Not everyone reading this article was able to attend Connect26, so I just want to share some reflections about this year’s event. If you have any interest in our Fellowship whatsoever, please read on!

​Attendance at Connect was higher than it had been in the previous two years, which is encouraging, but we can still improve. One responsibility of a member church is to ensure that they send delegates to Connect, and so we should be planning now for Connect27. Aside from our responsibility to the Fellowship, attendance at Connect will encourage our people and equip them to serve better in their local church setting.

Salem Church in Waldheim, SK did a tremendous job of hosting Connect! Everything from the food to the host homes to the worship team was top-notch. But the most notable way in which the hosting was over the top was how the team responded in the face of adversity.

In the middle of Connect, powerful storms including strong winds, hail, and tornados ripped through the Waldheim area. I am told that this is very rare, even though some of the American delegates felt right at home. Once the storm had passed, power was out at the church for about 24 hours. Many of the homes of those who were hosting delegates were without power, and some without water.
Volunteers from the church were working to keep Connect going even while their own homes had trees down or other issues to resolve. We offered more than once to cancel portions of Connect to help with cleanup efforts, but our hosts calmly reassured us that the event would continue.

​It was amazing to see how the local volunteer team worked to keep everything running. Within what seemed to be minutes, there were generators humming, lights being strung to rooms, a portable sound system set up in the sanctuary, and adjustments being made to the kitchen prep work. Every meal was still served and served hot.
Every event went on as planned. We sat in partial darkness for several sessions, and there will not be videos available for the Friday sessions because we didn’t have that equipment running yet. But it was such a blessing to see the family at Salem pull together to bless the FEBC family.
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Our Convention Coordinator, Crystal Klassen, and the host church coordinator, Roger Schultz, both deserve a huge thank you for the work they put forth to make the event such a success despite such a huge challenge. Every single volunteer was helpful and accommodating. Every delegate was gracious during less-than-ideal circumstances. We were blessed. And I suspect we’ll remember this event.

God also blessed us through our Keynote Speaker. Steve Janz, Executive Director of Millar College of the Bible – Sunnybrae, shared four messages regarding how the Gospel should impact our lives beyond the moment of salvation. He covered how the Gospel shapes our rest, how it fuels our trust, how it shapes our obedience, and how it anchors our hope. These messages were powerful, accessible, and challenging. We are grateful for Steve’s ministry among us.
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We tried a couple of new things this year. One of them was “Table Talks.” This was an opportunity to have good conversations about areas of ministry with others who are interested. There were ten tables, each with its own ministry topic, and every 15 minutes or so, we rang a bell to signify that you could move to another table if you wanted. So, some folks sat at the same table for an hour, and others visited eight different tables. Picture speed dating, but less awkward. And with no power.

Another change this year was replacing the Ladies’ Boutique with Puzzles for Pastors. This was a room with four jigsaw puzzles waiting to be assembled where delegates could visit and unwind in between sessions. Some generous donors provided pledges so that for each puzzle the delegates completed, $1,000 would be donated to support FEBC pastors and their wives. Apparently, we need to find more difficult puzzles for next year, because they were completed in no time. In fact, when I realized how quickly they were getting completed, I pulled a finished puzzle completely apart, and it was completed again the next day. This was a fun way for delegates to spend some time together, and praise God for the faithful donors who will provide $4,000 to help us bless our pastors and their wives!

We learned together, laughed together, went on outings together, spent time in prayer together, worshiped together, and took communion together. But so much of what happens at Connect happens between the sessions, when folks are just talking about life and ministry and finding encouragement and accountability through fellow FEBC members and leaders.

Much was shared about the status and ministry of the FEBC. I won’t try to cover it all here. Please read my “State of the Fellowship” address in a separate article for more about how the Fellowship is doing. Or ask your church leaders for a copy of the FEBC Annual Report. Spoiler alert: God has truly been blessing us, financially and in other ways. For instance, two of the pastors who attended Connect are from churches that are considering whether to join our FEBC family. And while Gary’s position is not yet fully funded through pledges, we received enough one-time gifts that his received support for last year was over 100% for the first time.
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Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Connect27 will be held at Henderson Bible Church (Henderson, NE) on July 8-10, 2027. Now would be a great time to mark your calendar.
See you there!

​The first time my daughter ever rode in a vehicle, she was in an ambulance. Her first hours earth-side were spent surrounded by a NICU team struggling to figure out why a seemingly healthy baby had low oxygen levels. My first hours as a mother were a blur. I don’t remember enough. I remember too much. My first days as a parent were the hardest thing I’ve ever walked through.

My daughter, Eleanor Grace, was born at 11:30pm on February 12th, 2026. Her birth was beautiful and perfect. Thankfully, the natural water birth I had planned at the hospital with my midwife and husband was all I hoped it would be. Our girl we spent years praying for was here, and life as we knew it would never be the same.
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Mere hours after delivery, our baby was taken straight to the NICU after showing signs of concerning low oxygen. My rational brain told me this was all just a mistake; she’d perk up in an hour, and we could spend the rest of the day recovering together. Soon enough we’d be home and settling into life as a family of three.

My pregnancy with Nora was low-risk and perfectly healthy. She passed her anatomy scan with flying colors and measured exactly on time at every visit. Her heartbeat was always strong on the doppler. As for me, I had a lot of anxiety while pregnant. Every day was an act of surrender. I would often hear God say, “Do you trust me?” He was actually preparing me for the most life-altering moment of my life, right there in a NICU room with my baby in a hospital bed.
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Test after test came back clear. No sign of infection, no significant amount of fluid in her lungs. The doctor then wanted to do an in-depth look at her heart through ultrasound. I remember asking him if he really thought something could be wrong with her heart. “Honestly? I don’t,” he said. “That’s pretty rare.”

​Once the test was completed, we received the answer no one was expecting: Eleanor was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR). The NICU doctor promptly informed us that an ambulance was on its way to take us to Children’s Hospital, where our daughter would need open-heart surgery. On her second day of life, she would undergo one of the most invasive surgeries that can be performed.

I remember feeling like I was underwater. I blinked; everything was blurry. Muffled voices everywhere, none of it making sense. Maybe I was having the worst nightmare of my life I just couldn’t wake up from. I begged God to let this all be a dream. “Please, let me wake up and start this day over.” Maybe if I try hard enough, we can go back to the beginning. Hadn’t I just birthed a perfectly healthy baby? This couldn’t be happening.
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Our surgeon met my husband in our hospital room where we’d essentially be living for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, I was still at the other hospital waiting to be discharged. He pulled my husband aside and asked him where I was. When he learned I was still at the other hospital, he offered to drive both of them together in his own vehicle to where I was. “I want to find your wife and let her know everything will be okay. She needs to know her baby isn’t going to die.”

Garrett and I moved to Omaha almost 3 years ago. We grew up in the beautiful state of Idaho, in a suburb just outside the capital city. A lot was changing in our hometown, and we were itching for a fresh start. Essentially, we could go anywhere. We nailed down the fact that the Midwest seemed like a good fit for our lifestyle and his upcoming career change. As we crossed potential cities off the list, it was between 2 places: Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Omaha, Nebraska.
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For whatever reason, Omaha just seemed to be the place that felt right. My parents had spent some time here for work and raved about potential life in Nebraska. We had an undeniable pull to risk it all and move to a city where we didn’t know a soul. We thought we were making the move for us, but as God would have it, we know now that we moved here so our daughter could have a fighting chance. Eleanor was always going to be our girl, and she was always going to be born with TAPVR. That’s something only God knew when we decided on Omaha.

Eleanor’s heart surgery was successful, and we were now on the road to recovery. Living at the hospital is unlike any experience I’ve ever had. Hours go by, but they all feel the same. Day shift and night shift. Nothing ever stops moving. Constant monitoring, adjusting, and watching. Unfamiliar sounds that eventually lull you to sleep when you can manage to get any.
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As we settled into our unfamiliar new reality, anything to bring normalcy into our day was life-changing. Every single day we had people from our church show up with meals. Our pastor prayed with us the morning of her surgery. We had gifts and check-ins. Millions of prayers for our precious baby. There was truly never a moment we were without support. 

Our gratitude can never ever be expressed adequately to the members of our church family at Crosspoint Bible Church. I attribute so much of our daughter’s rapid recovery to the people who showed up, day in and day out for us.

In the beginning, we were trying to hold up a ceiling that was falling. Cracking. Breaking. The weight of it crushing. One by one, people came and lifted their hands to that ceiling. The unbearable weight of it lessened.

Most nights, I still go to bed wondering why I have to endure this trial. Most of the time, it’s still a heavy weight. The beauty of it all is found years back, when God put it on our hearts to leave our hometown. When we decided to move to Omaha, Nebraska, for our daughter that only God knew about. Even when God feels distant, He’s always working behind the scenes.

I’ll leave you with our daughter’s life verse:
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“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
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Indeed He has.
Indeed He will.

This is my presidential address, also called the “State of the Fellowship” address. If you read my report, you know what happened between April 2025 and March 2026. Now let’s talk about the state of our Fellowship. Where are we today, what are the events that have shaped that, and where are we headed?

So, what is the state of our Fellowship? My answer is this: we are not without challenges, but we are in a season of remarkable grace. Many of our churches are healthy and engaged. Our shared ministry is being used more than ever. Our financial position has improved beyond what we expected. And even in a time when many churches across North America are facing serious questions about viability, God has positioned us not merely to survive, but to strengthen one another for the work ahead. 

Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. That is a verse that describes our situation very well. There are so many areas in which God is exceeding what we might have imagined a few years ago.

I would like to start by talking about our Fellowship churches. Not our organization, but the churches themselves. Because our purpose statement for many years has been “Joining our hands to strengthen His church.” That means we can accomplish more together, but I also believe it means each member church will be strengthened by the mutual support, encouragement, and accountability we provide.

So first, what is the state of evangelicalism in North America? I think I would say that this is a period of uncertainty and change for churches, and the long-term trend is clearly one of decline in Christian affiliation in both of our countries. ​

From our years in the context of the Spanish language in Ecuador, a word that I came to appreciate was “Disponibilidad”. Now that’s a mouthful, and its meaning is the willingness to be available. As a team leader, I came to appreciate that kind of attitude reflected by coworkers with whom we served. Some people were always ready and willing to jump in to get something done even without being asked. Being in the context of people who enjoy meeting a need without complaining or saying that they are too busy is always encouraging.

During the years of COVID, a missionary colleague was memorialized for having had this kind of attitude. He was always ready to respond to an unmet need even with other ministry-related organizations. He had the reputation of being someone you could count on and ask for some help. And it was always with a smile. When most other people would stop and think about the implications associated with doing something out of the ordinary, he was always quick to respond with an offer to help.

 Isn’t this kind of attitude something that our Bible teaches and encourages? Read Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” I’ve highlighted those two words to emphasize the idea that we ought to do everything with an attitude of willingness to be available.
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When a situation comes up in your community that needs some help, how are you going to respond? You can be a real source of encouragement by showing an attitude of willingness to be available.

​Following are some updates from our Annual General Meeting at Connect26:

Bylaws:
The delegates from each national entity voted to revise the national bylaws to align the number of national directors with the number of directors allowed within the international constitution. This was a minor housekeeping adjustment.

Budget:
The delegates approved our budget for FY2027 (April 2026-March 2027). The projected budget includes drawing less than $40,000 from unrestricted reserves to meet our needs. While this is the lowest budgeted draw from reserves since 2018, it illustrates that we must remain diligent and faithful in our support of this vital ministry. Please pray about whether you can help and check out the State of the Fellowship article for more about how God continues to provide for our Fellowship!

FEBC Elections:
Our Fellowship cannot function without members of our churches who serve in volunteer leadership capacities. The following individuals were elected at Connect26 for leadership within our Fellowship:

Directors:

• Trevor Kirsch – Compass Immanuel Church, Rapid View, SK
• Caleb Symons – Kenora Bible Church, Kenora, ON
• Dennis Friesen – Dalmeny Bible Church, Dalmeny, SK
• Larry Peters – Heartland Bible Church, Lincoln, NE
• Richard Colegrove – Crosspoint Bible Church, Omaha, NE
  
  

Commission on Churches:

• Mike Ginther – Community Bible Church, Prince Albert, SK
  
  

Commission on Church Planting:

• Justin Klassen – Martensville Mission Church, Martensville, SK

Commission on Global Partnerships:

• Rob Quiring – Crosspoint Bible Church, Omaha, NE
• Amanda Tuller – Hebron Bible Church, Hebron, NE
• Gary Williams – Dalmeny Bible Church, Dalmeny, SK
  
  

Commission on Pastoral Care:

• Brian Friesen – Community Bible Church, Tisdale, SK
• Len Zacharias – Dalmeny Bible Church, Dalmeny, SK
• Myra Zacharias – Dalmeny Bible Church, Dalmeny, SK
• Phil Olney – Christian Fellowship Church, Rhineland, SK
• Claudia Olney – Christian Fellowship Church, Rhineland, SK
  
  

FEBC Scholarships
The FEBC provides two categories of scholarships to students who attend FEBC churches:

1. The "Christian Ministry Scholarship" is for college students (undergrad or graduate) pursuing a biblical education.
2. The "Continuing Education Scholarship" is for current FEBC pastors or FEBC-approved global partners who are pursuing additional education.
   
   

At Connect26, we announced the following recipients for the 2026-2027 school year. Congratulations to these awardees:
Christian Ministry Scholarship ($1,500 each):

• Lauryn Klassen - Omaha, NE (Crosspoint) (Faith Baptist Bible College)
• Katrina Reimer - Winnipeg, MB (Millar – Tappen)
• Ben Siebert - Waldheim, SK (Millar – Tappen)
• Al Wintemute - Rhineland, MB (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

Alternates:

• Nate Willems - Waldheim, SK (Millar - Pambrun)
• Emma Olson - Rapid View, SK (Millar – Pambrun)
  
  

Continuing Education Scholarship ($2,000 each):

• Herms Banico (pastor at Cornerstone Bible Church, Mountain Lake, MN), pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Liberty University.
• James VanderVeen (pastor at Salem Church, Waldheim, SK), pursuing a PhD in Bible Exposition at Liberty University.

​Our Vision Statement is: “Strengthening our churches with timely resources that strengthen their leaders.”

As you know, we have developed several resources that can be used to strengthen local churches. Many of them are listed here: FEBC Church Resources.

Some of our resources are printable documents or “kits” we can send to your church as you have need, while others come in the form of visits to provide workshops or assessments in person.
This month, rather than highlighting a specific resource, I want to repeat a concept I shared at Connect.

The idea of our Vision Statement is not that FEBC employees will strengthen our churches with timely resources. It is that our family of churches will strengthen one another with timely resources. One of the ways you do that is through supporting our Fellowship, which in turn allows FEBC employees to provide resources.

But perhaps you have an idea for a resource that could bless churches and the knowledge and ability to put it together. Or maybe your church has developed its own resource in response to a specific need, and you think this resource would have an impact on other churches as well.

If you have an idea for a resource, please contact Gary or me to discuss whether it could be a good fit for the FEBC. Maybe you have a finished resource that could be used as is, or maybe it needs a bit of modification for broader use. Or maybe you have a half-finished product and just need some help to get it finished.

Whatever the case, we are interested in how our local FEBC churches can provide resources that will benefit the entire FEBC family.
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And remember, if you need help with any ministry issues at all, do not hesitate to contact Gary, Kevin, or the FEBC Office.

Richer Fellowship Church (Richer, MB) requested to be placed in replant status and avail themselves of an FEBC Steering Team in early 2024. Having been restored to a healthy situation, they have recently been approved to regain full member status. We praise God for this development.
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Please pray for all of our FEBC churches.

​I fear not tomorrow.
God has a perfect plan.
I fear not tomorrow.
I’m safely in His hand.
 
Be it calm or stormy sea--
Everything passed through
His heart of love
Works for good for me.
 
I gratefully take each day.
Each precious moment of time.
Gifted from my loving Heavenly Father.
What peace, what joy is mine.

Saron Mennonite Church 
Fairview, OK 
Arnold Curby, Pastor ​

Below are the deaths, births, and weddings across our congregations that have occurred since our last issue or had not previously been reported. During these major events, and always, we will proclaim His praise.    ​

Compass Immanuel Church (Rapid View, SK)

• Montgomery born to Gilbert and Amanda Grimeau, June 12, 2026
• Cole Ezra born to Patrick and Caitlin Cummins, July 1, 2026. Grandson to Ron and Teresa Cummins.

 
Crosspoint Bible Church (Omaha, NE)

• Eowyn “Wynnie” Dawn, born to Andy and Emily Stone, June 12, 2026. Granddaughter to Kevin and Melissa Stone.
• Mason James, born to Josiah and MaKenzi Krehbiel, July 22, 2026. Grandson to Gary and Christi Krehbiel. Great-grandson to Fred and Kathy Scott, and Don Krehbiel.

 
Heartland Bible Church (Lincoln, NE)

• Daniel James, born to Adam and Jenny Fischer, June 29, 2026.

 
Vita Bible Church (Vita, MB)

• Sadie Katherine, born to Kris & Val Hofer, June 29, 2026
• Erich Froese, died July 18, 2026