CCRTC Update # 6
TIME...
It is a time of chaos, a time of order, a time of despair, a time of hope, a time to question the future, a time to reflect, a time to understand change, a time to see beauty, a time to make plans….
Chaos: Whoever thought such a tiny microbe could shut down the world? Order: Everyone (for the most part) is now living in their own country. Despair: When will life return to “normal”? So many believe and trust in worldly ideals and luxuries which have now vanished. Hope: There is a thought that true belief is refined and made known only when truly tested. What or who do you put your hope and trust in? Question the future: How long can we financially and mentally handle the current pandemic? Time to reflect: Perhaps we can learn the value of families being able to live and learn together in a more complete way? Understand change: As Christians our greatest change is in how we worship God corporately. How long, oh Lord, till we can be again gathered as your people in your house? How long, oh Lord? Beauty: How much more opportunity is there now as God’s children to open scripture and sing psalms and hymns as family in the home?
Time to make plans: “Come now, you who say, ’Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town, and spend a year there and trade and make profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ’If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” – James 4: 13-15
Indeed, we as College could make plans seeking the Lord’s will and he has so far shown much blessing on those plans. On Thursday, April 23 and Friday, April 24 two men came a visiting. Originally, they were scheduled to meet with us in person at the College for one day, but since COVID-19 flew into the country, our plans were altered to a two-day virtual visit: What a blessing the review could continue! We had the opportunity to introduce the College to them via a virtual guided tour and a presentation. For the presentation we chose to highlight the many facets of CCRTC by using the word “commitment” as the unifying theme. The reviewers met with the Executive and then the Finance Committee. Friday, they met with full-time and part-time faculty members and then some alumni and students. They met with the administrative staff, and then with the full Executive again. Having participated in a number of the interviews myself, I can attest to the quality of the review and the professionalism of the panelists. It was a pleasure to interact with reviewers who not only were well-informed, but who also engaged positively with all participants. We are thankful for the interactive nature of the process and for the opportunity to have an open dialogue about some specific issues. At the end of the visit, several observations and recommendations were shared verbally, allowing us to begin to interact with them.
Our hope/plan is that, D.V., we can be ready with a response to the formal report by the end of May to present to PEQAB, the body overseeing the formal organizational review. God has clearly shown a positive response to your prayers, which we continue to covet. We pray that he will bless the completion of this review phase in due time and allow us to move on to the next phase of the quest for Ministerial Consent and accreditation of CCRTC’s two-year teacher education program.
There is a time (always) to give glory to God.
In Christ,
Richard Feenstra, Chairman of CCTRC
