Follow the signs

Students from Halifax Christian Academy and Smithville Christian High School were reminded that they all follow the same God and that God provides signposts for their lives.

At this week's chapel, students took turns sharing information about their respective schools. Sophie B. and Aydan S., both members of Smithville Christian High School's choir, talked about how they experience Belonging, Believing and Succeeding at their school.

Belonging at Smithville Christian is being part of a community, said Aydan. "In our class we are all one big group of friends and we all get along."

Sophie agreed. "God is very present here. I feel him through everyone here, and the thing that stands out is community."

Sophie said she also experiences believing at Smithville Christian through community.

"Teachers and students at this school are an example of Christ in our lives," she said. "We are encouraged in our walk with God." Sophie said things like Spiritual Emphasis Week, prayer and daily devotions "help us grow in our walk the God.

Aydan said when he was in Grade 10, he and some friends went to the prayer room one day during Spiritual Emphasis Week "so we could skip class, actually." But as the teenagers sat and talked together, the conversation became deeper and deeper "and we were completely open with each other and we confessed to each other what was going on in our lives.

"Then we prayed together. It was a turning point in my faith for me.

Sophie said students succeed at Smithville Christian High School because "teachers are very encouraging and they help us learn the way we work best."

Aydan agreed, saying teachers are always trying to find unique ways to stimulate learning.

Then Hannah S., Luke M., Lexy L. and Noah S., members of the Halifax Christian Academy Band, described their school.

Hannah said their school is small, but she loves it. Luke said one of the benefits of being in a K-12 school is knowing everyone, even the primary students.

"It's a small school, but we're close," Luke said.

Lexy said she has been part of a small group of friends since Grade 5 "and we help each other grow spiritually."

Noah said he is grateful for teachers "who are pushing God on me all the time, and that's not a bad thing."

Jessica Wilson, principal of Halifax Christian Academy, said the visit from Smithville Christian High School's choir last April inspired her students at her school, with their ministry of music "both inside and outside the school."

"Your visit changed our hearts," Wilson said. "The love of Christ in your hearts came out through your singing."

Halifax Christian Academy vice-principal Will Radford said he is grateful that students and leaders at both schools share the same vision.

He said he and the other chaperones got lost on the way home to their hotel Tuesday night -- despite the fact they had been given a detailed map, carefully drawn by Mr. Harris.

The next morning, when they retraced their route back to school they realized what had gone wrong. The sign they missed was there, "but someone must have hit it -- it was on the wrong angle."

Radford said the map was fine, but the signs were messed up.

"A lot of the world is like that," he said. "The signposts are there but they are bent or messed up or turned the wrong way."

But Christian schools exist to help students follow the right signs, he said. Radford read Proverbs 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight."

"That's what Christian schools are all about, we want to help young people read the signs," he said. "And we're glad you share the same vision we do."

The Halifax Christian band then presented four pieces: "Thursday," "The Tempest," "Silly Samba" and "Tap Out."

Listen to Tap Out:   

(To hear more from the Halifax Christian Academy Band, come to the concert Friday night at school: 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, everyone is welcome. The concert will also feature the Smithville Christian High School Choir.)

West Lincoln Mayor Doug Joyner brought greetings on behalf of the Township of West Lincoln and the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

Joyner said he thoroughly enjoyed a recent visit he made to Halifax for a meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and said he hoped the visiting guests would both enjoy their time here and want to come back again.

A student praise team also led in worship with "I Will Follow," "Victor's Crown" and "Brokenness Aside."

Watch the video:

The exchange between Halifax Christian Academy and Smithville Christian High School is made possible by SEVEC, the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges Canada. SEVEC is a not for profit organization that facilitates educational exchanges within Canada, building bridges between young Canadians and providing them with the opportunity to learn about their country by seeing and experiencing its history, geography, and cultural diversity. The travel costs for each participant are covered by SEVEC through the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Love sacrificially

Students at Smithville Christian High School were challenged to "love sacrificially" in order to demonstrate God's heart for the poor and vulnerable.

Alumnus Devon VanHoffen (Class of 2012) was this week's chapel speaker, sharing an account of his experiences living and volunteering in Zambia for the past year with Hands at Work in Africa — a Christian non-profit organization that helps local churches care for the neediest people in their communities.

"Inside each one of us, God us calling us to care for the poor," Devon said, sharing some of the 300 passages from Scripture that speak of God's compassion for the poor. "Trust in him and give of yourself, just as he gave to you."

Devon said he was profoundly moved by the suffering of the people he met, many of whom were sick or orphaned by HIV, and who were struggling in the midst of great adversity to care for those around them. He joined other volunteers from local churches to help feed and care for sick people, sometimes able to only "listen to their stories and pray with them," but other times called to do things "that you are not comfortable with."

Devon said he was inspired by his colleague, Reuben, another volunteer, who worked tirelessly feeding and caring for the sick in his community.

"We do this, not because we want to earn salvation, but because we have received salvation," Devon said.

Referring to this year's spiritual emphasis theme, "Going Deeper," Devon urged students to "go deeper" in their relationships with God and with each other.

"Love above all," Devon said. "Love sacrificially, as I have seen people love like this, in ways that both break my heart and give me hope."

Here is a video of images from Devon's work.

Devon first visited Africa in 2012, when he travelled to South Africa as part of a team from Smithville Christian High School. It was on his first visit there that "God grabbed his heart," said spiritual life director Gord Park, who said he had the privilege of being part of Devon's team.

Devon will be returning to Zambia, but is currently raising money to fund his work there. You can support his efforts by attending a praise and worship event October 18 at Rose City Kids in Welland.

To support Devon financially, download a giving form.

To read more about Hands at Work in Africa visit www.handsatwork.org.

To read more about what God has to say about caring for the poor, here are some of the Scripture passages cited by Devon:

• Psalm 68:5
• Leviticus 19:9-10
• Isaiah 1:17
• Ezekiel 16:44
• Job 29:11-16
• Job 31:16-23
• Luke 3:9
• James 1:27
• James 2:14-18
• 1 John 3:16

A student praise team led in worship with Desert Song, Mountaintop and I Will Follow.

Love on everyone

Grade 12 students at Smithville Christian High led chapel this week, encouraging their fellow students to "love on everyone,"  to "talk to God" and to "let God shine through you."

The senior students led worship and then took turns describing various aspects of their recent three-day retreat at Silver Lake Camp.

One of the activities of the trip was a small group discussion, in which the students were asked to answer a series of questions about their previous life experiences. Each group then picked their favourite topics and shared them with the rest of the class.

"Our table answered whether we had ever been in a life-saving situation," said Wes. Scott once had to direct an ambulance to an emergency, and Wes said he and Aydan once befriended a troubled young man named Ryan at a youth convention. At the end of the weekend, they exchanged phone numbers in order to keep in contact with him, he said, and shortly after that Ryan texted to say he was grateful for their friendship.

"He said 'thank you so much for being my friend this weekend,' " Wes related. " 'You don't know this, but I had planned to kill myself this weekend. You and Aydan showed such love to me that I felt God's presence.'"

"You don't know people's situation," Wes told students and guests at chapel. "So just love on everyone and be a friend to everyone. You don't know but just a simple smile or 'hello' could save someone's life."

Megan said her group shared their answer to the question of whether they had ever initiated a time of prayer with someone. She said when students from this class were in Grade 9, Smithville Christian alumna Chelsea Feddema was killed in a tragic accident, which made many of the students wonder "why God would do something like that?"

"Some of us who knew her and her family were feeling so down, we skipped class and we were crying in the Grade 9 bathroom," Megan said.

"Then Hope said 'why don't we pray about this?' and so there we were, sitting on the bathroom floor where you don't think you could see God, but God was there," Megan said.

"You could be in class, you could be having a bad day, but when you talk to God, he listens," she said. "Talk to God, pray with your friends, because it changes your relationship with your friends and it changes your relationship to God."

Julianna talked about her experience of being the only Christian in her group of roommates during a summer French immersion trip, and hearing at the end that she had changed her roomie's impression of "what I think a Christian is like — because you are not judgmental."

Mitchell told about his summer trip to Africa to visit his brother, and the encounter the pair had with a woman who had AIDS and who asked them why they were Christians. "I don't remember what we said but before we left, she asked us to pray for her, and she said it changed her life," Mitchell said.

Tyler said he also had the chance to share the gospel during a summer job as a house painter, working with an older man who asked him many questions about his faith and his walk with God. His co-worker concluded that he wasn't interested in going to church "because it's a waste of time" but Tyler said he still felt God had used him to share an important message.

"We think we're young and we can't touch the world in any way, but be open and let God shine through you," Tyler said. "If you let the Holy Spirit work through you, you can do awesome things."

Shannon said the retreat focused on this year's spiritual life theme, which is "going deeper with God." 

She described an activity the students did during one of the evening chapel times, led by spiritual life director Gord Park. They divided into pairs and did a drawing exercise three times, once based only on answers to questions,  the second time based on an oral description and the third time through a two-way conversation. Not surprisingly, it was the third drawing that turned out best, and Shannon said the three types of drawings represent three different ways of connecting with God.

Sometimes we just present God with a list of requests or questions, sometimes we expect God to lead us, and sometimes we engage God in full conversation — both talking and listening.

"In a full conversation you pray and you leave space for God to talk to you," she said. "Then we were challenged to tell our discussion partner where we were in our relationship with God.

"A lot of growth can happen when you are willing to let people in," she said. She said Mr. Park encouraged students to let God in — into the sports, activities and details of their daily lives, instead of just keeping God "at the surface."

Ben described the recreational activities, the food and the sleep (or lack thereof) at the camp. He said the students also did a series of trust-building activities, in addition to playing board games and cards, inventing a game they called "sting-pong," archery, geo-caching, and waterfront activities, including sailboats, canoes and kayaks. The students were also proud to say they beat the teachers at the annual game of Mission Impossible, he said. "Ha-ha."

During the retreat, the students took turns leading devotions, and Jessica and Megan described a devotion they led one morning.

"Today I just encourage you guys to love, love, love," Megan said. "You never know what someone could be going through."

The students then closed the chapel with a prayer led by John, and the singing of Oceans (Where Feet May Fail).

Here's a video of the students leading in worship with "My Redeemer Lives" featuring a drum duet by Tyler and Wes!

See the Smithville Christian High School Facebook page for more pictures from the retreat. 

Being radical

What does it mean to be a radical Christian?

This year's student council theme at Smithville Christian High School is "Be Radical" and it's based on the theme verse of Hebrews 10:24, said Sophie Bradbury, a member of the student council executive.

Bradbury said it's easy to "fall into the habit of listening to a message, reading a devotional or attending a big youth event and coming out inspired — but not doing much about it."

Instead, we can choose to live radically every day, she said, "by starting with prayer." God opens doors and the hearts of others when we approach them in his name and with his purpose, she said. "Every morning, take a few minutes to ask God to provide opportunities to love someone."

Hebrews 10:24 in the New Living Translation is "Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds," she said. "We are called to put our faith into action by loving others and doing good deeds to glorify God." The good deeds aren't a burden or a way to earn a reward, but rather are a joy.

"It can take only 20 seconds to step out of your comfort zone and show someone the love of Christ through a kind action," she said. "Imagine that you could be a part of how God could change their day, or even their life.

Bradbury said the word radical originated in "of the root."

"To be radical Christians, we need to be rooted in Christ," she said. "Let's not be satisfied with the status quo. We need to go all-in and all-out with God. Let's encourage each other and be active followers of Christ!"

Student council treasurer Joseph Falzone explained how the annual activities budget of roughly $40,000 is earned and allocated, and urged students to take advantage of the banquets, ski trips and other events that take place throughout the year. Roughly 75% of students take part in extra-curricular activities such as athletics, intramurals, choir, yearbook, and more, he said, but 100% of students can get involved in the all-school events.

Members of a student praise team led in worship with "By Faith," "Grace Like Rain," and "Not Ashamed."

It was a dress-down day for Welcome Week, with students dressing in team costumes and playing team challenges during an extended lunch hour, which included free lunch for everyone!

Praise team video is coming soon; check Facebook for Welcome Week photos.

Smashed beyond repair

No matter what happens or how bad things get, you are always a beloved child of God and you always have potential, said spiritual life director Gord Park at this week's chapel.

Park told the students about his father-in-law's habit of picking up old junk and bringing it home.

He'll be walking along or driving along and he'll see something that's been discarded and he'll say "How can people throw this away?" Park said. "Often he brings it to my house — because his house is full. It drives us crazy, but we love him."

One day his father-in-law found a busted-up guitar, smashed to bits. It was so damaged it was almost unrecognizable as a guitar, Park said.  Sure enough, he showed up on the Park's doorstep with the mangled instrument.

"I saw this in the garbage," his father-in-law said. "I know you're in a band and I know you teach drama, maybe you can use it for a prop. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Park confided to the students. "I am thinking I am going to throw it away, but I am going to wait the obligatory four or five months until he stops asking about it."

But that's not what happened.

Instead, Park took the banged-up instrument to a buddy in his band, who has a friend who fixes guitars. When that friend saw the guitar and saw how damaged it was, he asked: "What is this? A test?"

Yet, only two weeks later the buddy opened his trunk and pulled out a guitar, beautifully refurbished and restrung.

"It looked like this," Park said, holding up the very guitar he had used that morning to lead the students in worship.

Park said the journey taken by the guitar -- from garbage heap to leading worship -- via a father, a son, and a devoted craftsperson, is a journey that people sometimes take too.

"The guitar looked like a piece of junk, lying on the side of the road," Park said, "but what the father sees is not a piece of junk, he sees what it was meant to be."

An instrument that appeared to have been smashed in anger and which looked like it could never again do what it was created to do, is handed from a father to a son because the father thinks it's important to him.

"The son takes a-hold of it and puts it in the hands of a master craftsman," Park said, "and it ends up leading some awesome kids in worship."

There are times when things happen that can make us think we are too broken to be fixed, Park said, or that make us believe we have caused too much damage for things ever to be restored.

"But there is a father who loves you, a son who sees you as special and a spirit who comes and heals," he said.

"You are never too broken to be fixed. You are never beyond hope, you can never go beyond a place where you cannot be made whole, where you cannot be what you were created to be."

No matter what happens, no matter what you do and no matter what goes wrong "God will always love you, God will always reclaim you, God will always be with you," he said.

Neale Robb then read a passage from John 21, where Jesus gives his disciple, Peter, an opportunity to restore the relationship he damaged through betrayal.

"Peter thought he had blown it for good, but Jesus had a job for him to do," Robb said.

He then prayed that God would "help us to recognize today how much you love us. Help us allow you to work in our lives and to fashion us more and more into the image of Christ," he prayed. "Use us to be a blessing to those around us."

Songs this morning included Our God, 10,000 Reasons and You Are My King. Chapel was on Tuesday this week because the Grade 12 students are leaving for a three-day retreat first thing Wednesday morning, Join us next Wednesday at 9 a.m. All are welcome!

Surprised by God

Students at Smithville Christian High School told stories of being surprised by God in their summer mission and service trips, saying that God was present even when things seemed to be going wrong.

Spiritual life director Gord Park said he asked random students to share what happened during their summer vacations and a cross-section of students volunteered.

The students travelled the globe, but no matter where they went or how they served, they all testified to God's faithfulness.

Kristen M. travelled to Washington, D.C. with a group of youth from Bethel Church in Dunnville to run a vacation Bible school and do gardening in an inner city neighbourhood. She said she was moved by the testimony of a youth leader who shared his story of God walking with his family during his daughter's battle with cancer.

Paige V. travelled to Lacombe, Alberta with alumna Jessica Dekker of Riverside Church in Wellandport to volunteer at a camp for people with developmental disabilities. Paige said she saw God in the joy of the campers as they joined in worship and delighted in their end-of-week awards assembly.

Braden V. travelled to London, Ontario with a SERVE team from Providence Church in Beasmsville to help in a soup kitchen and on some community service projects. Braden said he saw God's sense of humour in response to a comment made by a group leader, who had joked at the start of the week that he hoped the worst thing that would go wrong would be damage to the church building where the students were billeted.  On the final night, the youth had a celebratory "kitchen party" in the church and as they were worshiping and dancing so hard they cracked the ceiling in the church kitchen below. "I think it's funny we cracked the kitchen ceiling in a kitchen party and we weren't even in the kitchen," Braden said.

Rachel G., Miranda B. and Larissa B. travelled to California and Mexico with the youth group of Mountainview Church in Grimsby, developing and leading a vacation Bible school. Rachel said they felt God's presence as they planned and delivered their program and as they experienced the miraculous healing of a team member. Even through the original plans for the trip did not materialize, Rachel said she would rate the experience "definitely a 10. We had a lot of God moments."

Robert F. said he travelled to South Korea with students Curtis P., Sam H., Chris N. and Andy J., along with alumna Ann Kang and Paul Kang, pastor of Stoney Creek Korean Presbyterian Church. Robert said he was moved by the experience of the small group of Christian students in a Buddhist school, who were persecuted and punished for their faith but who persevered in gathering regularly to pray.

Joseph F. stayed home and operated his own business, but said he made a conscious decision to "shine for God" in his business dealings and to "bless the community" by organizing a charity event for the Grimsby Benevolent Fund.

"If you are nice to people you will bring out the best in everybody," Joseph said.

Park asked students to raise their hands if they had had a summer service or mission experience and if they had experienced God's presence in their lives.

The number of hands that went up is evidence that "students all over have a testimony that God is not dead and he is working in their lives," Park said. He said the chapel testimonies are just to get the conversation started, and encouraged all students to ask about and share their stories of being surprised by God.

"God has something amazing for all of us here in this school," he said.

Park thanked the students for their leadership in sharing their stories, and he also thanked the members of the praise team who led the school and a number of chapel guests in worship.

Here's a video of the praise team leading in worship with Oceans, by Hillsong United.

Chapel is every Wednesday morning at 9 and everyone is always welcome.

First Day of School! What do you worry about?

Students at Smithville Christian High School started their school year with invitations to belong, with a promise that God will protect them, and with prayer.

At the opening chapel of the year, held in the gym on Tuesday morning, students were invited to join an impressive list of extra-curricular activities — some of which are already starting today. They also had their friendships, their studies and their club activities lifted up in prayer.

Teachers and students took turns leading the entire school community — and some visiting parents — in praying for the many ways in which school life is enriched. Student Sam D. prayed for student leadership, Mr. Park prayed for extra-curricular activities, student Sophie B. prayed for relationships between students, between students and teachers, and between families and teachers, Mrs. Horvath prayed for students' academic life and Mr. Robb prayed for the community of parents, family and friends who surround the school with their support.

 

The school also prayed for Pastor Wes Collins and his wife, Stephanie, who were seriously injured in a car crash last week.

Principal Ted Harris also led in an opening meditation, in which he described the things he worries about sometimes — his leadership, his hairstyle or his bad jokes.

He said students wonder about whether there will be someone to talk to on the bus, about finding a friend, about being a capable student. They wonder if they will make the team or pass the audition.

Parents wonder about their sons and daughters grabbing hold of faith, said Harris. They wonder if their children will thrive at Smithville Christian.

But no matter what we worry or wonder about, "God certainly has a plan for each of us and there is nothing that will stop it," Harris said. "The gifts you have, the passions that drive you -- God gave them to you for a reason."

 

God promises to uphold and sustain us despite our uncertainties and fears, Harris said, sharing words of comfort and promise from a pastoral blessing and from Scripture.

Harris said his pastor blesses the congregation with these words: "God go before you to lead you, God go behind you to protect you, God go beneath you to support you, God go beside you to befriend you. Do not be afraid. May the blessing of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be upon you. Do not be afraid. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord."

Harris also read from Psalm 139: 7-12 and from Romans 8:39

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you."

"Neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The subjects and extra-curricular activities that students are good at are gifts given to them for a reason, Harris told them. "The way you are with people, God gave you that personality for a reason. It will not turn out to be pointless because Scripture says it will not come back empty."

At the end of chapel, students were given an opportunity to welcome new students.

Also today: we had our first visit from a technician for the malfunctioning photocopier and Mrs. Vanderheide signed her first late slip. It's good to be back!