Each year our graduates share their testimonies in chapel. Here are two videos with clips of what God is doing in the lives of the students:
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NBC Graduation 2016
Nipawin Bible College hosted their graduation ceremonies on Sunday, April 17, 2016. The ceremonies started at 2:30 pm in Rempel Auditorium. Twelve students were honored with Bachelor degrees (see below), ten students completed the two-year Certificate of Christian Ministries program and eighteen students completed the one-year Foundations for Life program. This year was also the beginning of a new one-year program, the Christian Arts Ministry Certificate, which one student received.
The Valedictory Address was given by Bachelor of Christian Ministry graduate Landon Schubert (read his address below). The Charge to the Graduates was given by Rev. Robin Haensel.
After the ceremonies, all who attended had opportunity to wish the graduates congratulations and blessings in a receiving line. A light lunch was served after the ceremonies as well while guests visited with the graduates, students and staff.
Students can contact Lindsay Anderson if they would like a digital copy of the class picture or a photo of receiving their certificates/diplomas. NOTE: these are available to students only.
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On Tuesday, April 12, an awards ceremony was held during morning chapel to honor students who fulfilled and exceeding criteria for several school awards:
[one_half]BARNABAS AWARD — unselfishly sharing of him/herself, seeking to meet the physical, spiritual, and/or emotional needs of others and demonstrating a life of encouragement.
– Carissa Breiter –
FINE ARTS AWARD — diligence in music &/or drama practice, excellence and humility in public presentation, teachable spirit, and music/drama leadership ability or potential.
– Justine Berlinic –
SCHOOL SPIRIT AWARD — a willing and cheerful attitude, practical involvement in school activities, and initiative to create a positive school spirit.
– Abigail Anderson –
STUDENT MINISTRY AWARD — creativity, encouragement of others, a servant attitude, and diligence in Student Ministry.
– Kaylee McGillivray & Timothy Block –
STUDENT WORK AWARD — initiative, dependability, faithfulness, and quality in his/her Student Work.
– Rachel Block –[/one_half] [one_half_last]ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD
Cumulative GPA (grade point average) attained, out of a possible 4.00: Freshmen–3.90; Juniors–3.80; Seniors–3.70; Fourth Year–3.65
Freshman: Sharmyn Abrahamson (3.94), Olivia Mile (3.94 )
Junior: Janeil Mehrer (3.80)
Senior: Jordan Bergen (3.85), Rachel Hildebrand (3.82)
Fourth Year: Brenden Peters (3.75)
DEAN’S LIST — all students who attained a GPA of 3.50 or higher in the first semester.
Sharmyn Abrahamson Jordan Bergen
Timothy Block Carissa Breiter
Joel Desharnais Julie Desharnais
Timothy Fehr Darwin Harder
Rachel Hildebrand Joshua Lees
Kaylee McGillivray Janeil Mehrer
Olivia Mile Brenden Peters
Donald Pouteaux Destiny Sawatzky
Jeremy Sherwood Holly Wiebe[/one_half_last]
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During the graduation ceremonies, three awards were presented that are specifically awarded to graduates:
J.M. BAXTER AWARD
Awarded annually by Mr. Baxter’s four sons to honour his service to God at the Nipawin Bible College. The recipient give evidence of maturing character during the years of study at NBC and has demonstrated excellent ability or progress in the area of Homiletics.
– Jeremy Sherwood –
NBC LEADERSHIP AWARD
Awarded annually by the NBC faculty to the student who demonstrates growing and effective servant leadership. The recipient has shown maturing influence, initiative and innovation in leadership experience.
– Carissa Breiter –
GRADUATE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Selected by student and faculty voting, is presented to the graduate who most consistently demonstrates: concern for evangelism, cooperation in relationships, good school spirit, positive attitude in responsibilities, and ability to receive guidance or criticism.
– Jordan Bergen –
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Also during the graduation ceremonies, Dan Woodard and Walter Selke were honored with a gift of thanks for their 6 years on the NBC Board of Directors. Dan and his wife, Deanna, were present to receive their presentations from NBC President Wes Dobson.
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On Saturday, April 16, a banquet was held for the graduates with their families. This was a fun evening filled with many blessings and friendly joking throughout the program. Jason Elford was the MC for the evening which started with Robinson & Robinson providing music for the evening. Guests were ushered in by the first and second year students and served a delicious meal prepared by the NBC cooks.
Several tributes and responses were given throughout the evening:
- Jordan Lepine gave a tribute to the grads on behalf of the students; Ben Thiessen responded on behalf of the grads.
- Brendan Peters gave a tribute to the parents on behalf of the grads; his parents responded.
- Jeremy Sherwood gave a tribute to the staff and faculty on behalf of the grads; Joel Houston responded on behalf of the staff and faculty.
Lindsay Anderson, Academic Dean, and Adam Yadlowsky, Dean of Student Life, presented each of the grads with a fun personalized gift that reflected memories or characteristics of the grads’ time at NBC. Gifts included a huge ball of rope, a shepherd’s crook, a homemade music kit, and Christmas ornaments to name a few. Each of the grads enjoyed their gifts and the memories that they represented.
Each of the grads was given a personal blessing by a staff member. This blessing consisted of a word that the staff member saw characterized the student, a Scripture verse or passage that represented that word and a short statement by the staff member of how they saw the student live their lives at NBC. David Smith and Kendall Dyck read the blessings. A copy of the blessings were given to the grads during the graduation ceremonies with their diplomas.
Several staff and faculty members were presented with gifts to thank them for their five or ten years of service to the college. President Wes Dobson and and his wife, Tina, presented the gifts on behalf of the college.
- David & Elfe Smith – 5 years (Faculty)
- Jason & Lindsay Elford – 5 years (Enrollment & Alumni Director)
- Melisa Dyck – 5 years (Receptionist & Bookstore Manager)
- Kendall Dyck – 10 years (Finances & Facilities Manager)
- Lindsay & Amanda Anderson – 10 years (Academic Dean)
[separator headline=”h4″ title=”Valedictorian Speech – Landon Schubert”]
Board of Directors, Staff and Faculty, Students, Family, Friends, thank you for celebrating with us today. Your presence is appreciated and whether you realize it or not, you have all played a part in the lives of each graduate here today. So we are grateful that you have joined us and I would like to welcome you for this celebration.
In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” In the same way that Lincoln recognized a people who had forgotten God, I experience a similar fear as we depart from this place.
Graduates, we all have spent the last number of years cultivating a deeper faith in God, so I do not worry that you have forgotten God. However, you do have a knowledge and excitement for God that I fear is not the response of the world that we live in. These last years of our lives have been trying and difficult, but all for the glory of God. So that we might know him and make him known to the world. To a world that has forgotten God. So, I have a fear, a fear similar to Lincoln. I fear that people have forgotten Him who has given them life. Lincoln’s observation he expressed all those years ago is just as relevant to us today as it was then. Graduates, let us break the mold of this world, let us rise up as a generation that would declare God boldly, without fear as Paul urged us in Ephesians 6, to make known the secret of the Gospel. There is often the saying of the best kept secret. Let us spread the Gospel in a way that it is no secret. Imagine with me for a moment, a world where the Gospel is no mystery, where it is no secret. We are to live in that world as Paul declared, to make known the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of God.
Thankfully, we have been in a constant state of rigorous learning about that mystery over our time here at Nipawin Bible College, for the very purpose of declaring the Gospel of Christ. We have been surrounded by so many people seeking to teach us about this mystery of the Gospel so we might teach and show others. And there were many, who helped in our learning by walking beside us, nurturing us, and sometimes even pushing us. Ultimately, you have all been contributing to ensure that we do not become a people who forget God. And better yet, you have ensured that we become a people who proclaim his name to those that have forgotten him.
Staff and Faculty. I struggle to say thank you in a way that might convey how much we appreciate you. You have essentially given your lives for our benefit. I think of what Oswald Chambers said when he stated that “If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” And so today I thank God for breaking your heart so that we might learn from you and have you pour into us. Without the sacrifices you have made and continue to make, we would not be here.
Family members, friends. I too thank you for all the ways in which you have contributed to our time here. Ways that we may never fully know, but I thank you for your support, your love, and your desire to see us grow in deeper relationship with our Father in Heaven. I think of how much you have all given up for our sake and am truly grateful for how much you have loved us, even when we didn’t deserve it. There is no way to say thank you enough for all that you have done.
We are truly grateful for what each and everyone of you have done to help us get here today. But we are not here to celebrate you today. In fact, we are not even here to celebrate the graduates on this stage. Rather, today is a celebration of worship of the God that has brought us all here today. We are here to declare the love of the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, as Deuteronomy 7:9 says. As Romans 1:4-5 says, it is by Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations . To declare His name to the nations. It is through Christ Jesus that I have anything at all to say today. So I would be remiss to not speak of our Lord and Savior and declare His name.
Graduates, there are 12 of us who have spent the last few years of our lives discerning just how to declare his name, how to go and make disciples, and how to teach of what we have learned from Him, just as Jesus commands us in Matthew 28. May we do so with boldness, joy and excitement. 2 Corinthians 3:4 states that we now have a confidence in God through Christ. And in that, he has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant. May we boldly proclaim His Gospel to a world that has forgotten Him.
It has been a long journey for us all to arrive at this day. But may this not be about us, may this simply be the beginning to all that God has commissioned us for. To go and make the mystery of the Gospel known. So, I want to leave us with a commission as we graduate and leave from here. Isaiah 6:8-9 reads and I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, here I am, send me. I want to respond like Paul in Romans 1:15-16 and say that I am eager to preach the Gospel, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
May by the grace of God, we be a people that cannot be said to have forgotten God or His people that have, but rather let us be a people that boldly go wherever God wills us to go. For His Glory.
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[one_half]Bachelor of Christian Ministry
Abigail Ranae Anderson
Jordan Nathaniel Bergen (H)
Justine Leah Berlinic (H)
Carissa Hope Breiter (H)
Joël Albert Desharnais (H)
Rachel Eva Hildebrand (H)
Landon Lawrence Schubert
Emily Judith Teichrib
Benjamin James Thiessen
Bachelor of Arts in Christian Leadership
Brenden Lee Peters (P) (H)
Douglas James Robinson (P)
Jeremy James Sherwood (P) (H)
(H) Honours
Major: (L) Leadership/Management (P) Pastoral Ministry (Y) Youth Ministry[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Christian Ministry Diplomas
Rachel Elizabeth Block
Timothy Daniel Block
Andrea Marie Fehr
Isaiah Daniel Forster
Deanna Kathryn LeMay
Jordan William Oliver Lepine
Janeil Desiree Sharon Mehrer
Kristina Marie Peters
Noah Clifford Wahlstrom
Xyla Tegan Webster
Foundations For Life Certificate
Sharmyn Paige Abrahamson
SaraLyn Marie Andres
Shania Elizabeth Bueckert
Julie Yvonne Desharnais
Kelsey Elizabeth Driedger
Timothy James Fehr
Darwin Jamieson Harder
Janique Stephanie Harder
Bryn Annie Howell
Kyle Kulas-Marto-Malinowski
Joshua Dylan Lees
Kaylee Maria McGillivray
Olivia Theresa Mile
Donald Dean Pouteaux
Destiny Angelika Sawatzky
Courtney Ellen Edith Thomson
Jeremy Dale Wall
Holly Victoria Wiebe
Christian Arts Ministry Certificate
Tim Aaron Stodolka[/one_half_last]