Ben was born and raised in north Edmonton to a loving but unchurched, blue-collar family.
He left home at age 14 on a campaign of open rebellion against God and Man, embracing street life and delinquency in all its forms. Amidst the ensuing chaos, he married his junior high school sweetheart (Christa) at 17 and welcomed two sons (Tai and Ash) in the years that followed.
Ben was confronted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in his early twenties at a kitchen table in Sydney, Australia. Never having connected to a local church, he did what worldly men do: he hid from God and tried harder. He sought answers and relief in all the wrong places, including (eventually) the university. While pursuing his law degree, he encountered God’s Word once again, under the surprising tutelage of an atheist English professor in a survey course on the King James Bible. Ben was captivated by what he found there concerning God, himself, and the world around him.
After searching the Scriptures alone for more than a year, Ben finally found his way into a church in July of 2014 and surrendered his life to the God of Scripture through faith in Jesus Christ.
Today, Ben, Christa, and their youngest son Ash make their home in the inner city, where they express the light, life, and love of Christ as an alternative to the slavery of addictions, poverty of the soul, and habitual dependence on state handouts that run so rampantly there. They are grateful to be serving together alongside the other saints at FBC.