Christian News

Pastor Carlos Olivar from Winnipeg's Table of Encounter church has experienced God's protection over himself and his family since an early age, which has deepened his faith and strengthened his leadership in ministry.

"I was born in Mexico City and only a couple of months into this world, a person came to our home dressed as a doctor," he said. "They knew my name, my mother's name, my father's name, and my auntie's name who was sponsoring us from here in Canada. They knew my grandmother's name and all the details."

American pastor David Lin is finally home. Now 68, Lin was detained by the Chinese government nearly two decades ago, accused of contract fraud.

Lin had applied for and gained permission from the Chinese government to open a Christian church in Beijing. But in 2006, it all fell apart.

He was detained and handed a life prison sentence in 2009. The United States State Department considered Lin one of three Americans "wrongfully detained" by China.

A local ministry is heading across the ocean to share the gospel in some countries that face high Christian persecution.

"My first challenge was to share the gospel with 50 people in Canada," says Lin, who felt God leading her to share her faith in a tangible way. "The second challenge is, I need to encourage 1,000 Christians to pray for their role in the Great Commission. The name of the project is 'Go for God 50/50 Challenge.'"

The idea came to Lin while she was praying when COVID-19 had many people shut in their homes. 

What are the obstacles for gospel ministry to the Deaf?

Rob Myers with DOOR International shares three misconceptions or challenges that make Deaf-led churches rare today.

"Some of it has to do with the lens that we use to view the Deaf community. Many times when we talk about Deaf ministry, people put on the viewpoint of special needs ministry," Myers says.

Instead, Deaf communities should be viewed as minority languages, people groups with their own distinct cultures.

Bill Gaither is remembering The Nelons in a special memorial video released a couple of months after the death of three of their members. 

"I've done a number of these tributes, most of them are to some of our older Gospel artists who have lived a great life. But this one was so different because they were so young," said Bill in the tribute video. "I think they were just simply coming into their own, and it's sad for all of us, and it's hard for us to express how we feel. Four young lives taken way too soon."

A popular YouTube star, Cole Labrant recently shared a video of two of his middle children singing their newest favourite song. 

He took to Instagram to share the sweet video with his five million followers. 

"Four-year-old Zealand and five-year-old Posie singing their newest favorite worship song," he captioned the video. 

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has reversed its decision to place the Christian/Gospel, Reggae, and Children's Album of the Year categories on hiatus after widespread advocacy from Canadian music supporters.

CARAS CEO Allan Reid addressed the issue in a statement on Tuesday, acknowledging the importance of these categories to the Canadian music scene.

With Christian and Gospel music awards taking a recent hit in Canada, the Gospel Music Industry Hub has stepped up to recognize artists nationwide.

This week, GMIHub, an organization that helps artists get along in their music career by equipping them with people who can help them with things like their business, creativity and production, announced the launch of the inaugural Gospel Music Industry Hub Awards.

Two young Christian artists from Canada and the U.S.A. have come together to release Christian music for the youth of today. 

"I'm a producer in BLVRS, Jordan is the vocalist," says Owen Bloomfield. "I do co-writing with him. It's a very cool God-story of how we got started. We essentially got paired up. If any of you know Matthew Parker in the Christian music space, EDM/pop artist. I got connected with him through a remix contest he was hosting. He liked what I was doing. He started connecting me with his friends. Jordan and I paired up and started doing a song every year."

Families are anticipating a wonderful day of fishing on the Red River in support of a ministry that blesses parents and children around the world. 

"Fishin' for a Mission was born out of a need or desire to support Word and Deed," says Clarence Jonker, organizer of Fishin' for a Mission. "Word and Deed is an organization that focuses on developing countries. Supporting kids with before-school and after-school meal programs, Christian education and families in difficult, struggling circumstances."