Pastor Dave and Kathy Cottrell
Pastor Dave was born in Old Hazelton, BC. He grew up in the Kispiox Valley, and then finished high 
school in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.
He went to Sunday school from as far back as he can remember, beginning in Kispiox Village, where his mom sometimes played the piano and his dad was the Scout master.
His family farmed on the Skeena River just a short distance up from Kispiox. The first meat he remembers eating was canned moose and he ate a LOT of good healthy Skeena River salmon, thanks to friends from the village.
Dave was saved at a very young age, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit and the careful teaching and example of his mom and dad. Although he put his faith in his Creator and Saviour Jesus Christ from a very young age, he can remember a time when he wasn’t saved, a time when he had many terrifying dreams. He believes that it was God who took those dreams away.
But it was on the Sunshine Coast where he was finally scripturally baptized in the ocean by a small independent Baptist church that has since closed down.
It was at UBC where he met his future wife, then Kathy Thompson from Prince Rupert. It was not long after they met when the Lord clearly let him know that she was going to be his wife (well before she knew!).
They were married in 1978 in Prince Rupert and have four children and ten grandchildren. Their eldest child is married to a pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they have four little girls. Their eldest son and his wife live on the Sunshine Coast and have five children, their youngest son is single and lives in Vancouver, and their youngest daughter (the baby of the family) also lives with her husband on the Sunshine Coast and they have a daughter.
Dave was a self-employed heavy-duty mechanic when he was called to preach, right in the middle of a job on a logging sort on the Sunshine Coast! God made it very clear that it was He who was calling him to preach, and he took over Sunshine Community Baptist Church as senior pastor in 2008 and was soon ordained, as well.
Kathy Cottrell was born in Prince Rupert. She grew up in Prince Rupert, and eventually went off to UBC, where she met her future husband.
Her dad was a commercial fisherman and also worked at the now-closed pulp mill.
Her mom is from Telegraph Creek. Her mom’s parents were Julia (Vance) and Charlie Callbreath.
Kathy heard the gospel preached at a church she was going to by herself in Prince Rupert when she was a little girl. She is not sure if that is exactly when she first believed in Jesus Christ as her own Saviour, but she made sure she was trusting Him in her late teens.
She was finally scripturally baptized in Gibsons by Sunshine Community Baptist Church. She was baptized in a nice, heated, baptismal tank!
Pastor Dave and Kathy will be living in Dease Lake but also plan to fix up the property they have in Telegraph Creek. After many years of trying, they were able to buy the old Vance place, which was the house that Granny Julia grew up in. It is not habitable at the moment, but they do have a big tent and all the gear they need to live through the three seasons that are not winter!