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He was born in Schoenau, Molotschna and died in Rabbit Lake, Saskatchewan. In 1923 he married Maria Goossen (1889-1934), daughter of estate owner Jacob Johann Goossen (1858-1920) and Aganetha Kaethler (1861-1946). Together they had two children Aganetha (1923-1989) who later married John Enns, and Helene (1926-) who married John L. Wieler. In 1934 Maria Goossen died and Friesen married her sister Helena Goossen (1895-1985). Together they has one child Margaret Lousie Friesen (1937-).

The Native Ministries was the new name proposed in 1972 for CMC's Mennonite Pioneer Mission (MPM), the mission begun by the Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Manitoba in 1948, that had come under the jurisdiction of the CMC Board of Missions during the 1960s. Before 1971 MPM shared an executive secretary with the Board of Missions, but after the restructuring of the Conference, it became an autonomous board with its own executive secretary. In 1974 MPM changed its name to Native Ministries.
The Conference, by the late 1980s and 1990s was increasingly involved in cross-cultural ministries, so that in 1994 it created the Ministries Commission, reflecting a broader scope of ministry, both with in Canada (including Native Ministies) and internationally, specifically in Europe. The inaugural meeting of the Ministries Commission was held on 30 September 1994.
After the Conference restructured, combining the Conference of Mennonites in Canada with the Mennonite Church, Native Ministries became a program of Mennonite Church Canada Witness Ministries.
Executive secretaries of Native Ministries were Menno Wiebe (1964-1973), Issac Froese (1974-1978), Malcolm Wenger (1979-1981), John and Vera Funk (1982-1989) and Walter Franz (1990-1999). Walter Franz also served as the first Executive Secretary of the Ministries Commission from 1994 till September 1, 1999 when CMC General Board appointed Walter as Native Ministries Program Director and Associate Executive Secretary of Ministries Commission and Robert J. (Jack) Suderman as the Executive Secretary for the Ministries Commission.

Maria was born to Peter and Aganetha Dick on March 16, 1879 in Niverville, Manitoba. She married Peter H. Klippenstein on July 10, 1900 in Blumenhof, Manitoba. She died on April 16, 1943 in Altona Manitoba

The Sterling Mennonite Fellowship in Winnipeg, Manitoba began services in 1951, and formally organized in 1958. The first building was occupied in 1956, with subsequent building programs in 1969 and 1981. Frank J. Dyck is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through urbanization from rural Manitoba.

The group was known as St. Vital Mennonite Mission until its formal organization in 1958. It was a city mission begun as a joint effort of the Sommerfelder, Rudnerweider, and Bergthaler churches and with outreach of students from Canadian Mennonite Bible College. Two fellowship groups which met in the homes of Corny Derksen and Jake Derksen decided to rent the Greendale hall in St. Vital for the purpose of establishing a mission church. Ministers D. D. Schulz and D. D. Klassen helped advise and organize the group in 1952.

The congregation met in the church building at 18 Sterling Avenue until the end of March 1970, when a new building was completed at St. Mary's Road and Marvin Place. Their name was then changed to "Sterling Mennonite Fellowship", which it retained when it moved to yet another new building in 1980 at 1008 Dakota Street at Nova Vista Drive.

The language of worship is English and German; the transition from German occurred in the 1950s.

The leaders of the congregation were: Henry T. Klassen (1958-1963), Rev. Jacob W. Schmidt (1963-1968), Rev. David Letkemann (1968-1969), Rev. John F. Wiebe (1969-1973), Helmut Rauser (1975-1976), Gary Loewen (1977-1978), Don MacBurney (1979-1980), Gary Martens (1979-1984), Erwin Wiebe (1984-1986), and Norm Voth (1988-2000), John B. Wiebe (2001-2007), Ed Cornelson (2007-2009), Terry Goertzen (2009-2014), and Moses Falco (2015-).

The Altona Mennonite Church was an outgrowth of the Altona Bergthaler Mennonite Church. That congregation had space needs and there was a group which wanted more English language services. So in 1962 a new congregation was formed with 22 charter members. Its mission was to reach out to the English-speaking people of Altona and the surrounding area. The congregation met in rented facilities. In 1964 it completed its own meeting house.

The Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference was formed on July 1, 1959 from the Rudnerweider Mennonite Church, which had been organized in 1937 as a result of division from the Sommerfeld Mennonite church over its desire for renewal. The Rudnerweider Mennonite Church was led by four ministers, William H. Falk (1892-1976), Peter S. Zacharias (1893-1957), Gerhard J. Froese (1901-1947), and Isaac A. Hoeppner (1884-1955). These four had been inspired by the revival meetings held by Isaac P. Friesen in Reinfeld, Manitoba in 1934.

In total 1100 adult members left the Sommerfeld Mennonite church to become a part of the Rudnerweider Mennonite Church. William Falk was elected as Bishop on January 8, 1937. Between February and May of 1937 seven ministers were elected. They included: Cornelius G. Stoesz from Rudnerweide, Peter D. Berg from Schoenthal, Jacob H. Friesen from Neubergthal, Isaac P. F. Friesen from Rosenbach, Isaac J. Fehr from Waldheim, Jacob E. Nickel from Reinland, and Jacob P. Bergen from Kronsweide.

The church spread to western Manitoba, to the Interlake region of Manitoba, to Saskatchewan, Ontario, Texas, Belize, Bolivia, and Mexico.
A shift to more decentralized leadership and more local congregational autonomy led to the formation of the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference (EMMC) in 1959 with annual conventions and various boards which would continue to tie the various local congregations together. This was led by the new bishop J.H. Friesen who was ordained in 1955.

The church / conference kept its members informed through publications such as the Jugendtag, Der Leitstern, and the EMMC Recorder. The church also supported schools in Manitoba such as Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) in Gretna, Elim Bible School in Altona and Steinbach Bible Institute (SBI). The Aylmer Bible School in Ontario was established in 1976 by the church. In 1957 a radio ministry was begun and later the conference also ran a summer daily vacation Bible School (DVBS) for its youth. Missions to Northern Manitoba and Latin America were undertaken by the conference in addition to sending its people to serve under other Mennonite agencies.

The Rudnerweider church was concerned with the secular influence of radio broadcasts and therefore was an early supporter of Radio CFAM which was founded in Altona, Manitoba in 1957. It was seen as an alternative radio station that promoted wholesome values. The radio station offered air time to the church. I.P.F. Friesen, Edwin Klippenstein, and G.H. Penner served as the radio committee and on March 1957, the High German program Die Evangelishe Botshaft was aired with Bishop Wilhelm H. Falk as speaker. In 2008 the program was still on the air in the Low German language.

In 1990 the adult church membership was 3,470 in 24 independent congregations and nine mission stations. The denominational offices are in Winnipeg.

The conference pastors that have given leadership were Henry Dueck (1986-), Jack Heppner and Allen Kehler.

The Gospel Message was a project of the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Church radio committee which began in 1957. In 1964 radio responsibility was given to the EMMC Board of Education and Publication. In 1961 the program partnered with a group of men in Saskatchewan from various backgrounds who were promoting the evangelistic services held by John D. Friesen. Recording was done in Saskatoon, SK. At that time the program switched from High German to Low German. This partnering proved to be a successful move. The program was now heard in BC to Manitoba and was given full endorsement by the EMMC in 1966. After John D. Friesen ended his ministry, Ed Martens took over as the speaker. This program has broadcast in Canada, United States and South America.

The Christian Heritage Library Collection was begun by David and Trudy Schellenberg of Winkler. Since they saw their collection of sermons by Mennonite bishops and ministers as a resource to the community, they chose the term "library" as part of the name. With the transfer of the collection to the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg in 1997, the Christian Heritage Library as a resource to the Winkler area ceased to exist.

The Board of Christian Service was created in 1954 as an amalgamation of committees including Dienstkomitee (Service Committtee), Komittee fuer Armenpflege (Committee for the Care of the Poor), and Komitee fuer Nothlife (Mennonite Central Relief Committee). It merged into the Congregational Resources Board in 1971.