Seminars Speakers
Roger Seheult, MD
Dr. Seheult is currently an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the School of Medicine and Allied Health at Loma Linda University. In 2012 he and Kyle Allred founded MedCram L.L.C., a medical education company with CME-accredited videos that are utilized by hospitals, medical schools, and hundreds of thousands of medical professionals from all over the world (and over 1.5 million YouTube Subscribers).
His passion is promoting healthy lifestyles and regularly lectures to schools, hospitals, and media outlets. Dr. Seheult was the recipient of the 2021 San Bernardino County Medical Society’s William L. Cover MD Award for Outstanding Contribution to Medicine and the 2022 United Health Group’s The Sages of Clinical Service Award. In 2022, both Dr. Roger Seheult and Kyle Allred received the HRH Prince Salmon bin Hamad Al Khalifa Medical Merit Medal from the Kingdom of Bahrain for their contribution to health policy in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
He is also a student of the Bible and lectures frequently about on the prophetic teaching of Biblical narratives.
Darlene Blaney, Ph.D, NCP, CFT
Dr. Darlene Blaney has a PhD in Nutrition, is a nutritional consulting practitioner and certified fitness trainer. She owns and operates (along with her husband), a nutrition practice in combination with a natural food store. Darlene has worked with various corporations in their wellness programs and enjoys working with any age group ranging from babies to seniors. A mother, and a grandma of 2 grandsons, she understands the importance of raising children healthfully.
Darlene especially appreciates presenting seminars through lecturing and cooking demonstrations including international opportunities. She specializes in food preparation and has taught cooking classes for more than 25 years. As an author of 4 cookbooks, Darlene presents a simple and knowledgeable approach to cooking.
Darlene is the founder and operator of a private nutrition college called, “Total Health School of Nutrition”, a 1 ½ year program done by correspondence offering a diploma in Nutritional consulting approved and certified by the Canadian Government.
Darlene’s passion is to teach others having good health can be simple. She deals with problems and concerns by teaching optimal diet and lifestyle factors finding lasting results, not just “quick fixes”.
Areas Darlene enjoys working with include: Allergies, Boosting the Immune System, Weight management, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure/Cholesterol, Stress Management, Depression, Menu Planning/Balancing, Vegetarian Diets, ADD/ADHD, Candidiasis, Diabetes, Digestion, Women’s Health and more!
Darlene has been the Alberta Volunteer Health Ministries Coordinator for more than 25 years and has had the experience of being a volunteer director of a non-profit organization called CHIP (Coronary Health Improvement Project). She, along with the founder of CHIP, Dr. Hans Diehl, have co-authored the official CHIP cookbook.
She is the mother of four boys: Nathan, Reuben, Joseph and Josiah and happily married to her husband Ron of 35 years.
Michelle Broomfield
Nitzs Salazar
Nitza Salazar, originally from San Francisco, CA, was raised in Mexico City and later lived in Costa Rica. By profession, she is a high school teacher and a dynamic speaker and educator with a passion for engaging and inspiring others.
Nitza is the founder of Special Stars, a ministry dedicated to serving children with special needs, and she currently serves as the Children’s Ministries Coordinator for the Idaho Conference. She has a deep love for children’s ministries and firmly believes that every church event should lead children to say YES to Jesus.
Beyond her ministry, Nitza is a devoted wife to a minister and a loving mother to two beautiful daughters. Her heart for children’s spiritual growth and inclusion continues to shape her work as she equips leaders to nurture the next generation in Christ.
Pastor Brad and DeeAnna Dennis
Brad Dennis, MSW, RCSW is Huu-ay-aht First Nation from the West Coast of Vancouver Island. His Huu-ay-aht name is Qwa uun nahs aht, “from the place of the chiefs.” He is a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist grounded in the Biblical truth of God’s love as Creator. He has over 24 years of professional practice experience as a clinical social worker serving in mental health programs for youth and adults in community and inpatient psychiatric care, as well as community development, advocacy and policy development with various Indigenous-led organizations. He has served as adjunct and full-time faculty with Portland State University and Walla Walla University’s Graduate Schools of Social Work. Over the past several years, he’s served First Nation Governments as an independent wellness consultant, helping develop their community wellness programs for their communities. Brad has collaborated with multiple Nations in BC, Alberta, Washington and Oregon in a professional capacity. Brad has served in part-time ministry intermittently since 1997, serving three conferences within the North America Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In ministry, he has helped churches and religious organizations in their process of healing through reconciliation with Indigenous communities. He is the Creator, Director, Producer and Host of Journey Home: Sanctuary film series available at https://journeyhome.world.
Brad currently serves as the Indigenous Reconciliation Ministries Director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Canada. He is leading a collaboration of Indigenous Pastors from Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, working with Andrews University advisors to develop a cultural contextualization model for the Seventh-day Adventist Church working among Indigenous Communities. Brad is firmly invested in his family life, nurturing a thriving marriage, intentional about relational parenting, and growing in servant-leadership for his cultural and spiritual community.
DeeAnna Garcia Dennis, MSW is Mexican Xicana by ethnicity and a citizen of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation by marriage. Her Huu-ay-aht name is Cha chum ah ook, “she who makes things right”. She is a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist grounded in the Biblical truth of God’s love. She has over 25 years of professional practice serving children and families in mental health, addiction recovery, and youth mentoring program development and management. She has experience with organizational systems change leadership while serving as the Director of Diversity & Inclusion at the largest community child and family mental health organization in the State of Oregon at the time, developing a model of utilizing collective expertise solicited by other non-profit organizations. She has served as adjunct instructional faculty with the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University.
DeeAnna currently serves along-side her husband as Co-Director of Indigenous Reconciliation Ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Canada. DeeAnna is passionate about parenting and nurturing a thriving family life grounded in Creator’s t’ašii hašah (pathway for keeping) through homeschooling, helping her children discover their life passion and purpose, decolonizing their way of life in mind, body, spirit and social/environmental relationships, serving their community together and always making sure to keep life fun!
Seminar Theme “Tell us of Reconciliation”
Pastor Robert Zama
Pastor Robert Zama serves as the Media Evangelist for Hope Channel Canada and is the host of the program “More to Life”. Before his current role, he served as Evangelist and Associate Director of Evangelism in the Oregon Conference. Born in Romania, he grew up and pastored in Southern Ontario, where he now lives with his wife, Alina, and 11-year-old daughter, Sarah. Pastor Zama is passionate about evangelism and equipping churches to share Jesus in relevant ways with their communities. Pastor Zama serves as the Canadian liaison for Pentecost 2025.
Presentation #1: Reaching Beyond the Pews: Effective Digital Evangelism Strategies
Description: The focus of this presentation will be on how a church can leverage technology to reach its community effectively, addressing real pain points and maintaining relevance. We will explore how digital evangelism fits into a broader evangelism cycle, what an effective funnel strategy looks like and how to create and distribute content across various platforms.
Key Topics:
- Digital Evangelism Strategies: How to integrate the best digital tools into a broader evangelism cycle.
- Content Creation and Distribution: Learn what to post and where to post it for maximum engagement.
- AI Integration: Leverage AI to maximize and streamline digital outreach.
This session will inspire and equip church members with the knowledge they need to amplify their digital voice and connect with interests in their area in a relevant way. They will walk away with valuable tools and resources to help their church thrive online, especially during Pentecost 2025.
Presentation #2: Hope in Every Home: Unlocking the Power of Hope Channel Canada
Description: The focus of this presentation will be on discovering the power of Hope Channel Canada as a dynamic tool for digital evangelism. This presentation highlights the benefits of Hope Channel Canada and provides practical strategies for church members to share its inspiring content with friends and neighbours. We will explore how Hope Channel Canada can seamlessly integrate into a church’s larger evangelism cycle and enhance outreach efforts while fostering meaningful connections within the community.
Key Topics:
- Benefits of Hope Channel Canada: Learn about the programs and unique advantages of using Hope Channel Canada for evangelism.
- Integration into Evangelism Cycles: Understand how Hope Channel Canada can complement and enhance existing evangelism strategies.
- Sharing Hope Channel Canada Content: Practical tips on how to effectively share Hope Channel Canada content and expand its reach through social media and cable TV.
This session aims to equip church members on how to leverage Hope Channel Canada as a powerful resource for spreading hope and connecting with those around them.
Everton Prendergast
Everton is a member of the Surrey SDA Church, BC Conference Masterguide Club Director.
Masterguide Training Coordinator and mentor. He is an Inclusive Education Support Worker in the Surrey School District.
Leadership reminds us first and foremost how important it is to follow the TRUE Leader for success in ministry. Leadership covers skills and information particular to Children’s Ministries, and this training includes the following:
- God, Ministry & Me
- Growing a Vision
- Following the Leader
- Communication Skills
- Administration and Management
- Organizing & Leading a Ministry for Children.
Donn Leiske
Donn Leiske, M.Ed., is a university professor for a number of online educational institutions. He has been the Lead Faculty and Area Chair of Multimedia and Visual Communications for the University of Phoenix. As a committed Adventist, he has been a lifelong student of end-time prophecy. After his family was convicted to move back into the country, Donn did in-depth research into the subject of the Time of Trouble, country living while ministering to the cities, and contrasting Ellen White’s counsel about preparing compared to those fears and strategies of modern-day “Doomsday Preppers”.
Description
This workshop is a balanced look at spiritual lessons and practical ways to prepare for the Time of Trouble and Jesus’s return. It is an expansion of last year’s seminar “Sustainable Country Living”.
“Country Living – Starting Where You Are”
Part 1 Seminar – Country Living – Where Do I Begin?
Part 2 Seminar – Country Property – Locating, Developing, and Maintaining
Part 3 Seminar – Off Grid – Alternative Energy Options
Part 4 Seminar – Gardening – Year-Round Strategies
Part 5 Seminar – Medical Missionary Work – Nature’s Remedies
Ernest J. Brake, DMin
After seeing the incredible impact of the “Adventist advantage” throughout his 36-year ministry, Dr. Ern Brake retired to focus on a world in pain – a pain for which the Adventist message is the remedy. This vision led him to develop Running on FULL POWER, a transformative program rooted in a God-ordained, scientifically validated approach to wholistic health. To this end, he published the first of three books on life transformation, The FULL POWER Plan: Unlock Nature’s Formula for Optimal Bodymind Vitality.
A graduate of Burman University in 1985, he dedicated 25 years to pastoral care before moving into leadership roles at the BC Conference—including Ministerial Director, Strategic Planner/Trainer, and Conference Vice-President, as well as serving eight years as Conference Health Ministries Director. Dr. Brake holds a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Andrews University, has studied psychology at the University of Waterloo, and is now pursuing a PhD in lifestyle medicine.
An international speaker born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and having lived across Europe and Canada, Dr. Brake now resides in Parksville, British Columbia, with his wife, June.
Pastor Jacob Serns
Pastor Jacob Serns is a church planter who loves Jesus, loves people, and loves life. God used him to plant the Benbrook Seventh-day Adventist Church (Now Cresson Community Seventh-day Adventist Church) in Texas in 2018. As a former teacher, elder, and now church planting pastor Jacob has had the privilege of seeing hundreds of people give their lives to Jesus and be baptized as Seventh-day Adventists.
Pastor Jacob will present a dynamic seminar on church planting. Using the acronym PLANT, each presentation builds on mission-critical aspects of a successful new church plant.
He and his “Beautiful Brazilian Bombshell” wife Tatiany Serns are now serving in Puyallup, Washington as they have been called to plant a church in the South Hill area. Jacob believes all followers of Jesus are called to make disciples, and in response to Christ’s command to, “Go make disciples,” he likes to enthusiastically exclaim, “LET’S GOOOOOOO!!!”
Pastor Robert Rud
Pastor Rud is presenting a 5-part series focusing on the first half of the Book of Exodus, including some spiritual applications for the church today. Follow the story of the birth, childhood and early years of Moses’ life and his decision to choose the God of Heaven over the Egyptian gods. Examine the details of the exodus experience, including the crossing of the Red Sea and singing the Song of Moses, and on through the wilderness of Mt Sinai. Thursday’s presentation features God’s plan for His people, including the delivery of the “10 Words”/10 Commandments and eating a covenant meal together. And finally, examine the parallels between the exodus of Israel with the exodus of Jesus and the exodus of the end-time church.
Robert Rud is currently the Pastor of a three Church District (Nanaimo, Parksville, Port Alberni) on Vancouver Island, in the BC Conference. His childhood and teenage years were spent searching to know God, with no apparent success. Following university studies in engineering and law, Robert entered a successful career in the Marine Construction industry. Finally, in 1991, after hearing the 3 Angels’ Messages, the prayers of his youth were answered. Serving the LORD became the new priority of his life. After graduating from Burman University Robert entered Pastoral Ministry and has served in both the Man-Sask and BC Conferences. He and his wife Jacquie, currently reside in Nanaimo.
Pastor Aaron Sikhosana
Aaron Sikhosana serves in the BC Conference as pastor of the Creekside and Burnaby churches. He is also a registered counsellor with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.
Seminar Theme “Healing Journey Through Grief”