Ministry location

East Asia

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

Together, we have been serving since September 2019 (Irene has been on staff since 2008).

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

The region where we serve is a gateway to the nations: a region where hundreds of unique cultures and ethnicities reside, yet where there is very little gospel witness. Most of the students that we will befriend have never even met a Jesus follower before.

We are currently using digital strategies to engage with students in this region. It’s been a steep learning curve, but we have seen new relationships budding, an openness to spiritual engagement and opportunities for seeds of the gospel to be sown!

What excites you most in your ministry?

Sharing with students the good news of Jesus is always life giving – but helping them see the implications that Jesus changes everything unfold in their lives is a true honour and privilege. We love sharing about how Jesus gave us purpose, how our faith changed the way we looked at singleness and relationships, how our faith informs our family life and parenting…for most students, we are the first Christ follower that they know.

How can we pray for you and your ministry in 2021?

We continue to offer up our lives like a blank page before the Lord, asking Him to be the Author of our stories. Our timelines, our desires and plans are ever before the Lord and we are asking for continued guidance, empowerment and faith as we trust in Him.

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

Irene is a Canadian-born Chinese city slicker (born and raised in Toronto) while Corey is an American farm boy (born and raised in Ovid, Michigan …a very small town). We come from two very different cultures and upbringings, but our love for Jesus has brought us together and we long to see the Lord’s kingdom come in our lives and in this world.

Ministry location

Philadelphia, USA; headed towards SE Asia

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

5 years

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

By God’s grace, He has enabled us to help plant a church reaching and serving Portuguese-speaking immigrants and refugees in the greater Philadelphia region. Spencer will step down from his full-time pastoral role in April 2021 but still continue to train up the team of indigenous church leaders, a process which will hopefully be completed by Fall 2021.

In the meantime, our family will start to prepare for a big transition to move to SE Asia and serve in that region as long-term workers, supporting the growth and development of local churches.

What excites you most in your ministry?

The multitude of opportunities to share the love of Christ in word (preaching/teaching) and deed (acts of mercy & service) with so many who have never had a chance to hear & experience such grace before! Seeing lives changed by the Spirit as a result of the seeds He plants through us!

How can we pray for you and your ministry?

• That we will finish this leg of the race well in getting this church planted (we’re very tired but almost there!)

• That details for our transition and preparation for moving overseas will fall in line; there’s so much to think about and plan for, it can be overwhelming

• In praise for a new family addition that we should get to meet in August! That the rest of the pregnancy and delivery would go smoothly.

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

Spencer and Carmen met while they were both working at the library circulation desk of the seminary where they were students. However, they weren’t really keen on getting to know each other until one day, Carmen asked Spencer to help edit a theological statement she had written. That was the beginning of their romance… wait, is that interesting or just nerdy?

Ministry location

Ontario

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

5 years

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

C2C works to catalyze church planting across Canada by encouraging collaboration among church plants and church planting churches across diverse denominations. We want to see healthy and fruitful church plants that are gospel-centred, Spirit-led, mission-focused, and kingdom-minded. We support church planters directly through assessment, coaching, training, and other forms of support like task forces (advisory boards) and financial subsidies. 

In 2021, my focus in Ontario is on forming an ‘inter-generational’ community of church planting leaders in our province. We want to bring together those who are new to church planting with experienced planters. To that end, we are seeking to form coaching clusters (3-5 church planters at different stages of ministry development) as a complement to the one-on-one coaching I already do. And we’ve also planned our first Learning Retreat for October 25 - 27 at Muskoka Bible Centre. Our vision is to see bi-annual gatherings like this where leaders will come together not only for training but also to worship, pray, and build deeper relationships so that we see a rich community forming to support church planters.

What excites you most in your ministry?

I love to see relationships deepen among church planting leaders so that they are able to support one another in significant ways with the ultimate goal of starting healthy and fruitful new churches across our Province and Nation.

How can we pray for you and your ministry in 2021?

Pray for the new coaching cluster and learning retreat initiatives. I’m in the midst of following up with folks about these opportunities right now and am praying that we will see clusters meeting on-line in February. Kicking off a provincial learning retreat model in October will take a lot of planning & work. Pray for that too. At the national level, pray that our Leadership Team (Ron Leonard [Vancouver], Patrice Nagant [Montreal], and myself [Toronto]) will continue to be unified. Pray for more church planting leaders for harvest work in Ontario and across Canada.

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

My wife and I started Love a Village in 2015 just as I was stepping in to work with C2C full-time. Julie is the true Founder & Director of this work which partners with some dynamic leaders in Malawi to empower villagers in Northern Malawi to creatively address pressing challenges around their needs for water, sanitation, safe shelter, farming/income solutions, and basic education (especially for girls). I’ve visited Malawi myself 4 times since our family first went there together in 2012. I’ve lost count of how many times Julie has been there to expose Canadians to this wonderful country and to continue to implement some great projects with our partners there.

Ministry location

Eastern Canada

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

Almost 10 years at AFC - 8 years as campus staff, 1 year as project manager; 9 months in current position.

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

“Ambassadors for Christ (AFC) in Canada exists to continue God’s work in the worldwide evangelical student movement. In partnership with the local churches, we endeavour to walk alongside students, primarily Chinese, to be grounded in scripture and be faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

AFC provides leadership, guidance and training to promote and develop both high school and post-secondary students in areas of evangelism, discipleship, leadership and world mission.”

For me, I get to empower our team to navigate these unique times with the students well. I am responsible for caring for our staff team and creating space for us to collaborate in exploring new opportunities as we abide deeply in Him. 

We are exploring a number of new initiatives in this season to enable us to better reach and support this generation of students:

• We have started a new series on our social media channels called Catalyst, that invites students to pray through current issues and challenges. 

• We have also started a new internship program that provides interested individuals an opportunity to explore their ministry calling particularly in serving students.

• In my current interim role, I’ve had the opportunity to deepen working relationships with other partner organizations in student ministry. I’ve been blessed to be a part of enriching discussions as we come together monthly to pray and mutually support one another.

• I’ve also recently been invited to take part in a group of emerging Asian ministry leaders. This resonates with my heart to give a voice to share the stories of Asian-Canadian students (past and present) in their contribution to the Chinese church in Canada and their specific calling and place in His kingdom navigating between multiple cultures.

• Finally, our staff team has been prayerfully considering how we can support and prepare for a potential influx of students from Hong Kong and returning emigrant families, given the current political climate. We want to make sure we are able to equip and support campus fellowship leaders, regardless of language basis.

What excites you most in your ministry?

Being able to tell stories of His faithfulness and how He uses each person uniquely. For the students to be transformed by the Gospel and to be assured in who God has created them to be.

How can we pray for you and your ministry?

It’s been a learning process to take on this leadership role. Pray for courage and boldness to say yes to His call. For steadfastness and unwavering hope for the ministry and all the students that have been deeply affected through this pandemic. Pray for wisdom as we discover and reimagine what spiritual formation and discipleship look like in this time.

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

I really like trying everything, so whenever we eat out I always order too much but have only a bite of each dish.

Current Position

Church Planter, Bytown Community Church

Ministry location

Central Ottawa (Glebe)

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

6 years (3 years actively church planting)

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

Bytown Community Church exists to help adults and children experience wholeness in Jesus Christ that propels them to share and live by their faith in their families, workplaces and neighbourhoods. We are a ministry of the Gathering Ottawa and a member of the ONMB family of churches.

We are a young demographic. We have a lot of students, undergraduate and masters level and we are seeking to support them as well as help them develop a Biblical framework as they engage in their studies.

We also have lots of kids (3 babies born in 2024!). We are putting a lot of time and energy into thinking about our discipleship pathways for kids and investing in them. It takes a village. We are blessed by singles and families who invest in the kids in our church, seeking to help them know Jesus. Developing a robust and holistic kids’ ministry has been our key initiative at this time.

What excites you most in your ministry?

I love seeing kids love being a part of a church family.

How can we pray for you and your ministry?

We are young! We are asking God to provide some more mature people who can help us walk into this next season.

We are growing but not fast enough to become self-sufficient as the funding from our denomination and church planting network shrink. Our community needs to take more ownership for the future of their church.

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

I am in a cross-cultural marriage. I have a strong heart for multi-ethnic churches and cultural reconciliation through the work of Christ.

Ministry location

Ottawa

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

10 years

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

I co-lead a team of other P2C staff and together, we partner with the Spirit to help university and college students to take their next steps towards Jesus. We are a missional community growing in our faith and trusting God as we share our faith with others around us.

What excites you most in your ministry?

I love seeing students take steps of faith! Whether it’s a student leader taking initiative to lead their peers in something new in our ministry or a student we’ve been journeying with picking up a Bible to read for the first time… God is at work! And it’s exciting to be a part of it.

How can we pray for you and your ministry?

Please pray for me to continue in God’s strength and to rest well in Him as I serve in my ministry. Pray for me to be attuned to how God is present with me and is at work all around me. 

We have a couple students who are seriously exploring Christianity right now. Please pray for them to encounter Jesus in an undeniable way and that they would know Him as their Creator, Lord, and Saviour.

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

Three other “dream jobs” I joke about doing: themed party planner, home declutter-er and organizer, and Instant Pot ambassador.

Ministry location

Asia

How long have you been serving in your ministry?

Overseas since 2017

Tell us a bit about your ministry and any new initiatives.

I am working with an indigenous minority group who live in a mountainous region to provide translation of the Bible, songs, and other materials in their native language. Esther and I also walk alongside and disciple the indigenous church leadership.

What excites you most in your ministry?

Getting to spend time with these amazing first-generation Christians who are daily figuring out how their faith is lived out in their unique context, particularly negotiating cultural traditions and meeting the challenge of persecution. As a linguist, studying their language and learning through the translation process is also fun.

How can we pray for you and your ministry

• Pray for continued stable internet connections

• The indigenous church can continue to meet regularly to worship

• Esther and I learning to be good parents to our baby boy Yien (Ian)

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

I can read 8 languages; I sing lullabies to my son in 5 languages.