Know the EKB World Team
Get to know the EKB Team Up Close and Personal. Learn about them, their journey, their passion serving the God and the people of God.
Michael Durnin
Co-Founder
Pastor Mike Durnin has been in the mission field for the last 20+ years. For many years he was the Dental director for Alternative Missions. His responsibilities included providing dental care for remote villages in Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras. He was also responsible for putting together short-term mission teams from church bodies throughout the country to typically go for two weeks, providing medical and dental care to remote villages.
In 2012 this role was interrupted in order to help a close relative’s family who were in crisis, taking custody of 3 children for a year while healing took place. By 2015 Mike and Deb knew that they were being called back into the mission field.
On a vacation trip God called them very clearly to service in the Philippines. Mike thinking he would be doing dental surgery was soon led down a new path. He and Deb assisted their good friends Jon Porter and his wife Jan, as they started teaching kids to play ukulele. Jon and Jan had been neighbors and in the Durnin’s bible study in Idaho for many years. Through a series of God interventions they were both called to join Mike and Deb in the Philippines. These four soon began to develop relationships with Pastors from many different denominations.
Mike was asked to start a Bible study with these pastors where he began to share the message of Ephesians 4 which calls for the unification of churches into the mature full mature Body of Christ. EKB Ministries was born. Covid then shut the world down in 2020. Unable to return to the Philippines Mike was challenged to complete his Pastoral training which he did in 2024.
Finally able to return, Mike has met with over 100 pastors now, who are excited that through EKB World Ministries, God may provide much needed resources in the rural church communities. Mike is returning to full time ministry in the Philippines in the summer of 2025.
Deborah Durnin
Co-Founder
Growing up Deb did not have a vision for missions and at one point said she would send missionaries but could never do that. In 2002 all of that began to change as God continued to move in her life in ways she could never imagine. In 2004 she married Mike Durnin, and they began a blended family life. Deb is trusting that God will lead her on many great adventures to come.
In 2005 Deb and Mike began working with Alternative Missions in Honduras, taking family with them on one of their trips. Being able to teach their girls about giving back, life in 3rd world countries, and happiness without material possessions was an important gift to them. Through these trips, the joy that come from serving others began to shape a new direction for the Durnin’s.
In 2015 Mike and Deb had an opportunity to travel to the Philippines for what they thought would be a vacation. One afternoon while touring a property that was for sale, Deb felt someone come up behind her and tell her “Welcome Home”. With no human presence around her, it was in this moment she knew clearly that their next mission project would be in the Philippines.
Deb and Mike have a heart for pastors and wanted to build a retreat/respite for pastors to come and rest. To have a place for pastors to be renewed and encouraged to continue in their own life calling. As the Durnin’s started to build they invited Jan and Jon Porter, their neighbors and friends in north Idaho, to oversee the building project. Jon has a passion to teach kids how to play the ukulele to share the message of God in a way that only music can connect. To date the Porter’s have taught over 1800 kids how to play ukulele and have had 500 of them preforming on stage for a Jesus Reigns event.
In 2024 Deb started Warrior Training School, which is a 4-year discipleship program. For the 2025 school year she was invited to join the WTS leadership team and become their first Pastor in Training. In addition ,she has become a certified facilitator for the Prepare and Enrich Pre-Marriage and Marriage assessment program. Deb is excited to see where God will guide her next.
Barb Myklebust
Member
My name is Barb Myklebust. My husband Rand, and I are fairly new to EKB ministries. God brought Mike and Deb Durnin into our lives in 2020. We became neighbors and good friends, and recently we joined them on our first trip to the Philippines.
I have been involved in some sort of ministry from children, youth or women for many years. My husband Rand and I have been on other mission trips to Mexico and Alaska. We have always been blessed by these experiences, so the opportunity to go to the Philippines was pretty exciting.
One thing I know for sure is that I am a sinner saved by Grace. I often say that I graduated from the school of hard knocks with honors. I was a single mom of two incredible boys for about 20 years. I worked a lot of jobs so there wasn't much time for a formal education. I worked very hard trying to atone for my sins. When I was finally ready to stop striving and surrendered to God, I heard Him say, "now you are ready to see what I've been saving for you". Soon after, I met a godly man who was the answer to my prayers that I didn't even know I had! God knew exactly what and who I needed.
We have three children, and two daughters-in-law that we love as much as our own. So far, we have been blessed with five of the best grandkids ever. I say all this because sometimes I think people feel we need to be perfect and have it all together or have life all figured out to be a missionary or a leader in a church. That's not true. Life is often messy, but the beauty of the gospel is the power of Christ at work in us. When we surrender our will to His, he takes our messy mistakes and poor choices and transforms them into something He uses for our good and his glory. For that and so much more, I give him thanks and praise.
I don't know at this point exactly how he plans to use me in EKB ministries, but I know that all I have to do is make myself available, and he will equip me with what I need. I have a heart for single moms, having been one myself. I have a passion for children to know at an early age how much Jesus loves them and wants a relationship with them. The great commission in Matthew 28 wasn't just to his 11 faithful disciples. It applies to us all. "so that all may know". We have met some wonderful people in the Philippines who have become like family. I'm excited to see where God leads EKB ministries in the future. If you feel a nudge to partner with us, please check out the website. Most of all pray that we remain faithful to God's call on our lives. God bless you.
Jon Porter
Member
I'm an American, a missionary in the Philippines residing on the remote island of Tablas. My purpose here is to spread the Gospel of Jesus through the use of music, prayer, and His Word to bring the Lord's Gospel to young people throughout the Philippines. I started doing missionary work 11 years ago with my wife Janice.
The lord kept placing a thought in my mind over and over again, "You are to teach ukulele for Jesus somewhere in the world. The messages would keep coming as I listened to God's Word through a Bible app on my phone. I spent three to four hours a day in the Word. Then, a very strange thing happened. I was in the hospital the day before open heart surgery. I was playing "How Great Thou Art" on my ukulele for people at the hospital when Dr Mike Durnin, a personal friend, walked into my room and asked Jan and I if we would like to go and help with a project in the Philippines. Amazing.
We said yes, and six months later, the day I was released by doctors to travel, I joined Mike and his wife Deb on a flight to the Philippines. Jan followed later. And so the adventure began. Jan and I sold everything except a small 12 foot trailer of household items, books, and memories to fund our ministry. We even sold our home in order to have funds to purchase 800 ukuleles over time and to pay for our travel expenses. We taught about 1800 young people Christian music using ukuleles and created outreach teams to spread the Word with music to other young people. We taught young people to participate in ministry. Joy upon joy.
We worked through many different Christ centered churches. We stood alongside pastors to encourage young people to grow in life through Jesus. I am a self taught musician. I played the guitar for 40 years before switching to the ukulele because it was so portable, and easy to take wherever I would go. It turns out that I could carry 40 ukuleles on the back of a 150cc motorcycle into the mountains to rural villages or carry as many as a hundred ukuleles by outrigger canoes called bangkas to remote villages accessible only by travel using these little boats.
I was educated in chemistry, mathematics, and marine biology. But my real education began during college when I discovered the Lord or maybe it is more accurate to say that He introduced Himself to me. While in the United States I was able to participate in ministries including becoming a commissioned minister. I am not a spring chicken anymore and I have over 30 years of Bible study. Our Lord and Savior is my life and in Him I am literally growing younger and younger. My spirit soars with each child that decides to become a disciple of Christ. I am deeply thankful to be one of the directors of EKB World Ministries, which is helping me to increase my dedication to bringing the Gospel to more and more people and to facilitate discipleship and growth in the body Christ to His Glory and our joy! I can't imagine any other life. God bless you all.
Pao Gumba
Member
Hello. I am Pao Gumba. I'm a musician from Mindanao. I got interested in playing the ukulele way back in 2010 and got the opportunity to work in an ukulele shop in 2013. From there, I became an Ukulele instructor, I mostly teach children. With my line of work, I met wonderful people in all walks of life. I met people who gave me opportunities to be more involved in the ukulele scenes and had the opportunity to play in various festivals: local and international. I met Jon and Jan Porter in the ukulele shop where I worked. They bought ukuleles and shared their stories about the children they were teaching in Romblon Province. From there, they shared their mission, giving children the opportunity to enjoy music while worshiping the Lord. I honestly rarely played Christian songs yet was captivated on how they are so passionate about their mission. Jon and Jan invited me to participate in Romblon's 1st Christian Ukulele Festival. I am really grateful to be part of it.
I reconnected with Jan and Jon after Covid. They asked me if I would be interested in being part of EKB. At first, I was hesitant, not because I wasn't interested in the mission but because I got scared that I may not meet the expectations.
God is really good because when Covid hit I always thought of quitting music, I felt like music was really not meant for me but when I became part of EKB Ministry and really experienced it first-hand this last April. It gave me clarity of my essence being a musician.
God has a way of directing people into your life to let you realize what He has planned for you. He is there to give you a sense of direction when you thought you reached a dead end.
Thank you Jon, Jan, Deb, Mike, Barb and Rand for these opportunities and for welcoming me in EKB. I am humbled by the experience. God's love never fails to amaze me. God Bless Everyone.
Rand Myklebust
Member
Hi, my name is Rand Myklebust, and along with my wife, Barb, we are the newest members of EKB World Ministries’ board of directors. Mike and Deb Durnin invited us to join during a recent trip to the Philippines, and we’re thrilled to be part of this team.
I grew up in the agricultural industry on our family farm, where we raised wheat, barley, oats, peas, lentils, and cattle for 82 years. We also ran a family business of men’s and women’s clothing stores.
I’m a nationally board-certified counselor with 35 years of experience. While in graduate school, I met and became close friends with Dr. Henry Brandt, considered the father of modern Christian counseling. Together, we traveled as Christian counselors for Unevangelized Field Missions to Haiti and the Caribbean and spoke at engagements across the US. These experiences opened a new area of ministry for me. Currently, I provide counseling services in the Inland Northwest, covering Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, and offer virtual counseling as a certified facilitator for Prepare and Enrich, alongside Barb, who is also a certified facilitator.
Barb and I have three grown children—two sons and a daughter—two wonderful daughters-in-law, and five grandkids, whom we love spending time with. In my free time, I enjoy vintage cars and trucks.
We’re excited to see what the Lord has in store for this next chapter and are especially inspired by EKB’s commitment to global outreach. We ask for your prayers for direction and guidance as this remarkable ministry unfolds. God bless each of you!
