LEVEL GROUND STAFF

Karen Heidebrecht Thiessen – Lead Pastor

Karen has been Pastor at W est Abbotsford Mennonite Church

since Fall 2000. Prior to that, she was Pastor at River East

Mennonite Brethren Church in W innipeg for 10 years. She and

her husband Richard have three children, Abram (15), Solomon

(12) and Isaac (9). Karen loves to travel and watch movies almost

as much as she loves being part of Level Ground Church.

Dan Loewen – Pastor of Worship

Dan has been married 6 years to Lynn and has one child, Ethan,

who is 17 months old and one baby on the way in June. His

involvement in church (past and present) includes leading

worship and running the Re:Think Café. He also teaches guitar

both privately and at Columbia Bible College.

Keith St. Jean – Pastor of Life Bridge Ministry

Keith is the Pastor of Life Bridge Ministries at Level Ground

Mennonite Church and has been married to Jennifer for 13

years and counting. Together Jennifer and Keith have two

sons, Isaak (8) and Levi (6). His involvement in church life has

been varied and eclectic from Care Group Coordinator to Adult

Sunday School teacher to Youth Pastor and many things in

between. Keith enjoys spending time with his family, reading

and is an avid comic book geek.

Robin Mauthe – Pastor of Student Ministries

Robin has been Youth Pastor at W ellspring Christian Fellowship

since Fall 2000. Over the years he has also enjoyed working

several summers at Simon house Bible Camp. A big part of his

life formation has come from three seasons of life attending

W inkler Bible Institute, Columbia Bible College and his time on

TREK (missions discipleship training program). Robin has been

married to Crystal for the past 7 ½ years. Together they have a

daughter Evelyn Grace (1 month, born January 2009).

Robin enjoys photography, music, gardening, playing a variety of

sports, traveling the world with Crystal and being a new dad!

Rita Ewert – Office Administrator

Rita has been married for 28 years to Rod and has two children,

Matthew and Jacqueline. Rita worked at W est Abbotsford

Mennonite Church since fall 1989 and has enjoyed the transition

over to Level Ground Mennonite Church and getting to know new

staff members. Her involvement in the church has involved a

myriad of areas. Right now she focuses on Children's Ministry,

Alpha, Next Steps Ladies and her Journey Group.

She loves to travel with her family and friends, as well as

camping, reading, playing games (especially Scrabble), going for

walks and when she has time, baking.

Marlene Daku – Assistant Secretary

Marlene is presently a 2 day a week secretary for Level Ground.

For the previous 10 years she was the part time secretary for

W ellspring. She has 2 children who have given her 7 fabulous

grandchildren – unfortunately, none of them live close by. She

married her Bible College sweetheart Ron, 36 years ago. Born in

W innipeg, she lived there for 14 years and then moved to Kelowna.

W ith 2 small children, she and her husband lived in Brazil for 8

years helping the church, then back to Kelowna. She has lived in

Abbotsford/Mission for the last 13 years. Marlene says it is fun to

be a part of Level Ground and thinks the staff here is the greatest!

She looks forward to the day when she can call everyone at Level

Ground by name!

Sandra Hendy - Custodian

Sandra has been married for 33 years to Richard. They have 2

children; a son, Kyle & Andrea, who are presently in India, and a

daughter Christa & Kevin Brand living in Quesnel. They also have

a grandson, W yatt Richard Brand, who is nearly two and is waiting

for a sibling due in April, 2009.

Sandra's involvement in church life includes co-facilitating the

W omen's Next Steps group and organizing funeral receptions.

Previous church involvement included Care Fund committee

member, editor of W AMC Connections newsletter and worship

team leader. Sandra has her own home sewing business,

"Sandra's Seams", as well as being employed as custodian of

Level Ground.

Wanda Hildebrandt – Tippytoes Preschool

W anda has been married to Mark for 28 years, and has 3

children and 1 daughter-in-law, Renee (26), Ryan (25) married

to Nicole (25), Dustin (21). Her involvement in church life

includes teaching in Tippytoes Preschool and being the foods

coordinator for the church functions. Besides being the

preschool supervisor she also caters occasionally for Columbia

Caterers.

LEVEL GROUND LEAD TEAM

Ben Falk – Co-Moderator

Ben has been married to Pat for the past 37 years. Together they

have four children. Their oldest son is Michael Falk, attending

Level Ground, with his children, Andrew, Alesha, and Julia. Kevin

their second oldest is married to Karla with children Markus and

Elora Lise, who attend the 10 Avenue Alliance Church inth

Vancouver. Jonathan, the third son, is married to Maria and

attends Level Ground, and Courteney, their only daughter,

married to Dave Rodda, who also attends Level Ground, (now on

a mission trip with YW AM). Ben previously was the moderator at

W AMC and now currently Co-moderator at Level Ground

Mennonite Church. Ben has his own business, Central Valley

Excavating Ltd, and works throughout the Lower Mainland and

Vancouver area.

Christine Dahl – Co-Moderator

Christine has been married for 22 years to Allan and has 4

children, Josiah (19), Natalie (17), Miranda (15) and Levi (13). Her

involvement in church life includes teaching Sunday School,

helping to run summer day camps, Youth sponsor (previous

church), Board member/Board Chair and currently Co-moderator

at Level Ground. Christine enjoys renovating her house, baking,

quilting, reading and traveling (not necessarily in that order) She

works part-time as an administrative assistant at Abbotsford

Traditional Middle School.

Shirley Martin

Shirley is a single parent of 2 adult children, Rob, married to

Ashley, and Michelle. Shirley has been involved in church life by

teaching Sunday School, Board member as well as liaison

between Children's Ministry and the Board and participated in

soccer camp at the previous church, member of the Joint

Implementation Team bringing both congregations together, and

currently an active small group leader, a Lead Team member as

well as participating on the Finance Team. She works as a

Pharmacy Technician at London Drugs.

Juanita Thiessen - Secretary

Juanita has been married to Gerald for 29 years, and she has 3

children: W arren (23), Deanna (21), Geoff (19). My involvement with

the church includes; choir/ pianist, organist, Sunday School

Teacher, Youth Sponsor, W orship Committees, Executive Member

and participation in Care Groups. She is presently working at the

Tabor Home as a Care Aide, and is President of the Employees

Association.

She also has been representing W AMC on the MEI Board for a

number of Years.

Gerry Binnema

Gerry was born and raised in Ontario and moved to BC to attend

Trinity W estern University. He trained to become a missionary

pilot and traveled overseas to Niger, in W est Africa to work with

SIM for a short term. Upon his return he ended up as a flight

instructor at Trinity W estern University. Since that program

closed in 1993, Gerry worked for the government until becoming

self employed this fall. Gerry has been a member at W ellspring

Christian Fellowship since 1996, and was actively involved in the

small group ministry as well as the children's ministry there.

Gerry has two boys, Bryan (21) and Phillip (19). He enjoys flying

glider planes and biking.

Rod Ewert - Treasurer

Rod has been married for 28 years to Rita and has two children,

Matthew and Jacqueline. Rod has worked as treasurer for W est

Abbotsford for the better part of 20 years and has also played

drums on worship bands for over 10 years. Rod is currently on

the lead team and is in charge of coordinating the finances for

Level Ground Mennonite Church. Rod is a Certified General

Accountant and is currently working for Envision Credit Union as

a Senior Financial Analyst. Rod's interests include travel,

camping, fishing, computer programming, football (Dallas

Cowboys) and hockey (Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins).

Fred Brauer

Fred has been married to Bonnie for 27 years and they have

three children: Nick (20), Mark (18) and Kaitlyn (14). Fred has

been involved in church life in various areas such as Sunday

school teaching, small group leadership and board member.

Fred is currently working for the Canada Revenue Agency.