Friends at Redeemer

Last night my friends and I went to Kelsey’s to celebrate my 20th birthday. It was so much fun to have a bunch of girls together and to catch up with everyone. I’m pretty sure that at one point we were all talking at once and were getting fairly loud! Almost everyone goes to Meadowlands to get off-campus, so Kelsey’s wasn’t exactly original, but it’s close and cheaper than other places- as students we always appreciate that!

Some ladies were over at our dorm last night; they were here for one of the campus visit days where you stay overnight to get the real experience. They were checking out our house and I had a chance to chat with them. I just remember when I visited Redeemer for the first time: I thought it was the smallest school considering my high school was bigger and I remember being surprised at how many guys there were. But my favourite part was how friendly people were; especially compared to the high school I was at where girls glared at you as you walked down the hallways. I find when I walk down the halls at Redeemer that it is just a different atmosphere, a more inviting one where people are more likely to smile.

Now, I would say my favourite part about Redeemer is the friends that I’ve made. I’ve never been able to talk about God so easily with friends; He just pops into our conversations. We are all in a different place in our walk with God so it’s such a great support system. Devotions are a great time for us to get together and talk about God, but it is in the moments when we are just hanging out that we have the best discussions about our faith and convictions.

As for homework, I told the girls visiting for the campus visit day that it can build up quickly and is different compared to high school, although not everyone’s marks go down and not everyone freaks out during the first midterm season. Speaking of midterms, I have another math midterm this Friday which I’ve started studying for; a lot of the content is on the study of primes and also counting techniques (This is a course that computer science students also take). I will be picking courses for next year in the upcoming week. I’m almost done my core courses and I’m very excited to be taking my first education course in the fall! Only about 6 weeks to go until school is done, everyone is counting down since the weather outside reminds us of the long summer ahead!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

This morning in my devotions, I was reading from Joshua 24 – when Joshua, as a final act of his leadership of the Israelites, renews God’s covenant with them and reminds them of God’s faithfulness in the past. This kind of reminds me of what happened in Chapel this past week.

President Cooper gave a testimony of God’s faithfulness to Redeemer University College during his time as our president. As a first year who didn’t know much about Redeemer’s history I was amazed to hear of how God’s hand has guided this school right from its founding in 1982, to its breakthrough in 1998, to now. Actually the “breakthrough” story was really inspiring to me. Prior to 1998, Redeemer was only able to offer a Bachelor degree of Christian Studies. We had the program in place for the Bachelor of Arts and Science, but it was not recognized. So one day, Pres. Cooper went to a meeting ready to fight for our right to offer these degrees. But when he got there, he found that no one was opposed as all knew Redeemer alumni and knew that they were just as good as any other undergraduates. It’s like God went before us and already won the battle for us. Pres. Cooper is quoted in The Crown on this topic saying, “That really was the moment in Redeemer’s development when it felt like the heavens opened and God smiled on us. If you know the inner workings of how that came to be, then you know how God’s fingerprints were all over that.”

I know many students are sad to see Pres. Cooper leave after so many years of great service to our school and being our leader through so much growth. Since that 1998 breakthrough, our school has more than doubled and has expanded to include 52 denominations – not just Dutch CRC kids. (lol) But as we look at the past and reflect on how God has lead us through so much, we also look to the future and realize that God will continue to guide us through our next president Dr. Krygsman.

Dr. Krygsman also gave a testimony at chapel about how he was called to be our new president and shared with us a bible verse. In Philippians 3 we are encouraged to run the race, pressing on towards the goal to win the price for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. I know that God will continue to cultivate growth in Redeemer through Dr. Krygsman and I am excited to be a witness to that in my next couple of years here. We concluded our chapel with singing Great is Thy Faithfulness. God will continue to be faithful to us and we are blessed to be witnesses and recipients of his great faithfulness!

I am also excited because of the Campus Visit Days that have been happening this week as all high school students are off on March Break. These prospective students are the future of Redeemer and are currently just getting a glimpse of Redeemer’s wonderful community and education, but just wait until next year. Then they will be fully immersed in the great riches of a Christian education that is more than just studying but a better understanding of our life as God’s servants. It’s amazing!

I can also look back on my year at Redeemer – last year this time I was just another student getting lost in the halls on a Campus Visit Day. And I can see God’s faithfulness to me as he led me through the application process, finishing Gr. 12 exams, paying for university, finding me an awesome dorm, and making me grow so much spiritually and academically. God is so great and everyone here at Redeemer has their own testimony to God’s faithfulness. It is my hope that all the prospective students this week will get to become a part of Redeemer’s testimony to God’s faithfulness.

Wow! This has been quite an eventful few weeks in Paris. Classes are fully underway at the Cours de civilisation française and that started to create a rather dependable routine for me, that is until something came along to jostle that consistency.

This past weekend I was invited to go on a trip to Disneyland Paris with my student residence here in France, and in the process of trying to catch a train I was late for... I ran a little too fast and jumped a few too many steps. Luckily, the fall didn’t result in a broken ankle but I will be relegated to walking with crutches for the next few weeks. The irony of it all is that Paris is a city renowned for walking and cycling as the primary modes of transit. This is both an ironic and humbling experience for me. I know God has many lessons for His people on the other end of such self-inflicted accidents. The great part of the day was that, in the end, I was still able to see most of Disneyland Paris (although mostly by sitting down) and to really enjoy another different experience.

France so far has been anything but predictable. My time could be well described with these words: incredibly exciting and incredibly diverse. The weekend before Disneyland I had a chance to get to know better some of the young adults from our church “L’Église Évangélique Baptiste de Paris-centre” or as most people call it “Rue de Sèvres.” The people at this church have been incredibly inviting and have extended so much grace to us visiting Canadians. It is really exciting to see a group of Christians in this country who are so involved in loving and welcoming new people.

Our outing with some of the young adults a few weeks back was hiking and rock climbing in an area just outside of Paris called Fontainebleau. It is a beautiful spot that really takes you out of the noise and the business of the city and brings you to a place that could easily be mistaken for Northern Ontario. The landscape was gorgeous and the rocks were climb-able! We spent our day climbing, hiking, talking and eating packed lunches and snacks all outside under the warm sun. It was a great day to remember and I can’t wait to do it again!

I’m having the other Redeemer students over for dinner tonight at my residence so I better go start making dinner. It’s tacos tonight!

Value Village : A Successful Event for a Worthy Cause

Well, it’s been an eventful couple of days at here at Redeemer University College. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of perusing the Value Village Rummage sale that took place in the school’s board room. Many students may have noticed the posters advertising the event or spotted the friendly reminders in the Time Out a few weeks prior to the rummage sale. I must say, I was quite impressed by the amount of goods that were up for grabs. T-shirts, sweaters, jeans, belts, bags, dresses, shoes, scarves! And all of this for under five dollars. What a steal!

I myself came away with a yellow garden -- a purchase that I was quite delighted with. I wore it the next day and felt a bit strange when I realized that I probably passed the cardigan’s former owner at least once in the hallway. At first I was a bit hesitant about wearing it for that very reason, which is ridiculous really – especially since the old owner donated that garment in hopes of selling it to another student. Well old owner I have one word for you: thanks! I now have a bright springy addition to my otherwise very wintry wardrobe. But enough about me and more about the cause.

All of the Value Village proceeds went to an organization called Invisible Children. By all means, I would encourage everybody to look into this organization. The work they do is incredible! In short, Invisible Children is a grassroots movement that aims to spread awareness about the war affected youth in Northern Uganda. It also seeks to raise money, to rebuild war-torn schools and to provide scholarships to African youth. Most importantly, it is a movement that strives to stop the conflict in Uganda and end the abduction of children for use as child soldiers. The Value Village Sale was a concrete and practical way to support the efforts of this campaign. I was really impressed by the initiative that the organizers (Catriona L. McHardy an Candace Lagerwerf) took to help the cause. For anyone else who was involved – thank you for the time and energy that you put in!

Well I’m off to start a few English papers. As third year nears completion, the ominous tidal wave of big assignments come rolling in. I have a feeling that many of my future blog entries will include my growing disbelief in how fast time flies! For now, I think I’ll make a conscious effort to enjoy all of the little things that come with being a third year student! Bye for now!

Another ‘Job Well Done’ for Redeemer

When it comes to the act of giving, Redeemer doesn’t only meet expectations, it surpasses them.

This past week, from March 8 – 12, Redeemer students, staff and faculty took part in a clothing drive. Participants were asked to bring in clothes (old clothes or clothes that they no longer wore, but were still in good condition) from Monday – Wednesday, and to come and purchase new clothes for their wardrobe on Thursday – Friday. This endeavor was referred to as Value Village: Redeemer Style, and far surpassed any expectations that were made before the week began.

After two days of an intense search for the “good stuff”, Redeemer raised exactly $500.00 through the sale to be sent to Invisible Children, and are sending more than half of the clothes received by donation to a local charity in Hamilton (yet to be decided). Well done, Redeemer! You can be proud of your efforts and contributions!

This aspect of Redeemer is one that cannot be overlooked. I have come to understand that Redeemer’s capacity to “give back” goes beyond anything that I have ever experienced. Over the last year, functions and events have been held to raise money and resources for those in the world that are desperately in need. There have been book-drives, spaghetti dinners, concerts, clothing drives, and many more events. Redeemer has proven to be exceptionally generous, always willing to lend a hand and to step up to the plate when there is a need. When I consider the Haitian earthquake that occurred back in January, I am amazed at Redeemer’s efforts to get involved. Within days, we had a plan of action. There were functions planned, discussions regarding the devastating event, prayer circles set up, and plans to hold events to raise funds necessary for the rebuilding of Haiti. I am in awe by Redeemer’s willingness to help and to give back, after we have been so richly blessed.

Redeemer may not be extremely large, but we have the hearts to make incredible change in the world. And I think that Redeemer is doing just that – we are not hiding within its walls, but we are stepping out, stepping up to the plate, and stepping up in ways that seem impossible for a school our size. We can be proud of the school that Redeemer is and thank God for all He has blessed us with, so that we might be able to give back. Whether a part of Redeemer’s Social Justice Team, or simply by tossing an old book, shirt, or five dollar bill in a basket, Redeemer students, staff and faculty have and will continue in their efforts to show Christ’s love in a hurting world.

To this I say, well done, Redeemer. You continue to amaze me!

Dollarama Sunglasses

There is an interesting side effect that comes with being a university student: not only do you learn new things, but you learn new ways to think.

Every discipline that you specialize in shapes how you view the world. For example, I’m in microeconomics this semester – learning about demand and supply, efficiency, productivity, and stuff like that – and now I can’t view anything without putting on the glasses of economics and viewing the world through these lenses. We watched a youtube clip of “How it’s Made” in class and not only saw how a skateboard was made, but also how productive the assembly line was by combining technology with human labour. So maybe economics isn’t your thing, but I know my friends who are psychology majors analyse every situation through a psych-lens. Or another friend of mine who is a bio major told me that he couldn’t watch Avator without his mind racing through all the biology in it, while I saw it with a business mindset. It’s just sooo cool to be able to look at the world in a different light.

And the great thing about Redeemer is that it’s a liberal arts school, so we have the opportunity to try on different lenses from different disciplines of the core courses – biology, history, theatre, physical education, etc. – to get a taste of what the world is like when we see it through that mindset. University really opens your eyes up to the world around you.

But Redeemer takes it one step further. If you take just one class at Redeemer, you’ll hear this one buzzword: “worldview.” It’s kind of like those big goofy Dollarama sunglasses that you can put on where the lenses are bigger than your face. These glasses are so great because you can put them on overtop of any corrective-lens glasses that you may already wear and still look stylin’! But in all seriousness, Redeemer gives you a perspective of the world like these Dollarama sunglasses; Redeemer shows every class through the lens of faith. Christianity is our worldview because God made us and all of creation and everywhere we look – whether it’s business class, science, art, whatever discipline you’re studying – we can see God. It’s so great because we all get to wear these big Christian worldview glasses and be unified in the sense that we all see God everywhere, even though we also look through our respective discipline lenses. God is the one we worship and learn about, and the one you unites us all together in our communal effort to develop the world to enable others to honour Him.

God is just so cool! And because I came here, and because of how my classes are taught through this worldview, I can now see the world from this perspective. Everywhere I look on campus I can see God at work. It is in obvious things like Wednesday Chapel where we can all come together to get our Dollarstore glasses polished and worship God as a community of believers. Or in coffee house where we showcase our God-given talents and exercise our ability to make others laugh. Or even in more hidden ways, like Student Senate (as general senator position elections were held this week) where we work as one body with the like-mind of serving the student body through the love that God gives us to love our neighbour. God is everywhere; we just need to open our eyes to see it.

A Month in Paris

To most Canadians, the thought of living in Paris seems fanciful and extraordinary. Narrow cobblestone roads, high heels and scarves, and restaurants serving luxurious meals. This is Paris right? Well, so far, over the month that I have been here in Paris it’s been that, but it’s also been much more. As part of one of Redeemer’s semester abroad programs (“Redeemer in France”) I have been privileged to be able to visit one of the most remarkable cities in the world. Paris offers so much to see and the other three students on the program here can attest to the fact that after more than a month of sight-seeing and travelling in between classes, we still haven’t been able to see it all...or the half of it for that matter! Our program, known as “Les cours de civilisation française”, runs from February to May with a normal course load of classes ranging from Art History to French Phonetics.

During the first and second weeks we have been here, the four of us Redeemer students visited the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Latin Quarter, the Sorbonne, the Jardin des Tuilleries, etc. etc. Having our French professor Dr. Rusthoven around for the first week was really a blessing, since she knows her way around the city quite well. Apparently she has been organizing the Redeemer in France program for 19 yrs now.

Here in Paris, we've also been connected with a great local church called Rue de Sèvres (Baptist evangelical) named simply after the street it’s on. It's a really amazing place, the people there have been the most welcoming to us out of anyone yet that I've met here in Paris. They've really taken us in with open arms. It's a small community by numerical standards back home; there are maybe 150 people or so in the parish. But in France most Protestant or evangelical church communities are very small. In fact Rue de Sèvres is one of the bigger ones in Paris! On Tuesdays I usually go to their young adult’s night and on Sundays they have two worship services that are great as well. I've already made quite a few friends in the church and some outside of it as well! Paris has been great so far, and classes are zipping by. It’s true, the students who went last year told us before we left to enjoy our time in Paris because it will go by fast! Now, off to do just that...