The King's Connection Magazine Volume 21 Number 3//Fall 2011 | Page 14
FOuNdatiON News
Why we support king’s
By Rev. Walt Brouwer, King’s Foundation Member
H
onesty demands that I begin with a confession: it is
unlikely that our son Geoff would have attended the King’s
University College had we not moved to Edmonton six years
ago. Yet looking back, we are profoundly grateful that he did. In
fact, my wife Grace and I consider it an act of God’s providence
that we moved here so that our son would study at King’s.
My own interest in King’s as a college option was sparked
shortly after we arrived in Edmonton. Through my pastoral
ministry, I came to know a prominent businessman with whom
I hit it off since we both shared an interest in leadership. I
clearly remember what he said about King’s very early in our
relationship: “King’s is the undiscovered jewel in the Christian
Reformed Church and the Christian community at large.” Due
to my growing respect for him,
his comments connected.
We had come from Nanaimo
where for 13 years I served as
pastor of Christ Community
Church. Had we remained
on Vancouver Island, Geoff
likely would have attended
the University of Victoria. Had
that happened, his life thus far
would have turned out very
differently, for King’s has had
an authentically kingdomtransforming, Christ-centering
impact on our son.
“
King’s not only
nurtures our youth’s
intellectual curiosity; it
helps focus their lives.
King’s helps students
not just to prepare for
a career, but discern
their calling.”
Let’s be clear—Canada’s public universities offer youth a good
education, but one that I would consider “good” in the narrow
sense. That is, students acquire intellectual competencies,
master an area of knowledge and earn a well-received degree.
However, what King’s gives students is this and much more.
King’s not only nurtures our youth’s intellectual curiosity; it helps
focus their lives. King’s helps students not just to prepare for a
career, but discern their calling.
Geoff’s intellectual acumen was evident early on. He got it
from his mother. I have said that ever since he was a boy,
Geoff’s challenge would not be reaching his goals, but finding
a focus for his goals. In other words, Geoff’s challenge, I felt,
would be to discover his true vocation, rather than excelling
at it. What we are excited about is that King’s has helped
Geoff find his vocational direction. Close proximity to King’s
professors and their advice and even camaraderie, guides
students in their choice of a degree major as it did for our son
so that last spring he graduated with the PHE Degree—politics,
history and economics.
12 /// The King’s Connection /// Fall 2011
King’s offers opportunities that reach far beyond the classroom,
and nurture not just the intellect, but Christian character of
compassion and justice. For our son that meant that Geoff
earned the Micah Certificate. What this meant for him was that
twice he went to Honduras to participate in the Water Project. He
spent a summer in Nigeria and another one in Tanzania. King’s
also enabled him to do a semester at the Laurentian Leadership
Centre in Ottawa where he interned with Linda Duncan, Member
of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona. These opportunities
afforded him not just adventures; they enabled him to live the
things he learned. About his time in Tanzania, Geoff wrote, “My
time in east Africa allowed me to grasp X[?H???\ ?[??[?Y\? ]HY? H ?XYX??][??\??H ?] \??Y]?[???Z[ ??X[ ?[][??\ ? ?] H [?HH ???Y[?]?Y ?] ??\?B?]\?Z[?Y ??\???YH H ?\? H[? Z\? ?[Y?H[??X]HB??] \?Y?H?? Z\???[][?] K??'H?^H?[???\?[??[?XK ?[?[?? ?YH[? ??[???\?X\?? ?] ??\??H?[[??
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