children, Benjamin, 2, and William, 3 months.
David Eagle has accepted a call to pastor Saanich Community Church in Victoria, B.C., effective Aug. 1. He recently completed an M.Div. at MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif. While at Seminary, he was involved in University Presbyterian Church in California, including serving an internship there. He has a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta and worked two years as an engineer in California. His wife Alison has an M.Sc. in international agricultural development from the University of California. David grew up in Edmonton; Alison grew up in a small farming community near Edmonton.
Matt Castle has accepted a call to serve as senior high pastor at Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C., beginning June 1. For the past two years, he has been serving as pastor of youth ministries at Fort Langley (B.C.) Evangelical Free Church. He previously served a youth internship at Willingdon Church for a year while attending Briercrest Bible College. He has also studied at British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is married to Mandy, who works part-time at Lion’s Gate Hospital as an ultrasound technologist but is currently on maternity leave. She has a B.Sc. from Simon Fraser University. They have a daughter, Mikayla, 3 months.
Leanne Abrahams began serving as part-time children’s ministries assistant at Westwood MB Church in Prince George, B.C. on April 1. She previously was a volunteer in children’s ministries at the church for two years. Her husband Todd is co-owner of a company that works in the tree planting industry. The Abrahamses have two children, Jayvin, 4, and Kylie, 2.
Tanya Shiosaki will begin serving as half-time director of small groups in children’s ministry at Willow Park Church in Kelowna, B.C. in June after serving the church on a quarter-time basis since April 1. She has been involved in children’s ministry as a volunteer for about five years. She and her husband Brian have three children, Mia, 10, Arin, 10, and Jenna, 5.
Robert Dyck began serving a four-month term at Willow Park Church in Kelowna, B.C. in May to assist in ministry care while pastoral staff are away for the summer. He previously was associate pastor at Kelowna Gospel Fellowship Church for six-and-a-half years. He has studied at the University of Winnipeg, and has a B.A. from Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, Sask. and an M.A. from Canadian Baptist Seminary (ACTS) in Langley, B.C. He and his wife Leanne have a daughter, Adriana, 5 months.
Dan Horne began serving a four-month internship as summer ministries coordinator at Yarrow (B.C.) MB Church in May through the B.C. MB Conference Pastoral Apprenticeship program. In the summer of 2001, he served a youth internship at Outlook (Sask.) Alliance Church. He has a one-year certificate in Christian studies from Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C. and a B.A. in theology from Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. He is planning to attend MB Biblical Seminary in Winnipeg this September.
West Portal MB Church in Saskatoon held its annual Missions Sunday on March 3. After a potluck supper, reports were given by three missionaries supported by the church. Gerald and Shirley Falk, MBMS International missionaries, spoke about their work in Piura, Peru. The Falks and their children, Sara and Tim, returned to Peru at the end of March to begin another three-year term. James Clifford and Barb Kroeker both work for Youth for Christ in Saskatoon. They gave a presentation, complete with a video, about their work to reach school-aged children in Saskatoon, Hague and other areas of the province for Christ. Richard and Hazel Funk are MBMSI missionaries serving in Salzburg, Austria. They are currently visiting churches in Saskatchewan, Montana, Manitoba and Ontario, and are planning to return to Austria in June for another three-year term. The Funks have four grown children.
Since Jan. 1 Family Life Network, a media ministry of the Manitoba MB Conference in Winnipeg, has employed the services of Grant Hoeppner as technical coordinator. He is also working with FLN’s Arabic TV project. Hoeppner previously was manager/engineer at Voice Of Life radio in the Commonwealth of Dominica, an AM/FM radio station broadcasting to the southeastern Caribbean and affiliated with the Back to God Hour. Hoeppner is a graduate of Winkler (Man.) Bible Institute and of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in broadcast electronics engineering technology. He and his wife Astrida, who works as a bookkeeper and receptionist at FLN, are members of Whyte Ridge Baptist Church in Winnipeg.
Derrick Mueller has resigned as full-time instructor at Bethany Bible Institute in Hepburn, Sask., effective June 30, after serving for eight years in a variety of roles, including resource director. He has been appointed president of Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener, Ont., effective this summer. Mueller has an M.A. from Briercrest Biblical Seminary and a D.Min. from Carey Theological College in Vancouver. Previously, he was executive director of Youth for Christ in Calgary, pastored Bingham Baptist Church in Saskatchewan and was a youth worker with Youth for Christ in Montreal. He and his wife Laurie have four children, Caleb, 19, Bethany, 17, Jesse, 13, and Jamin, 10.
Matthew Zachariah, a visiting professor at Menno Simons College in Winnipeg, was awarded the 2002 Honorary Fellow Award from the Comparative and International Education Society. Born in India, Zachariah is the author and co-author of several books, including Science for Social Revolution. He is visiting from the University of Calgary, where he is professor emeritus of education. Menno Simons College is part of Canadian Mennonite University.
Tri-City Chinese Christian Church in Coquitlam, B.C. held an ordination service for pastor Lam Man Fung on March 10 in the presence of his family, friends and the congregation. Born and educated in Hong Kong, Lam came to Canada in August 2000 to pastor the Tri-City church. He was diagnosed with liver cancer on March 26, 2001 and underwent surgery and radiation therapy. His speedy recovery surprised the medical staff and defied common prognoses for liver cancer patients. He returned to his regular pastoring duties, but after about three months of good health, his condition deteriorated. In February 2002, Tri-City Chinese Christian Church decided to ordain Lam. With the approval of the B.C. MB Conference, the ordination service was scheduled for March 10. He was admitted to hospital March 4, but his condition stabilized long enough for the ordination service to be completed. He passed away March 26.
Baptisms and new members
Note: Baptism photos appear in the paper version of the Herald but not in the online version.
Waldheim (Sask.) MB Church welcomed 5 new members by baptism on Easter, March 31. Pictured are (back, l-r) pastor David Tooke, Kevin Dyck, pastor Clarence Peters; (front) Ben Fehr, Jessica Hiebert, Cindy Loewen and Megan Peters.
Highland MB Church in Calgary welcomed 23 new members on Sept. 30 and Nov. 18, 1 by baptism and 22 by transfer. Pictured are (back, l-r) David Block (t), Barbara Block (t), Herman Borne (t), Ben Schuiling (t), Peter Janzen (t), Laura Schuiling (t), Deborah Schuiling (t), pastor Don Schuiling (t), Victor Thiessen Jr. (t), Vic Neufeld (t) pastor Harry Heidebrecht; (front) Hilda Borne (t), Rhonda Janzen (t), Chad Schuiling (t), Diane MacDonald (t), Judy Karasch (b), Wendy Larsson (t) and Beth Neufeld (t). Not pictured are John Zacharias (t), Lena Zacharias (t), Ed Reimer (t), Richard Schaan (t), Charlotte Schaan (t) and Bill Burgess (t).
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Last modified June 14, 2002.
© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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