About Al
Al Descheneau (known online as XtianNinja) comes to Hope Digital Missions with more than two decades of traditional ministry experience, including over 16 years serving as a full-time preaching pastor. Through those years, Al had a profound ache for the lost and lonely people behind closed doors who face social isolation and painful struggles, who would never call a pastor or step foot in a physical church. In 2020, God called him into full-time digital missions to serve the millions of neurodivergent, socially isolated, and mentally unwell individuals who live almost entirely online. It wasn't long before he realized the digital world was full of Christian creators who were untrained, unpastored, and spiritually starving. By 2024, he was appointed the first digital missionary of his denomination in Canada, had founded a creator network, and wrote pioneering specialized training materials designed specifically for this new mission field. In 2025 he was asked to give the opening talk at the world's largest gathering of digital missionaries at ReachConf.
Raised in a Christian home in the foothills of Alberta, Al’s faith took root early. During his time at Bible college, he rededicated his life to Christ, met his wife Anita, and stepped into his calling to ministry. His own ministry journey has included seasons of real church hurt which God has used to shape his empathy for wounded people online.
He holds a Bachelor of Religion in Christian Ministries and a Master of Divinity. He is currently a licenced pastor with the Alliance denomination and is also working with Power to Change Canada's Digital Strategies team to revolutionize digital community building.
He now dedicates his life to equipping digital missionaries to take God's love to the people no one sees. When he isn't pastoring creators, he loves variety streaming, reading (books and manga!), is an avid anime fan, and has a strange fascination with weird indie video games.