What did you appreciate about your studies at Northwest?

 

After teaching in the international Bible College scene for several years it was very refreshing and encouraging to sit under someone else’s instruction, as I completed my Master of Theological Studies at Northwest. I had done my undergraduate studies at Prairie Bible Institute and Winnipeg Bible College (now Providence) and then left Canada to serve in missions in Indonesia. My wife and I ministered there for 16 years amongst the Dayaks of the island of Borneo where I was involved first in pastoral care ministries and then in teaching at Berea Bible College, a small pastoral training institute located in the interior of the island. So, to be able to return to Canada and sit under the teaching of men like Dr. Larry Perkins, Dr. Ken Davis and several others was a great privilege.

 

How did your time studying at Northwest prepare you for the years ahead?

 

The role I have filled here at Northwest put me in direct contact with students, instructors, administrators, pastors, and churches. Having a thorough theological background has helped me clearly understand the mission of Northwest and how each person and role were critical to our fulfillment of that mission. As we launched into Competency-based Theological Education (CBTE), combining my theological training with my love for leveraging technology was a great asset for developing our first online, CBTE-focused Learning Management System (LMS) – the “Immerse Student Portfolio Platform”. We are just now phasing that out in favour of a commercial LMS.

 

Describe your ministries since graduation from Northwest.

 

Shortly after my graduation from Northwest Seminary (through ACTS Seminaries) I was hired to the Registrar & Director of Admissions position here at Northwest and have held that title for the past 27 years - until this past March when I turned that role over to Dr. Ryan Ball who is very ably succeeding me. I began this role in a small office on the second floor of what is now the TWU Devries building. Even though I had done some administrative work previously, the Canadian college was an entirely different scene, and I had a lot to learn. There have been many changes over the years – both in physical location as well as people. I have moved offices at least 4 times and have worked with many wonderful individuals over the years. Many students, administrators, faculty, and staff have come and gone during this time. I have served under 5 different presidents and several deans, and have developed many great friendships along the way.

 

With a history spanning almost 60 years (at the time of my hire) much of Northwest’s historical data was in various formats. When I started at Northwest it seemed that each department kept their information in a different data structure. Student records and donor records and financial aid records and church records were all kept in separate databases. Older records were stored in paper files. Northwest had an entire room dedicated to the fire-proof filing cabinets that housed those records. When Northwest closed the undergraduate division and downsized - that needed to change. So, over the ensuing years, with help from many individuals I have pulled much of that data into a single cohesive digital structure.

 

One challenge I faced when I started at Northwest was learning and managing the legacy software the school was using to track student admission and registration. Within a couple of years of struggle with that software, I, along with another staff member were sent on a mission to Florida to find replacement software. The cost of commercial software at that time proved to be prohibitive and the plan to purchase new software was scrapped. Our need for a new system, however, had not changed. I proposed to Northwest that I would undertake the development of an in-house software package and was given permission by our Financial Controller to make the attempt. I spent that entire summer developing the concept and the beginning stages of the software we have used as our contact management, student information management, donor relations management, and financial aid management system. With a bit of tongue-in-cheek I named the project “Scholastic Administrative Software System” or SASSy for short. With lots of help from my son, James, SASSy has continued to be developed to fill Northwest’s ongoing software needs.

 

For several years in the early 2000s, Northwest seconded me part time to ACTS Seminaries to manage their Distance Education programs.

 

Also, in the early 2000s Northwest needed a website overhaul and I somehow became the default webmaster. That provided me with a very steep learning curve as I had never done any web related development.

 

Describe how God has taken a seemingly bad situation in your life and turned it into good for His glory.

 

After our 16-year stint in Indonesia the Indonesian government declined to renew our “religious worker” visas and we were forced to reconsider what God had called us to do with our lives. Our family included young children who needed to be in school and so we made the wrenching decision to remain in Canada. But that meant we had to rethink everything. “How does one make a resume?” “What line of work might even be possible for me?” “Where would I start looking for a job opening?”

 

It was my connection with Northwest that led me back to the Northwest office and a discussion with Rodney Anderson who got me connected with the dean and president and within the week I was hired. I look back on that as distinct evidence of God’s hand at work.

 

Tell us a bit about your family.

 

I am married to Becky, my dear companion of 48 years. We have three wonderful children who married two great sons-in-law and one dear daughter-in-law, and we have four delightful grandchildren.