 On the soccer field, all on-campus Hesston College students participated in the annual mod olympics, a mod- and community-building event that brought to a close the Opening Weekend activities at the college August 18-20. |
August 23, 2006
The new Pastoral Ministries director at Hesston College invited students
and parents, faculty and staff, to meditate on the word "surrender" in
the days to come. Dr. David Greiser spoke on the topic "Let go, Walk
on" during the Sunday morning, August 20 worship service at Yost Center.
The service was one of the many activities during Opening Weekend at Hesston
College. Classes started Monday, Aug. 21.
Greiser noted that like many in the audience, he is beginning a new adventure. "Within
the past month, I left my home of many years, and headed 1,400 miles west with
my family to Hesston," he said.
To the freshman and their parents, he said, "Coming to Hesston is a calculated
risk. Probably, it will go well, but you cannot be completely sure. In faith,
we step out and turn a new page today."
Greiser--speaking on the biblical text from Romans 12:1-5, 12, where the apostle
Paul invites Christians in Rome to give their bodies to God--offered the word "surrender" as
a word for this school year, "a word for your future.
"We don't like 'surrender' in our culture, he said. "We like 'win,'
'conquer,' 'overcome,' and 'succeed.' But as disciples of Jesus, whatever victory
we gain in life is through surrender.
 Dave Greiser invited students and parents, faculty, and staff to mediate on the word "surrender" in the days ahead. Greiser, who spoke during the worship service Sunday morning, August 20, is the new director of the Pastoral Ministries program. |
"As we learn to trust God," Greiser continued, "we slowly learn that we cannot control other people. Parents, one of your assignments as you leave here today is to surrender your child to the care of God, to the faculty of Hesston College, to the resident assistants, to the educational process and all that God has done and will continue to do through this school, to the friends they will begin to make, to allow them to begin to be shaped on the next stage of their journey.
"Students, your assignment is to accept that your classes, your soccer season, and your relationships will not all turn out as you hope. Some Sabbath time--rest or stop time--each week will tell us that God is fully capable of running the world without us.
"So give your bodies to God," Greiser concluded. "Let them be a living and holy sacrifice. Surrender is not weakness; it is not capitulation or fatalism. Rather, it is worship, saying, 'God, my mind, my heart, my muscles, my feelings, are yours.'"
The worship service also featured words of anticipation for the coming year from two faculty and staff members. Rosie Jantz, who has worked at the college for 30 years, presently serves as director of student retention. "I'm looking forward to all the new things that will happen here this year," she said. "It's going to be a new venture for half of you and I want to be right in there with you, learning new things. You see, education happens when new things happen."
Jantz also said she wants to learn to know all her new advisees (students), to reconnect with returning students, and to meet international students and get to know them, too.
"Personally, I'm looking forward to stepping out of some of my comfortable zones and taking more risks," she said, "risks that will strengthen my faith relationship with God. I'm looking forward to growth--seeing it in you and in myself. I'm looking forward to what God will do with us at Hesston College this year."
Dustin Galyon, a 2004 Hesston graduate who graduated from Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., last spring, serves as a new admissions counselor, recruiting students in Kansas and Nebraska. To the students, he said, "I believe that this experience will be foundational in your whole life. I'm excited to be a part of an institution, a college, a community where I can say that with authenticity."
Galyon said that this weekend, he has stopped by President Howard Keim's office and the office of Don Weaver, vice president of finance, and they weren't around. He admitted he was a bit concerned until he saw them returning to their offices, drenched with sweat, wearing t-shirts and shorts, after helping students move in. "I'm excited that I'm asked to follow a model of leadership that is built on this interpersonal relationship," he said. "that we not only talk about a holistic approach to education, but we're doing it."
On every page of his professional planner, Galyon has written Isaiah 6, where Lord asks, Who will go and tell the people? Whom shall I send? And Isaiah says, 'Send me.'
"I'm ready to go tell the people," Galyon said. "I'm beyond being excited to be paid to do a job where I get to go and tell the people. I get to use Hesston College as a vehicle to talk about the kingdom and Jesus Christ. That fills me with an enthusiasm that is unmatched."
 During Opening Convocation Friday evening, August 18, Campus Pastor Kevin Wilder invited students, faculty, and staff to "open your arms during the next 30 days and pray this prayer--'Surprise me, God. I am open to what you have for me.'" |
Wilder, who is beginning his eighth year as campus pastor, said he believes Jesus is surprised by our faith. "I know that can get weird," he said. "Maybe amazed or excited by our faith are better terms.
"I believe amazing surprising faithful things will happen this school year," Wilder continued. "I believe Jesus is amazed when a student with a learning disability recites God's salvation history. I believe Jesus is excited when a student shares something that they believe is a God-given passion in a paper or speech. I believe Jesus is amazed when a student finds faith or does a service project, or takes a risk in the classroom or the dorm. I believe Jesus is amazed when students ask what God wants him or her to do with their life and talents, and sets a course.
"I believe Jesus is asking us to surprise him," Wilder said. "I believe that we will in amazing and unique ways."
Then Wilder asked, "Does God like to surprise us? Yes, our God loves to surprise us. As his children, maybe we should love to surprise him. How will we surprise God this year?
"We all have a choice to fold our arms and expect God and those around Hesston College to surprise you. We will try hard to do so, even with that attitude," he said.
He issued the following invitation to students, faculty, and staff: "Open your arms during the next 30 days and pray this prayer--'Surprise me, God. I am open to what you have for me.'
"I can't promise anything in the realm that I cannot control," Wilder said. "But try it."
Other Opening Weekend activities August 18-20 included orientation for freshman and international students, registration for classes, a parents breakfast, a reception for president's scholars, a volleyball match between the varsity and alumni, a soccer intrasquad game, and the annual mod olympics.
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