Evangel (Christmas 2008)

CHRISTMAS 2008
EVANGEL
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
The Rest of God
By George Graffunder
M
an, am I ever tired!” “I am
so busy!” “If only there were
more hours in the day, then I could get
everything done!” “I need a break!”
If you are like me, you find yourself
making comments like these every day.
The busyness of life forces us to race
through each moment, and we seldom
find time to stop and give thanks for the
many blessings that God grants us every
day.
At a recent conference I attended,
one of the main sessions was titled, “The
Rest of God”, by Mark Buchanan. I was
eager to hear what Mr. Buchanan had
to say because often, by the end of the
day, I drop into bed exhausted and sleep
quickly overtakes me. Who has time to
sit and think, to meditate, and to devote
time to pray? Living in a household with
five children makes life full and I need to
learn how to find the time I
need for rest. The most
important thing I learned
George Graffunder (BRE ‘90) has served as a Trustee of ABC (1999-2007).
He has served as Associate Minister of Oak Park Church of Christ, as a teacher
in Africa, and since 1997, as a teacher at Trinity Christian School where he
currently also serves as Interim Vice Principal. He is married to Charlene (nee
Murray) and they have five children: Mariah (14), Tim (6), Theo (4), Alex (3)
and Will (1). The Graffunders attend Oak Park Church of Christ.
from the session was the value of the
Sabbath. We need the Sabbath, not in
some legalistic, ritualistic chore or rule
to be followed, but as a way to give time
to the things that are most important.
Time for God. Time for family. Time for
friends.
I fear that at times we are passing on
to our children our own rapid way of life
and we are teaching them that we must
do in order to be valuable or significant.
More and more, our
children’s experience
is doing all the
wonderful activities that are available to
them in Calgary. I feel that it is time to
start instructing our children that they
are valuable and significant because of
who they are and whose they are. Words
will not be enough to clearly teach this
principle; we must back it up with our
own example. We need to slow down and
spend time with those closest to us. Take
an afternoon off and go for a walk with
your kids through a local park. Spend
time playing a game together. Work on
a project together. Celebrate a Sabbath
together!
Another busy school year has started,
with all the homework, music lessons,
sports games, etc. that go with it. Take
some time this week to rest in God and
enjoy a Sabbath!
Recommended Reading:
The Rest of God, Mark Buchanan
Editorial…2
Faculty Profile • Memorials…3
An Open Letter…4
Keeping
PACEC
• OLLEGE
Evening Courses • Summer Institute of TESOL…6
ALBERTA
BIBLE
Upcoming Events…5
Students In Ministry • Emerge…7
Alumni News…8
EDITORIAL
Giving Love a Chance
By Ron Fraser, President
I
“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
(1 Cor 8:1)
‘ve been thinking a lot about
this truth over the last month,
reflecting on the life of Steve Rehn (BRE,
International Studies, 1997, ABC). Steve
spent the last decade in literacy work,
first a year in Thailand, before Africa
called. For about six years he and Nicki
taught people how to read in Côte d’Ivore
with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and for the last two summers
he multiplied himself by teaching Africans to teach Africans
to read. He just completed a Masters of Arts in Language and
Literacy at Trinity Western in April, 2008.
Steve wasn’t a great student at ABC as far as grades were
concerned, though he received an award posthumously for his
work at Trinity, proving once again that learning that makes
a difference is premised on a sense of call, an openness to
what means most before us. Paulo Freire, the great Brazilian
educator, understood that learning is not about knowledge
handed down, but a relationship with who is beside us,
regardless of the conditions of life. Freire observed that “an
educator has to live in the deep significance of Easter.” In terms
of openness, Steve shone!
How does openness arrive in our lives so that we learn in
a way that actually serves and transforms the world? We can
be open to interesting ideas, or be enthralled with amazing
phenomena or facts, or get all impressed about ‘A’s on an exam.
It’s not that ignorance is a virtue. The problem is that if we
place knowledge at the center of relationships, it leaves them
in ashes, and us “puffy.” We’ve all met “M/M Right.” Perhaps
we’ve even experienced their cruelty. Or even worse, had our
world shut down, or those of children or students, limited to
the size of an imagination constructed of one fearful ego.
What makes us loving? I think a beautiful clue was in a
blog written a few weeks before Steve’s life was cut short at 33
years, in September, 2008. He confided, “The road calls me…”
Steve’s footprints in Africa, we can imagine because imagination
is possible!…will impact literally thousands of people for
generations. It will happen because the clear call of Christ to
a young man was heard, before whom Steve obviously stood
open, available, and joyfully obedient.
Being “open” to a desperate world like Steve was, and Jesus
before him, so it turns out, doesn’t have so much to do with
knowing more so as to control the world in my conceit, or
profit from it in my ambition, but about regarding where and
how and why and who-I-am-in-relation. Jesus saw the world,
and it called Him! Out of the obedience of love, He took “the
form of a servant,” and became “obedient to death, even death
on a cross!” (Phil. 2:5ff)
Christian higher education has been heavily influenced
by Western understandings of knowledge. The great challenge
facing it, is the creation of space where openness to God and
people are live possibilities, where we dwell each day like Steve
in the deep significance of Easter, where beyond our own
comfort and grasping, are incredible possibilities of healing and
redemption this day. Love gives permission to such imagination.
Sometimes that will mean telling knowledge where to get
off, so that love has a chance!
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
CAMPUS NEWS
By Val Tompkins, MA Counselling Psychology
“Their Works
Shall Follow Them…”
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how
to speak a word in season to him that is weary.” (Isaiah 50:4)
Memorials Received September 4 through
November 17, 2008
FACULTY PROFILE
I was asked by ABC to develop and
teach a Crisis Counselling course for the
PACE program. Later I was approached
to teach several Counselling Courses for
ABC’s regular program. I have a passion
for this challenge because I believe
Counselling Courses better equip God’s
people to minister into the lives of the
hurting.
As a counsellor in private practice I
am often asked how I can hear on such
a regular basis the pain of others. The
answer is perhaps best summed up in a
quote from The Curator’s Awakening by
George McDonald:
Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from
a clear sky and sometimes into the life of a
peaceful individual, without warning of
gathered storm, something terrible will fall.
And from that moment everything is changed.
That life is no more what it was. Better it
ought to be, worse it may be. The result
depends on the life itself and its response to
the invading storm of trouble. Forever after,
its spiritual weather is altered. But for the
one who believes in God, such rending and
frightful catastrophes never come but where
they are turned around for good in his own
life and in other lives he touches”.
It is rewarding to walk beside and
encourage someone through their
personal storm. It is important that
an effective ‘people helper’, have the
necessary specific skills, knowledge, and
insights needed to effectively accomplish
the goals of growth and restoration.
The Bible tells us the importance of
gaining wisdom and knowledge. It is also
important to have the heart, compassion,
and commitment to reach out to the
hurting. On one of our counselling
office walls, that displays the degrees and
‘knowledge’ accomplishments, we have
these words:
And What Is As Important as Knowledge, asked the Mind?
Caring and Seeing With The Heart, Answered the Soul.
As Christians filled with the Spirit
of the Living God we are to have agape
love and compassion. What better ‘people
helper’ could there possibly be than
someone who is led by the Spirit of the
Living God and who is also equipped
with the knowledge and skills to
effectively work with the hurting?
RECENT MEMORIALS
In Memory of…Gifts Received from…
Eileen Chapman Ethel Dunn Steve Rehn Marie Rempel Jean Westwood
Edna Hunt
Agnes Hickle
Edna Hunt
Blanche Mulligan
Jock & Eileen Nelson
Rick & Linn Rehn
Jean Westwood
Bill Balmer
Bertha Chugg
Dave & Betty Friesen
Edna Hunt
Blanche Mulligan
Bob & June Neufeld
Ed Phillips
A QUARTERLY NEWS AND VIEWS
PUBLICATION OF
635 Northmount Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta T2K 3J6 CANADA
Phone (403) 282-2994 Fax (403) 282-3084
E–mail: inquiries@abc–ca.org
Web Site: http://www.abc–ca.org
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICES
Debi White ...........................................Chair
Bruce Scruggs ............................... Vice–Chair
Cam Pelham.................... Secretary / Treasurer
Ron Fraser........... President / Executive Director
Alberta Bible College is a member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. We uphold
their standards of financial accountability. Audited
financial statements are available upon request. All
donations are used for the purpose stated by the
donor in Board recognized and approved programs
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do not buy or sell mailing list information. If you have
any questions on this, or any other matter, please
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Students in the Introduction to Counselling Course practising counselling skills.
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
Successor to Ron Fraser Sought
An Open Letter
Dear friends and supporters of Alberta Bible College,
As some of you will be aware, I have tendered my resignation as President of Alberta Bible College, effective the end of the
current fiscal year, July 31, 2009. This decision comes with a lot of prayer and soul-searching, but the time seems right.
Max DePree observes that “the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, the last is to say thank you. In between the
leader’s primary task is to be a servant and a debtor.” As twenty-five years of ABC executive leadership draws to a close, I am
leaving with deep satisfaction as to how the reality of ABC continues to be redefined, particularly in light of the deepest reality
that transcends her, the clear mandate of our Lord to give our lives in love and service. I am also leaving this role with a sense
of deep joy in God’s faithfulness in using what his gifts and abilities have enabled. And I am leaving with a profound sense
of thanksgiving for the faithful people who continue to share in this ministry, donors, intercessors, teachers, administrators,
support staff, and volunteers who continue to serve faithfully and fruitfully. I am particularly grateful to have served with a
Board that has operated in such a visionary, responsible, yet colleaguial way. I feel profoundly privileged.
But the satisfactions that inform gratitude are balanced by the dissatisfactions that hopefully inform hope and love. There is so
much more that ABC can be, so much more influence for God’s rule yet to unfold. The vision that brought ABC into being was
the spreading of the Good news of God’s loving rule on earth. Jesus had started that with 12. And until he returns, in whatever
form it takes, if we are faithful, the equipping of people to serve and witness for him and his Way remains. While stories of what
our graduates are doing “lights my fire,” I have every confidence that the best stories, and more of them, are yet to come.
This is an opportune time for a transition in leadership to occur. Pragmatically, no one’s back is against the wall.
Financially, while without a mortgage, we are as needy as ever, perhaps even more so. Missionally, things continue to move
in positive directions, marked by the peer reviews of accreditation and the internal disciplines of sound planning. There is an
outstanding and innovative staff is in place. We have become a learning organization, especially about learning itself, so critical
to equipping people to love and serve. Our programs are solid and being strengthened. Our mission has incredible vitality,
evidenced in our ability to attract gifted students to programs whose primary promise is the call to costly discipleship. Too,
personally, I believe my health would limit the kind of commitment required for the next seven– to ten–year growth cycle of
ABC.
I’ve been asked why I am stepping away from executive leadership after having just completed a doctorate in education
from the University of Alberta. It is a fair question with a simple answer: my studies have incited an even deeper passion for
what goes on in learning environments, and especially Christian ones. Are their connections between theological education
and the largest Christian recession in the Western world since the Islamic advance in the 8th century? What are they? how can
we participate in the emerging church, where evangelical faith can no longer be isolated from global issues around the margins
(poverty, the environment, etc.)? What is the shape of learning when the outcome is not so much a degree, but “missional
living?” Seeking understanding around such issues are best found in the presence of young leaders who themselves are seeking
to trust and obey a Living Lord, not simply understand abstractions that serve to disconnect and alienate. I eagerly anticipate
being more with students, along with reflection and writing opportunities around these issues. I would like also to continue in
my role as Director of Learning Services, or in such other roles as the next President will find useful.
The Board, always anticipating, has developed a Succession Plan. A part of it includes the establishment of two
committees, one a “Profile Committee,” to establish the kinds of gifts and abilities that will be required as the College moves
forward. The second is a “Search Committee.” The hope is that a profile of the new President will be in place by January, and
that the Search Committee might present a recommendation of a successor to the Board’s Semi-Annual Meeting in late April.
The new President will hopefully be in place by Summer, 2009.
On behalf of the Board, an invitation to pray is extended to all friends of ABC. This is a critical moment our life, one
which needs “wisdom from above,” God’s protection and guidance, and above all God’s provision of a leader in things yet
unimagined.
As always I’m grateful to an understanding family, especially the love of my life, Monelle, whose understanding of the
nature of ministry, including her support and participation in her own right, has made her a genuine ministry partner. It’s hard
to imagine life and ministry without her encouragement and amazing gift of wisdom, graciously offered.
Sincerely in him,
Ron A Fraser
4
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
Considering Thomas Campbell’s “Declaration and Address,”
1809 to 2009
– Dr. Thomas H. Olbricht
Response, Dr. Alan Jones, Grande Prairie Church of Christ
Friday, April 3, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Alberta Bible College
PROPOSITION ONE: That the Church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally,
and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ
and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures, and that manifest the same by
their tempers and conduct, and of none else as one can be truly and properly called Christians.
– Thomas Campbell, Declaration and Address, 1809
What can a document written in the early 1800s by a Presbyterian Calvinist
from Northern Ireland, transplanted to the western Pennsylvania and Virginia
frontier, say to 21st-century Christians? Dr. Thomas H. Olbricht frames his answer
by focusing on Thomas Campbell’s stated purpose for the Declaration and Address:
“to reconcile and unite men to God, and to each other, in truth and love, to the
glory of God, and their own present and eternal good.” In response, Dr. Alan Jones
drills down as to the significance for western Canadian Christians.
Dr. Olbricht pursued a long, academic career complemented by Christian
service as a preacher, deacon, and elder. He holds advanced degrees in rhetoric
(Ph.D., Iowa) and theology (S.T.B., Harvard). Tom served as professor at Harding
University, the University of Dubuque, Pennsylvania State University, Abilene
Christian University, and Pepperdine University where he capped his academic
career as Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Religion Division,
designated professor emeritus upon retirement. Dr. Olbricht served as editor of several
periodicals, including Restoration Quarterly (1973-1987), continuing on its editorial
board. Among his many publications are He Loves Forever (College Press, 2000),
His Love Compels (College Press, 2005), and his co-editing of The Quest for Christian
Unity, Peace, and Purity in Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address (2000).
Tom is intensely devoted to the strengthening of the local church, making
himself available to speak and to preach. Tom and Dorothy, his wife, make their home
in South Berwick, Maine. They are parents to five and grandparents to twelve.
RE
G
NO IST
W ER
!
A Restoration Movement for the
21st century:
Canadian Church
Planting Summit
January 7-9, 2009
at Alberta Bible College
“Coaching that Counts!”
Marj Busse, Full Spectrum Coaching
For anyone interested in planting new
churches or re-booting existing ones! Come,
be encouraged by unfolding developments
in church planting across Canada. Learn the
basic skills of one of the most powerful skills
in leadership development being used today,
coaching, from one of the best facilitators in
Canada. Embrace the future of Christian
witness in Canadian culture as it emerges in
new ways of planting local bodies!
REGISTRATION
Early Bird: By December 15, 2008
$60/person • $100/couple • $30 Student
Regular: After December 15, 2008
$80/person • $130/couple • $45 Student
Call 403-282-2994 or
email: [email protected]
Energizing Small Church
Network Conference
Speaker: David Roadcup
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The majority of Protestant Churches
in North America have 100 or fewer
members. Yet they represent powerful
resources for the Kingdom as they are
energized and engaged in the ministry
they are called to, wherever they are. The
ESCN Conferences across North America
www.escnetwork.com are designed to
contribute to that power of influence. The
Energizing Small Church Network is a
ministry of Standard Publishing.
ABC is pleased to host this conference
on behalf of supporting congregations
in Western Canada, Montana, and
Northern Idaho. There will be workshops
on practical ministry issues, a great
speaker, and opportunities to connect
with friends and strangers.
Cost is $49/person or $10/student
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
Keeping PACE
PACE is ABC’s “Professional Adult Career Education” Degree
Completion Program.
God-Powered Currency
T
he word
‘currency’
usually brings to
mind coins and bills,
the basic unit used
for saving, spending,
and investing or
just about any other
transaction you can
imagine. There is,
however, another
kind of ‘currency’ that I would like to draw
to your attention.
A friend recently told me how she
had been deeply impacted by a thank you
card she had received. It was a simple
expression of gratitude along with words
Evening
By Jane Ranshaw Acting Manager, PACE
of encouragement sent by a grateful college
student on a handmade card. It had arrived,
by God’s timing, at just the right moment to
cheer and uplift my friend at a particularly
low time in her life. This is event describes
‘social currency’. In this kind of transaction
the college student expended the time and
effort to compose a message and write it
on a card. She tracked down my friend’s
address, purchased a stamp, and walked to a
mailbox to mail the card. Her intent was to
acknowledge a gift, but God used her efforts
to impact another’s life.
Social currency is, “the intangible value
earned from the exchange of positive human
interactions.” In the secular world people
are noticing that those who have and use
Co rses
offered at
Alberta Bible College
JANUARY – APRIL 2009
REGULAR PROGRAM
Course Dates
Day
Course Title
Jan 5 – Apr 20
Monday
Pastoral Epistles
Jan 7 – Apr 22
Wednesday
Building Community
The above 3-credit courses are offered at Alberta Bible College. Class time is 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. starting
the week of January 5. Cost of each course is $420 plus textbooks (for credit) or $247.50 plus textbooks
(for audit). Please call the College at 282-2994 to register or for more information.
PACE Degree Completion Program
Course Dates
Day
Course Title
Jan 6 – Feb 3
Tuesdays
Interpreting and Applying the Bible
Jan 6 – Feb 3
Tuesdays
Christian Theology
Jan 7 – Feb 4
Wednesdays
Hebrew Wisdom Literature & Poetry
Feb 17 – Mar 17
Tuesdays
Spiritual Leadership
Feb 17 – Mar 17
Tuesdays
Biblical Foundations of Counselling
Feb 17 – Mar 17
Tuesdays
Theology of Missions
Feb 17 – Mar 17
Tuesdays
Crisis Counselling
Feb 18 – Mar 18
Wednesdays
Christian History
The above 3-credit courses are being offered from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Each course runs five weeks but
registration must happen one to two weeks prior to the start of the class, as there is preparation for the
first class. Cost of each course is $650 (includes books and student fees). Please call the PACE Office
265-7223 to register or for more information.
social currency are the ones who have the
most influence and power to make change
happen. Nancy Dailey, Ph.D. and Kelly
O’Brien write, “People with social currency
can move faster and be more effective
because they have established trusted
relationships. It’s these relationships that
move others to change, to try new things, to
explore possibilities.”
In I Corinthians 12 Paul explains
how the Holy Spirit distributes heavenly
‘social currency’, supernatural gifts, which
we’re expected to spend on building up
the Kingdom of God. “Now all of you
together are Christ’s body and each one
of you is a separate and necessary part of
it.” (I Cor 12:27) If we invest ourselves as
God intended, the world will be impacted
for change through the power of the Holy
Spirit.
What are your gifts? What do you have
inside you to spend, to invest, to form the
basic unit of value with which to transact
God’s business here on earth? Many PACE
students come because they want to discover
their Spiritual Gifts. Many already know.
They feel God’s call to study, to hone their
gifts and purposefully grow in service and
witness for Christ. Wherever you are on you
spiritual journey, by placing your heavenly
‘social currency’ in God’s hands, He can use
you to impact people’s lives. Call us to find
out how the PACE program can help you tap
into that transformational experience.
Alberta Bible College’s
Summer Institute of TESOL
An intensive program designed to
facilitate excellence in Teaching English
to Speakers of Other Languages from a
missional perspective. At the successful
completion of the program students with
a recognized undergraduate degree
from ABC or elsewhere, qualify for TESL
Canada Level 1 Certification.
May 4 – 29, 2009
At Alberta Bible College
Cost: $2,500
For more information, contact
[email protected]
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
STUDENTS IN MINISTRY
Beyond the Classroom
By Sandra Osborne, Director of Student Services
ABC students do much more than attend classes and
complete assignments. There is a lot of serving going on.
This fall many students accompanied staff on Partnering
visits. They shared drama sketches, preached sermons,
taught Sunday school, led worship, and connected with
youth. During Fall Ministry Experience, the first week of
november, 22 students spent four days at The Mustard
Seed in downtown Calgary, accompanied by
Rinus Janson while nine second year students
spent a week at the Door of hope in Meadow
Lake, Sk with Ryan Scruggs. The two third
year students who will be working with
Graceland Ministries in Poland in February
jump-started their team ministry experience
by providing leadership at the Clyde Bible
Church Missions weekend.
On their own initiative, students have
made sandwiches to hand out to homeless
people in downtown Calgary. Another group
spent a Monday evening serving at Inn from
the Cold and have made a commitment
to that organization to be there the first
Monday of every month. Someone took the time to share
at a chapel service in a Seniors’ home. The student body has
issued a challenge to the ABC staff to see which group can
put together the most shoeboxes for Operation Christmas
Child.
And there are many other things that our students do
that encourage us and make it clear that they understand
what James meant when he wrote:
Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if
you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does
merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has
it?... Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is
outrageous nonsense?
(James 2:14, 17 The Message)
Emerge[09]
MARCH 6, 7 & 8, 2009 7PM FRIDAY – NOON SUNDAY
“COSTLY DISCIPLESHIP” JUNIOR OR SENIOR HIGH, YOUNG ADULT OR YOUTH LEADER, YOU
ARE INVITED TO ABC’S OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND. SPEAKER: SIMON NG, BRE 200
FEATURING: DAILY SESSIONS • MOCK CLASSES • FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE • LIVE MUSIC • ANNUAL
SPEECH CONTEST COST: $65 BEFORE FEB 5 • $75 AFTER FEB 5. ACCOMMODATIONS
AND MEALS PROVIDED INFO: [email protected] 403.282.2994
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
7
alumni news
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE
ALUMNI PROFILE
Linda Anderson
PACE Graduate, 2001
LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS…OH MY!
Okay, so it won’t be quite as exhilarating as an African safari, but
please make plans to join us for an exciting Alumni event on April
25, 2009. Plans are underway for an evening of service, supper
and symphonic sounds.
2008 SUMMER PROJECT
As a graduate of the PACE program at Alberta Bible College,
I experience the challenge and joy of living in His grace every
day. The challenge is loving others as Christ loves them. The
joy is loving others as Christ loves them.
Jim and I recently celebrated our 32nd anniversary and have
released our youngest into the world. Pierce is attending
the University of Victoria, studying engineering and playing
basketball for the Vikes. Our daughter, Carissa (ABC Diploma
in Christian Education, 2001) continues to work for Azamara
Cruises as an activities and entertainment director. Her travels
have taken her to every continent, including Antarctica.
Professionally, I have been serving at Bow Valley Christian
Church as Pastor of Family Ministry since 2003. Originally,
I shared the lead of the Children’s Ministry program and
coordinated the care ministry program for families in crisis.
This year, after our inviting a new Children’s Pastor on staff,
my job description has changed to that of primarily supporting
marriages and parents. I am taking on the role of advocating
for parents and equipping them to take the lead in the spiritual
formation of their families. I continue to support families in
crisis through Rainbows and DivorceCare, but also desire to
reach out to all families. We need our churches to be a place
that provides practical helps to promote spiritual health in our
families. If we have faith being lived out in our homes, we are
shining His light into our communities.
Alberta Bible College played a key role in equipping and
encouraging me to focus on work in ministry. The PACE
program catapulted me onto a path of intentionally serving
Him everyday. It helped me to understand the biblical
principles of leadership — servant leadership — and the staff
at ABC were exceptional mentors of that principle.
The Alumni Summer 2008 Service Project was to help the College
with a much needed technology upgrade. This upgrade consists of
four new LCD projectors — one to be mounted in each classroom,
and six new laptops — a laptop for each faculty office, as well as
one to be checked out from the library and used in the Chapel.
The cost of this upgrade is approximately $20,000. To those who
have given their gift already, thank you. However, we are still far
from our goal. Please consider a gift by December 31 so we can
close the books on the 2008 Summer Project.
May God richly bless your Christmas season with family and friends,
Lisa Cutforth-Anderson, Alberta Bible College
Vice-president, ABC Alumni Association
Marie Rempel Goes Home
(1916-2008)
Graduate and long time friend of
ABC, Marie Rempel (B.Th. ’41),
went home to be with the Lord on
October 12, 2008, in her 92nd year.
She was predeceased by her husband
Frank (B.Th. ‘42), December 28,
1978. Shortly after graduation, Marie
did children’s work in the Parkhill
area of Calgary. In 1945, Frank and
Marie were the founding pastoral
couple of the Grande Prairie Church of Christ. In 1949 they
began a 20 year work in India, in Bible College, orphanage,
and printing ministry. After returning to the Grande Prairie
area for several years, in 1973 the Rempels went to Kenya,
Africa, for five years.
Throughout her life Marie was a faithful supporter of
ABC. Long before there was such a thing as “planned giving,”
Marie provided what would be called today a “revocable
trust,” a loan of significant funds of which ABC used the
interest proceeds, and later returned the principle as needed
by Marie. Marie delighted in living a generous and hospitable
life, without fanfare. Her life has strengthened the cause of
Christ in its global advance, because, as she would state as a
matter of fact, “It’s what Christians do.”
ALBERTA BIBLE COLLEGE