Keynotes
The Most Reverend Richard W. Smith is the 12th Archbishop of Vancouver. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Halifax in 1987, and was subsequently appointed Bishop of Pembroke in 2002 and Archbishop of Edmonton in 2007 until his appointment to Vancouver in 2025.
In July 2022, Archbishop Smith served as the General Coordinator of Pope Francis’ historic visit to Canada. He is currently a member of the Canadian Bishops’ Indigenous Council and Chair of the Ad hoc committee on Indigenous Issues.
Eric Chow currently serves as Director for Proclaim and Associate Director for Ministries and Outreach at the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He has been in mission and leadership for 20 years. As a lay missionary, involvement in his local parish, school, and men’s ministry, Eric finds life in roles of leadership, strategy, and mentorship. He loves working through others, seeing them succeed, and mentoring/coaching people in their gifts and talents. Eric loves being a husband to Vanessa, and father to Eva, Isabel, Sophie, Samuel, and Francis. You can usually find Eric climbing a mountain, fishing, or roasting coffee.
Peter Andrastek has worked in adult formation in the Church since 2003. He holds a Masters Degree in Pastoral Theology from Ave Maria University. His experience includes preaching retreats, priest convocations, teaching theology at the graduate level, instructing adult catechesis courses, being a guest lecturer at seminaries, and giving presentations and trainings for numerous parishes, dioceses, movements, and institutions in the Church. He also has articles published in Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal. Peter currently advises a team that serves over 150 ministries around the world, including dioceses, parishes, and military bases. He lives in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin with his wife and eight children.
MCs and Music
Jake and Heather Khym are the co-founders of Life Restoration Ministries, an apostolate dedicated to renewing the Church through healing, evangelization, and human formation, with a focus on high-impact leaders.
Jake draws on decades of experience in counseling and spiritual accompaniment to lead retreats and co-host the Restore the Glory podcast, helping others find freedom and transformation in Christ. He currently serves as the Dean of Human and Spiritual Formation at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Heather is a sought-after speaker and author of Abide and award-winning Encountering Emmanuel. She co-hosts the globally top-ranked Abiding Together podcast and serves as co-executive director of the Celtic Cross Foundation, where she advocates passionately for the underprivileged.
Together, Jake and Heather are committed to serving the Church alongside Spirit-filled Catholic leaders, sharing the Gospel with compassion and authenticity, and equipping others to live out their God-given genius.
Verso L’alto is a music initiative of worship leaders serving with CCO: a Christ-centred, Spirit-filled movement that evangelizes the world one person at a time. Through the power of musical worship, we seek to activate multiplying leaders in fulfillment of Jesus’s Great Commission. To the heights: in worship and mission.
Breakouts
Cindy Beatch was confirmed in the Catholic Church in June 2023 and has been an active Christian since 1994. She has extensive training in healing prayer, including the Spokane Washington Healing Rooms and Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in California. She participated in prayer ministry for several years at her church’s healing rooms here in Vancouver. Her love for prayer grew as she experienced the healing of cataracts, deafness, pain, etc. on her many international mission trips with Impact Nations. Cindy has been involved with Alpha and with street ministry on the Downtown Eastside. She and her husband Greg are members of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver, where they serve on the prayer ministry team.
Jean-Paul de Fleuriot has dedicated over 20 years to serving the Catholic Church through evangelization, leadership formation, and community building in Canada and globally. With NET Canada for 13 years, he held national leadership roles, shaping the lives of hundreds of young missionaries. Jean-Paul has travelled across Canada, Ghana, Ireland, the Philippines, and the USA, sharing the Gospel, facilitating retreats, training leaders, and leading worship to help people encounter, respond to, and live for Christ. A former seminarian with the Companions of the Cross, he now leads Faith Room, an apostolate that empowers Catholics to grow as leaders and live their faith with clarity and conviction.
Heather Khym is the cohost of the internationally popular Abiding Together podcast and the author of Abide: A Pathway to Transformative Healing and Intimacy in Jesus and the award-winning Encountering Emmanuel: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. She and her husband, Jake, are the cofounders of Life Restoration Ministries, where she serves as Director of Vision and Ministry. Heather is also the co-executive director of the Celtic Cross Foundation, where she passionately advocates for the underprivileged.
With more than 25 years of experience as a speaker and retreat leader, Heather has led workshops and conferences across North America. She studied theology and catechetics at Franciscan University of Steubenville and is deeply passionate about evangelization, discipleship, and creating an environment for personal encounters with God. Heather lives in Steubenville, Ohio, with Jake and their three young adult children.
Jake Khym is a Catholic leader with over 20 years of experience in ministry. He holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics.
Jake has served in a wide range of contexts, including adult faith formation, seminarian and priestly formation, diocesan evangelization, RCIA, retreat ministry, and private counseling, where he has maintained a practice for over 15 years.
He currently serves as the Dean of Human and Spiritual Formation at Franciscan University of Steubenville. In addition, Jake provides formation for Catholic leaders, consults with dioceses and ministries across North America, accompanies male leaders in their spiritual journeys, and leads an annual men’s retreat. He also works closely with the John Paul II Healing Center, serving priests and bishops worldwide. Jake is the co-host of the Restore the Glory podcast. He lives in Steubenville, Ohio, with his wife, Heather, and their three young adult children.
Karen Magee is an alumnus of the Encounter School of Ministry in Michigan (online class of 2023) and is currently the coordinator of the prayer ministry team at Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver. Karen leads workshops equipping parishioners and Alpha leaders to pray confidently with others in the power of the Holy Spirit and is an avid promoter of the Encounter School of Ministry. Karen loves helping everyday Catholics discover that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are meant for all and are meant to heal and draw hearts closer to Christ. Outside of ministry, Karen loves to spend time with her husband Kieran riding bikes all over the North Shore, tending her vegetable and flower garden, playing rummikub, and spending time with her precious grandkids.
Sharon Goh served in youth ministry and sacramental PREP for children at the parish through the years. At the Archdiocese, she has immensely enjoyed journeying with couples in their preparation for marriage in the Church.
She is equally passionate about encouraging joyful families and believes that enriching one’s marriage is like relationship fitness which requires commitment, effort, and God’s grace.
At home, she loves cooking for friends and family, and when travelling, is excited to visit art museums and medieval Churches.
Proclaim is an evangelization movement in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The Archdiocese of Vancouver acknowledges that the land on which we gather and work is the traditional and ancestral territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.