Connections

He's a man of miracles or at least a man who has experienced miraculous healing more than once.

Lee McClelland is a pastor at The Ark Church Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Renowned worship leader, Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter and producer of hundreds of songs sung globally, Yancy Wideman Richmond can now add author to her list of titles.

Full of prophetic, practical, and power-filled truth, Yancy's new book, Sweet Sound: The Power of Discipling Kids in Worship, encompasses her life ministry of leading kids into the presence of Jesus by using examples from the life of King David as well as her personal experiences. 

In 1998, Mandy Smith and her husband, a New Testament professor, moved from their birth country of Australia to the United States.

The pair had planned to stay in the U.S. for two years while attending school, but things quickly changed when their family started to grow. In the end, they wound up spending over two decades there before returning home.

Mindi Oaten has always been creative, but it was an encounter with God that changed her path moving forward.

"I got a fine art degree in studio arts. I left school not knowing what to do with an art degree," said Oaten. "I believed I wasn't good enough to be a working artist. So, I left my art at school. I got a job, got married and had kids."

Nancy Hicks spent years on stage in Canada and more than a decade at QVC as an on-air spokesperson. She loved her time there but finally sensed God calling her to full-time ministry.

"There were 400 people lined up behind me for my job on QVC," said Nancy. " I loved it, but I knew there were not 400 people lined up behind me to preach God's word."

Globally, NGOs are sounding the alarm as the world is moving rapidly towards some of the most catastrophic food crises in the 21st century. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is also raising its voice at this extremely urgent hour.

"We are seeing a global hunger crisis," said Stefan Epp-Koop, program manager of the humanitarian early recovery and development (HERD) program with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. "The situation is getting worse all the time." 

For Kelly Kennedy, life was always a competition. She grew up in a verbally abusive home with ten siblings including seven brothers and three sisters.

When Kelly was young, sports and in particular basketball, were an outlet for her. It was a  place of safety and a place to get away from the chaos that was happening at home.

Dominique Contois grew up in a home filled with emotional and mental abuse. Both of his parents were alcoholics and were absent most of the time.

"It was tough. There was a lot of drinking in the home and violence," Contois explained. "Family and friends would try to help us by giving us food."

Joshua Bold grew up in a Christian home, but his faith took some time to grow. In his teen years, he struggled with drugs, everything from cocaine to meth.

"It took me for a ride. By the time I was 25 years old, I was pretty much spent as a human being. My relationships were broken and so was everything else," said Joshua.

The Smallbone family was living a fairly normal life in Sydney, Australia, when their entire world came tumbling down around them.

"My husband, David, had a passion for making a difference in people's lives and Christian music. He was promoting Christian concerts and had a small record company. It was a normal sort of life," said Helen Smallbone. "Then he ended up marketing a tour in Australia in 1988 that lost us a quarter of a million dollars."

"You don't lose that sort of money in business and not have a major life change."