Note From the Editor’s Desk:

Hey Wildcats, welcome to the 6th week of school! This week’s issue is full of news, entertainment, reviews, creative writing and even a devotional! So if you need a break from the demands of homework and study kick back, grab a snack and check out the Voice of EBC online or find a hard copy.

On a totally unrelated note, has anyone noticed the inefficiency of sticky tack while trying to mount heavy objects on your walls? I know I have more times than I can count this year. One instance comes to my mind in particular when I tried to mount a 1.5 by .5 metre mirror on my wall. I put sticky tack in all the right places- so I thought and the mirror stayed up for about two or three days before smashing to pieces on my bedroom floor. Have you ever felt like sticky tack? Has there ever been something in your life or maybe in the life of someone else that you felt you were trying to hold onto on your own strength? Has there been a point where you could no longer hold onto these things because it is too much to bear and you let them crash to the ground out of desperation? It’s hard to feel like you’re bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders, but when you realise you don’t have to, when you come to the point that you can give your cares to Jesus everything changes. You are free. What burdens once seemed like a heavy mirror is now like a light-weight poster because of God’s grace in taking the weight of your problems on himself.

Main:
Carny Fair: Brittany Simpson

Creative Corner:
Amazing: Anonymous
Innocent Man: Rachel L. Schrader
Yup, That Was Me: by Tessa Eisen

Devotionals:
So Much To Do, So Little Time: Jesse Goulet

Reviews:
Kutless Review: James Fretz

Spotlight:
Student Council Finance Officer Tina Moore: Roland Fleming

Global Perspectives:
A Day in the Life at St. Nic’s: Sarah Wassink

Photo Gallery:
Carny Fair

-Christie Heemskerk

Wednesday, October fourteenth, as I remember it, was such a brisk, sunny afternoon; this was perfect for a Carny Fair at Emmanuel Bible College. Several of us students moseyed on down to the Pad, where various activities were being held. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a cheerful Christie Heemskerk, who was enjoying the company of some line dancers. The common farm theme was evident when I spotted a hay bale throwing contest and began to head in that direction. On my way over, I noticed the free caramel and candy apples being offered and even though I didn’t try one, they did look delicious. At the same booth there was also an “udder” contest; yes, you did read that correctly. Rubber gloves were filled with milk and anyone who wanted to pretend to milk a cow could try; once again, I decided against it.

Making my way around the basket-ball court, I came across a milk-guessing table. From just looking at the containers, I could depict cream from skim milk. However, I could not guess which one was goat’s milk with the same method of observation. Apparently Matthew Gates won this milk tasting contest; he seemed very confident about this, but this may have been biased. Some of the milk-testers had the courage to down a glass of crème and others had the courage to chug a whole litre of chocolate milk!

The next event I found myself participating in was the hay bale toss. Before I did so, Curtis Robb had just hurled a bale of hay so far that it almost reached the grass on the opposite side of the basket-ball court; every guy was filled with jealous amazement. Someone mentioned to me afterwards that if it would have rolled onto the grass, he would have won a hundred bucks. However, when it was my turn to throw the bale of hay, I barely achieved half the distance It’s too bad though, because I could have used the money. All in all, the Carny Fair was a great success thanks to EBC’s resident advisors. Good work guys!

-Brittany Simpson

Fascination brings me deeper, and I am inspired
Running, I am searching for a way to capture this beauty, through these eyes
Upon reaching a point of destination, I stop
So in awe, I gaze upon such a masterpiece
In a trance, my eyes resist to close
Attempting to capture such magnificent beauty in a frame
Yet memory can only collect so much
That specific moment held meaning, held emotion
Eerie and so empowering this makes me feel out of the dark overcast, fire blazes through
Something so profound can be perceived differently by each viewer
No picture could ever do this scene justice
So I stand here transfixed, in such a dark time
And you never cease to prevail
Your love is accented across the sky

-Anonymous

As I see you laying there
No one seems to take care
World’s spinning too fast

How did you make it last
Oceans part, day by day
Just as morning turns to day
A place where grass doesn’t grow
Hearts so cold, no one really knows

As you lay, don’t you wonder
How you could have ever
Loved such a number

As I stand I see you there
Blood flowing from your hair
People wonder as they stare
Were you the worlds’ deliver

A face staring into Heaven
Saying “Father Forgive Them”
As you say your last words
All are silent, Everyone stares

As you lay head down,
a face with no sound
People stare, people watch
As you took your last breath

People scream, people cry
People stare asking why
A man innocence, put to death
Was he accused of speaking breath

-Rachel L. Schrader

Ever been embarrassed? According to a joint effort from www.dictionary.com and www.urbandictionary.com ‘embarrassment’ is defined as: to cause confusion and shame; to feel uneasily or uncomfortably self-conscious; disconcert; humiliated; mortified due to some event or circumstance. ‘His bad table manners embarrassed her.’

**sidenote: this author does not necessarily uphold some of the motives of the above mentioned websites to a high standard.

You don’t have to feel too ‘mortified’, because according to these magical moments in EBC-er’s lives, we all have had our moments of shock and horror as people laughed at our misery. Hopefully that didn’t come across as too depressing? Well, either way these stories should cheer you up… unless they’re yours.

**sidenote#2: These ‘moments’ are not word-for-word from the people interviewed and they may be slightly twisted for some accentuated humor, but the basis of the story remains. Also, all stories will remain anonymous unless the characters chose to confess.

#1) Being a spunky 3rd grader, I was thoroughly ready for gym class so I could show off some of my stellar running skills. However, as I was preparing to take off, I felt a funny and unwanted sensation inside me. What was this? Well, needless to say, that 100 meter dash turned into more of a 100 meter gas leak.

#2) With a friend of mine I chose to chow down on some delicious food at Taco Bell while waiting for some people I was meeting up with at that location. Before my taco was totally prepared, I noticed the car I had been waiting for was already parked outside, so I left my friend to wait for the food and attempted to go outside to see them. By ‘attempted’ I mean that I would have actually made it, if I had pushed on the door instead of running into one of the big windows.

#3) I actually do have a moment from being at EBC. I am a commuter so am not quite as aware of my surroundings in some of the buildings. One time I was visiting the upper floor of Warder and I was very confused when I walked right into a closet room, thinking I was taking the stairs.

#4) While in high school, with many crushes to admit to, I managed to catch one of these guy’s eyes and wave. This would have been a dynamic step up in our relationship if I had not followed that up with tripping and falling into the person walking in front of me. I made quite an impression.

#5) My high school graduation was an exceptional road mark on my journey in life, such an important time that I thought it would be appropriate to try out wearing high heels. [This is a girl by the way.] Anyways, I definitely did myself a solid favor by completely tripping across the stage while trying to receive my diploma, (surprisingly enough, it was still given to me).

#6) I was running through the mall, to meet up with a guy at the movies. I didn’t want to get there any later than possible, because I didn’t want to make myself look bad. I guess this person realized I would come in the mall and to kill time decided to walk through the mall and meet me at the other entrance. As I was ran around a corner – right into the person my pants fell down. Wow, a ‘killer’ start to the evening now filled with ‘totally’ un-awkward conversation.

#7) This is more of a ‘wow, I messed up and had to deal with it’ blurb. Once in my immature history as a teenager, I decided to avoid chilling with this one guy by having my friend tell him a ‘lil white lie’ that I was in the hospital. I figured he would see right through it, apparently he didn’t. Before I told him the truth he had already let a large group of people know the news, and the church had already started a prayer group for me. The next hour of my life was a fun and exciting time of admitting to that ‘large group of people’ that I had told a fib, “man that was awful”.

#8) Turnstiles going into department stores can be a fantastic and thrilling experience of your life, as you travel from the outside of the store to the inside. However, the time I went to the grocery store with my aunt and had to be retrieved from one of these such ‘toys’ by an employee (after being restrained by it for 5 minutes), was not one of the most enjoyable moments of my life.

#9) I was playing a casual game of soccer with a group that included a girl I was seriously ‘crushing on’, when the game came to a ripping halt. The girl’s dad slyly maneuvered the ball away from me, leaving me with no shorts. I ended up walking 45 minutes back to the camp grounds with them, tightly gripping a towel around my waist.

#10) Being a smart lad that I was, during one of my brother’s hockey games, I made a quick decision to pull the fire alarm, thinking like many 6 year olds, that it wouldn’t result in anything too dramatic. Was I ever surprised when it produced a complete exodus of all the players and fans from the arena? Do I need to add that people were not at all impressed with my naïve mistake?

-Tessa Eisen

Know what really sucks about Bible College? That there are a lot of cool people to hang around with, a lot of events and committees, and a lot of interesting things to learn about from classes and textbooks. Why does this suck? Because there’s so much to do, and so little time. It’s really easy to slack off with your schoolwork because you are always playing videogames or hanging out with other people. Or, if you are like me, you sit in your room all day caught up in schoolwork while neglecting social events. Some of you also have jobs and family and boy/girlfriend’s to keep up with as well.

What is really irritating is when you want something you can’t or shouldn’t have. You really want to go out with your friends to see that movie, but you have an essay due the next morning that isn’t done. Or you need to get committee stuff done but really want to look at Youtube videos. Or someone you like is really distracting you.

Self-discipline, in my experience, is one of the hardest things to learn. Yet it’s also one of the most important character traits for the Christian. Temptation is everywhere, especially in our self-indulgent culture, so it’s hard to stay focused on the tasks that need to get done. Jesus knows what this is like. He had the hardest task of any one individual in all of history. He didn’t want to go to the cross, but he did anyway because it needed to be done. Our lives are full of similar circumstances where we need to get things done, but don’t feel like doing it. We must learn to stay focused on the tasks not get distracted, and resist temptation. This is easier said than done, and it takes practice. But God wants us to be like His Son, who stayed focus on things that needed to get done. So if we ask God for that focus, he will probably give that to us (2 Tim. 1:7).

-Jesse Goulet

Brand new this Tuesday Kutless released their 6th studio album: It Is Well, a worship album. This CD includes great versions of classic hymns It Is Well With My Soul and There is a Redeemer. It also contains some great current worship songs like God of Wonders, Hungry and Give Us Clean Hands. But the gem of this album is a song called What Faith Can Do. This was released on iTunes a month before the album’s release. This song is very uplifting that Jon-Micah Sumrall wrote about simply having faith. Here is a look at the chorus:

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

Pick up this album, I give it 5 Stars!

-James Fretz

She runs the show when it comes to handling the budget. She is our Student Council Financial Officer, Tina Moore. Tina comes from Dresden Ontario where she attends Dresden Community Church. As the Student Council Financial Officer, Tina manages the Student Council budget as well as helping the committees manage their budgets. Tina is in charge of writing out cheques, keeping the records and making deposits. She says it can keep her busy at times but it’s not a huge challenge for her. Tina is experienced at what she is doing, having worked a co-op placement at a radio station doing finances. Tina says she’s never been super involved in any student activities and is very excited to be on Student Council this year.

A big part of Tina’s life has been going on missions; she has been on a number of different trips. Her first trip was a weeklong trip, to Muncie Indiana. Tina was in grade nine when she first worked in a group work camp helping to build someone’s house that they couldn’t built on their own. This was when God first opened her heart to missions. Her next call was to Gulfport Mississippi for hurricane relief. Here Tina helped out at a church that had their sanctuary torn apart by the hurricane. Her next mission was also hurricane relief but this time in the city of New Orleans that had been devastated by hurricane Katrina. Here Tina worked on gutting a house. The house she says had not been touched since the hurricane. When entering the house they would have to wear full body protective suits called Tyvek suits. Inside the house were cockroaches and tarantulas, it was dirty, sweaty and tough working in the hot summer month of July, but Tina loved the trip to New Orleans.

After New Orleans was a trip to Australia. In Australia Tina worked with the Hillsong church for an entire month. Tina did some street ministry as well as visiting with the homeless a couple times. It was in Australia that her eyes were opened to the possibility of going to different bible colleges. She only ended up filling in one application for a Bible College; it was for Emmanuel Bible College. That’s how Tina ended up coming here. In Guatemala Tina did street ministry and gave her testimony a number of times. She also helped to repair a school and build two rooms in an overcrowded house; a house where a mother, husband and their three kids all shared one room. Tina has done work, in Australia, the United States and in South American countries. Her most recent and favourite mission trip though was closer to home, in Montreal, Quebec. In Montreal she worked with kids from a Muslim community in a poor neighbourhood. She really enjoyed this trip in particular because she got to spend an entire week with the same kids and really get to know them

Tina is in the counselling program at Emmanuel Bible College. After she is finished here she wants to work in a women’s center; either in a drug rehabilitation center for teenage girls or a women’s prison. Tina doesn’t plan to do this for her whole life though, at some point she would really like to get into full-time missions, either in Africa or South America.

Fun Facts
Residence: Wideman
Roommate: Wendy Baer
Hobbies: likes fishing and hunting
Favourite place in the world: Although Tina has been all over the world, her favourite place is Muskoka Woods in Ontario
Favourite Bible Verse: John 16:33 “in this world you will have trouble but take heart for I have overcome the world.” This is her favourite verse because Jesus is saying that even though we will have trouble that he has overcome it; that he’s with us and through him all things are possible.

Music:
-Tina loves music; she plays the base, the guitar and the piano
-Tina listens to everything when it comes to music and has lots of favourite songs her all time favourites she said are Last Kiss by Pearl Jam and Amazing Grace.

-Roland Fleming

Ring. Ring. Ring. Seriously, it can’t be six thirty already. But that is the breakfast bell. Oh yes, it must be morning because the rats aren’t running their laps around my bed anymore. I lift the thick white mosquito net to allow my entrance into the world for another day. Grabbing a mug and a sweatshirt, I slip on my flip-flops and mosey on down to the big kitchen. I try to be friendly and mumble out a “Habari a subui?” and ease my face into a smile. Of course, Mama Trish out-shines me with her bright smile and giggled reply, “Mzuri sana!” She’s been up since 4:30am so it’s no problem for her. Children are swarming through the kitchen, reaching for a steaming cup of chai and a few buttered slices of bread. I look around and notice the others who, like me, don’t have their brain in full gear until after ten. Pajamas peek out from under Hannah’s school uniform. Shoes are untied. Drool trails on the side of Josephat’s cheek. At least I don’t have to be in class at seven thirty like these kids. I find a seat outside on the dry, prickly grass and breathe in the fresh air. The sun rises in the blink of an eye here in Nairobi. It warms my face while the chai warms my belly. Hanifa comes and gives me a hug, along with Esther and the twins… and Richard… and Lydia. David tries yet again to trade his hug for the mkati in my hand. “Go to the kitchen and get yours. This is my bread!” I playfully admonish. He still gives me a hug even though I didn’t trade. I take the final sip of my chai while greeting the last of my fifty children. Hmm, six thirty in the morning… It’s not that bad.

Orphan, what comes into your mind when I say that word? Abandonment, abuse, poverty, need, deprivation and disadvantage. What about these other descriptions: beautiful, fun, talented, energetic, diligent and motivated? I know that when I first thought about working at an orphanage, I imagined that I would be pouring my life into some poor helpless children who were empty and void. Little did I realize how much I would learn from them!

Rose was the eldest daughter of six children. Her mother died when she was 12. Her father, even though he was a pastor, was so overwhelmed by the circumstances that he locked his children in the house and refused to send them to school. Meanwhile, he slumped into depression and self-occupation that made him unable to see the needs of his children who depended on him. Rose was immersed into the role of mother without any choice of her own. In rural Kenya the amenities that we use to in North America cannot be found. She cooked and cleaned for the whole family, while a few of the younger children were allowed out of the house to take care of the cows, chickens and goats. After a few months, by God’s grace, the father realized that the children needed care and sent them off to St. Nicholas Children’s Home.

At the home, the children receive education, food, shelter and community with the other 45 boys and girls. I was blessed to be a part of this community for nearly one year. Situated on the outskirts of Nairobi, the bustling capital city of Kenya, this children’s home is surrounded by trees, fields and a big blue sky. There is lots of room for the boys and girls to run around and play football, even during the day when 100 or more children from the community come for school. The children sit in classes from 8am until 5pm and then have homework time from 7-9pm. I helped out in the youngest class where 3 year olds are expected to sit and do homework. Rarely did I hear a complaint from any of the kids. If they did and the teachers heard, they were quickly reminded of the many children who don’t have the same privilege that they have.

Most of the children are behind in their studies because they weren’t in school before coming to the home. Even now, usually being the oldest in their class, the majority of children fall to the back of the class. It seems that the neglect from the critical early years in their life has had a negative impact to the rest of their lives. That doesn’t stop them from trying even harder though! I often wondered what my response would have been if it were me in their position. Living with the children day after day opened my eyes to the blessings showered on me throughout my whole life living in Canada. How often did I thank God for providing teachers and books?

Each Friday night, the children gather to praise God for the blessings He has given them in the past week. Singing, dancing, poetry and reading the Word are the ways these children show their gratitude. Already on Monday morning I looked forward to Friday night fellowship. There were no adults forcing these kids to gather either! It seems to me that the less you have, the more you are grateful to God for the small blessings He gives to you. Then the BIG things really are big!

I could never have imagined the impact that the kids from St. Nicholas Children’s Home would have had on my life. At first I was embarrassed to share with them about all the material things I had at home in Ontario, but through that I learned to see the abundance of blessings showered on me throughout my life. These blessings and gifts are to be shared. If the children could share what little they had with each other, how much more should we be able to share out of our abundance? Almost every week in church we sang, “Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done!” I do that every once in a while when I start to feel down about life. My mood quickly changes. I thank God for the amazing opportunity that I had to serve and be served in another country!

-Sarah Wassink