Our public 'Welcome Meeting' will be broadcast LIVE on-line this Sunday at 4pm CST (that's 6:30 in NL, 5pm in Ontario, 3pm in Alberta). Check out the 'test' site now so that you can work out any 'glitches' ahead of time and don't forget to log on Sunday at least 3:50pm CST. The "March In" is scheduled to promptly start at 4!
Go to: cfot.ca
a brief glimpse of something
a photograph that is taken in a short moment of opportunity
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
perhaps the long-awaited post ...
Two weeks in ...
and I've been told that time will go fast ... so far I believe that to be true
and I haven't even started on the load of papers that have been assigned!
I’m awake early on
a Saturday morning with a bit of time to spare before my next scheduled ‘event’
so I thought I’d take some time to try and give a brief synopsis of my time
here so far. I guess I could take this time to actually work on something in
one of the two syllabi that I’ve already received (still a few more to get next
week). Anyway, I could argue myself in and out of that ‘duty’ but then I
wouldn’t get ANYTHING done … so here goes …
My session, The
Disciples of The Cross, arrived two weeks ago and in the midst of trying to
settle in and unpack our things we were oriented to Winnipeg, the College for
Officer Training (CFOT) and the role of being a Cadet within The Salvation Army
in the 21st Century.
The good news is:
nothing has made me doubt my ‘call’ so far! That’s not to say there hasn’t been
overwhelming moments … but my God is definitely bigger than any of those
moments!!
In the two weeks
here we’ve all been to two of six different corps (Salvation Army churches) in
Winnipeg and area on each of the Sunday’s. So far my experience has included
going to Weetamah (located within Winnipeg) and Portage La Prairie.
The interesting
thing is that at one point it was just me going to Portage La Prairie; by the
time we left at 9am on Sunday morning the van was full … seven cadets (five
Disciples of the Cross and two Proclaimers of the Resurrection), four
instruments and a change of clothing for each of us! We gathered up cadets to
make a little band/quartette and a pianist to provide musical support for the
Sunday service. And the corps officers (pastors) were kind enough to invite
us to their home for a lunch; which was greatly appreciated as we now ‘fit the
bill’ of what people so endearingly call ‘poor starving students’. I honestly
don’t believe that to be our case, there's no reason that any of us would
consider ourselves ‘poor’. But hopefully you get my point … the invitation was
received from grateful hearts. Especially since the drive home, which would
take nearly an hour, would have meant a later lunch and perhaps hungrier
stomachs. The time together was given more value since we had a time to
fellowship together … to form bonds and friendships with those of like-calling
and on the same path/journey.
During our first
full week here we had tours, orientations, rules and guidelines were given. We
were warned of the load that was about to be ‘dumped’ on us (academically and
in what we term as ‘field’). We also spent an afternoon with our session mates
and college faculty riding a kid’s train, strolling through a park and eating
amazing ice cream. All I can say is: pumpkin soft-serve ice cream that tastes
just like (and I mean just like) pumpkin pie was definitely a hit for me (and a
few others)!
Our last day of the
week (Friday) found us picking up our pile of textbooks, this was perhaps when
‘reality’ start to hit …
On Saturday many
from our session ventured out to the zoo as a group – this was an un-scheduled
event but still, an opportunity to form relationships that will perhaps last a
lifetime. (Not with the zoo animals – with session mates of course!)
Our second weekend (Labour Day weekend) here found more
‘friends’ arriving. The cadets from the Proclaimers of Resurrection session
returned from their summer assignments and short vacation.
The first thing our two sessions did together was join in a
worship service (Welcome Assembly), along with CFOT faculty. Without
disappointment, this time together was most definitely filled with blessings. I
do believe we’re all ‘game’ to take on this “Adventure” that Major Anne spoke
about. I’m glad we’re all in this journey together! Be it building a raft and
‘coasting’ across a flooded field or jumping off a cliff … I say: let’s do it!
By Wednesday classes had commenced. My classes didn’t
actually start ‘til Thursday. I guess they’ve already figured out that I would
need to take the ‘staggered entry’ approach. :-)
Wednesday afternoon our sessional song, a song that will be
‘ours’ as Disciples of the Cross in the Canada and Bermuda Territory, was
unveiled. A song that will most likely ‘draw us in’ and remind us of our
covenant that we will sign in 22 months whenever we hear it (or sing it). I
won’t say too much more about it, but it will be ‘revealed’ on Sunday,
September 16, 2012, at our Welcome Meeting. If you’re in the area come on out
to Southlands Community Church for 4pm or if you’re not in the area check out
CFOT.ca where they’ll be putting a link for the ‘live webcast’ at the same time
(4pm CST). A note of caution: if you’re a
MAC user I suggest you look for a PC/Windows platform as there’s a high chance
that the video will be ‘flash’ based – and we know what that means for the MAC
environment!
The rest of the week found us in a few more classes and a
few more piece of orientation.
Our first ‘Theology’ class found us standing, as a session,
to sing: “This is My Story”. And yes, we are all here with our own stories.
Yes, each of our stories will play a role in each other’s story. God is at work
folks … there’s no doubt there!
Today brings us to a ‘Community Picnic’ that will involve
both sessions (Disciples of the Cross and Proclaimers of The Resurrection) and
the CFOT faculty. This event is somewhat ‘top secret’ still as it’s being
planned by the 2nd Years (Proclaimers of the Resurrection). I’m sure
there will be joy and laughter along the way!
Thanks for reading through this 1000 word essay … too bad it
doesn’t seem to fit the bill for anything on any of my syllabi!!
I can’t promise when the next update will occur … but keep a
watch out … More importantly, for those
of you pray, please pray for us (cadets and staff) whenever we come to your
mind. We’re training to be better servants of God and one day it may be you
that we’ll be serving …
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