Brian Doerksen
Brian Doerksen is a songwriter, recording artist, author, conference speaker and pastor, but most of all he loves spending time with his high-school sweetheart Joyce (they have been married for 35 years.) Brian & Joyce have 4 daughters and 2 sons with Fragile X Syndrome. His songs are known and sung internationally in churches of all kinds including ‘Come now is the time to worship’, ‘Refiner’s Fire’, ‘Hope Of The Nations’ and ‘The River.’ In the summer of 2019, to mark 30 years of making music, Brian released ‘Faithful One’ a CD featuring 16 of his legacy songs featuring new arrangements of songs like ‘I Lift My Eyes Up’ & ‘Stay (Orphan’s Song).’ Finally, after years of waiting for the right time, in 2019 Brian also released his first Christmas album, The Heart Of Christmas. The 15-song album contains 13 new original Christmas songs that tell the story of all stories; God with all of us in the mess and magic of our ordinary lives. Also included are new arrangements of traditional classics ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ while the Pacific Mennonite Children’s choir joins in on ‘Stille Nacht’ (Silent Night) singing in Brian’s parent’s mother tongue of German, the birthplace of Christmas carols. On the horizon, Brian plans on developing on online songwriting course to mentor, teach and encourage, as well as continuing to do some touring and teaching in Canada, Europe and beyond.

Robert Manuel
Robert shares a very personal story about the loss of his only son, Matthew, at the young age of 22. Matthew struggled with drug addiction, and in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving 2013, a series of events led to the Matthew’s tragic death. Robert testifies to the truth that Jesus holds him in His right hand when he doesn’t have the strength to carry on. Robert’s faith and relationship with Jesus have been a constant source of help and strength as the family grieved their precious son. Today, Robert and his wife, Darlene, desire to do what they can to help raise awareness about addictions, show compassion to those who struggle (or know another who does) with addiction and to shine the light of hope that can be found in Jesus.