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David Kalamen

Dr. David Kalamen is founder and senior pastor of Kelowna Christian Center (KCC). Married to Carleen for 38 years, they and their family, all living and working in Kelowna, have been ministering to the people of this region for close to 30 years. David is a pastor’s son, born in New Brunswick, and raised in the diverse culture of four of Canada’s great provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and now, British Columbia. He has been blessed to see three generations of ministers flowing together, as he has served alongside both his father and his son.

David started his post-secondary education at Okanagan College, Kelowna, BC, spent three years at Summit Pacific College, Abbottsford, BC, and then, completed a double major B.A. in Religion and Political Science at Vanguard University, Southern California. A few years ago he was honoured by Dr. C. Peter Wagner, through Wagner Leadership Institute, with a Doctorate in Practical Ministry.

Both he and Carleen have had a burden for Christian education. They were the founders of Heritage Christian School, which has grown into a number of very successful online school expressions. Carleen continues her work in education as a manager with ICOS. Establishing the Global Training Ministry Center, a one year post-secondary discipleship school, was a critically important part of their heart for post-secondary discipleship. They also owned and operated Trend Business College for 12 years, with campuses in Kelowna and Edmonton, until their closing in 2006.

David and his family are passionate to see people become all that God has called them to be and to help them discover and fulfill the purpose for which they were created. He has authored a book, Life Purpose that has sold broadly throughout Canada, and is now being printed internationally.

David carries a deep attachment to Kelowna and region, cares deeply about the souls of its citizens and the state of the city. He served as President of the Ministerial, hosted numerous City Transformation conferences, and developed the Houses of Mercy program to help build intelligent and compassionate community.

His weekly Castanet column, “Oh! Canada!” reflects his love for the Canadian people and for this nation. In it he creatively addresses issues of common concern. You will find his heart for searching out clarity on moral, social, political and spiritual issues, refreshing.

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Greg Bitgood

Pastor Greg Bitgood has been a director of Heritage Christian School since 1987 and our Superintendent since 1996. As Pastor of Christian Education in the Kelowna Christian Center Society (the governing board authority of all of our educational programs) he oversees:

• Heritage Christian Preschool
• Heritage Christian School (Kelowna Campus, Grades K to 12)
• Heritage Christian Online School (Electronic Campus, Grades K to 12)
• Global Ministry Training Center (One and Two Year Bible School)

"On the front row of my church in 1983 while attending Bible college the Lord very clearly to my heart and said, 'I want you to work with the children'. Ever since then my wife and I have poured our hearts and lives into ministering to and discipling children, youth and young adults. Jesus has mandated us to "go and make disciples of all the nations." We responded to this command by educating and training children to become agents of kingdom transformation. From early on in our work with children we began to see the pervasive influence of a "secular education" in their lives. Families would bring their children to us on Sunday for one hour of mentorship and take them to explicitly secular mentors for 30 hours a week. Is it no wonder why many of our children forsake a kingdom approach to life when they get older and leave the nest? Thus we began to involve ourselves with Christian education flowing from the two primary educational institutes; the home and the church-run school."

Pastor Greg has lived in Kelowna, BC, Canada since 1986. His wife, Christine, is the children's Pastor at Kelowna Christian Center and director of Heritage Christian Preschool. Their oldest son, Richard has completed his Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia and is now teaching in both the campus and online schools. He graduated from Heritage Christian School as a recipient of the BC Provincial Scholarship. He is also a graduate of the one year Discipleship program at the Ministry Training Institute. In 2006, Richard married Chelsea who has also received her Bachelor of Science from UBC-O and is also pursuing a teaching career. They are expecting their first child this fall.

Greg and Christine’s daughter, Christabelle, is pursuing an education and career in medicine following her completion of one year in MTI. She also received the BC Provincial Scholarship, graduating from HCS and was on the Dean’s list in her first year of university. Josiah also graduated from HCS and is currently serving on the mission field in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. On his return he hopes to receive training in music and children’s ministry at Hillsong, Australia, and someday become a firefighter. Kenny, their youngest, will graduate also from Heritage and plans to go for an engineering degree after a year in Bible School. All four of their children are actively involved in the youth, children's and music ministries of Kelowna Christian Center.

Amber McLeod

Amber is the Academic Director of ESL with ICOS. She has been teaching ESL since 2002 to international students in high schools, colleges, and universities in British Columbia, Canada and overseas in Mexico. As an active member of both the BC TEAL Association and TESL Canada, Amber has been involved in ESL conferences both as a presenter and an organizer; as well she has submitted journal publications. Within ICOS, Amber works closely with Master ESL teachers to develop and enhance the curriculum, trains and supervises the Language tutors, and works as an online teacher with her students. Her passion for teaching and helping international students succeed in accomplishing their English language goals continues to grow as global opportunities arise through ICOS and the field of ESL.

Patrick Bell

Is an entrepreneur, an innovator, and a business acceleration and marketing specialist with a specific focus on Kingdom Business. Along with his Masters degree in Inter-cultural studies (Wheaton College Graduate School, Illinois) and his MBA in International Business (Regent University School of Global Leadership Entrepreneurship, Virginia), Patrick has lived and worked in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa and is the author of The Alpha Business Acceleration Software. He has recently returned to Canada (Kelowna, BC) after 23 years abroad and lives with his wife, Holly, and 3 children.

Holly Bell

Is the trained ESL professional of the family. Holly has 25 years of international business and educational experience (USA, Japan and Kenya) including 2 years with her own English Conversation TV show, and 12 years managing the English Schools in Japan that she and Patrick owned. She has her BA in Communications (BIOLA University, California) and her MA in Intercultural Studies and ESL (Wheaton College, Illinois).