Box 579 Eston, Sk S0L 1A0ph 306.962.3621 tf 1.888.340.3424 fx 306.962.3810

info@estoncollege.cawww.estoncollege.ca

June 2010

estoncollegelife

What’s InsideMatching Gifts Program Fall 2010 Mini-Semester Winter Semester Academics WAT

2010 Valedictorian Address - Sean Stevenson-Douglas

As I approached graduation, the Holy Spirit did an odd thing. He reminded me of all my shortcomings and the ways that I have been a blight to the Church: my cowardice, my prejudice, my apathy, my consumerism, my isolation, my faithlessness, my pride, and my igno-rance. I believe those things came to mind for two reasons: to keep me humble, and to paint a picture of how I lived even under the guise of authentic Christianity. I infl uenced others in my church and school to live that way, and many did the same to me. You might be wondering why the Holy Spirit reminded me of that and why am I sharing it with you now. First, understand that I am well acquainted with God’s mercy and divine forgiveness, so this is not legalistic self-punishment. But I ask you, as I asked myself: is that what Christ died for? Is that the life he envisioned while he hung on the cross or walked out of the tomb? How do I explain my vices, my sin, and my shallowness of spirit if I also claim to be living a redeemed Christian life? Last semester I read a story entitled “Walk Now Gently Through the Fire .” It was a tale set in the not-too-distant future when the majority of humanity had chosen to abdicate their place in creation. Humankind gave up all passion, ambition, joy, and sorrow; they sank into a wilfully bland pseudo-existence void of virtue and vice, striving and fulfi llment. The author called this the time of “The Great Copout.” It was a non-apocalypse; a time when life as we know it has ceased in an anti-climactic disarmament of the human soul. I believe we are living the beginning of the Great Copout. The Enemy is ravaging our world with easy, seductive medi-ocrity. We are being convinced to ignore the sin in our neighbours and ourselves. In an age where society puts no demands on its citizens beyond passive “tolerance,” the Cross and the Empty Tomb of Christ will stand as monuments to the divine call to something noble and virtuous and diffi cult and real. Disciples are not called to tolerate their neighbour; they are called to love them. Tolerance has become the secular humanist gospel of North America. It is the counterfeit that humankind has created as a new golden rule to ensure that we expect nothing of one another except to mind our own business. Likewise, avoiding pain, whether it is emotional or physical, has become the standard for what is right.

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Entertainment, material gain, and recreation have become the ultimate goal of most human endeavours, even for many in the church. For the true followers of Christ, this must not be so. We are being enticed to resemble the church of Sardis, to embrace the form without the substance, and to slowly crumble inside to a spiritual death that robs us of everything Christ died for. So how then shall we live? First, remember that it is not the enemy with the twisted grin and forked tail that is most dangerous; it is the enemy that fi rst convinces you that he is a friend, and then seduces you into believing him harmless. We must be willing to live against the current of The Great Copout and be willing to obey Christ even if that means throwing everything out the window that we would normally cling to for comfort. We must study, pray, and act with the motivation of Christ. After four years at Eston College, Christ is asking me a single, pivotal question: am I willing to walk the diffi cult path and enter the narrow gate, or not? He is posing the question to everyone. “The God who said, ‘I have forgiven’ and ‘I have called’ whispers it again to all of us and waits for our reply. What form will it take? ”

1“Walk Now Gently Through the Fire” by R.A. Lafferty, found in Sacred Visions, Eds. Andrew M. Greeley and Michael Cassutt.2 The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, by Rosemary A. Nixon, Intervarsity Press (Aug 2003).

Continued from front page

Congratulations to the Class of 2010

Bachelor of Biblical Studies Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Evangelism Associate Diploma Certifi cate (cont)Lyndsie Bachtold Delia Cudney Brian Callewaert Troy Kirkpatrick Darla Duncan Jane Galbreath Amy Dalton Analisha KurekAnna-Marie Eckert Melissa Stevenson-Douglas Damien Kurek Kylandra MortensenCory Rotchford Evan SenkoAnna Siddons Bachelor or Arts in Christian Studies Certifi cate Keenan Switzer Joanne Smith Erin Gabin Steven Barnes Sarah Switzer Sean Stevenson-Douglas Beatriz (Elda) Benitez Deanna TrautweinJustin Van Oeveren Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Rachel Drinnan Timothy Vogel Trevor Williams Clayton Gilmer Autumn Johnston

Degree Program - Melissa Stevenson-DouglasAssociate Program - Damien KurekCertifi cate Program - Rachel DrinnanBible & Theology - Melissa Stevenson-DouglasGeneral Studies - Delia CudneyProfessional & Ministry - Jane GalbreathStudent Ministry - Delia Cudney & Jane GalbreathLibrary Research - Melissa Stevenson-Douglas

All-around Female Student - Katy HaydonAll-around Male Student - Clayton Gilmer

Lila E. Franklin Memorial Scholarship (recognizing ministry to children) – Lyndsie BachtoldCanadian Bible Society – Damien KurekApollos Scholarship – Jordan Duncan

Dean’s List Honourable MentionHeather Bonin Michela AdlemBrenden Branscombe Jordan BolanJenny-Rae Diggins Daniel ColeJordan Duncan Mark EsauCraig Gould Byron FrankAutumn Johnston Clayton GilmerDamien Kurek Katy HaydonSean Stevenson-Douglas Troy KirkpatrickJesse Switzer Natasha Krieger Chantal Richards Kirstie Seier Evan Senko Anna Siddons Karli Stevenson Timothy Vogel Nickolas Yoner

2010 Winter Semester Marks 2009 - 2010 Student Awards

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Staff ChangesSarah Amodeo (04-08, Tesarski) has served as Recruitment/Admis-sions Director since 2008. She and her husband Nikolas (05-09) (who helped out at the college this year as faculty assistant) have now moved to Dryden, Ontario to work and spend time with family. Niko-las and Sarah’s creativity and en-thusiasm will be missed!

Recent graduates Sean (06-10) and Melissa (06-10, Deagle) Stevenson-Douglas will serve together as Ad-missions Directors for the upcom-ing year. They both enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to work alongside the constituency and to of-fer life changing discipleship at Es-ton College to perspective students. We welcome them with gratitude.

“Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (Amplifi ed Bible)

June 25th will be our Eston College Day of Prayer! As you know, we depend on the Holy Spirit to bring us students, provide fi nancial resources, and for guidance. This summer, we want to involve our constituents, alumni, friends, and partners in the prayer process that we rely on to keep Eston College growing strong in Christ. Start prayer chains, have prayer meetings, and stand with us before God as we hold a nation-wide Day of Prayer for the College.

Requests:More students Sensitivity to His desire for what we doGod to provide the fi nances we need (at least $150,000) Lives to be transformed as we get under way this fallCloser relationship with our partners in the gospel

We totally trust in God’s provision and leadership. We look forward to praying together.

Eston College Day of Prayer

A number of the Eston College staff, faculty, and students attended the Biennial ACOP Conference in Calgary from May 31 to June 3. It was a great chance to connect with members of our fellowship and hear what God is doing across the country. There were some inspiring speakers with thought-provoking ideas, and I heard it said more than once that the day of teaching from Reggie McNeal was the single best seminar they had ever been to. I was particularly infl uenced by Wes Mills’ elucidation of the new ACOP vision statement about extending grace and igniting hope. I am very excited by the direction our fellowship is going and know that Eston College is thrilled to be partnering with the ACOP, especially because we are being led by a man with such integrity and spiritual sensitivity. As one of the younger people in attendance, I was struck by the large number of alumni from the college who were there. It was encouraging to see how many graduates from Eston have gone on to spread the Good News and serve Christ, whether as pastors or laypeople. It is both exciting and overwhelming to think that my classmates and I are the spiritual leaders of tomorrow. I feel very blessed to have so many godly role models who have gone before us!

Melissa Stevenson-Douglas

ACOP General Conference

Eston College Summer InternsDean Garrioch has relocated from his home in Cross Lake, MB, to Winnipeg to intern at the House of the Risen Son (HRS) under the leadership of Rev. Chuck Sheridan. Dean’s internship will be as varied and creative as the ministries that occur at HRS, including: evangelism, community service, and developing a “20 Something” ministry group.

Jonathan Bueckert is now serving with the Full Gospel Church in Swift Current, SK, under the lead-ership of Rev. Wendell Quincey. The primary focus of Jonathan’s internship is learning how to re-late the message of Jesus to chil-dren and how to motivate others to work with children.

Please pray for Jonathan and Dean as they serve people as ambassadors of our college and, more importantly, as ambassadors of Christ.

Alumni/ae news items are welcome. Please indicate “Eston College Life Alumni/ae News” when submitting. If you have a

picture to accompany a birth or wedding annoucement, please enclose it and we will print it, as space permits.

alumni/ae association

Marriages

Luke (06-08) and Joanna (Wyatt, 07-08) Moore were married on February 20, 2010.

Raymond (93-94) and Heather Daniels were married on May 22, 2010.

Births

Ryan and Amber (00-02, Milne) Her-man welcomed a daughter to their fam-ily. Calista Joan Isabelle was born on August 17, 2009 weighing 8lbs. 4oz.

Kris (97-98) and Katie (97, Walsh) New-man welcomed a son to their family. Joshua Thomas Stephen was born on January 28, 2010.

Howard (04-06) and Cassandra (05, Hill) Crowe welcomed a daughter to their family. Sophia Kenzi was born February 6, 2010 weighing 8lbs. 15oz.

Travis (98-01) and Tammy (99-00, James) Urschel welcomed a daughter to their family and a sister for Rocky John. Presley Babe Marie was born Feb-ruary 7, 2010 weighing 8lbs 9oz.

Trevor and Landree (02, Senkiw) Mur-ray welcomed a son to their family. Chase Richard Michael was born Febru-ary 12, 2010 (during the Olympic open-ing ceremonies!) weighing 7lbs 11oz. and 20 inches long.

Dustin and Kyla (01-03, Conrad) Tracy welcomed a daughter to their family. Mackenzie Rae was born March 28th at 10:57am weighing 7lbs 13oz.

John (91-93) and Nia Wegner welcomed a daughter to their family. Lucy Chris-tina was born on March 30, 2010.

Tyler (02-05) and Stephanie (00-05, Sealy) Mills welcomed a daughter to their family. Allison Elizabeth was born April 18, 2010, 8 weeks earlier than ex-pected.

Dan and Charissa (03-04, Hill) Riley welcomed a daughter to their family. Naomi Elizabeth was born April 23, 2010 weighing 8lbs 5.5oz.

Updates

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Adoption

It is with a great deal of delight that Brian (73) and Cheryl Anderson, of Es-ton, SK, announce the adoption of six more children over the past year. Wel-comed are Janessa, Jaxon, Jocelynn, James, Johanna and Josie; new sisters and brothers for Jessica, Joy-Lynn, Jeff, Joel, Jennifer, Jordan, Joseph, Jeremy, Justin and Jillian.

Deaths

In the last issue there was a typing er-ror in the names of one of our alumni who passed away. Jim Nesbitt passed away January 5, 2009. We apologize for this oversight.

Mike Panchuk passed away on Janu-ary 30, 2010 in Saskatoon. He was the Construction Foreman for the building of the Complex at Eston College in 1976. This was a signifi cant development project in the life of the College and has served its students, staff and programs well. Mike was a spiritual leader to the workmen as well as an excellent fore-man.

Grace (53-55, Tauber) Worth went to be with the Lord on May 1, 2010.

Alumni and Friends Weekend September 24-26, 2010

You are invited to a special weekend for the Alumni and Friends of Eston College. Activities include: Fri-day night Mort’s sticky buns, Saturday golf tourna-ment, Saturday night outing at the Hills, and a special Sunday morning speaker – with plenty of time for connecting with old and new friends. Accommoda-tions can be reserved either in college dorms or at the Double T Motel – or of course with your Eston friends and relatives. Why not contact an old friend and make plans to meet together during this special time of fun and fellowship?

For registration details, watch the Upcoming Events section of the website or phone 1.888.440.3424.

Cory (’00-’05) and Joy (Ambler ’98-‘03) Rich-ardson recently moved from Kelowna, where Cory was working as a journeyman carpenter, to Southwell, Notting-ham in England. The attraction was the offer for Cory to be the Youth

and Children’s Minister at Southwell Baptist Church – and that young Asher and Caleb are now just 20 minutes away from their Ambler grandparents! Joy writes “We lead a youth Bible Study on a Wednesday and children’s club fol-lowed by youth night on Friday. Cory also preaches to the youth in the morning service and on Sunday enjoys hang-out time after the evening service. We also do a bunch of joint youth events and conferences with other churches in the town. Cory is awaiting approval to the chaplaincy board at the local secondary school. In addition, we have just submitted a ministry proposal asking to start a Col-lege and Career home group as well as a youth disciple-ship class... not sure how we’ll fi t it all in though!”

Please note the article on the Matching Gifts Program on page 8 . . .

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Upcoming Events2010

Jul 25-31 AYMI Saskatchewan Street Invaders Boot CampAug 31 Residences OpenSept 1 RegistrationSept 4 Outing to the hillsSept 6-17 Mini-SemesterSept 24-26 Alumni & Friends WeekendOct 15-16 Stubble Bowl WeekendOct 17-18 Festival of MissionsOct 29-31 Contact Weekend

Just slightly down the road from the Richardsons are Cam (98-01) and Michelle (98-02, St Pierre) Campos and their young son Arlo, who left their home in Regina in 2008 to move to Wellingborough, England, roughly 70 miles northeast of London. Cam is working as an English teacher at a high school of some 1500 uniformed students. “Originally,” writes Cam, “our plan was to stay for a year, but as teaching jobs are more plentiful here than in Canada, and the op-portunity to travel is amazing, we extended our stay for another two years….A major difference between schools here and in Canada is the way religion can be openly discussed. As an English teacher, most books, stories, poems, etc. have reference to religion or allude to the Bible, espe-cially books written more than 100 years ago (which makes up a lot of the curriculum). Not being able to discuss religion in a Canadian classroom limits the discussion of those themes.

Here however, all students take Religious Education…and having candid discussions about religious beliefs in any classroom is not a problem. Students feel more open to share their own ideas of faith (be it Muslim, Jewish, Christian), and are able to ask questions in regards to what people believe. In our home-room, around Christmas we were able to have a class discussion about Christmas that actually involved a discussion of the birth of Christ.”

Cam concludes, “We are thoroughly enjoying our time here. We miss family and many aspects of Canada (which will always be home). But, for now, we love our little home in England.”

Nathan McLean (Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies ’03-’05) I can honestly say the four years [two as a student, two in recruitment] I spent at Eston College were some of the richest, most transformative of my life. Without Eston College and the crucible of love and life I found there, I’m not sure I would have ever found my way. Being able to journey together with fellow pilgrims of kindred heart and spirit is something truly special that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Mini-Semester September 6-17, 2010GNS 246: Exploring the Sacred from Varanasi to Mecca: An Introduction to the Faiths of the World (Instructor-Rob Sinclair)This course is an overview of four major world religions: Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism. Students will study the beliefs and behaviours of individuals and groups from each of these religious traditions. Then, the class will explore some variations within each custom and look for points of contact whereby a Christian disciple could witness to these peoples.

PRM 100: A Spirit-fi lled Obedience – Christian Living (Instructor-Mavis Mulder)This course is designed to develop students’ walk with Christ by focusing on spiritual development and intimacy with God. The class will explore the nature of the Christian spiritual journey, the call of God, deepening devotional life, and classical spiritual disciplines.

PRM 221: Building Christ’s Church, According to His Design, in the Power of His Spirit (Instructor-Todd Atkinson) 1 week only! Sept. 6-10Before construction on any building begins, an architect must fi rst create a blueprint. Students in this course will explore the health, growth, and goals of the biblical Church, and discover Christ’s priorities for His Body, His Bride, His Temple…The Church!

For more information go to www.estoncollege.ca and look under Future Students for Mini-Semester

alumni/ae association

This past winter I have been at Regent College in Vancouver pursuing a Masters in Christian Studies and this summer, as usu-al, have returned home to Eston to work

on the family farm. Since my time at Eston, I have had the on-going opportunity to direct Moose Lake Sr. Teen camp every summer and have also worked at a Christian youth camp in Rwanda, Africa. To watch the lives of youth transformed and grafted into Christ is truly beautiful and a blessing I’ll always cherish. In the future I would love to be able to do some teaching, engaging with thoughts and students, and/or be more actively involved in the church. Whether I fi nd myself at a desk full of books studying God’s vast salvation, enjoying Dostoevsky on a Sunday afternoon, riding on the tractor, or praying with a fellow friend or teenager at camp – I sense Christ’s love and life there. I fi nd now, that the fi lter I see life through - my goals and passions - is one that was largely shaped at Eston College, and that is truly invaluable.

Just ahead is the article on the Matching Gifts Program . . .

World Action Teams (WAT)

This team served in Bakersfi eld, Califor-nia from May 4-19 with a variety of Chris-tian and secular organizations, including The Flood, Bakersfi eld Homeless Center, Christian Rescue Mission for homeless men, Church Without Walls, and Calvary Bible Church (see the various websites). Our mission included everything from serving meals to hanging drywall to par-ticipating in services. Melody Krieger tells a story of hand-ing out water bottles on one of our days down there in a park occupied by addicts and drifters. As the water was being dis-

tributed, she and another student met a young mom with her two girls who had recently become homeless and who had been asking God to send some sort of sign that He was present and could help. Melody and her friend happened along and were seen as an answer to that prayer and as the two of them listened to more of the lady’s story it soon became evident that this young family had been through incredible hardships. Melody and her friend prayed with them and afterwards played with the two little girls (ages 3 and 5). The mother made the comment that it had been a long time since the girls had laughed or smiled. Melody and her friend were incredibly blessed by this experience and realized it was only through God’s grace that they were able to encourage these wonderful people and bring the hope of Jesus Christ.

Our team of eight were privileged to partner with ACOP missionaries (and Eston college alum) Ron and Sherry Lapka and the pastors of three local El Salvadorian churches. We had the blessing of visiting six schools and giving gospel presentations through both word and drama. Many young people made commitments to Jesus and we heard that there was even a cell group that was formed out of a school we visited. We also spent much of our time with the college-aged leadership within Corinto II (one of the two country churches) encouraging them as they serve in both the church and cell groups. One evening we had an interview session with our team and their core group of youth; this was very powerful and uplifting for both groups. We participat-ed in the baptism of six youth in a local river, as well as helping two sisters who are build-ing their own home to escape a diffi cult fam-

ily situation.

San Salvador, El Salvador May 4-18

For most of us this was our fi rst time traveling outside of Canada and for all of us it was our fi rst time in Japan. As we stepped out of our comfort zones, fac-ing each day wondering what it would look like, we gained a new confi dence in trusting the Spirit to help and guide us. Some of our experiences included: Chil-dren’s ministry, a March for Jesus, evangelism at Nanzan University, preaching, worship leading, performing dramas, sharing testimonies, and connecting with and encouraging new Christians. We were encouraged by the faith of believers in Japan and the way they were willing to step out and serve God with everything. There is a great need for Christ in Japan and we found that those who know him are eager to talk about him and they are making a big difference in their nation. One of the opportunities that impacted our team the most was going to His Call Church which is a small church in Nagoya. There are a lot of people from different cultures and backgrounds and many of the Japanese people go because they want to meet foreigners. They usually fi nd more than that! We ate together, sang together, did a drama and listened to a sermon together. At the end we di-vided into small groups and talked about the evening. There were opportunities to share our faith and to challenge the people in our groups to continue to seek Christ. We are excited about what we see God doing in Japan and pray that his work will continue in the lives of those who are seeking him!

Nagoya, Japan May 12-23

Bakersfi eld, California May 4-19

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As of May 31, 2010

Credit Card Visa MasterCard AMEX

Please charge my one-time gift of $10 $25 $50 $100 $ _______ Please charge $ __________ monthly to my credit card beginning _______ on 1st of 15th of last day month month month of month

_______________________________ _____/_____ __________ Card Number Expiry Date (MM/YY) 3 Digit Code on Back

_______________________________ _______________________________ Name on Card Signature

Cheque payable to Eston College

Enclosed is my one-time gift of $10 $25 $50 $100 $ _______ I am enclosing a Void cheque and authorize monthly withdrawals of $ __________ to occur on the 5th of each month beginning in __________ month

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Online www.estoncollege.ca/#/support-us/how-i-can-donate

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Spending of funds is confi ned to board approved ENDS. Each restricted contribution designated towards a board approved ENDS will be used as designated, with the understanding that when the need for such a program or project has been met, or cannot be completed for any reason determined by the board, the remaining restricted contributions designated for such a program or project will be used where needed most.

Life June 2010

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A letter from Eston College Board member Chairman Roger McLean

Roger McLean, Eston, SKFarmer

It’s my privilege to live, worship and socialize with faculty, staff, students and volunteers of Eston College. I observe fi rst hand some great results in the students’ lives. In a culture where increasingly people are lovers of themselves, lovers of money and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, we have young people becoming lovers of Jesus Christ. They are building their lives on the foundation of scripture and prayer. As disciples of Christ, they will greatly impact their generation.

Parents, if you want your children* to do well in today’s culture, I urge you to give them a year or more of Bible College. They need to develop a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, know what they believe and be able to give good reasons for the hope they have. A solid Christ-centered foundation will help prevent a lot of poor future choices. It’s impossible to measure the value, but surely it’s far greater than a year’s tuition.

Eston College has two pressing issues: First, we need an increased enrolment. There are good reasons for optimism, but we need your help to encourage young people to enrol. Please talk to any recent students if you need to confi rm the value of time spent at Eston College. Second, we need more donation dollars. The very best thing you can do is set up a monthly withdrawal within your means. I guarantee (and this is a Scots-man talking) that once you start systematic giving, you won’t miss those funds. To existing monthly donors – what about the possibility of an increase? Alumni, you have been past benefi ciaries, now is the time to “pay it forward” for someone else.

The future of the College depends on how we all respond today. I extend great thankfulness to those of you who have been faithful in sharing your prayers, time and fi nances with Eston College. There is no better way to spend your resources than investing in the Kingdom of God.

* see page 5 for Roger’s son Nathan McLean’s refl ections on his time at Eston College

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” 1 Timothy 4:12-13 (NIV)

For address changes please use the website, call 306.962.3621 or email info@estoncollege.ca

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Matching Gifts Program 2010

Here is an opportunity, a challenge, and an incentive! You can be a part of getting the Word of the Lord into the hearts and lives of another generation. Eston College op-erates on the fees paid by the students and the donations of alumni, churches and friends. There is no government funding. The College has experienced a lower enrolment this year and so this puts greater strain on the donor dol-lar. Initiatives are being taken to build enrolment for an-other year, but there is need to increase donations in the current year to meet present fi nancial requirements. As you can see from the graph we are not quite halfway to the donation target required to make a balanced fi nance statement on August 31. The College appreciates and depends on the regular fl ow of fi nancial support from its supporters. However, sometimes an extra nudge is needed. In the past, the Col-lege has used a ‘matching gifts program’ to draw people’s attention to the need to support this ministry. On several occasions all of you, our supporting constituency, have risen to the challenge to match seed money provided by individuals or a community. We are happy to be able to present a Matching Gifts Program for this summer. The College has recently re-ceived $65,000 seed money to be used for this purpose. We are now asking the rest of our constituency to match that $65,000, and go beyond that between July 1, 2010 and August 15, 2010. This would be a wonderful boost to the College and your help would certainly be appreciated! Thank you so

much.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partner-ship in the gospel from the fi rst day until now.” -Philippians 1:3-5(NIV)

$2200 IncentiveWe are pleased to announce an exciting new incentive that the Col-lege has initiated this year. Any student, new or returning, is eligible for a $2200 discount off their student fees next year. To qualify, ap-plicants must be enrolled in full time classes for 2010-2011 and will need to complete and send in a volunteer service application (available online). Upon acceptance, we will send you a volunteer service log to record your 80 volunteer (unpaid) hours with any Christian ministry. We want to see EC students jumping into ministry over the summer, so we are thrilled to be able to offer this incentive to empower both students and ministries!

Encounter Sr. High and Encounter Jr. High

Eston College hosted two youth events this spring – Sr. High Encoun-ter March 4th-7th, and Jr. High Encounter April 30th –May 2nd. We are grateful that both events were well attended and, more importantly, provided opportunities for youth to connect with God. One of our student leaders writes: The theme for Senior High Encounter 2010 was, “Fix Your Eyes” taken from 2 Cor. 4. Our focus is often on the temporary things the world offers and we chose to take this weekend to encourage high school students to fi x their eyes on Christ – on the eternal kingdom that we can’t see. The climax of the weekend was sur-prising to me. It did not consist of a highly emotional experience and it was not accompanied by loud emotion-provoking music. It was in one of the services when speaker Joel Derdall directed each per-son to sit alone and read the Bible for ten minutes, listen-ing to what God wanted to say. And God spoke. I believe many lives were changed because they learned how to better hear God’s voice.