This week in good news (May 23-29)

This week brought hope in the form of the Winnipeg Jets' playoff victories and rain to Manitoba, lifting bans on outdoor activities (for members of the same household, at least).

Jeremy Camp's daughter releasing new music

Well-known Christian artist Jeremy Camp is excited there is another singer in the family as he shares his daughter is releasing new music.

"My beautiful girl Bella just put out a song she wrote today! She wrote the whole song by herself," says Jeremy in a social media post.

Bella's single is called 'Carry You Through' and is in the same vein of music as her dad's, Christian inspirational.

Students create art to show COVID lives lost are more than statistic

Junior High students in Winnipeg are creating hearts to honour the 1,000 plus Manitoban lives that have been lost due to the novel coronavirus.

Mirae Young is the visual arts teacher at Gordon Bell Secondary School in Winnipeg.

"Back in February an organization called Communities Not Cuts started a memorial of hearts on the river walk. It was created to honour the individuals whose lives have been lost to COVID," says Young.

Ehlers pots OT winner - Jets win game 3

The Winnipeg Jets are one win away from advancing to round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored his second goal of the game 9:13 into overtime to lift Winnipeg past Edmonton 5-4 Sunday night at Bell MTS Place.

It was Ehler’s first game back since he suffered an upper body injury on April 24 in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Help is on the way: Ottawa sending COVID workers to Manitoba

Ottawa has announced it will send health workers and other supports to Manitoba as it grapples with high COVID-19 rates and overburdened intensive care units.

The federal government says it will also provide medical staff through the Canadian Red Cross as well as military help.

Connor pots OT winner - Jets sweep Oilers

The Winnipeg Jets have joined the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins in round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Kyle Connor scored on a breakaway at 6:52 of the third overtime period to lift Winnipeg past Edmonton 4-3 Monday night at Bell MTS Place.

The Jets swept the best-of-seven North Division semifinal in four straight.

Parks and trails open in Southern Manitoba after rain

Most of the fire and travel restrictions have been lifted as the province received much-needed rain over the May long weekend.

On May 14, 2021, the province announced closures of campgrounds and most of the hiking trails all across Southern Manitoba, including in the Whiteshell Provincial Park and Birds Hill Provincial Park.

This was due to the extremely dry conditions and wildfires that were blazing through some of the forest area.

Embracing holy courage and understanding Godly fear

Finding courage always begins with fear itself- fear of the Lord, that's according to Katie Westenberg, an author, wife and mom of four.

"When fear creeps close the last thing you need is someone on social media telling you to power through," says Westenberg. "You need something far more potent."

That's why she decided to write, I Choose Brave. She says by digging into scripture and vulnerable sharing her own story of facing heart-wrenching fears, this book is crafted to both honestly and gently to help you.

Danny Gokey's new single gives hope in hard times

Grammy-award nominee and former American Idol finalist Danny Gokey is releasing a new single called 'Stand In Faith.'

"I want to share with you the heart behind the song. Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. What is faith? Faith is the strongest reliance, it is the greatest form of trust that you put into someone," says Gokey in a video posted to his Facebook.

Megachurch celebrating 25th anniversary by giving $2.5 million in donations

A church with 10 locations across the United States, international ministries, and a television show is celebrating its anniversary by blessing others.

Crossroads Church is giving $2.5 million away to celebrate 25 years of gathering.

"The money is going to go to organizations that are changing the world," Kyle Ranson, Crossroad's Online Community Pastor says in a service celebrating their anniversary.

Lighthouse Mission celebrating 110 years in missions work in Winnipeg

A Winnipeg-based mission organization is celebrating over a century of helping the less fortunate in the community.

Beverly Ajtay is the Operations Manager at Lighthouse Mission in downtown Winnipeg.

"2021 marks 110 years of Ligthhouse Mission serving the community of Winnipeg. Originally starting as a church back in 1911," says Ajtay.

Smitty's bringing the carhop back to Winnipeg

A chain of family restaurants is bringing a 1950s style of dining back to the city.

Valerie Funk is the owner of multiple Smitty's Family Restaurants in Manitoba, including five in Winnipeg.

As with many restaurants and businesses, they have learned to pivot during the COVID restrictions placed on Manitobans as of late.

"For people that are maybe just a little bit older than the teens and young twenty-year-olds, we used to have this back in the day, a carhop," says Funk.

AGORA Network Ministries: Mental health, healing and the church

It was July 7, 2017, when the world was turned upside down for the Gallant Family.

On that day, Allan Gallant suffered a severe stroke that led to months of recovery and learning to speak again.

"When I say I lost my voice, I couldn't speak," Allan explains. "In my mind, I could speak clearly, but from my mind to my tongue, it was not clear."

Winkler church to bless 500 frontline workers with ice cream drive-in

A church with warm hearts and cold treats is showing its neighbours their gratitude for a year of dedication to their community.

Trying to be the best neighbours possible, Pastor Cory Hildebrand of Emmanuel Mennonite Church says a couple of volunteers will be at the Winkler church Wednesday afternoon and early evening for a special reason.

"We are going to be handing out ice cream to all of our frontline workers in our community. That could be people who work in the healthcare area, education, police, fire, (and) paramedics," he says. "We are doing it because we care."

Lauren Daigle sings hope for the world on The Voice

Lauren Daigle returned to the stage of The Voice for their finale and belted her heart out.

The Christian artist performed her latest single 'Hold On To Me' with a whole choir behind her as the show ended their season.

"Can we talk about Lauren Daigle’s amazing performance on The Voice Finale?" was posted to the TV series Facebook page on May 25.

Finding faith in Hollywood as content becomes darker

Todd Terry became interested in acting at just 14 years old.

He pursued that dream, went to acting school and eventually got an agent.

Since then, Terry has acted in both faith-based and secular roles including Breaking Bad, American Crime, Friday Night Lights and Walker Texas Ranger.

"I do end up doing a lot of secular television," Terry explains. "Breaking Bad was shot around six years ago. I thought it was a well-written show and it was a great show to work on."

''God will not be stopped': Jon Buller seeing gospel continue to spread in pandemic

As in-person worship gatherings increase in size in British Columbia, a pastor with Manitoba roots has advice for locals looking over the fence at their West Coast neighbours' greener grass.

Manitoba's in-person worship gatherings remain on pause as it continues to be dubbed the COVID capital of North America. A few provinces over, in British Columbia, indoor in-person worship is on the horizon, as many churches prepare to make the move from their lawns to pews.

"I'm actually helping out at a couple of different churches in town and so one of them has been doing outdoor worship for the last few weeks. It's different but it's exciting and it's good to be with people and it's great to worship together," Jon Buller says.

Christian Minimalism: The connection between minimalism and our faith

With the success of blogs and videos on minimalism, it has become clear that it is more than just a trend. In a time of climate change and a pandemic, people are looking for new ways to live more meaningful lives, and minimalism is meeting that need.

Over the last decade, Becca Ehrlich has been through plenty. She lost her infant son in 2014 and shortly after became very ill. It took years of medical testing, surgery and bouncing from doctor to doctor before Becca was able to figure out how to manage her chronic illness.

New First Nations police officer making paw-sitive impact

The Manitoba First Nation Police Services is proud to share they've hired the force's first Indigenous K9 handler.

"We selected some interested members, they went through an interview and testing, and we selected our first First Nation dog handler by the name of Travis Assiniboine," says acting police chief Bruno Rossi.

"He is now in training with the Office of the Fire Commissioner."

Beaches getting more accessible for summer

Manitoba Parks has announced they are making several beaches across the province more accessible for everyone to enjoy.

In a Facebook post Thursday, Manitoba Parks announced the installation of Mobi-mats on several beaches within provincial parks.

LISTEN: Jeremy Camp releases peace-filled new single

Christian artist Jeremy Camp is surprising his fans with a brand new single called 'When You Speak', which is the first single off his upcoming album.

"There is so much to say about this past year. I wrote this song in the middle of all the uncertainty happening. I was feeling overwhelmed, confused and not at peace," says Camp on his Facebook page, the day of the release.

The father of three released a book about marriage with his wife and former Christian artist Adie Camp during the pandemic.