Peter Kupisz has a Masters degree in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Talbot School of Theology. He also has a Masters degree in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology from the University of Toronto. Peter has been studying apologetic issues for 20+ years and enjoys talking to people of all different religious and philosophical persuasions. He worked as an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at universities in California and as a full-time Instructor at universities in South Korea. After being on staff with Power to Change (previously known as “Campus Crusade for Christ”) for 5 years, he founded Worldview Summit. Now based in the country of Georgia, he speaks at churches, schools, and universities in various parts of the world including South America, Asia, Europe, and North America. Peter is a member of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and he is on the board of Ratio Christi Canada. In his free time he enjoys debating online, movies, traveling, hiking, and exploring the world. 

About Worldview Summit

Worldview Summit is committed to exploring the ultimate questions of life from a Christian worldview. It seeks to provide a clear and articulate explanation as to why faith in Jesus makes sense. The ministry consists of a small team of committed individuals although it primarily features the work and thought of Peter Kupisz. Peter is committed to sharing the best reasons there are for believing in Jesus based on research done by the world's top Christian scholars. He believes that Christians should take seriously the words found in 1 Peter 3: 15,
 
 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (NIV)
 
It's important for Christians to give good reasons for their hope in Jesus. But it's also important to do this with "gentleness and respect." 

Resources:

Website: https://www.worldviewsummit.org/

Podcasts: https://www.worldviewsummit.org/podcast-coming

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldviewSummit/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldviewsummit/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjLLtpbRC35eMmqi9wuAq0A?view_as=subscriber

Shaila Visser is the National Director of Alpha Canada and the Global Senior Vice President for Alpha International. She is the Executive Producer of both the Alpha Youth Film Series (2013) and the Alpha Film Series (2016), and currently holds positions on the board of the Damascus Road Foundation and on the board of Regent College, an International Graduate School in Vancouver. 

Shaila has a heart for people coming to know Jesus and is passionate about helping the local church flourish. She is a gifted communicator who is known for her strategic leadership as well as her ability to bring people together. Shaila is recognized as one of the top 100 most influential Christian women in Canada. Shaila lives in Vancouver BC with her husband, Ryan Visser, a Vancouver police officer, and their four-legged family members, talon and benny. 

Resources:

Website: alphacanada.org

Twitter or Instagram: @shailavisser.  

Andy is the founder and president of Apologetics Canada, dedicated to helping Christian communities grow in their faith and share their hope. He is a speaker, researcher, and author sharing the truth about life and challenging people to think about the most important questions we face. He has 20 years of experience as a pastor and completed his PhD at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Andy brings both experience and research to his work. Currently, Andy is working on a new video series, Branded: Rethinking Identity, that addresses our personal, communal, and spiritual identity. He is also the author of Reclaimed: How Jesus Restores Our Humanity in a Dehumanized World released in 2020, which was awarded runner up to evangelistic resource of the year. This book was preceded by The Human Project video series. In 2018, The Human Project debuted at film festivals around the world and won several awards including Best Short Film and People's Choice. Andy also created and hosted The Thinking Series and is the author of Thinking? Answering Life’s Five Biggest Questions. Andy speaks on these topics internationally at universities, conferences, churches, prisons, and coffee shops. Andy is originally from Portland, Oregon and currently lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia with his wife, Nancy, and their boys.

Ministry Description:

When Andy Steiger and his wife, Nancy founded Apologetics Canada in 2010, they were motivated to stop the exodus of young people leaving the church. God however had much more in store. This generation of young people both Christians and non-Christians alike, have questions and are seeking truth.  The challenge in Western culture is communicating the message of Jesus in a way that people can understand and appreciate. Sharing the gospel requires us all to understand and speak the language of culture and address the questions being asked with intellectual honesty, gentleness and respect. When we do this in the love and winsomeness of Christ Jesus, lives are impacted and culture is changed. 

Resources:

Website: https://apologeticscanada.com/

Podcasts: https://apologeticscanada.com/podcasts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ApologeticsCA/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apologeticscanada/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ApologeticsCanada

BIO:

Originally from the Calgary area, Stuart McAllister has been living with his wife Carie and four children in El Salvador for the past 11 years.  They are passionate about seeing lives changed, both in the local Salvadoran people as well as in the thousands of Canadians and Americans that have come to partner with Shelter Canada.  Since 2011, Stuart and Carie have been working to develop a team of Salvadorans with the hope of seeing them know and follow Christ as they carry the organization’s mission forward.  Despite the uncertainty of the world around us all, they trust that God is doing a powerful work in this small, impoverished nation, and are excited to be able to partner in whatever ways they can.  Stuart entered his current role as CEO of Shelter Canada in 2020.

SHELTER CANADA: 

Shelter was born in 2001, after a series of earthquakes left hundreds of thousands of people in El Salvador without a safe home.

A small group of friends from Alberta felt compelled to help, so they flew down for one week and built three homes for three different families.  While this number may seem small, in light of the few hundred thousand families living in unsafe conditions in the country, it was what formed the vision and mission of Shelter Canada today.

Since then, the organization has grown to employ over 36 local Salvadorans and has built over 4,000 homes for families in need in El Salvador.

But we don’t just build houses, we also build hope.  Our mission is to spread the gospel will providing homes for every Salvadoran in need.  And in the process, we strive to build people up and teach them valuable skills so they can pour back into their own communities

Resources:

https://www.sheltercanada.ca/

Social Links:

https://www.facebook.com/ShelterCanada/

James Kelly is Founder and CEO of FaithTech, a global community of tech enthusiasts for Jesus. The work of FaithTech has been mentioned in The New York Times, Wired Magazine and Christianity Today. James has spoken live over 350 times in remote villages in South Sudan to Google HQ in Silicon Valley. He has been featured on 100 Huntley, 700 Club and Faith Today. James is married with two young children and lives in Waterloo, Canada. 

He was one of the first graduates from Dalhousie University’s Bachelors of Commerce with the specialization in Entrepreneurship. He married his best friend Karen and before welcoming their son, Judah, they embarked on some formative experiences together. Living in Kajo Keji, South Sudan for three months while doing missions work introduced them to a new level of poverty and heartache. The experience deepened their desire to help those experiencing this kind of circumstance and hopelessness.

James pursued and earned a Masters of Divinity from McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. Soon after, he and Karen helped strategically launch Radiant City Church with roughly 20 others, intentionally moving into neighbourhoods in need within the city, continuing their passion to share the Gospel and the tangible hope of Christ in some of the city’s darkest areas.

After attending a leadership conference in October 2015 where he heard the statement, “In the midst of devastation, there is an opportunity for innovation,” James was propelled to pursue innovation to help the poor and spread the Gospel of Jesus in new ways. He saw the opportunity the church could have if it would use technology to transform the way it is impacting and interacting with the world that surrounds it and needs Jesus.

And thus, sparked what has now become a movement. FaithTech.

James quit his full-time recruitment business near the end of 2016 to focus all his effort on the FaithTech movement.

About FaithTech

“In the midst of devastation there is the opportunity for innovation.” Challenged by this phrase, a bunch of Jesus-loving geeks, hackers, and hustlers began meeting in Waterloo, Ontario.

Projects were ignited through hackathons and regular meetups. With five cities running, the opportunities began to multiply to make lasting connections, share big ideas, and build solutions that serve the kingdom.

Compelled by this vision, FaithTech continued to build community, help people steward their tech skills for Christ, and expand how the global church talks about technology. 

As the world was gripped by a Global pandemic, FaithTech saw unprecedented community growth as Jesus-loving tech-heads from around the world joined the community. Through a Global COVID-19 Church Hackathon, and the launch of the Global Labs Program, they used their skills to get the good news of Jesus into a world that desperately needs to hear it. 

As FaithTech continues to find Christians in tech across the globe, our prayer for 2021 was to continue the growth by reaching 20 more communities and provide more opportunities for volunteers to leverage tech for the name of Jesus, we’re excited to see how God moves.

Resources:

www.jameskelly.tech

https://faithtech.com/

FaithTech in 44 Seconds

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gug3gdadWh0 

Social Links:

https://www.facebook.com/FaithTechHub/

https://twitter.com/faithtechhub

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wjameskelly/

Dave Hooge is the Founder and President of the Canadian Mentor Network.

Dave has held leadership positions in both for-profit and non-profit sectors as corporate executive and as a director. His professional career has been in construction with almost 30 years of experience in residential, commercial, and institutional construction.

Dave has significant BOD experience. Some examples include serving as President on the local and provincial boards of Canadian Home Builders Association and past director on the Alberta New Home Warranty BOD. Currently Dave is the Chairperson for Shelter Canada, an organization that provides housing and employment in El Salvador.

Dave has earned the Professional Site Manager and Master Home Builder designations through the Professional Home Builders Institute of Alberta as well as an M.B.A. from Queen’s University – Smith School of Business. He has earned the ICD.D through Rottman School of Business in Toronto.

Dave, father of 3, lives in Calgary, AB with his wife, Sharon.




Resources:

Links-
https://canadianmentornetwork.ca/
https://gcfcanada.com/canadian-mentor-network/

Blog-
https://canadianmentornetwork.ca/agency-letter/

Social:

LinkedIn-
 https://www.linkedin.com/company/canadian-mentor-network/

Instagram-
https://www.instagram.com/canadian_mentor_network/?utm_medium=copy_link

Wendy Thiessen, the Canadian director of PiFò Haiti, has a passion for speaking truth and advocating for how we can help others without the unintended consequence of harming the families, economy, and community we are assisting. She is a very strong advocate for being relational and asking, “what can we do for you”, rather than being churches and individuals collecting clothing, shoes, and toys because it feels good and it’s what we “think” they need. 

PiFò Haiti’s programs are completely run by the community in which they serve. 

In response to the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti an organization known as Haiti Christian Schools (HCS) partnered together with 4 schools to provide affordable education to a small community on the island of La Gonâve, Haiti.

In 2014, with the understanding that moving from emergency relief to recovery is important, the organization began to focus on creating longer-term, locally led initiatives.

In 2020 HCS became PiFò Haiti. PiFò is a Haitian Créole word meaning “Stronger”. Thanks to God’s amazing provision and the generosity of our supporters, the organization had become just that, stronger. This is also the year we began working with GCF, God was strengthening the organization both in Haiti and in North America.

Our programs have grown beyond education. Our prayer since we began in 2011 has been a consistent food program at each of our partner schools. It is a very costly initiative, but 10 years later we are beyond excited, our prayers have been answered. Thanks to the support of Trinity Hope an organization based in the United States who use local labour and supplies to provide affordable food programs all over Haiti.

We currently have food programs in all our schools, 5 teachers will be graduating from teachers college this year, we are able to provide food and medical funds for vulnerable community members, and we are strengthening an agriculture project that will provide jobs and food for a community in the mountains. None of this would be possible without God’s grace and the strong relationships we have with the locals in the community.

 


Resources:

https://www.pifohaiti.org/

https://gcfcanada.com/pifo-haiti/

https://friendsgc.com/pifo-haiti/ 

Recommended books to read:

"Slow Kingdom Coming, Practices for Doing Justice, Loving Mercy and Walking

Humbly in the World" by Kent Annan

"When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...and

Yourself" by Steve Corbett, Brian Fikkert

Most people don’t know what to say or do to support their grieving friends. For many, it feels awkward and uncomfortable.

As the founder of a grief ministry, CornerBend, Shirley Thiessen passionately equips people to be caring grief companions. Her book, “The Little Black Funeral Dress – Five Things I Wish I Had Known About Grief” offers a playbook of best practices for both the griever and those who want to support them.        

Resources:

www.cornerbend.com

www.shirleythiessen.com – Her book can be purchased here. Also available on Amazon but she prefers to have people buy from her directly.

Social Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CornerBend

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cornerbendshirley/