SBS Staff Reflections

SBS is the School of Biblical Studies we run here at Turner Valley. There are many locations worldwide that run this school which so well gives students a fresh perspective on the big picture of the Bible, on God's love story for his children. You can find out more about SBS here.


A great privilege that accompanies the great responsibility of being an SBS teacher is a more thorough understanding of the books you get to pry into and chew over.  Nicole is an SBS staff and recently taught Job, and this is her reflection:

Job-I had my anxieties about Job, being 42 chapters long, but after 6 weeks of studying the book, I really felt comfortable to teach and managed to insert my own creative flare to the lecture.  Job, throughout the book, makes frequent statements implying that he wishes that he could have an almost "courtroom case" appearance before the Lord and found innocent.   Recognizing this theme, I granted Job his wish and taught 40 minutes of my lecture by a court case enactment, in which I was God's defending lawyer, examining Job's 3 friends, Elihu, and eventually Job himself (the characters were represented by balloon-for-heads figures-yup, had a good laugh over that)

Yes, I used a meat tenderizer as a gavel...

Often people look to the book of Job to examine the question of suffering.  I came away from my studies with a bit of a different take- studying Job cemented in my mind the fact that we mortals should not try to calculate the ways of God by a formula.  The three friends of Job saw Job's suffering, and accused him of secretly sinning.  They thought

wealthy man must be a righteous man

poor man must be a sinner

Though it is proclaimed in Psalm 1 that God loves to bless the righteous and withhold from the wicked,  God was not obligated to bless every righteous man according to his deeds like a transaction.  Clearly, ch 1 of Job displays that God was so pleased with Job's faith that he knew he would remain faithful when this "formula" proved faulty by earthly standards.  Contrary, the 3 friends would rather slander the good reputation of their friend Job than consider God working outside of their comprehension.

 The 3 friends liked the transactional God idea.  If He did not bless every righteous man according to their standards (and proportionately punish the wicked to the state of poverty), how could they secure their good fortune?  If Job could be innocent and poor, could they?  Could they still love a God who did not act as their puppet, their good works pulling the strings?

Their firm stance that Job's unknown sin has brought upon his calamity yells an overwhelming "no".

We know that God is a God of grace, working in the new covenant of grace.  But, is it possible to pick up this transactional attitude?  How often do we do an act of kindness in secret, hoping that God is chalking it down as an act that must be rewarded, either in heaven or by another person (and  in greater measure than our first secret act)?
When we give into the offering plate at church- are you disappointed 3 weeks later when you have not seen a personal financial increase, or have a stranger walk up to you with 50 bucks-seeing it as a "sign" of God rewarding you for your previous "gift"?  I have heard it as financial advice to make sure to tithe 10%, because you (the giver) need money.

But where is the heart?

God gave the Levitical law of blood sacrifice for sins in the Old Testament, but it was not an exchange: following through with sacrifice was an act of humility and obedience from the heart- it was a recognition of sin (Hebrews 10).  God desired a contrite heart (Psalm 51), not a transaction that he was obligated to bless.

Likewise, giving/tithing recognizes that all we have has been given from God.  Dueteronomy 26  lays out a guideline in the Law as to the attitude one should come with to offer tithes.

v5-6 is a reflection of life prior to salvation and freedom (darkness and wandering)
v7-9 proclaims the mercy of God, and the declaration that He is a giver of good gifts
v10-11 is a response to God's generosity, spiritually and materialistically, giving back to Him what He has given in His steadfast loving character.
In reflection of all He has given, one considers the required tithe minuscule.   We respond to the initial Giver, not give to make Him give to us.

I'll leave you with that.  Job is a good book, I would be more than happy to teach it again.

This is Nicole's first year on staff and she has enjoyed teaching as well as discipling students.

To connect with Nicole, here is her Wordpress:

http://www.schnicole.wordpress.com/ 

Testimony Number 2

~~A Testimony of SBS  by  Trent Sommer~~

"In a word, my time at the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) was rich.  When I quit my job of five years to attend the school, I did so after reading, studying, and teaching the Bible for over 16 years.  Even so, no one could have prepared me to be so blessed by studying more the Word of God.  When my friends had asked me why I was going to this Bible school, I told them it was because "I wanted God to bring me to tears of appreciation for His Word."  During the book of Deuteronomy, as I sat in the back row listening to God's pleas for His people to always obey His desires, so that it would go well with them and their children forever (5:29), I was moved to tears having seen more of a picture of the loving, Father heart of God.

One of the biggest things my SBS did for me was to give me a big picture of the entire Bible (and the 66 individual books therein).  In doing so, I realized for the first time that all of Scripture (and all of our lives) fits into the one great story of God.  In Genesis 1, He created everything.  In Genesis 3, everything was tainted and scarred by the man's poor choice to sin against God.  In Genesis 4, the reality that sin had wrecked the world was painfully evident.  And ever since Genesis 4 - throughout the years in the wilderness, and the time of the kings of Israel; through the exile and the rebuilding of God's people and their city; through the life of Jesus, the early Church, and the rest of the New Testament, and through our own lives today, until the Day of His glorious return - God has been working to restore that which has been broken by sin.  The great story - God's story - continues, and we are a part of it!  The Great King - the Only True King - is ALIVE!!  And He's coming soon...  The fresh realization (or maybe my first realization?...) of these things has given me great hope as I continue to walk out a real life with Jesus Christ."

Trent stayed on for the Summer to give us an incredible jump start on our Nehemiah Project. He is back home in Saskatoon and though he works full time, is actively involved in his church, leading a college group bible study.

Testimony Number 1

This is the first installment of a series of four testimonies!

Starting things off is Tiffany Rempel - a student of the Fall 2009 Discipleship Training School (DTS).

"When I first came to Turner Valley I wasn't so sure about my relationship with Jesus. I felt like my relationship with him was boring and going nowhere. But when we did an activity in class the first day, I felt very impacted by Him. We went to go pray and had to ask God what he wanted to show us and teach us. I heard that he wanted to clean and purify my heart, and he wanted to mend and heal my brokenness. Then, we had to find something that would represent what we got. I found a leaf that had many different beautiful colors on it and had a few wounds on it as well. This leaf represented me and how God wanted to fix and change me. After this I felt very empowered.


We had one day where we weren’t supposed to talk but instead to keep it with Jesus only (called a Silence and Solitude day). I was a little scared, being an extrovert and loving to talk, but it was the most amazing day I’ve ever had. He showed me so many wonderful things about myself and was empowering me and preparing me for my mission trip to Thailand. DTS is definitely something I would recommend to all young people."

Thanks Tiffany for sharing how you've grown! We're sure the Lord will use you.

UPDATE: Right now Tiffany is looking to attend Steinbach Bible College in the Fall.

Stay tuned, readers, for the next testimony! Subscribe to this blog if you want to be notified, or just pay attention to us on Twitter and Facebook. :)
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(Our other links are on the left column of this blog)

Vimeo!

          Scott’s been working hard the last few months and has produced several videos for various departments and staff members here at YWAM Turner Valley! He’s added a couple recently, so there’s probably one you haven’t seen! They’re a great mix of amusingly acted anecdotes and in-the-moment ministry.
          Check 'em out, either at our Vimeo site (link below) or at our Vimeo column on this very blog (left column). Enjoy!

                                                      Vimeo            
 
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Winter at Turner Valley

Please enjoy this slide show of Winter here at Turner Valley! Even in the snow and cold, God unveils the sun and highlights his beauty for us to marvel at.

It's a privilege to live here.

Mobilization Tour

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Hey all!

James here, bringing a quick report on YWAM Turner Valley. I haven't given an update lately because I was on a 3-week Mobilization Tour. Sherry and I from YWAM TV joined Taylor and Heidi from YWAM Nexia (located in Vancouver) and Daniel and Morgan out of the Colorado Springs base to travel about BC and Alberta promoting YWAM and missions in general. But here is a write-up done by Sherry to break down our trip into some stats and summaries:

"Praise God for an amazing Mobilization Tour we had with our YWAM Nexia Interns and staff from YWAM Turner Valley and two others out of YWAM Colorado Springs. The tour led them to eight cities in British Columbia and Alberta, speaking to almost 900 people at 19 events and sleeping in 25 different host homes! As they moved from church to church they had opportunities to share stories of God’s immense love, His provision and His power working through our weaknesses and inadequacies to reach people all over the world. Time and time again they heard from people that this was the message that they needed to hear. The team was blown away by the connections that were made, the conversations that God had clearly ordained and the hospitality that met them at every door. After 4,074km of driving they finally rolled back into Vancouver knowing that God had used them to speak His heart. We expect many more great things to come through the words they spoke on this tour"

I can say I had a wonderful time with wonderful people! We received warm hospitality and met many memorable people, and we pray that God did use us to stir young people's hearts toward missions.

For some images, please enjoy the slide show (most of the pictures were taken by Heidi Jarva).

Hope you're all well and feeling God's peace,
James Harrison
Communications

Local Outreaches

John, Tamara, Jess and Charis

Bruce

Tamara

Daniel and Nigel

The SBS (above pictures) did a local Christmas outreach right here in Turner Valley on Thursday the 2nd. They gave out coffee, hot chocolate, and gingerbread cookies. The cookies were labeled "Jesus is Christmas" and the outreach was fittingly done while the students were learning James--a message about how faith ought to be accompanied by works.

Critical Services (our Accounting, Communications, Hospitality, Facilities, Administrator, Director, and Kitchen departments) did an outreach in Calgary, handing out coffee and hot chocolate and mingling with people hanging out on the streets of Calgary. (Below pictures)

Sean, Christi, Evan and Alycia

Scott, Jenn, Christi, and Howard

December Video!

The first of our 12-part series! Each video highlights a staff member to show what they do and why they do it, to show what YWAM Turner Valley does and why we do it.  Please check this short video out on Vimeo and hear the thoughts of our lovely DTS Staff/Accountant, Alycia Wiebe.

A DTS Story

Quick Update

Hey faithful readers!

Here are a few unorganized, quickly thought out updates:

Come this weekend, nearly all of our staff will be First Aid certified! We've had too few staff certified in First Aid for too long now. In response to that, and because people come and go oh so frequently, each of our 17 staff will be trained. There is a trainer who will come to our base - teach the 16 or so hours - on a weekend - to all 17 of us - for merely a tax receipt!  Praise God, right?

Also, the nursery is nearly complete! "Probably like, three-quarters done," according to our Facilities Coordinator. We have been tearing up one of the rooms on base which has a connecting kitchen, and renovating it, making it into a nursery. Nathan and Evan are working hard on it, and others have helped in various ways, like painting. We've had several God things happen with it so far, too - given a nail gun, enough nails to build a castle (out of nails), and a superb price for the flooring!

Light blue and an off-white (I don't know the names...) Two walls of each

The kitchen area

The wonderful hardwood floor!

More updates later!
Peace to you

A Beginner's Guide

YWAM Turner Valley is a YWAM base that focuses on training, sending, and supporting God's people to serve among the Unreached.  If you'd like to learn more about YWAM (Youth With A Mission, a wonderful organization that focuses on training and sending young people to both know God and to make him known), then you can click here. If you'd like to know more about YWAM Canada, please click here.

Right now, Turner Valley is running an SBS (School of Biblical Studies) - a 9-month Bible school.

There is no DTS, so Scott and I (James here) are working to promote our base and the news of our wonderful programs to all whom we can reach.

The leadership team is praying right now, pretty much as we speak. They are seeking God's guidance about what to do with our facilities. We have a wonderful property, but a frightfully old building with surmounting complications. The options are to rebuild on our property, renovate our current buildings, or sell what we have and move entirely. Please pray that the Lord would make clear to us what is his will! We trust he will tell us, and we pray that we will have the courage to follow his commands, no matter how unlikely they may seem to be.

If you'd like to follow YWAM Turner Valley more closely, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Vimeo, and Youtube.

Peace to you!