Glory in the Face

By Mike Wilkins

The Face of Christ and the Strength to Face Anything

About the Author

Mike Wilkins was born in 1954, in Kingston, Ontario, but did most of his growing up 50 miles along the St. Lawrence River in the pretty little city of Brockville. 

In 1973, Mike met his future wife, Debbie Street, when they were both 18 years old. What she liked about him was his quick wit, his thick blonde hair, his serious commitment to Christ, and his absolute disinterest in ever becoming a pastor. What Mike liked about her was basically everything.

Four years later, the month of May was big for Mike and Deb. In four short weeks, they graduated from Queen’s University; Mike started a full-time job at a publisher of children’s books—and they married each other.

Life has a way of changing a man; and God has many ways, “ Mike writes. This explains why, in 1984, with two young kids—and hopes of a third one some day—Mike and Deb moved to London, Ontario, where Mike became the pastor of West London Alliance Church. For the 31 busy years he continued his ministry, Deb was a stay-at-home mom for Jessica, Ben and Joanna, then also their homeschool teacher, and then an employee of Compassion Canada, where (at the time of this writing) she still works happily.

While he was a healthy adult, Mike’s hobbies—in addition to child-raising­—were long-distance running, canoe-tripping, reading (and re-reading) old books, and writing and directing plays that the church was pretty well forced to stage.