ALUMNI CONNECT
Spring 2025
Alumni Greetings
Greetings Alumni! We are now into the spring of 2025, a year that holds a number of events we wish to inform you about.
On April 21, 2025, we will celebrate Northwest’s ACTS graduates! We will start the day with an Alumni-sponsored celebration brunch at Northwest, and then move to Christian Life Assembly for the ACTS Graduation Ceremony.
Save the date of August 23, 2025 for our Homecoming event! Alumni from years past through to current students are invited to attend this fun event. Spread the word so that you and your college and seminary friends are able to attend. Details will be emailed out and posted on our website and social media streams.
Lastly, join us on October 18, 2025 for the 2025 Northwest Graduation. This full day starts with the Alumni-sponsored brunch, followed by the celebratory ceremony, and capped with a delightful reception.
If you would like to assist the Alumni Association with any of these events – grad brunches, grad reception, or Homecoming – please contact us using the Alumni Form. We would very much like to have you involved.
We look forward to connecting with you in 2025 and hope you will be able to take part in these events. If you have not completed the Alumni Registration form on our website, please do so to help us keep in contact with you.
May God Bless You and Your Family in 2025
Dr. Gwen Reese, Alumni Director
Joy in Serving Jesus
Alumni Connect
The chorus of the old hymn by Oswald J. Smith, reads, “There is joy, joy, joy in serving Jesus, Joy that throbs within my heart; Every moment, every hour, As I draw upon His power. There is joy, joy, joy that never will depart.” I have found this to be true. There is profound joy in living for Jesus – being grounded in him, finding our purpose, and being whomever he wants us to be in our interrelationships with family, church, and community.
BEGINNING THE JOURNEY
I am grateful to the Lord for saving me when I was six years old. Our family was always taken to church. Something said at Sunday School prompted me to ask my mother how to become a Christian. After speaking with her, I went into the living room, knelt at the couch, and asked Jesus to take over my life. It wasn’t until I was baptized at age nine, that I really felt that I should be doing something to serve Jesus. The feeling was strong. I started a Bible club at school, which was possible at that time. My uncle had sold Sunday School curriculum and he gave his leftover boxes to me. I just did what we did at Sunday School with my peers who gathered each week.
TIME AT NORTHWEST
At that time, I learned that there are regrets as well as joys in serving Jesus. Were there needy persons that I didn’t pay enough attention to? It wasn’t until I served as a camp counsellor that I learned how to lead my contemporaries to Christ. As I gained leadership and Sunday School teaching experience, I knew I wanted to go to Bible School. God was my best friend – he was enough – but I needed to learn more about my faith and how to be effective in service.
I thrived in the critical environment of Northwest. I hadn’t had to write a research paper in high school. My first paper at Northwest was covered in red ink. I didn’t identify a thesis and I wandered. But the red ink showed me how to do a research paper. Also, the professors gave us varying points of view on theological issues. We had students in our classes from diverse denominations and many countries. Not everyone agreed, and they argued for their points of view. We were left with an awareness of classical theological disagreements and had to make up our minds as to what our own positions were.
When I went on to graduate studies at university, I never felt intimidated. The intellectual atmosphere of Northwest had prepared me.
NOW IN WORKING RETIREMENT
After having served the church in many ways, I am now at the stage of retirement. It is a working retirement. Because I believe that God commanded churches to evangelize the world, I serve Valley Church, a new congregation in Duncan, BC. Currently I am responsible for an academic journal that Northwest sponsors (https://nimer.ca). The purpose is to provide ongoing education for seminary professors and those in leadership in the church. Additionally, as an outgrowth of graduate studies in history, I am creating an archive of historical documents for Camp Qwanoes.
Is a working retirement onerous? Not at all. It is pure joy. I can manage my time. I get to read my newspaper app every day and do God’s work. A life of purpose clearly is a life of joy. Does it depend on good health? Sufferings and ill health plagued the disciples of Jesus but, in God’s power, they lived the gospel in the known world in their time.
DRAWING ON HIS POWER
Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus gave his disciples a charge, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). I Peter 4:10 admonishes us to “use whatever gift we have received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
In God’s power, we must be discerning, but we need not be afraid. He is with us. We can live with purpose, his purpose, with his power, joyfully demonstrating his love and extending his kingdom in the world, with no fear for the future because his grace is ever present in our own lives.
The author of this article has asked to remain anonymous.
Alumna Interview - Heather Dyck
Heather Dyck was born and raised in Winnipeg and took piano lessons since the age of 6. She currently live in Abbotsford with her husband Calvin Dyck. He received his doctorate in Performance Violin from the University of Southern California in 1991. They were set up on a blind date by mutual friends. Alumni of Northwest, Calvin and Heather have two adult children, Christine and Andrew, who are both school teachers.
What did you appreciate about your studies at Northwest?
During high school, a touring singing group from Northwest came to our church. I thought they were really great and because my sister had gone east to Bible school, I thought going west would be a good idea. Plus, the idea of travelling across the country playing piano for a singing group appealed to me. So, I’m afraid that my interest in attending Northwest wasn’t very spiritual or lofty, but I did have an interest in delving deeper in my faith.
I appreciated meeting Professor Wayne Reese on my first day at Northwest. I auditioned for him and became the pianist for the choirs and ensembles in Northwest, as well as the pianist for a touring group.
My classes at Northwest exceeded my expectations. I have great memories of classes with Professor Wayne Reese and Professor Gwen Reese, as well as Old Testament with Dr. Sturhahn and Revelation with Dr. Dressler. This was the kind of in-depth learning I was looking for.
I so appreciated the opportunity to play the piano for a travelling singing group as part of my studies at Northwest. I also appreciated the social opportunities I had with the professors in out-of-class events.
How did your time studying at Northwest prepare you for the years ahead?
I completed a course in public speaking while at Northwest which has come in handy more than once in my life. The opportunity to play for choirs, ensembles and chapels at Northwest prepared me for my years after graduating as I used my music in many ministries - teaching piano and other music ministries. So as I look back on my days at Northwest (some forty years later!), I still have fond memories of my time there.
What was the impact of dorm life while attending Northwest?
Dorm Life was very impactful -nothing can prepare you for living with dozens of other people when you’ve only ever lived at home. Conflicts and opinions and love and fun abounded. We had many crazy times living in dorm. Lots of happy memories.
Describe how God has used seemingly bad situations in your life.
As with anyone’s life, there have been peaks and valleys - but I see God’s faithful hand in my life as I look back. He had/has a plan and I trust in His good plan.