Connections with Mike Thom and Colleen Houde

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. Executive director Andy Harrington says the Foodgrains Bank’s members are working with partners in each one of these countries and he’s gravely concerned. Stefan Epp-Koop is...

Kelly Kennedy spent 13 years coaching at the college level. She started her journey at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and broke into Division I as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon. From there she spent 3 years at TCU and then on to Iowa State, where she helped the Cyclones to 3 NCAA Appearances, finishing in the Sweet 16 twice.  Her career eventually took a nosedive, but...

Dominique Contois grew up in a home filled with plenty of alcohol and mental abuse. This led Dominique down a path of destruction that involved his own battle with alcohol and dark times.  He says it's thanks to his adopted mother and father, Ken and Margaret, that he is who he is today.  The pair took Dominique and his siblings in gave them food and cared for them.  Unfortunately in September of...

Prison Fellowship Canada’s mandate is to meet people who have committed crimes or who are impacted by crime – families of prisoners or victims of crime – wherever they are in their journey, to facilitate reconciliation and the freedom that it brings. Stacey’s first introduction to Prison Fellowship Canada began over 30 years ago while she worked for an organization that supplied office space for t...

Joshua Bold grew up in a Christian home, but his faith took some time to grow. In his teen years, he struggled with drugs. He was set free from his addictions after praying to God and asking him to save his life.  He dedicated his life to God from then on, attending Bible School and three years later moving to northern Iraq with his wife to become missionaries.   While in Iraq, he was in the wrong...

In 1991 Helen Smallbone and her husband, David, packed up their family and sixteen suitcases to move from Australia to the United States. Completely isolated from the support of family and friends, they relied on God to provide them with hope and direction. In spite of all the barriers, Helen watched her children succeed. Rebecca St. James’ career grew, soon followed by blossoming careers for the...

Char Harryman faced a life-limiting diagnosis with extraordinary courage and faith, and she used the time she was given to be a gift to others. On Easter Sunday back in 1995, Char suffered a grand mal seizure. And then another. And another. This eventually led to numerous tests where doctors discovered a golf ball-sized malignant tumour on her brain.  Doctors gave Char two years to live, but God h...

To be human means to try and sometimes fail, to love and sometimes lose, to risk and sometimes regret. There are times when we realize where our choices have brought us, and we’re afraid to be honest—with ourselves, with others, with God—about how we’re really feeling and how we got to where we are. Because what if no one understands? What if they think less of us? What if God is disappointed with...

God  had a plan when he helped Russ Reimer and Kyle Schmidt cross paths Both are firefighters with the Winnipeg Fire Department. In 2010, Kyle was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney disease.  It progressively got worse and by late 2020, he was in kidney failure.  Russ decided he needed to do something and became a living donor for Kyle donating his kidney on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Today on Conn...

There may be no more powerful desire in the human heart than to be loved. And not just loved but loved anyway. In spite of what we’ve done or left undone, we long for the unconditional love that we know deep down we don’t deserve. Bestselling author Jared C. Wilson says that kind of love actually exists, and it is an experience that is ours to have. He shares this in his new book, Love Me Anyway:...

When people experience mental health challenges, many will turn to the church first for help. Daniel Whitehead is the CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. He says it is important for churches to be equipped to help those who live with mental health challenges. Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries recently released a revised and improved version of their flagship resource, The Sanctuary Course,...

When gold stars, highlight reels, and seeking approval from strangers on the internet are not enough, Mary Marantz gives you permission to stop running. In this unique, powerful devotional filled with stunning photography, she shows you how to move from achieving, striving, and performing for your worth to the grace, freedom, and purpose that come from knowing your identity and calling are determi...

From the Sistine Chapel to da Vinci’s The Last Supper, fresco paintings are one of the oldest and most durable forms of artwork known to man. At the intersection of faith and art, Theirs is the Kingdom is a feature-length documentary directed by Christopher Zaluski, that follows the rare creation of a contemporary fresco mural inside the sanctuary of a small church in Asheville, NC.  This fresco i...

The past couple of years have had a significant impact on our children, especially when it comes to screen time. Many parents relied on tablets and television to keep their children busy while they were busy working from home or while they were in lockdown.  Molly DeFrank is a mother of six and the author of Digital Detox: A Two-Week Tech Reset for Kids.  She says it is time to flip the switch and...

God made everyone different, and that includes our children.  Lucille Williams says that parents honour and value their children when they learn to respect their different personalities created by God and learn to walk alongside them. She says it is important to embrace differences and refrain from comparing our parenting to others and comparing our kids to other kids.  At the end of the day, she...

Lisa Appelo went to bed married one night and woke up a widow and single mom to seven children the next morning. Her story of navigating raw, tender grief stands as a testimony that—regardless of your circumstances—life can be good again after it falls apart.  She says, while life’s unexpected turns may look like Plan B to us, they are God’s intentional Chapter 2 for our lives. Today on Connection...

Marina Hofman, Ph. D., is the author of the award-winning book and video series, Women in the Bible Small Group Bible Study, a professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University and a homeschool mom of a 3-year-old daughter. Marina Hofman  illuminates the leadership, character, courage and triumph of women in the Bible to inspire women with a message of hope during challenging times. As a survivor of a l...

Therapist of 27-years and parent, Jean Holthaus is offering parents and caretakers of children new ways to think about and interact with their child when they have anxiety. Holthaus says that integrating faith with best practices to reduce anxiety teaches coping skills that will help children live more confidently today and into the future. Today on Connections, Jean shares some tips and advice on...

If you have ever felt alone, uncertain, overwhelmed, or questioned why God has allowed difficult circumstances to become part of your narrative, Jody McBrayer’s story is for you. Today on Connections, the former Avalon band member shares the ups and downs that he has experienced over the years and how he has managed to come out on the other side. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

After losing a close friend to cancer, a friend for whom she wrote her award-winning song, "Overcomer", Mandisa descended into a dark pit of depression, isolating herself from family and friends, and turning to her familiar friend, food, for comfort. Clinging to the hope of Psalm 40 in her overwhelming darkness, she slowly began to recognize cracks of light where God was at work.  She writes about...

The first week of May is mental health awareness week in Canada. According to Laura Howe, approximately 43.8 million people per year experience some kind of mental health concern.  However, 49% of pastors say they rarely (if ever) speak to their congregation about mental health. Laura Howe is the founder of Hope Made Strong, an organization dedicated to equipping leaders with the mental health res...

We live in a time of radical church decline where one-third of religious buildings in Canada will be abandoned in the next 10-years. Christians find themselves listening to pastors’ messages through a podcast or YouTube video rather than going to a physical church service. In light of the worldwide pandemic, churches all over the world have moved their services online, begging the question: does c...

According to Lifeway Research, 49% of pastors say they rarely or never speak to their congregation about mental illness, and 65% of churchgoing family members of those with mental illness wish the church would talk more openly about mental illness.  Brad Hoefs’ life took a dramatic turn in the spring of 1995 due to a manic episode caused by bipolar disorder, which became public and ended his role...

One day, one of Chris Brown’s colleagues told him, “All we see is this good-looking, all-American man born with a silver spoon in his mouth and who now has his own all-American family. People can’t relate to that. Your opportunities to this point appear to have been endless. You’ve had to have had a better life than most.” Little did this person know, Chris had lived a life of poverty, pain, and r...

As a white Afrikaner woman growing up in South Africa during apartheid, Idelette McVicker was steeped in a community and a church that reinforced white supremacy and shielded her from seeing her neighbours' oppression. But a series of circumstances led her to begin questioning everything she thought was true about her identity, her country, and her faith. She shares this long, slow journey of heal...