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Authors

Rev. Dr. Amanda Benckhuysen

Amanda W. Benckhuysen is the Director of Safe Church Ministry for the Christian Reformed Church and an ordained pastor in the Christian Reformed Church.  She lives with her husband and two daughters in Grand Rapids, MI.

Anthony Siegrist

Anthony Siegrist is the Director of A Rocha Ontario, a Christian nature conservation organization and part of A Rocha Canada, that has recently established the Bur Oak Fund (learn more here) to promote the planting of native perennials and trees in Southern Ontario. 

Ian Strickland

Ian is a former UMC pastor-turned videographer. During his time in church ministry he learned the value of story-telling and participating in community building that seeks to disrupt the powers of oppression and marginalization. He now uses his pastoral gifts to help other people tell their own stories, amplify their voices and grow their influence. Ian lives in California with his wife Kelly, their cat Asher and their golden doodle Liam.

Natasha Vander Vies

Natasha is the Safe Church Coordinator for the Ontario Southwestern region in Canada working in the Christian Reformed Church of North America. When she isn't advocating for abuse awareness and prevention, she is spending time with her husband and two children and otherwise has her nose in a book. 

Sara --

Sara (not her real name) works in a neighbourhood resource centre in Canada. She has chosen not to share her name or location to preserve the privacy of the women with whom she works, and to point out the universality of this story--it could have happened in your city, in your neighbourhood.

Carl --

This profile is used for authors for which there may be security concerns around sharing their name.  These authors often work with our mission agency Resonate.

Bev Abma

Bev Abma is a long-term overseas development worker. With a B.Sc. in Nursing, she participated in pediatric nursing in Canada; overseas development and domestic disaster response with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (now World Renew); founding Foods Resource Bank (FRB) and leading its overseas food security programming; and completing a graduate impact study for the Asian Rural Institute (ARI). She now serves on the boards of FRB (emerita) and American Friends of ARI in addition to consulting and leading learning groups to various countries.

You can reach Bev at: bevabma@gmail.com

Bert Adema

Bert Adema is the Executive Director of Indian Metis Christian Fellowship (IMCF), in Regina, Saskatchewan. Since 1993, he has encouraged Aboriginal people to claim, develop, use, and celebrate their individual and cultural gifts from the Creator. He collaborates with Aboriginal staff and community members in developing and delivering activities serving the spiritual and social needs of First Nations and Metis people in Regina. Now that their four daughters have moved out of their family home, he and his wife Ruth have started to wonder about what to do with the rest of their lives.

Seth Adema

Seth Adema is a PhD Candidate in the department of history at Wilfred Laurier University, where he studies movements for Aboriginal rights within federal and provincial prisons.  In particular, his studies focus on the introduction of traditional Aboriginal spirituality into prisons between the 1960s and 1990s. Seth lives in Kitchener, Ontario with his wife Emily and daughter Morgan. In his spare time, he plays hockey, rides his mountain bike, goes camping, and tries to read books unrelated to his dissertation.

Rose and Rick Admiraal

Rose and her husband, Pastor Rick Admiraal, live in Pella, IA. They have two children. Eight years ago they planted a church, New Life Prison Community, in the Newton Correctional Facility, where they minister together. Both of them have a heart for the “least of these.” This heart led Rose to become an immigration regional organizer with the Office of Social Justice in the Pella area. She has been working in educating others about the brokenness of our immigration system through adult Sunday School and a book study. Rose hopes that through education people will come to understand the plight of immigrants. 

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