What is going on with alumni?
Alumni Director Wayne Lewis and new Bible Institute Dean of Admissions Greg Dyson decided to make a video to let you hear it straight from them.
Hear what's going on with Word of Life alumni from beautiful Schroon Lake, and email alumni@wol.org or waynel@wol.org if you want to get involved.
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
10.07.2012
9.04.2012
Reunion Report: Class of 1986
Word of Life is always welcoming alumni to come on home for a class reunion, Bible Institute visit, or conference at the Word of Life Inn. While the main event for alumni to visit each year is the Memorial Day and Founder’s Conference weekend, alumni are also invited to plan other get-togethers throughout the year. Word of Life is also willing to help alumni plan local meetings across the U.S.
If you’re interested in planning an alumni reunion, contact Wayne Lewis at waynel@wol.org. To book a spot for the Memorial Day/Founder’s Conference weekend, which includes alumni reunions for the classes of 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003 this spring, call Dawn Wayson at (518) 532-2290.
Here’s what happened when one member of the Class of 1986 got to work on planning a reunion for his class this past spring.
By Wesley A. Yerkes
About two years ago, I received a message on Facebook from some Bible Institute classmates who wanted to get together for a reunion that year or the next. I had been to Founder’s Conference, Homecoming, and Memorial Day events at different years, and the turnout for my class had always been small — 15 to 20 people at a time, and that was the largest of any class that came.
I thought about it and responded, “Let’s wait two years until our 25-year anniversary from graduation and have the biggest class reunion they have ever had.”
I wanted to make our class reunion different. Twenty-five years is a milestone — a quarter of a century! I thought, “Let’s make this huge!”
We started with almost a year of chatter and brainstorming on Facebook, throwing out all kinds of ideas of when, where, who, and how. Then we began narrowing our options and plans. Nobody said for me to kind of take the lead on this idea, but I had one broad goal in mind: to try to get as many of my classmates together as possible in one place, at one time, to glorify God with our testimonies and praise and to encourage one another in the faith while there is still a little time left in this life.
I designed a brochure, recruited a classmate to help me with some artwork, and bounced all of our ideas off the folks at Word of Life. Things really began coming together. I gave portions of the responsibilities of contacts and music preparation to those who were willing to help, and it really became a group effort.
Along the way, I was blessed to find so many of the exciting things my classmates have done since graduation. Many have thriving ministries. Some have become authors. Several are excellent pastors of local churches. Others have become school teachers, youth pastors, missionaries, Christian counselors, or are serving in many other positions of ministry that are touching lives around the world. This one class of Bible Institute students could literally be responsible or used by God to touch the lives of and bring thousands of people, maybe even a million souls, into the family of God in just 25 years.
“Our God is in control though pressures burden the soul. His sovereign plan is a sym-phony!” were some of the lyrics to a song we sang on the Daniel Tour, and these words still ring true in my heart today. Some of my classmates have gone through incredibly difficult experiences (divorce, cancer, loss of loved ones, loss of jobs, depression, huge financial struggles, and more), and it has been my privilege and joy to share their pain and their burdens in prayer to our Heavenly Father as well as to encourage them in the midst of their suffering.
There are times that I don’t understand what God is doing, but then years later when I look back and see the big picture, I see the “touch of the Master’s hand” in composing this wonderful symphony of life. If my classmates are encouraged and strengthened in their faith because of this class reunion, and if the work of Jesus Christ is magnified through it all, then all of the investment of time and energy will be worth it.
So, I would encourage other alumni to help us “awake the giant.” Get your classmates talking and plan regional alumni events with Bible Institute faculty and staff. Encourage one another in the faith. Pray for each other and share your burdens. Then pick a milestone year and plan a huge reunion in New York, Florida, or Owen Sound to come together and rehearse all the great things that God has done. Enjoy the Word of Life experience all over again as you praise God together!
If you’re interested in planning an alumni reunion, contact Wayne Lewis at waynel@wol.org. To book a spot for the Memorial Day/Founder’s Conference weekend, which includes alumni reunions for the classes of 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003 this spring, call Dawn Wayson at (518) 532-2290.
Here’s what happened when one member of the Class of 1986 got to work on planning a reunion for his class this past spring.
By Wesley A. Yerkes
About two years ago, I received a message on Facebook from some Bible Institute classmates who wanted to get together for a reunion that year or the next. I had been to Founder’s Conference, Homecoming, and Memorial Day events at different years, and the turnout for my class had always been small — 15 to 20 people at a time, and that was the largest of any class that came.
I thought about it and responded, “Let’s wait two years until our 25-year anniversary from graduation and have the biggest class reunion they have ever had.”
I wanted to make our class reunion different. Twenty-five years is a milestone — a quarter of a century! I thought, “Let’s make this huge!”
We started with almost a year of chatter and brainstorming on Facebook, throwing out all kinds of ideas of when, where, who, and how. Then we began narrowing our options and plans. Nobody said for me to kind of take the lead on this idea, but I had one broad goal in mind: to try to get as many of my classmates together as possible in one place, at one time, to glorify God with our testimonies and praise and to encourage one another in the faith while there is still a little time left in this life.
I designed a brochure, recruited a classmate to help me with some artwork, and bounced all of our ideas off the folks at Word of Life. Things really began coming together. I gave portions of the responsibilities of contacts and music preparation to those who were willing to help, and it really became a group effort.
Along the way, I was blessed to find so many of the exciting things my classmates have done since graduation. Many have thriving ministries. Some have become authors. Several are excellent pastors of local churches. Others have become school teachers, youth pastors, missionaries, Christian counselors, or are serving in many other positions of ministry that are touching lives around the world. This one class of Bible Institute students could literally be responsible or used by God to touch the lives of and bring thousands of people, maybe even a million souls, into the family of God in just 25 years.
“Our God is in control though pressures burden the soul. His sovereign plan is a sym-phony!” were some of the lyrics to a song we sang on the Daniel Tour, and these words still ring true in my heart today. Some of my classmates have gone through incredibly difficult experiences (divorce, cancer, loss of loved ones, loss of jobs, depression, huge financial struggles, and more), and it has been my privilege and joy to share their pain and their burdens in prayer to our Heavenly Father as well as to encourage them in the midst of their suffering.
There are times that I don’t understand what God is doing, but then years later when I look back and see the big picture, I see the “touch of the Master’s hand” in composing this wonderful symphony of life. If my classmates are encouraged and strengthened in their faith because of this class reunion, and if the work of Jesus Christ is magnified through it all, then all of the investment of time and energy will be worth it.
So, I would encourage other alumni to help us “awake the giant.” Get your classmates talking and plan regional alumni events with Bible Institute faculty and staff. Encourage one another in the faith. Pray for each other and share your burdens. Then pick a milestone year and plan a huge reunion in New York, Florida, or Owen Sound to come together and rehearse all the great things that God has done. Enjoy the Word of Life experience all over again as you praise God together!
7.12.2012
The Victory Journal. Online.
We at the Victory Journal have been making an effort over the last year and a half to provide alumni with a new and improved publication. From the magazine's design to the content it offers, the revamped Victory Journal has been making strides toward creating a place where Bible Institute graduates can find resources and stories by alumni and for alumni.
This new effort includes more Bible Institute updates, a focus on providing advice and encouragement, and enhanced features on alumni who are part of interesting developments in both the working world and Christian ministry. We hope you've been following the Victory Journal as it has grown and changed, both in appearance and in what it offers to those who have shared the Bible Institute experience.
Everything the Victory Journal has been doing is part of a greater goal of "waking the giant" that is the Bible Institute alumni base. The journey that alumni begin in their pivotal Bible Institute year or years does not have to stop once the graduates leave campus. Word of Life wants to be part of alumni's lives — whether it be hearing how each person is doing, encouraging or helping individuals in their life pursuits, or in reuniting graduates with the vision and tools of the Word of Life ministry.
As the Victory Journal expands, we hope you'll use it as a place to check in on your fellow alumni and connect with those you haven't heard from in years. We want the publication to be an avenue for starting reunions, looping into exciting developments at the Bible Institute, or just encouraging you in your everyday walk with Jesus Christ. Above all, we pray that the Victory Journal will be a place you can come home — where you remember the time of growth the Bible Institute provided, and where you can tap into the body of Christ in a new way.
While we encourage all alumni to join our mailing list (email alumni@wol.org if you're not getting the Victory Journal), we know many alumni want information online, too. This blog will be the place to come for everything you see in the print version of the Victory Journal, plus some bonuses and extra information on reunions and other areas where you can connect with other alumni. Feel free to comment and offer feedback, and, as always, we welcome suggestions for anything you would like to see in the Victory Journal. Send us questions, article topics, or any suggestions about how we can better serve you.
We are in the beginning stages of making the Victory Journal and its online partners (the alumni Facebook page and group) ready to help alumni in awesome ways. Stay tuned to see what's coming up, and become a part of the Victory Journal and the alumni community today.
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