Connections with Mike Thom and Colleen Houde

Sammy Khalife grew up in Lebanon and was raised as a Muslim. He eventually made his way to the United States to learn English. From there, he moved to Canada, a place where his life would be changed forever. Today on Connections, Sammy shares how getting involved with a refuge committee in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, led him to find God.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a child, Michael Molthan experienced many hardships and trials, from his father’s abandonment to his grandfather’s abuse. All of this led him down a path of destruction that ended with drugs, alcohol and prison time. It was in jail where Michael found God and was set free.  Today on Connections, Michael shares his powerful story of transformation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Lisa Elliott is a ministry wife, gifted speaker, and award-winning author of The Ben Ripple and Dancing in the Rain. Her latest book is A Ministry Survival Guide: Straight from the Heart.    Lisa says her new book is the essential handbook for anyone seeking to enter public ministry.   Today on Connections, Lisa explores the joys and challenges of life in the spotlight of ministry.  See omnystudio...

Alexis is a traumatic brain injury survivor dedicated to bringing awareness and compassion to other survivors and those supporting them. She is a college and university graduate who established her career in the criminal justice system. For more than a decade, she dedicated herself to working in the criminal justice field, as well as her local women’s shelter, where she supported survivors of dome...

The problems experienced by couples today date back to The Fall (Genesis 3). That's according to Pastor Scott LaPierre. In Scott's new book, Your Marriage God's Way, he addresses relationship roles and lessons drawn directly from scripture. Today on Connections, Scott dissects the culture of marriage intended by God and helps us build strong and vibrant relationships with our spouses.   See omnyst...

Taylor Kepp was just 20 years old when she discovered she had stage 5 kidney disease.  Sandra Saint-Cyr, a mother and retired teacher, heard about Taylor's diagnosis from Taylor's mother, who was part of her church choir.  After hearing about this, Sandra felt called to do something and decided to donate one of her kidneys. The two were a match, and the surgery was completed on May 26, 2022. Today...

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada is a leading Canadian religious charity building bridges between Christians and Jews, blessing Israel and the Jewish people around the world with humanitarian care and life-saving aid. Yael Eckstein has served on the Board of Directors for International Fellowship for Christians and Jews (IFCJ) Canada since 2015. In June 2019, following...

In her new 8-week Bible study, An Unexpected Revival: Experiencing God’s Goodness through Disappointment and Doubt, author Erica Wiggenhorn guides readers to encounter a unique picture of revival through Ezekiel’s prophecies. God chose to spark revival through people who seemed counted out, cast aside, and disregarded. An Unexpected Revival is available today, June 7, through Moody Publishers. Eze...

How do we find connections when our differences are constantly on display and even exacerbated by algorithms and echo chambers? How do we move forward together when we're so far apart? Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers recently authored a new book, Now What?: How to Move Forward When We're Divided (About Basically Everything). In this book, Silvers and Holand help us understand the powerful c...

First victimized as an infant, Andi Buerger spent her first 17 years subjected to abuse and sex trafficking at the hands of her own family. She is now speaking openly about her experience in hopes of defeating traffickers. and in an effort to bring hope to victims. Andi Buerger says it's God who kept her alive throughout her journey. Today on Connections, Andi shares her powerful story. She'll als...

Sonya Johnson experienced trauma in her teenage years. That led her down a path of destruction that eventually landed her in jail. While she was incarcerated, Sonya surrendered her life to God, and today she is using her experience to help others.  Today on Connections, Sonya shares her testimony. She'll also share how she intends to help others moving forward. See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

Clergy misconduct is not a new problem. It is, however, something that we have started to discuss more openly. Val Hiebert is a program coordinator for abuse response and prevention with MCC. She is also a professor of sociology at Providence University.  Today on Connections, Val helps us understand what clergy misconduct is and why it's happening. She'll also share with us why we are hearing abo...

What are the limits on reaching the next generation? One Voice Student Missions ministry founder Brian Barcelona is pushing the bar on traditional evangelism and reaching Gen Z and younger through their phones. In Don’t Scroll: Evangelism in the Digital Age, Brian explores how his initially small ministry gained a social media following of over 1 million. Now, his ministry hosts virtual events thr...

Seventeen years ago, Juli, a 25-year-old nurse practitioner, moved from Los Angeles to a small village in Kenya to be a part of an HIV program.  In 2009, she founded a hospice called Living Room International where men, women, and children come either to heal or to be loved until they die. Kenya is also where Juli met her husband, Titus and together built a family, one biological daughter and two...

Being a good mom isn't about doing everything right--though every mom has felt the pressure to do just that and to do it all on her own. To ask for help along the way feels like defeat. Yet when we try to do it all by our own strength, we end up depleted, lonely, and ineffective. Heather MacFadyen wants you to know that you are not meant to go it alone. Sharing her hardest, most vulnerable mom mom...

For so long, Christie Amoyo thought God didn’t care about her family’s finances. Boy, was she wrong! As she read the Bible, there came a shift in her head—and then in her heart. She realized that He is our provider. Christie is a wife, entrepreneur, author, and mother of four children. She has served in ministry for more than fifteen years.  Today on Connections, Christie shares her faith and fina...

Sara Barratt says it is time to trade confusion for clarity and live boldly for God in a world gone crazy. Sara Barratt is Editor-in-Chief for TheRebelution.com, a growing online platform that reaches more than half a million Christian teens, parents, and youth workers each year. She's a frequent speaker on topics including using your teen years for Christ, biblically navigating culture, and godly...

What really keeps us from experiencing peace in our lives? Jeanne Stevens, author of What's Here Now and lead pastor at Soul City Church in Chicago, Illinois says it's not the state of the world. It's not your particular circumstances. It's not even your turbulent relationships. When it comes down to it, what keeps us from experiencing peace is either living in the past or living for the future.  ...

Kasim Hafeez is a British citizen of Pakistani Muslim heritage who grew up being exposed to radical Anti-Western, Antisemitic and Anti-Israel ideas on a daily basis. During his teenage years, Kasim embraced a radical Islamist ideology and became very active in the anti-Israel movement. Thankfully Alan Dershowitz’s book ‘The Case for Israel’ challenged Kasim’s fundamental beliefs and caused him to...

Rachel and Eric Driedger realized they have a short time frame to go on adventures with their kids before they start getting jobs and responsibilities of their own. Their first adventure is a month-long canoe trip down the North Saskatchewan River.  The hope is to be gone for most of June and the start of July.  Today on Connections, Rachel and Eric share how this trip came to be and what they hop...

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. He experienced miraculous healing from COVID-19 after a cleaner prayed for him in his hospital room. He also managed to beat cancer when he was in his mid-twenties. Pastor McClelland writes about his life story in his new book My...

Yancy is a worship leader, songwriter and producer of hundreds of songs that make Jesus loud. Her Dove Award-winning music is all the things kids love and everything adults value. She is a powerhouse at leading and teaching kids from birth to preteen how to worship and creates popular worship resources for churches and homes around the world  She also recently authored the book Sweet Sound: The Po...

Mandy Smith says Western culture is in a tailspin and the Christian faith is entangled in it. Western approaches to faith leave us feeling depressed, doubting, anxious, and burned out. We know something is wrong with the way we do faith and church in the West, but we’re so steeped in it that we don’t know where to begin to break old habits. She says the best way forward is in Jesus's surprising in...

Mindi Oaten is an artist who lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Cochrane, Alberta. She says it was an encounter with God that changed her path and led her towards prophetic art. Since then, she has painted her way through all 66 books of the Bible. Mindi is passionate about sharing her testimony in hopes she can teach and inspire others to see the Bible in a fresh way, as well as inspire...

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. After earning her master’s in theology from Palmer Seminary of Eastern University, Nancy launched her international speaking ministry, NancyHicksLive.   In May 2019, Nancy's life was turned upside down when her son Da...