Alumni Updates
On this page Alumni are able to share what's happening in their lives since leaving NBC.
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Included below are updates from other NBC Alumni. **********************************************
CLICK ON A YEAR (ANYWHERE IN THE RED BOX) TO VIEW ALUMNI UPDATES FROM THAT YEAR 2012 UpdatesPaul Hartman (NBI '01) 
November 2012 I must confess, I have not converted a nation to Christ, died a martyr's death or established a great missionary movement since graduating from Bible Collage. Actually, when I think about it, it seems as though I’ve done hopelessly little as far as any ministry goes. God allowed me to be a part of his awesome work in the Lost River youth group just after I graduated. That was a powerful time in my life, both spiritually and ministerially but, as time would have it, it became occasion to move on. Moving witnessed me working full-time as a Child/Youth Care Worker in my Uncle’s group home. This position stretched and challenged me for almost two years as I learned to tackle the behavior of teenage boys growing up in “the System.” Again, time would have its way however and my life-gate swung open to Seminary and shut to Social Services. Envisioning the greatness of God’s intention for my life, I entered those scholarly halls with enthusiasm and excitement. I learned a great deal at Seminary, much to spur my thoughts and challenge destructive assumptions. What I did not glean was a specific ministry calling upon my life. I left Seminary with my enthusiasm greatly tarnished. No matter what direction I sniffed I could not pick up the scent of God’s peace-giving assurance. The doors of “full-time ministry” were shut to me. I was left in the hollow hallway of the every-day. Today, I am still in that hallway. I’ve been a carpenter for the last couple years. I breath in a great deal of second-hand cigarette smoke each day and with it instruction from my boss on how to finish a house properly. I am not married. Last April I bought a house in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta near family. If I were, to guess at what God is trying to show me I would say it is to flourish where I’m at. Don’t wait for some doorway to open to some great ministry opportunity. Life is not about “becoming great for God.” I’m just supposed to love God and people in my hallway. Nathan (NBI '02) & Natasha (Ginther, NBI '04) Enns 
April 2012 We met at NBI during Nate's third year, which was Tash's first year. We got married in the summer of 2006. Our daughter was born on July 7th, 2011. Her name is Calandra, but mostly she goes by Cali. We now live in Central Java, Indonesia. We are missionaries with New Tribes Mission. Since November 2011 we have being doing Indonesian language and culture study. We are close to a third of the way through our formal language and culture study time, but I would venture a guess that it was the easiest third. Living in a country with different customs and language can be difficult, and if it doesn't seem difficult, it probably means that you are hiding out in your house too much! We have made some good friendships, but some days we just get so weary from trying to learn and use another language. It is so much more tiring than any manual labour job I have ever had. After we are finished our national language and culture learning, the plan is to move to Papua, Indonesia and start a church plant in a remote jungle village with Steve and Penny Enns (see alumni update April 2012) as partners. But until then, God has us here in Central Java, relying on Him for strength to build relationships and encourage the Indonesian church. Steve (NBI '01) & Penny (Johnston, NBI '01) Enns 
April 2012 Steven and I (Penny) met at NBI and graduated in 2004. We were married that spring, and shortly after the Lord led us to join a mission organization that focuses on planting churches in some of the most remote, overlooked places on Earth. Since April of 2008, we have been living and working in the Pacific Asia corner of the world! Our current roles include running a large guest house for missionaries (averaging 1000 guests per year), doing some supply buying for our missionary families that live in helicopter or airplane-access-only locations, and taking care of some mission bookkeeping. It is still our desire to become church planters in an interior, tribal location here in Asia, but we are happy to be serving God in these other roles as we wait for more missionaries to come to our region and partner with us. We look forward to partnering with Nathan and Natasha Enns, who are currently in language study! In February 2010, we welcomed our son, Zion, into the world, and in February 2012 God blessed us with a little daughter, Miriam! Our children are wonderful gifts from Him, and we are loving the awesome priviledge of being parents! Karsten (NBI '96) & Jackie Harms 
April 2012 Hi alumni, this is Karsten Harms. I was at NBC (NBI) from 1996-1998. I moved to Saskatoon in 2000, shortly after my older brother Dwayne got an opportunity to plant a new Church (which became our home church, Living Hope Church) on behalf of Westportal Church in Saskatoon. In 2005 Dwayne found out he had cancer and passed away a few months later. At the time we wondered what God's plan for this was, and we were once again forced to admit our own plans were flawed compared to His. We have seen Living Hope Church continue in God's work and we stay involved mainly with the worship teams. I married the true love of my life Jackie (MacLean) in 2003. Life is busy in our little house as we have three energetic boys: Rylan '07, Gavin '09, Hudson '12. I must admit finding a picture with everyone looking at the camera is not an easy task these days! I started in the Electrical trade in 2004, learning the trade doing construction on commercial and industrial projects. I now work for a Potash Mine doing maintenance. Eph. 6:22-24 ArchivesPrevious years' updates will be posted here Click anywhere in the red bars to view Alumni Updates from that year. 2011 UpdatesJeff and Leanne (MacDonald, NBI '01) Davis 
November 2011 Since graduating as Leanne MacDonald in 2002 so much has happened in life. I went back to live with my family in Mexico for awhile before marrying the most wonderful man, Jeff Davis and we settled down in Nebraska. We currently live in Omaha, Nebraska and have two beautiful children. Gideon is about to turn 4 and Adah is about to turn 2. This next May we will be welcoming a third addition to the family and are very excited about that. My husband is an architect here in Omaha and I have the awesome privilege of staying home with our children. Through the years God has steadily been teaching me to rely solely on Him and to seek Him out in everything. I do not know what our future holds but I do know that God is in control. Peter (NBI '76) & Diane (Gruchy, NBI '77) Salmond 
September 2011 We are Peter and Diane Salmond. We have four children: daughter LaDonna (Salmond) and Jason Harris (Mayerthorpe AB), son Kirk and Candace Salmond (Huntsville AL USA), son Jason and Becky (Townsend) Salmond (Toronto Area in ON), and our youngest son John (Edmonton AB). Additionally, we have been blessed with 12 grandchildren. At present we are living in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa, where we have been here now since June 17/11. We are serving with Youth With A Mission and taking their Discipleship Training School as we prepare for missionary duty in Rwanda, Africa (Discipleship, Language, and culture at present). Discipleship Training School is a six month training which began on June 27, and we will soon be half way through. We made this move because we felt the Lord leading us back to Rwanda after doing a two week missions trip to here in May 2010. After DTS we are asking and seeking God as to what He has for us here in 2012. Please pray with us as we plan on being home to Canada by the end of January where we will visit family and church families, sharing our lives, updates, and needs for about two months. Then we are planning to return to Rwanda for a 2-5 year period as the Lord leads. Going back to school is tough - however, God is able to carry and refresh us, and studying God's word and drawing closer to Him is always awesome. Prior to coming to Rwanda with YWAM, we served 24 years with NCEM in the YK and SK, 1 year as missionaries with Village Missions in Denare Beach SK (near Flin Flon MB), and spent 8 years working on ranches in AB. Daryl & Denise (Young, NBI '01) Rice 
August 2011 Wow, it’s been 10 years since my freshman year at NBI! Once I completed my second year I headed west to Olds, Alberta, where I took an Office Administration program at Olds College. I have been employed at the Olds Agricultural Society Administration Office since the spring of 2003. I attend Garrington Community Church (a nice country church) where I met my husband Darryl Rice (a PRBI alumnus). We were married in 2006. In May of this year we welcomed to our family our first child, Eli. Darryl is a teacher at Caroline, AB. In the summer we enjoy racing chuckwagons and chariots with my brother Dale and his family. We have been blessed to be the youth leaders at the church for the past six years and God continually reminds us how important it is to invest in the lives of our youth, or as we call them, "our kids". Brenton (NBI '01) & Alaina Driedger 
June 2011 I never thought I'd be living in Edmonton, Alberta, but that's where I've been for the last three years. I moved here for work in May 2008, and it didn't take long to meet Alaina. We married in July 2010, and we live in a lovely old Italian neighborhood near downtown. Alaina just finished university and is now a speech and language therapy assistant. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night to read the morning news on iNews880/630 CHED. We are connected with Central Baptist Church, where we are making new friends in our small group and being challenged by the teaching. One area where we think God is speaking to us is about being more intentional with neighbors and friends who don't know Him. But our most exciting new development is probably our Burmese refugee friends. We got connected through Catholic Social Services as a "host family". Basically we hang out with this Burmese family once a week, practicing English and helping them adjust to Canada. It's been a fun way to be the "hands and feet" of God while enjoying a little cross-cultural experience in our own city. Rueben & Kristin (Elford, NBI '97) Raney 
May 2011 We married in 2005, since then Reuben and I have called New Zealand home. Reuben is a branch manager of a glass company that installs showers, splash backs and glass balustrades and I have been working as an accountant since we moved to NZ. We welcomed our daughter Emma into our lives in June 2009 and we are expecting Raney baby #2 to follow in September 2011. We are both involved with the worship teams at our church and I also do the financial accounts for the church as well. This past year we have lived through a couple major earthquakes and although it has been a frightening experience it has opened our eyes to what is really important in life and that is our relationship with God, each other and our families. We are really looking forward to see what God has in store for us over the next few years! JJ (NBI '04) & Lorissa (Thiessen, NBI '04) Spence 
May 2011 Hi all! The summer after JJ finished his third year at NBC, we got married (august 2007). It's amazing to see how God brought us to where we are and how He did it. We've gone through so much together already, and God is just proving himself faithful to His Word time and time again! It's awesome! It hasn't always seemed awesome - the ways that God has chosen to allow us to grow in our faith - but we're thankful nonetheless for the good changes that have taken place in our lives, individually and as a couple. God know's what He's doing in our lives, even when we don't, and it's ALWAYS for our good! Wow, what a comfort that gives! We lived in Manitoba close to my family for our first year of marriage; Jay did construction with my uncle, and I did factory work. We then decided to go back to NBC as a married couple. Staying in the four-plex was a good time. It was like "come and go" all the time (haha). Jay did half of his fourth year that year, but we opted not to go back to finish it up the following year as we previously planned. Instead we moved back to Manitoba and Jay worked for my oldest brother Mark Thiessen building ready-to-move homes. I worked at a daycare, which was such a wonderful job - a nice change from the other work I've had. In october of 2010, we up and decided that we wanted a bit of a change and moved quickly to Saskatoon where we are now. Jay currently LOVES his job at LittleFuse, (assembling custom mining components) and I have been nannying for a family of four children. We are about to move into a bigger apartment (yahoo!). We plan on staying here in S'toon indefinitely as far as we know right now, but who knows what God has in store, right? Jason (NBI '95) & Lindsay Elford 
April 2011 Married in 2004, since fall 2006 Lindsay and I have called Edmonton home. Lindsay finished up a music degree at U of A in the first couple years after, while I have worked with a construction/painting company since 2003. In spring 2009 we welcomed our first daughter LaeAnna into the world, followed by Kalia in the fall of 2010. Our church in Edmonton has been McKernan Baptist, where we have developed many great and growing friendships. God has been teaching us about trusting in Him, and that our plans may not always work out how we imagined they would. This spring we accepted a new position at NBC where I will be the Director of Alumni Relations beginning this fall. We are excited for this new chapter in life, and though we will be sad to leave many friends and our church behind here, we know God has called us to Nipawin and look forward to the many new friendships and relationships we will build over the coming years. Jerel (NBC '01) & Katie (Cnossen, NBI '01) Peters 
February 2011 After graduating in 2003 we headed to central Alberta stepping into the world of youth ministry, splitting our time as a youth pastor as well as with Youth for Christ in Ponoka, Alberta. In 2006 we joined Youth for Christ full-time and continue to dedicate our lives to youth. Over those years we have added to our family with our son Ayden, and our daughters Alexi and Alyssa. Wade (NBI '95) & Angela (Rempel, NBI '95) Fehr
February 2011 Wade and I met at NBC in 1995. We were married in 1998 and have three children, Rory (8), Samantha (6) and Wesley (4). We live on an acreage outside of Dawson Creek, BC, where Wade works as a carpenter and mechanic. I homeschool our daughters and work from home as an artist. God has blessed us so richly in His faithfulness to our family and our greatest passion is to see our children follow Christ as they grow. We have a great home church that we are very involved in, and are open to the Lord's leading for our lives - so often for us that means being faithful in the little things and serving Him where we are. While our time at NBC seems very long ago, in the blur of raising a family, we are grateful for the teaching we received there and the consistent example of the Christian leaders both at the school and in our lives today, and we desire to be that kind of example to those around us as we grow older and more mature in our faith. Jonathan (NBI '01) & Andrea (Wolfe, NBI '01) Yanke
January 2011 We both graduated from NBC in 2002 and were married in the summer of 2002. Jonathan landed a job as a Youth/Associate pastor in Yorkton, SK where we moved shortly after getting married...and we've been here ever since! About 2 months after beginning at the church, Jonathan started taking a Master of Divinity degree, and 7 1/2 years later, he has finally finished! During our 8 years of living in Yorkton, we've welcomed three precious blessings into our family. Tate (4 yrs), Emily (2 yrs) and Jenna (8 months) are so much fun and definitely keep us on our toes. Andrea is a stay-at-home mom and she loves it. We have just begun some homeschooling with Tate and Andrea has started teaching him piano lessons as well. We love being able to teach our children at home and are looking forward to continuing this with all of our children.
2010 UpdatesDave (NBI '99) & Heather Trenholm
October 2010 Life has continued to be an awesome adventure. God has given me a wonderful wife (Heather), and three groovy kids - Allison, Benjamin, and Nicholas. Shortly after we were married, we began working full-time at Camp Little Red. After four years at camp, we felt God leading us to something else - though we didn't know what at the time. In 2008 God brought us to Mirror, Alberta, to help pastor a small Alliance church. The past few years here in Mirror have been hugely life-changing as God has taught us all kinds of things about Himself and His plan for us. Wes (NBI '82) & Carol (Wiebe, NBI '82) Schellenberg
November 2010 Carol and I both graduated from NBI in 1985. We were married in 1986 and lived in Manitoba for 5 years before moving to Brussels, Belgium where we served with Avant Ministries until 1995. Our daughter, Amy, was born in Brussels while our son, Matthew, made his appearance shortly after our return to Canada. We moved to Calgary in 1996 and have been serving there with InterAct Ministries ever since. Our focus was in Muslim ministry until the fall of 2008 when I was asked to take on the full-time role of Field Administrator. Carol is a stay-at-home mom and has been an Avon rep since 1999. A love for music is carrying on to the next generation as Amy loves to sing and Matthew taps out drum beats on anything he can get his hands on. One of the most important things we have been learning through the years is our desperate need to rely fully on God – in both pleasant and stormy times. He is faithful! Miho Hachisuka (NBC '06)
November 2010 Hi! I’m Miho Hachisuka, and I graduated in April 2010. Now I’m living in Calgary and studying counseling at seminary here. One thing I’m realizing after leaving NBC is how much of a blessing it was to just be there. It’s such a small and close community where everyone knows each other and everyone cares for each other. When I first moved here I was almost desperate to find a place of fellowship. That made me realize that at NBC my need to have fellowship was constantly met. I’m becoming more and more thankful for the time God allowed me to spend at NBC. I used to be amazed at alumni who came back for Alumni Weekend and whose love for NBC never faded but seemed to get stronger and stronger even after they left the school. Now I can understand. Now I’m one of them! It hasn’t been that long since I left NBC but it’s crazy to see how much God’s been teaching me since then. I’m learning especially about myself. Through my time with God, through interactions with my friends and through my courses, God’s been showing me who I am and why I’m the way I am. It’s quite challenging but very therapeutic at the same time. Well, like I said, I’m really thankful for NBC and the impact it has made in me; it is still impacting me and everyone I meet! Dan (NBI '02) & Laura (Zondervan, NBI '02) Collins
November 2010 Hello! Here's a quick update about us: So much has happened since our time at Nipawin! When we left Nipawin in June 2007 we were 7 months pregnant with our first baby. After spending the summer working at Galilean Bible Camp in Blind River, Ontario, we were unsure of where God was leading us from there. We welcomed our sweet baby girl Mya to our family on August 16th. She passed away 30 hours later...due to complications in the last week of my pregnancy that we were not aware of. This was a really devastating time for us but looking back we can see God walking along side us the whole way, and even preparing us before it even happened. Because we were in transition we decided to go back to Goderich to live with Laura's parents until God gave us direction in where to go next. We experienced a lot of nurturing and healing while we were there and it was a really good time for the two of us to draw closer together and heal. 10 months later (July 2008) we moved here to Sault Ste Marie Ontario where Dan got a Youth Pastor position. In August 2008 our son Jaxon was born. His name means "God has been gracious; God has shown favor" and he has really lived up to his name. He has been such a joy and a blessing in our lives. In June 2010 we had our baby girl, Jada. She has also been an incredible joy and is really a good baby. We never knew parenting would be this much fun, and that we could love anyone this much. We're really loving the Sault and feeling at home here. Dan is really in his niche as a youth pastor. It definitely comes with it's challenges, but for the most part we are loving working with a great group of students. When we look back at what God has done in our lives since we've been married, we are in awe at where He has taken us and what He has walked us through, and we're excited for what He's got planned for the rest of our days :)
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Alumni Information
