Last Saturday, April 26th, was a joyful day on the Heritage campus. Amidst much pomp, circumstance and celebration, we conferred diplomas and degrees on our college and seminary graduates.
I wish I could introduce you to these men and women who are now freshly-minted Heritage alumni. We’ve enjoyed getting to know them — many of them have a deep desire to use their training to serve the Lord Jesus wherever He leads them.
Here’s a quick glimpse of three of this year’s grads:
Amanda Spruit is a young woman we met while serving at the Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa. Having finished her studies at Heritage, she’s now off to language school this summer in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Amanda has already served in Africa, but hopes to return this fall to join a team that will be serving Jesus in Chad, West Africa.
Van Kung Thiahlun made history on Saturday for his people group. I was told that Van is the first Christian from the Chin people group (a persecuted minority in Myanmar) to get a seminary degree in Canada. Many members from the Chin church that Van pastors were decked out in their colourfully woven jackets to celebrate graduation and to mark this historic event. We recently had an opportunity to visit this church, have Chin soup, and enjoy their ardent worship.
Mark Hartnett received his Master in Divinity last Saturday and will be getting married this coming Saturday. Mark and his bride, Ashley, have already been called to serve a church in Kolkata, India.
The Graduation Celebration was a joyful culmination to a stellar year at Heritage. Linda and I will miss seeing many of these grads on campus. It’s bittersweet to see them go, but we are excited to see how God will use their lives to build His Church here in Canada and around the world.
Rick and Linda Reed 