Kent and Karen Bandy

Directors of Ellel Ministries Canada (Ontario)

Kent and Karen are the directors of Derbyshire Downs, the Ellel Ministries centre in Westport, Ontario, Canada.

After a period working in industry, Kent stopped resisting God’s call on his life, which he already knew was to set captives free! A degree in theology led to full-time pastoral ministry in 1994. There he discovered that God’s people were desperately struggling but he couldn’t help them.

He began to cry out to the Lord for real keys to help real people. An Ellel conference in 1998 was a time of personal breakthrough and he and his wife Karen soon invited Ellel Ministries teachers to hold a Modular school at his church (2001-2). Not only did the people benefit, but Kent himself was changed. Old chains began to be broken; new faith and confidence became so evident that people asked "what happened to you? You look and lead differently!"

In May 2005, Kent and Karen spoke out what God had put in their hearts regarding establishing a place for healing and restoration. It seemed like a huge dream, but when Ellel Ministries found the property called Derbyshire Downs later in 2005, Kent says that "something exploded inside of me" as the Lord confirmed that He was doing a new thing.

After training further on the NETS course in 2006, Kent joined Ellel Ministries and took on the leadership of Derbyshire Downs. "Since then" he says, "we have never been so stretched or refined. The challenges we have faced have been unbelievable. But our Father in heaven has shown himself to be so much greater than any challenge. We’ve never been so blessed or known we were so loved."

Kent and Karen have 3 children. They love the outdoors, including playing on the water Canadian style - frozen or thawed.