News > North America

By P*hilip

The Canadian Summer Bible Conference, which was originally planned for the summer of 2021, was delayed 1-year in hopes of holding it in-person to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Canada UBF. Unfortunately, because of COVID, we still could not have the conference in-person. We decided to move forward with it online on July 1 (Canada Day) through July 3, 2022.

The conference theme and title was “Everything is Possible” with the prayer to be renewed in faith in Almighty God who makes all things possible. The conference began with missionary L*uke Hong giving us an opening message on Mark 9:23. The remaining messages were given by Canadian shepherds and leaders I*an Agard from Toronto (Joshua 14 – “Follow the Lord Wholeheartedly: Caleb’s Faith”); N*atan Bekit from York (Mark 11:12-25 – “Have Faith in God”); J*oseph Minielli from Humber (Mark 6:30-44 – “You Give Them Something to Eat”); and the closing message by S*amuel Mukwedeya from St. George (Mark 16:9-20).

God’s word in Mark 9:23 taught each person how powerful holding onto one prayer topic in Jesus is. From Joshua 14, we saw how following the Lord wholeheartedly is a lifelong commitment and that holding on to God’s promises enables us to run the marathon of faith with confidence in victory. From Mark 11:22, we were encouraged to have faith in God, who gives us the power to move all mountains that hinder us from accomplishing God's will in our lives. Jesus gave us the command “You give them something to eat” in Mark 6 not just as an order to go and serve others but also as an opportunity for us to personally encounter God who meets our every need. And lastly, Jesus told us to go and preach gospel to all creation, which is made possible for us because God is the God of the impossible.

Forty years ago, Canada UBF was founded when God sent 23 young Korean women missionaries of faith to Winnipeg, Manitoba. They served campus ministry by holding on to Mark 9:23, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” The missionaries learned English by faith, prayed on the campus by faith, taught the Bible by faith, and got married by faith.

At the conference, an appreciation ceremony was held to give thanks to the 18 missionaries who once served in Winnipeg UBF and who are still serving campus ministry: L*uke and G*race Hong, C*harles and A*nna Kim, P*aul and J*oan Lee, J*oshua and S*arah Lee, J*ohn and L*ydia Lee, P*aulus and M*ercy Cha, P*aul and P*auline Chang, J*ames and G*race Oh, and J*ames and S*usanna Lee.

Reports on the works of God were given by J*ohn Giesbrecht on the Winnipeg/Montreal ministries, P*aul Chang on the Ontario ministries, and D*aniel Kwon on the Western Canada ministries. We also heard testimonies from first generation missionaries P*aul Lee (Scarborough) and A*nna Kim (Ryerson). God's work is evident in the future generations as well.

The Lord graced us with life testimonies, which were shared throughout the conference and during a Faith Symposium. Testimonies were given by K*ane (Toronto), M*ercy (Calgary), F*elix (York), W*enyu (Vancouver 1), L*iza (Vancouver 3), K*ailyn Cardinal (Edmonton), D*aniel (Toronto), A*nna-Kaye (Ryerson), E*sther (St. George), S*ion (Humber), and A*bigail (Humber). We saw God's miracles in each of their lives. We thank God for renewing and planting faith in us to do the impossible by the power of His words. As God has now established 18 chapters in Canada, we pray for Canada to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and we pray for the evangelization of every Canadian campus with the gospel, the raising of next generation leaders, the establishing of house churches and for Canada to be a missionary sending nation.