The Rev. Prof. Ken Herfst will be our preacher this Sunday. Ken and his wife have been attending St. George’s for the last few months. He has been a missionary to Guatemala for the last 20+ years. You can find out more about him below.
Born in Red Deer, Alberta, Pastor Ken eventually moved with his family to Hamilton, Ontario. After High School, he worked as a printer at Guardian Press. He studied at McMaster University where he obtained a BA in history and then the Theological College of the Canadian Reformed Churches. In 1991 he was called as missionary pastor by the Vineland Free Reformed Church. That same year the Herfst family moved to Costa Rica to begin Spanish studies. In July of 1992, they moved to Cubulco, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, where they worked among the Achi people. While his main focus was church planting, he also supervised the translation of the Old Testament and trained leaders at the Cubulco Theological Center. Together with a team of local church leaders he planted a number of churches, primarily in the mountains surrounding Cubulco.
In 2002 the family moved to Vancouver Island where Rev. Herfst pastored a church plant. However, in 2004 he accepted a call to become Professor of Theology at the Seminario Evangélico Presbiteriano de Guatemala. He also regularly teaches at other seminaries, speaks at conferences and preaches, both in Guatemala and other parts of Latin America. Pastor Herfst is also the president of Asociación Saq B’e – Christian development organization that works among poor communities, families with HIV/aids, the elderly and disaster relief. He is part of an International Network in Latin America that promotes holistic mission work. Within the National Presbyterian Church he has served as member of the reconciliation committee as well as the diaconal committee.
As of 2012, Pastor Herfst splits his time between Guatemala and Canada. While in Canada he works with “Ministerios de Vida” – an outreach to Mexican Migrant workers in the Sheffield/Waterdown area. Rev. Herfst is married to Jackie Brokking with whom he has five children and four grandchildren. The Herfsts live in Cambridge, Ontario and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
