In March 1997, their home church, Westview Christian Fellowship invited Barry to come on staff as an associate pastor in the Mennonite Brethren denomination. In June 1998, while at a men's retreat in North Bay, Ontario, he had a powerful encounter with the love of God as a Father that transformed his life. This new revelation of God's love was the catalyst that brought about a multi-media sermon illustration called 'Father's Love Letter'. This selection of 57 paraphrased Scripture statements was first presented in a PowerPoint format accompanied by Brian Doerksen's song 'Faithful Father' in January 1999 as a closing sermon illustration to Barry's message on knowing God as a Father.

In November 1999, a new website was created (www.FathersLoveLetter.com) to facilitate the free viewing of the Father's Love Letter video in a Flash video format. By January 2000, there were so many people simultaneously viewing the video online that it almost shut their Internet service provider down. In March 2000, Barry & Anneliese founded Father Heart Communications in order to facilitate the growth of this new ministry. Later that fall, their home church released Barry from pastoral ministry to share the message of the Father's love full time. By January 2001, the number of online video previews of Father's Love Letter had increased to nearly one million per month.

In October 2001, a new initiative called 'Father Loves New York' was created in response to a request from the wife of a rescue worker of 9/11 to share God's love with the hurting people of New York City. Thousands of Father's Love Letter resources were delivered to the local church & ministry community in New York City for free distribution at that time. The newly created website, www.FatherLovesNewYork.com became the inspiration for other cities to start their own citywide initiatives.

To read their statement of faith click here