ServeCanada Team
Neil Bassingthwaighte
Position: ServeCanada Director
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 1-4240
Project: Home Office Staff
Contact: neilb@efcc.ca
As the ServeCanada Director (National Mission), Neil coordinates the mission efforts of the EFCC in evangelism, discipleship and church planting across Canada in cooperation with local EFCC churches and other kingdom-minded partner organizations. Neil also provides oversight to the National Mission Leadership Team as they implement new EFCC mission strategies and projects. Neil also functions, unofficially, as the office database of awful jokes.
Dan Byrne
Field: North America
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 2-4281
Projects: Ottawa City Church Network | Ottawa Evangelism Partnership
Contact: pastordanbyrne@gmail.com
After serving a local church in Ottawa for over a decade, Dan stepped out as a local missionary to the city because the mission field is here. Dan is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Free Church of Canada (EFCC) and a Certified Mentor of the Antioch School of Church Planting and Leadership Training, an accredited church-based theological seminary. Dan is commissioned for this ministry through the EFCC and Power to Change, while also receiving coaching from the We Are Church Network, BILD international’s CityChurch Network, and the Luis Palau Association.
Chris Yu
Field: Toronto, Canada
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 2-4270
Project: Mercy City Church
Contact: chrisatmcc@gmail.com
Chris Yu is the Lead Pastor of Mercy City Church in Toronto, Ontario. The church is a gospel presence in the everyday lives of the people around them. The people of Mercy City connect in their neighborhood through after school programs, volunteering in local schools, working with youth, and becoming a community hub for the entire neighborhood seven days a week. Prayer is integral to Mercy City’s work, as they desire to join God in reaching out in mercy to the needs of their community.
Francois Bergeron
Field: Quebec, Canada
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 2-6501
Project: Chalk Art Ministry
Contact: chalkart@videotron.ca
Enter the world of The Chalk Artist and let yourself be transported to the Sea of Galilee in a beautiful landscape from the ancient Roman era. In a unique style, let François Bergeron, chalk artist and storyteller, bring you this historic adventure. Discover through this panoramic canvas, the authentic Masterpiece: Yeshua, the one who can speak to the wind… The Masterpiece is a show for the whole family.
Jonathan & Ashleigh Declet
Field: North America
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 2-0375
Project: Montreal Evangelism & Church Planting
Contact: jdeclet@directions.ca
Grâce à pandemie, both Ashleigh and Jonathan are implicated in several areas of ministry within the island of Montréal. Since their move in 2018 to the Plateau, they have been actively involved in their local church up the street at Église du Plateau. Jonathan has been helping with several initiatives led by Christian Direction, building connections between churches and their youth groups and Ashleigh, because of the pandemic, has had to shift some of her research-rich focus on the sex-work industry to simply raising awareness about the industry within Montréal.
Jay & Kathy
Field: Montreal, Canada
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 2-0566
Project: Montreal Evangelism & Church Planting
Contact: n/a
Jay and Kathy are deeply involved in church planting efforts and training on a variety of levels. They are currently involved with the Montreal Partnership, a church planting project and to a lesser degree, evangelism undertaking with the EFCC and EFCA. This project furthers efforts to enlist and send missionaries to Quebec as well as build greater connection with both the EFCA and the Reach Global Montreal team. It facilitates a desire of both the EFCC and EFCA has to see both Jay and Kathy do the admin for the entire Montreal team.
Steve & Gillian Sharpe
Field: North America
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 1-4233
Project: Missionary of Church Planting
Contact: srsharpe@shaw.ca
Steve provides leadership and oversight to the church planting and discipleship ministries of the EFCC. Steve resources EFCC districts to create a disciple making culture; collaborate with District Superintendents to develop and implement Church Planting Projects; and ensure that district church planting efforts are well equipped, trained and coached. For the past 25 years Steve has both planted churches and coached triathletes. Steve and Gillian are the parents of four adult children and seven grandchildren.
Buddy & Devanee Cardinal
Field: North America
Category: Career Missionary
Account No: 2-4284
Project: Cardinal Ranch Connections
Contact:cardinal.devanee@gmail.com
At Cardinal Ranch Connections, we are passionate about creating a space for individuals to find community and grow spiritually. Our ranch offers a unique experience through Cowboy Church, Teen Development Camp, and Cowgirls@Heart discipleship. We believe in using the relationship between horse and human to inspire conversations about our relationship with God. Our team is dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming environment where individuals can explore their faith and connect with others who share their values. We invite you to join us on this journey of personal and spriitual growth.
National Mission Committee (NMC)
The National Mission Committee (NMC) is a crucial part of the ServeCanada team. As a committee of the EFCC Board of Directors, its primary responsibilities are to:
- give input into ServeCanada’s budgeting process
- monitor our mission work in Canada through the reports received from all personnel
- ensure that our projects and personnel are in compliance with our organisation’s established policies
- make policy recommendations to the EFCC Board of Directors.
MARION DUECK
NMC Chair
Marion has been Director of Ministry to Women at Okotoks EFC for 15 years. She has served on the NMC for 7 years and is currently the NMC chairperson. Marion and her husband Harold love spending time with their children and six grandchildren. When not spending time with them, she can be found cycling, camping, reading or having coffee with a friend.
STEWART REIMER
NMC Member
Stewart Reimer is a dedicated disciple of Jesus, happy husband to Charisa, father of eight children and pastor of the McBride EFC since 2014. He also serves on the district board of the EFCC – CPD. Stewart loves being in the mountains hiking, skiing, climbing rock and ice, and is an active member of Robson Valley Search and Rescue.
STEVE DOERKSEN
NMC Member
Steve has been with the Free Church for a long time. He has served White Rock Community Church since 1999; first as an Associate of Youth and Music, then as Lead for the past 16-ish years. Before that, he was in Picture Butte, Alberta. Steve is passionate about Spiritual Formation and Direction, and Kingdom presence. He has undergone training on “Being a Non-Anxious Presence” or ‘Managing Leadership Anxiety.” He lives in the White Rock area with his wife, Jodie, and they have 5 children! They may be seen snowboarding, camping in Okanagan wine country, reading, or rating espresso at local coffee shops.
Church Plants
Church planting typically starts as a local church or district initiative. That is true of each of the church plants below. We simply list them in order to recognize and celebrate church planting efforts all across Canada.
AMIR YOUNAS
Church Planter | Monterey Park EFC, Calgary AB
A faithful group has been meeting for 18 months to pray at the Monterey Park church building in Calgary, seeking the Lord for a new work in that community which led them to Pastor Amir Younas and his family. Amir’s love for Jesus and his passion to tell others about Him spurs his desire to help believers grow in their faith and knowledge about God and the Holy Scriptures. Prior to moving to Canada to study at Prairie College, Amir worked in Dubai. In his free time, he had the privilege to minister among the labour camps of United Arab Emirates, in Pakistan, and several other countries over the last 10 years. He has always enjoyed partnering with the local church leaders.
KELVIN FUNG
Church Planter | Compass Community (CC), Toronto ON
Since 1980’s, immigration has played a significant role in fueling population growth in Toronto. While parents enthusiastically brought their children to ethnically homogenous churches, due to the fusion of cultures and the identity challenges faced by the second generation, many second generation Christians continue to encounter difficulties in finding a sense of belonging, they have sadly left the church and never returned. The objective of CC to target Millenials and Gen Z within the context of reimagined Chinese church. It is the hope of Compass Community that the “lost” generation can be found and a new appearance of the Chinese church can be realized.
DAVID HONG
Church Planter | Sonflower Community Church (SCC), Burnaby BC
Sonflower Community Church (SCC) is a new church plant that was launched in January 2024 in Surrey, BC. They relocated to Burnaby (in January 2025) to focus on multiplying disciples. With focus on growth and discipleship, SCC’s prayer is that new disciples would be made in the City of Burnaby – a growing, diverse hub city in Metro Vancouver.
TIM QUEK
Church Planter | Just Church, Scarborough ON
Just Church has grown out of a desire by the Hallelujah Chinese Evangelical Free Church to begin a new church that would be multi-ethnic church that welcomes everyone who wants to explore their faith and build a sense of community. They are dedicated to being the church just as expressed in the Bible: Spirit-filled, obedient, and loving, free of the world’s influences yet influencing the world, walking in righteousness yet being a place of grace. Tim Quek, along with a team he has assembled, feel called to plant Just Church in Scarborough.
DAN & SHARON WILLIAMS
Church Planter | Wayside Crossing, Osoyoos BC
“Wayside” is the umbrella term adopted for the multifaceted church/mission project in Osoyoos BC that began in April 2020. It is sponsored and guided by the EFCC Canadian Pacific District and has been administratively supported by the Lower Pacific District since the start — a unique partnership! The church aspect is called Wayside Crossing and the mission aspect is distinguished as Wayside Community (a network of partnerships with needy people and helping people who work in various service projects — even those not necessarily members of Wayside Crossing). The list of service projects being tackled at any time in the south Okanagan is dubbed WayToServe.
DWIGHT MUNN
Church Planter | All The Nations, Wembley AB
Wembley, Alberta a small town in northern Alberta with a population of 1500-2000 people and about the same number in the surrounding area. We have been in the community for about 2 years now and working on building connections, trust and understanding where God is at work and seeking to join Him. At this time one of the major emphases is to build a leadership team from within those attending and from within the community. We have been working hard in getting to know the community.
IRANIAN CHURCH OF NEWMARKET
Church Plant | Newmarket ON
The Iranian Church of Newmarket (ICNM) scaled ministry back during COVID to weekly Bible studies but have recently relaunched services. An Iranian family who came from Turkey and initially settled in BC, recently moved to Ontario, and have accepted the responsibility of looking after the ministry of ICNM. We were able to celebrate our relaunch on Easter Sunday with pastor Arash and his wife Azadeh. We also have a rental contract with a Nazarene church in Newmarket to hold services there on Sunday afternoon and Bible studies on Thursday evenings.
Military Chaplains
Some of our EFCC people have been called by God to ministry within the Canadian Armed Forces. These are people we value, pray for, and support.
Peter Han
Military Chaplain | Esquimalt QC
Personal Journey | Peter immigrated to Canada in 2003 and has been involved with LPD and EFCC through Fort Langley EFC. Before joining the Canadian Forces, he worked as a Crisis Counsellor at the Langley Community Services Society. Peter began working as a chaplain in the CAF in 2019. He married Anna in 2002, and they have three children: Katherine, Amy, and Christopher.
Current Ministry | Peter is currently employed by the Maritime Forces Pacific at CFB Esquimalt and was deployed with HMCS Ottawa in 2023. In his role as a fleet chaplain, Peter provides spiritual, religious, and pastoral care to sailors and their families, regardless of their religious affiliation, practice, and/or belief.
Shiya Janzen
Military Chaplain | Regina SK
PersonalJourney | Shiya grew up in the Regina EFC and joined the military while still in high school. What started as a summer job turned into a fulfilling career, first as an engineer and then as a chaplain. After working full-time with the military for 25 years, Shiya retired (Jun ’23) and took a part-time position at the local naval reserve unit in Regina. Shiya is married to Marshall, together they have two boys, Luke, and Kaius.
Current Ministry | Upon Shiya’s retirement, they moved to an acreage just north of Regina. This move was made with a view to creation care and stewardship, planning a small spiritual retreat centre, and building community engagement. These plans are still in their infancy. Chaplaincy continues to be an important part of ministry.
Chris Willis
Military Chaplain | Esquimalt QC
Personal Journey | Chris began his ministry career serving as an associate and youth pastor in Terrace EFC and Broadview EFC in Salmon Arm and was the lead pastor of the Bezanson Community Church from 2004-2012. He and his wife Irene and daughters Brynn and Lauren followed God’s call into Chaplaincy ministry in the Canadian Armed Forces in 2014 where he has served at 4 Wing CFB Cold Lake and CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, BC as a unit Chaplain.
Current Ministry | In July 2024 Chris transitions to a new posting with a high readiness deploying Army unit in Kingston, Ontario as their unit Chaplain where he provides pastoral care to all personnel and their families.
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