WOLBI's Got Talent!

It was our Second Annual "WOLBI's Got Talent", November 23, from 7-8 organized by our very own Associate Dean of Ministry, Richard Heppner.
We gathered in the gym to see our classmates and staff perform some of the different talents that God has graciously lavished on us. The stage was decorated with streamers, balloons, and flashing lights to set the mood. Act after act was performed in a variety of categories. Singing, drama, a djembe performance, stand-up comedy, and many, many more from serious to insane.
The student Praise Team kicked off the night by leading their audience in a praise chorus, followed up by special music. 
One of the student ministry teams called Testify did their very own rendition of "My Girl", every so slightly changing the lyrics to direct it at their "My WOLBI" audience.
Two very funny skits were presented, one by students about a hypochondriac doctor.
The Grand Finale skit was performed by some of the guy students and our very own Dean of Men, Jon Ward (Check out his blog here)! This skit depicted a zealous not-so-synchronized swim team performing their acrobatics (literally) to the cheerfully poetic music of Beethoven's "Blue Danube". There is no pool in the gym, but they did manage to get wet!
We laughed, we cried, we cheered our hearts out as our souls were blessed by the talent that we hadn't even realized had been under our very noses during our time here at WOLBI.

Mark your calendar to join us next year for the 3rd Annual WOLBI's Got Talent night Tuesday, November 22, 2011.

From the Desk of President Tyson...

A Message from the President:

Since the beginning of my reign as class president, I have been heavily burdened with my vision for this Campus. I believe in one Campus united under God. I believe in a wide variety of students, from provinces all across Canada, along with some from other countries like Brazil, USA, Germany, and Holland, banding together in love and unity. We are really all honorary Canadians, after all!
I believe we can put aside our differences, like height, hair color, and tongue size.
I believe we can learn to respect each others' opinions, like whether or not growing a mustache in November is really a good idea.
I believe we can look out for each other, and warn each other about not eating month old lasagna from the leftover fridge. I believe that we can put a stop to communicable diseases this way and promote better health.
I believe in settling disputes by Nerf gun wars. This is fun, and less painful and emotionally scarring than just throwing rocks, food, napkins, or even soap suds at each other.
I believe in singing "A Whole New World" from Disney's "Aladdin" at every meal, to promote class unity.
I believe in celebrating Birthdays by singing in Polish, regardless of whether it is actually someone's Birthday or whether they are Polish. If anything, people will see how talented we are because we know Polish.
I believe that everyone deserves their own pet Narwhal, or other exotic animal.
I believe that Monday basketball should be a place where everyone can discover their inner Michael Jackson....I mean Jordan.
I have a dream and you may call me a dreamer, but I hope one day you will join me and the campus can live as one. Ask not what your campus can do for you but what you can do for your campus.

The Right Honourable, His Majesty, WOLBI Student Council President Tyson Persall

From WOLBRANOS

"My name is Tyson Persall and I approve this message."

Learning the Word: Acts

From WOLBRANOS

Rev. Frank Roe is teaching us the book of Acts for two weeks. Mr. Roe was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He worked with Word of Life for nearly 17 years and since 1995 he has been with ABWE (Across Borders for World Evangelism) where he is now Ministry Director for Canada. He has taught Acts at WOLBI in the Philippines, Germany, and New York. He and his wife, Tamara, have four children and two dogs.
Here is a comment from Mr. Roe and how God is continuing to teach him through the class and how he enjoys coming to WOLBI each year:

"Every time I teach Acts I learn something new that has to be added to the material the next time through. This time I think I learned not to give away so much chocolate! Actually, this has been a great class and I have enjoyed our time together."

We are really enjoying the class this week, and last weeks as well.  Here are a few comments from some of the students:

"He gave a very descriptive explanation of stoning and I never really thought about how cruel it was."

"The history makes me feel very educated.  It is neat to see that even with so much persecution, they were still sharing the Gospel."

"Mr. Roe brought in actual coins and other artifacts from Biblical times."

 

Super-Bowl! (not the football kind)

From Superbowl

SUPER-BOWL
So there isn't actually bowling that is super, and it really has nothing to do with the football game you may be thinking of.  It is however, a great event that youth leaders and teens in local churches look forward to every year! An evangelistic "all-nighter" for youth coordinated by Charlie Lyons and the Word of Life Local Church Ministry Department.  Church groups get to start off the night with a hockey game at 7pm, followed by an on-ice rally where the gospel is presented. Tom D.Phillips, from our WOLBI campus in sunny Florida, preached the gospel message and many believed the message that Jesus died and rose again to pay for their sins.  There were about 700 teens and leaders in attendance.  We praise God for the 45 salvation decisions that were made.  There were also about 16 people who made the decision to commit their lives to Christ. 
The night started off watching the Mississauga St. Michael's Major's battle the Brampton Battalion at the incredible Hershey Centre.  Then the on-ice rally of games, prizes, and the gospel were followed by sports and all kinds of activities until 3am when everyone boarded the buses and headed over to Playdium, a giant arcade complete with batting cages.  Churches started loading up their sleepy teens to go home at 6am.  The whole night was a blast!  It was a tiring night but totally amazing to see the gospel shared so clearly and people receiving Christ.  The Admissions team also spoke with over 20 high school students interested in pursuing studies at WOLBI and received 7 Bible Institute applications!

Students involved in this ministry event said,  

"It was really great, I think the teens enjoyed it a lot!"

"It was fantastical! The teens dedicated their lives to Christ and it was amazing to see God work in the lives of young people."

"It was sweet to see so many Christians in the same place, and so many people hearing the Word of God."

"I survived the whole night on energy drinks :) but it was totally worth it to see what God did."

Learning the Word: Hosea

From WOLBRANOS

Todd Kinzer is an alumnus of WOLBI. He graduated from the BI in 1998-99 before finishing his Bachelors degree at Baptist Bible College. He has an MDiv and ThM from Capital Bible Seminary. In 2006, Mr. Kinzer became Dean of Men at the NY campus. In addition, he has also taught Bible electives in Personal Disciple Making and Hosea as well as periodically filling in for resident lecturers in Bible Survey. This is his second year teaching Hosea here at WOLBI Owen Sound.

Mr. Kinzer was reminded as he taught last week that,  "Chapter 11 is one of my favorite sections of Hosea. I identify personally with it as God demonstrates His unrequited love for His people. I so often fail to appreciate and live in light of God's love for and faithfulness to me. Yet despite Israel's consistent rejection of God's love, He responds by saying,

"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?...My heart churns within me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim for I am God and not man., the Holy One in your midst..." (11:8-9).

God does not give up on His people even if His love takes on harsh, disciplinary tones to bring His people back to Him. Hosea portrays both the dark, depths of sin to which Israel had stumbled and simultaneously God's unswerving love and faithfulness to His promises and to His people. Each time I am in Hosea, I unfortunately see myself but also find myself in awe of a God who would be so holy and just but also so loving and merciful to those who deserve only condemnation. Father, guard me against a hardened and calloused heart and by your grace, spur me on to faithfulness that you so tenaciously model for me!"

Nerd Nite - The Coolest Uncool Evening in WOLBI History!

 Some of us may jokingly call ourselves nerds when describing our passion for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, our secret love for wearing suspenders, or when discussing the fact that we do math problems for fun, but this past Friday was a chance for all students at WOLBI to really show the world their inner geek. 
The Deans of the Student Life Department hosted the first ever "Nerd Nite" on Friday, October 29. It was a chance to dress like a nerd, eat like a nerd, and play nerdy games like a nerd. Needless to say, most students were almost naturals at being "geeky." "I decided that being a nerd is way more fun than being a normal person." 



Dressing like a nerd involved showing up for the event clothed in garb worthy of a true Chess Champion. Students sported their suspenders, bow-ties, taped glasses, retainers, pig-tails and yes, most importantly, fanny packs! Even the Deans looked their nerdiest with their pants pulled to their armpits and socks and sandals. 

From WOLBRANOS

Imaginations ran rampant as some students showed up with interesting props like puppets, comic books, traffic cones, puffers, and pool cues. "The costumes were awesome!" Not only were the students dressed like nerds, they also each came with their own distinct alternate personalities. Laughter (and snorts) filled the gymnasium. There was even a special "Rick Astley" tribute during the evening.
Eating like a nerd involved such tasty morsels as "Mr. Noodles" and party mix. The nerdy students munched contentedly on their snacks, being careful to remove their retainers before partaking. 
Most exciting was playing the nerdy games. The event was a battle of the sexes, which was fought over dweeb-like games. Students could sign up to play Chess, Chinese Checkers, Table Hockey, Hop-Scotch, Mario Kart, all three Lord of the Rings Official Movie Board games, and others. The war got fierce as the nerds competed in "The WOLBI First Annual Doug Reider Invitational Table Tennis Championship."  A few students were even blessed to paddle against Dean Doug Reider himself.  

From WOLBRANOS

"It was a rockin' good time. I liked the costumes, ping pong, and playing darts!"

 Points were only awarded for playing against members of the opposite sex. 
At the end of the night, when all the scores were tallied, the guys proved to be "Most Nerdy," winning by one point over the girls (seriously, no recount necessary). "It was a spectacular time. I don't even know what to say, it was so good!"

Overall, staff and students alike found the evening to be "swell!"