Prayer Request and Update - June 2023

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Under the Lord's blessing, the 2022-23 academic year has wrapped up. All the sermons, research papers, and exams have been marked. The focus now shifts to summer internships, a church tour, research and writing, and catching up on all the to-do items that did not fit into the academic year. Below are some details. Please include them in your public and private prayers.

• After they all passed their first classis exam, we have eleven students involved in Preaching and Pastoral Internships this summer: Damon Bosveld (Smithers), Mitchell Bosveld (Brampton URC & Carman-East CanRC), Hongdi Chen (Hamilton Cornerstone), Reese Gaillard (Carman-West), Todd Linde (Fergus-North), Jakob Mars (Lincoln), Josh Schouten (Burlington-Waterdown), Fred Struik (Grimsby), Marc Vermeulen (Baldivis, WA), Kevin Wattel (Flamborough), and Tony Zheng (Elora). May the Lord use these internships to further equip these men as they prepare for gospel ministry.
• Next, we have eight students participating in Mission Internships: Jacob Baijal (Port Moresby, PNG), Tayor Bredenhof (Fraser Valley), Jakob Mars (Toronto), Josh Peters (Niagara Falls URC), Adrian Tams (Prison Ministries), Quentin Vandermeulen (Ukarumpa, PNG), Zach Vanderploeg (South Korea), Kevin Wattel (New York URC). May the Lord of the church grant these men experiences that help them grow in understanding of, and appreciation for, the work that He is doing throughout this world.
• Five graduating students are also going to various classes at various times in the coming weeks in order to become eligible for call. This is the first time that the decision of General Synod Guelph 2022 will be put into effect. They are taking their preparatory exams in the classis from which they originally came when they entered seminary rather than the classis in which they currently live. May the Spirit of Christ guide these students so that they may indeed be available for the churches to call them to ministry in established congregations or mission fields.
• Dr. John Smith will be making a tour through the churches in Alberta from June 3 to 7. May the Lord grant travelling mercies and blessed times of fellowship that strengthen the bond between the churches and our seminary.
• With much thankfulness to the Lord, we can report that the building renovations are very nearly done. Final inspections by the engineers and city officials are underway. For all intents and purposes, the interior work is complete, and attention has now turned to repairing the landscaping around the building. Once more, a heartfelt thank-you for your prayerful and financial support of this Partnership in the Gospel project. Once all the furniture is in place, we'll post some pictures. In due time, we'll also certainly have an open house.

Those are the main updates for now.  With students receiving permission to speak an edifying word or becoming eligible for call, our popular Preaching Availability page will be updated regularly.  If your church is looking for pulpit supply or to call a new candidate, please check that webpage from time to time.