Southern Manitoba is a land of wide skies and golden fields, where the wind ripples across the prairies like waves on an endless sea. The soil here is rich and fertile, and for generations farmers have sown seed with hope, trusting the land to produce a harvest. Spiritually, the story has often felt the same. This region carries a long history of faith. The Pembina Valley was shaped by pioneers who planted the gospel, building churches and raising families of faith. And yet, for all its beauty and heritage, this place has also wrestled with a heavy spirit of religion. Churches are full, but not every heart has been made alive. Many know about God, but not everyone knows Him personally. People have heard of the Holy Spirit, but few have truly experienced His power and filling. The saying here goes “ We believe in God the Father the Son and the Holy Bible”. What about the Holy Spirit?
For years ministry here sometimes felt like plowing ground that refused to yield. Legalism and old traditions pressed in like weeds, choking out fresh life. We have been praying for breakthrough, longed to see change but often felt discouraged. Yet God is always faithful. Just as in Acts 2, when Peter preached and “the people were cut to the heart” and cried out, “Brothers, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37), we are now seeing the Spirit cutting through the hardness. Something new is stirring.
Over the past year, our church has been leaning into the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in ways many had never experienced before. Seniors who helped establish this church decades ago have told us, with tears in their eyes, that they are hearing fresh words of truth about the
Holy Spirit they had never heard or considered. Scripture is coming alive in a new way. There is a new hunger among us, a longing for something more. Young people are rising up, stepping forward to lead, eager to be discipled, eager to do more. In less than a year, twenty-three people have chosen to be baptized, most of them young. The waters of baptism have rippled again and again with fresh faith. It feels like Acts 2:47 is coming alive before our very eyes: “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
And the fruit of discipleship is spreading. Young adults and teenagers are not just saying yes to Jesus in the moment, they are asking what it looks like to give their whole lives to Him. Some are excited to pursue Bible college after high school. Others who have already graduated are sensing a call to ministry school, to international missions, ready to lay aside their own plans to follow His. This is nothing short of remarkable. Revival is coming, and it is coming through the young. They are tired of empty religion. They are tired of going through the motions. They want more, more of Jesus, more of the Spirit, more of the life that only He can give. Old grudges are being left behind. Past wounds are being healed. They are moving forward into the mission and the heart of Jesus. We are seeing the fruit of reconciliation in our midst as relationships are restored and hearts being to heal.One story that captures this new life happened this summer at our community BBQ in Morden Park. The air was thick with the smell of grilled burgers and the laughter of children chasing after cotton candy. Over eight hundred people came. In the middle of it all, with two hundred kids lined up for sugar, our administrator Natalia found herself in a brief conversation with a family who had never once heard the gospel. They learned our church was hosting the event and decided to come to a service the following Sunday after being invited by Natalia. After worship ended that morning, they asked to meet with me. In my office, I answered so many of their questions, told them about Jesus, His love and sacrifice and rescue plan. Right then, mom, dad, and son all gave their lives to Christ here in my office. They come from a country where less than one percent know Jesus. And now here they are, in Morden Manitoba of all places, part of our family, learning to serve, growing in faith, filled with joy. It is a miracle, and it reminds me of Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”
Then in September, we hosted a prayer and worship night at the town center. It began with a small group, but as music echoed out into the evening air, people walking downtown began to wander over. Some brought their kids. Seniors found chairs. Youth and young adults filled the front rows. People of all ages and cultures stood shoulder to shoulder, raising their voices together. Even the mayor came. What started small grew into a Spirit-led gathering, like a glimpse of Acts 2:42, where “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” It felt like heaven breaking through into the heart of our community.
These moments are not coincidences. They are signs of revival, steady and sure. We are seeing people healed. We are hearing bold prayers. We are watching lives transformed. The Holy Spirit is awakening a deep hunger for the gifts and presence of God. And so I ask you, as Acts 4:31 says, to pray with us “that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.” Pray that dry bones in our region would come alive. Pray that religion would give way to relationship. Pray that young and old alike would be filled with the Spirit and sent out with courage.
Friends, we are witnessing God at work in ways we have long prayed for. The harvest is ripening here in the prairies, and the Spirit is moving. And the story is still unfolding.
There is so much goodness to celebrate! Southern Manitoba is a land of wide skies and golden fields, where the wind ripples across the prairies like waves on an endless sea. The soil here is rich and fertile, and for generations farmers have sown seed with hope, trusting the land to produce a harvest. Spiritually, the story has often felt the same. This region carries a long history of faith. The Pembina Valley was shaped by pioneers who planted the gospel, building churches and raising families of faith. And yet, for all its beauty and heritage, this place has also wrestled with a heavy spirit of religion.
Churches are full, but not every heart has been made alive. Many know about God, but not everyone knows Him personally. People have heard of the Holy Spirit, but few have truly experienced His power and filling. The saying here goes “ We believe in God the Father the Son and the Holy Bible”. What about the Holy Spirit?
For years ministry here sometimes felt like plowing ground that refused to yield. Legalism and old traditions pressed in like weeds, choking out fresh life. We have been praying for breakthrough, longed to see change but often felt discouraged. Yet God is always faithful. Just as in Acts 2, when Peter preached and “the people were cut to the heart” and cried out, “Brothers, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37), we are now seeing the Spirit cutting through the hardness. Something new is stirring.
Over the past year, our church has been leaning into the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in ways many had never experienced before. Seniors who helped establish this church decades ago have told us, with tears in their eyes, that they are hearing fresh words of truth about the Holy Spirit they had never heard or considered. Scripture is coming alive in a new way. There is a new hunger among us, a longing for something more. Young people are rising up, stepping forward to lead, eager to be discipled, eager to do more. In less than a year, twenty- three people have chosen to be baptized, most of them young. The waters of baptism have rippled again and again with fresh faith. It feels like Acts 2:47 is coming alive before our very eyes: “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” And the fruit of discipleship is spreading. Young adults and teenagers are not just saying yes to
Jesus in the moment, they are asking what it looks like to give their whole lives to Him. Some are excited to pursue Bible college after high school. Others who have already graduated are sensing a call to ministry school, to international missions, ready to lay aside their own plans to follow His. This is nothing short of remarkable. Revival is coming, and it is coming through the young. They are tired of empty religion. They are tired of going through the motions. They want more, more of Jesus, more of the Spirit, more of the life that only He can give. Old grudges are being left behind. Past wounds are being healed. They are moving forward into the mission and the heart of Jesus. We are seeing the fruit of reconciliation in our midst as relationships are restored and hearts being to heal. One story that captures this new life happened this summer at our community BBQ in Morden Park. The air was thick with the smell of grilled burgers and the laughter of children chasing after cotton candy. Over eight hundred people came. In the middle of it all, with two hundred kids lined up for sugar, our administrator Natalia found herself in a brief conversation with a family who had never once heard the gospel. They learned our church was hosting the event and decided to come to a service the following Sunday after being invited by Natalia. After worship ended that morning, they asked to meet with me. In my office, I answered so many of their questions, told them about Jesus, His love and sacrifice and rescue plan. Right then, mom, dad, and son all gave their lives to Christ here in my office. They come from a country where less than one percent know Jesus. And now here they are, in Morden Manitoba of all places, part of our family, learning to serve, growing in faith, filled with joy. It is a miracle, and it reminds me of Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”
Then in September, we hosted a prayer and worship night at the town center. It began with a small group, but as music echoed out into the evening air, people walking downtown began to wander over. Some brought their kids. Seniors found chairs. Youth and young adults filled the front rows. People of all ages and cultures stood shoulder to shoulder, raising their voices together. Even the mayor came. What started small grew into a Spirit-led gathering, like a glimpse of Acts 2:42, where “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” It felt like heaven breaking through into the heart of our community.
These moments are not coincidences. They are signs of revival, steady and sure. We are seeing people healed. We are hearing bold prayers. We are watching lives transformed. The Holy Spirit is awakening a deep hunger for the gifts and presence of God. And so I ask you, as Acts 4:31 says, to pray with us “that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.” Pray that dry bones in our region would come alive. Pray that religion would give way to relationship. Pray that young and old alike would be filled with the Spirit and sent out with courage.
Friends, we are witnessing God at work in ways we have long prayed for. The harvest is ripening here in the prairies, and the Spirit is moving. And the story is still unfolding. There is so much goodness to celebrate!