Made in Manitoba

Canadian band The Color is giving their fans a chance to worship together online Thursday evening.

"Worshiping together has been lost for so many people during this pandemic, so let's worship together"

The band has been performing a series of concerts online called "Past | Present | Future" with each event taking a special look at the music for a certain stage in the band's life. People had been buying tickets for the previous concerts, but the band says that they want to give back and bring people together during this time.

An author from Winnipeg is embracing change himself, the theme of his book, by releasing a book during a global pandemic.

Dr. Dele Ola is the Director of the Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing at Red River College in Winnipeg. 

This book is his first published work, Be a Change Agent: Leadership in a Time of Exponential Change.

"It's an action title and that was deliberate because it's a call to all the leaders to be a change agent. It's a call for everyone that this is our time to rise."

Sharalee Smith is releasing a new single and using what she learned while at Hillsong College in Australia. 

Smith grew up in Manitoba but did a bit of world travelling before settling down again in Manitoba with her husband and their four kids. 

"We went to Hillsong International Leadership College back when we were first married. We headed off to Australia and did a couple of years of school there. In the first year of marriage, we moved across the world together and just had a great experience and establishing roots in our faith together," says Smith. 

A new video for Jordan St. Cyr's single, 'Fires,' is a powerful visual testimony of God's goodness in the face of uncertainty, using actual people and their stories as the actors.

A virtual Christmas choir was put together with people from multiple congregations to create a video spreading joy.

Brendyn Dyck, the Worship Pastor at the Word of Life Church in Niverville, put out an invitation for singers from any church in the town to be a part of a virtual choir video.  

"Five different churches in Niverville are represented in the video. I sent out an invitation to all the churches in our town and said whoever wants to be apart of it, we welcome your voice. The churches stepped up," says Dyck.

A man from Steinbach recently started a ministry that helps church worship leaders hone their skills,  helping them be effective in their local church. 

"We were trying to think of ways that we could get more involved in music ministry in Steinbach and Southeast Manitoba. We saw a real need for a worship band for hire," says Jeff Neufeld. 

Thus, Rescue Story was created. 

"We started about a year ago getting together and working towards that goal. I started playing music with Island Breeze myself."

Island Breeze is a division of YWAM in Manitoba. 

Made in Manitoba band, The Color, had to get creative to release a new album in 2020.

Jordan Janzen, lead singer of the band, says they received the green light from Public Health to fly a producer to their home studio in Plum Coulee where they quarantined together as a group and got to work recording their latest album.

“It was a dream,” Janzen says. “It was intense, we recorded for 12-15 hours a day, but the experience allowed for a more creative process.”

Marie Joy is spreading just that, the joy this Christmas season with her new EP. 

Joy's Christmas EP was released on December 12, 2020, includes three songs, and it's simply called Christmas Vol. 1. She sings her own versions of 'Silent Night', 'Mary Did You Know', and 'We Three Kings'.

"I'm hoping to release every year and record more," she says.

This past summer Joy released an EP called Let Go with four originals.

A Made in Manitoba artist has taken an often neglected Christmas hymn and given it some new life, making it a perfect fit for Christmas in 2020.

David Bracken has just released 'Come, Oh Come,' a new single based on 'Angels From The Realms Of Glory.' 

A local gospel singer is hoping her song about God's goodness will encourage and inspire those facing hardships. 

Bunmi Oduntan, who also goes by her singing name Bunmi Praise, has released her recent single 'You are Great'. 

"Earlier this year I went through a very troubling period. It was a time that I almost went into depression and had been disappointed by some people."

"The Bible says you don't put your hope and trust in man, but put everything onto God. However, I wasn't expecting what it did to me."