VCS student leaps over the finish line in under an hour. More than 170 VCS students, teachers and other members and supporters of the school community took part in the Sun Run.
Vancouver Christian School has really taken to the Vancouver Sun Run, and this year they came away with a prize which shows that the appreciation goes both ways.
Julia Vanderveen, high school campus pastor and teacher at VCS, wrote about their experience last Sunday (April 21):
Vancouver Christian School was recently awarded a prize for the largest K-12 youth team to register for the 2024 Sun Run! More than 170 runners from the school, including parents, administrators, teachers, support staff, high school students and even some kindergarten students joined the team and were recognized on stage with a huge photo-op cheque for $600.
Last year the VCS youth team was awarded 2nd place – narrowly missing first place by only a few runners – which was the catalyst for encouraging more people to join the team this year.
Some participants walk the 10k race, and many of those who do run it wouldn’t necessarily consider themselves to be runners. They participate for many different reasons: for the fun of it, to stay in shape, to get outside, to hang out with friends or to challenge themselves to reach a personal best.
But possibly one of the greatest reasons is to be part of working together to build community, and to celebrate the gifts that God has given us through these amazingly strong and resilient bodies. By participating in the Sun Run, our school team also demonstrates a love for the city and a commitment to be part of large cultural events where we can freely wear the school’s name – VANCOUVER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL – on the back of our t-shirts.
VCS participants received a cheque for $600.
When we wear our school name we become ambassadors, not only for our school community, but for Christ, and we literally accept the invitation to “run with perseverance the race set before you” (Hebrews 12:1).
Julia Vanderveen with her son Levi.
Furthermore, many of us who run the 10K Sun Run each year find it to be a Spirit-filled experience as we witness a ‘throng’ of people all moving in the same direction toward a great celebration at the finish line – like the beautiful vision of many tribes and nations all gathering around the throne.
That’s what we pray: somehow, someday in the words of Psalm 22:27 that, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord.”
We’ve already started talking about Sun Run 2025, not only because we’d love to win that prize again, but because we’re imagining how big our team could be next year, and how great it will be to cross the finish line again!
Jean Pierre Nikuze
Jean Pierre Nikuze’s ‘The Goat’ has been shortlisted for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Regent College tweeted April 19 that one of their students recently received a very pleasant literary surprise:
We’re excited to share that Regent student Jean Pierre Nikuze is one of the 23 participants shortlisted for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, out of more than 7,300 applicants from all over the world!
Hear the writers share about their stories at commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-pr.
The Short Story Prize is awarded annually by the Commonwealth Foundation for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth. Regional winners each receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000. The entry for Nikuze reads:
Jean Pierre Nikuze is a Rwandan who grew up in Kenya, and is currently residing in Vancouver, Canada, where he is attending graduate school at Regent College. A writer of stories, poems and essays, Nikuze’s work has appeared in CalibanOnline, The Nonconformist Magazine, Agbowo, Hobart, Africasacountry, and elsewhere.
‘The Goat’ is about a woman whose newborn is stolen from the maternity ward, and her own unusual way of dealing with the loss, which is complicated by her relationship with a billy goat her husband bought as their son’s birth gift.
‘Achan’s hands trembled, releasing the contents inside them to the floor. She, too, suddenly feeling an urge to lay on the ground, slipped to the floor. Her back against a kitchen wall stained with smoke and cooking vapors, she wept. She wept and screamed so that the radio was no longer of any use, and if the doors had banged for the wind she would have missed it.’
Three of Nikuze’s poems are featured in The Nonconformist.
Two Ukrainian Easters
The B.C. Catholic editor Paul Schratz posted an interesting, if necessarily convoluted, explanation of why Ukrainian churches are now celebrating Easter on two different dates:
When Canada’s Ukrainian bishops sent out their Easter greetings letter this year, they dated it Easter, March 31.
They also dated it Easter, May 5.
The dual dates reflect the two different ways Ukrainians celebrate Easter. Some follow the Gregorian calendar that we do. Others, particularly Eastern and Orthodox Christians, use the Julian calendar. . . .
This past December, feast days suddenly got a lot of media attention after the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine decided to change the days on which some feast days like Christmas are celebrated. . . .
In light of the changes made by the churches in Ukraine, Canada’s Ukrainian Catholic bishops gave Julian-calendar parishes the choice of switching to the Gregorian calendar if they wanted to. Some chose to put it to a parish vote. The result was most Ukrainian Catholic churches in Canada are now following the Gregorian calendar for the cycle of fixed feasts, which if you remember, includes Christmas.
This barely scratches the surface; go here for the full story.
Apr 2024
One Conference – April 25, 2024 - April 26, 2024 at All Day
Peace Portal Alliance Church Tax Clinic – April 25, 2024 - April 30, 2024 at All Day
Tax Clinic – April 25, 2024 - April 30, 2024 at All Day
Tax Program – April 25, 2024 - April 30, 2024 at All Day
Tenth Tax Help – April 25, 2024 - April 30, 2024 at All Day
Public Meeting about the Online Harms Act – April 25, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Prayer & Fasting Gathering: Loving Muslims Together Network (last Friday of each month) – April 26, 2024 at All Day
Intercultural Development Workshop: Expand Your Intercultural Horizons – April 26, 2024 at 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Suicide Intervention Training with Dr Laura Bulk and Michael Lee – April 27, 2024 - April 28, 2024 at All Day
Spring Craft Fair – April 27, 2024 at 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Fraser Valley Festival of Praise (2 events) – April 28, 2024 at All Day
Woven In: The Story of Job – April 28, 2024 at 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Jazz Vespers with Leora Cashe – April 28, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Jacob Moon – April 28, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Alpha Canada: Come & See – April 30, 2024 at 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmMay 2024
Film Screening: Making Peace With Creation – May 1, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Cultivate: Church Planting Conference 2024 – Rhythms & Rituals – May 2, 2024 - May 4, 2024 at All Day
Loaves and Fishes: Vancouver's Hidden Helpers – May 2, 2024 - June 7, 2024 at All Day
Salvation Army Gateway of Hope Tax Clinic – May 2, 2024 - December 31, 2024 at 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
'Virtuous Atheists': Unbelief in Postwar Canada – May 2, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Our Lady of Good Counsel Tax Clinic (Saturday, Sunday) – May 2, 2024 - May 26, 2024 at 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Dr. Stefan Paas: Christian Mission in a Post-Christian Society – May 3, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Worship for Justice Tour presents Don Moen & Paul Baloche, with Brooke Nichols – May 3, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
'You Alone, Lord' Moms Retreat – May 4, 2024 at 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Bible Saturday: Bruce Waltke – How to Read and Understand the Creation Account of Genesis I – May 4, 2024 at 9:30 am - 11:45 am
Multicultural Temple Tour – May 4, 2024 at 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
The Chosen Bible Study – May 4, 2024 at 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Amabilis Singers Spring Concert 2024 – May 4, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Jazz Vespers in the Valley with Kim Greenwood & Friends – May 5, 2024 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Regent College 2024 Convocation – May 6, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Addictions Course with Dr. Quentin Genuis (2 evenings) – May 7, 2024 - May 14, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Vancouver School of Theology 2024 Convocation Ceremonies – May 7, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
March for Life Victoria – May 9, 2024 at All Day
The Gathering: Bloom Where You're Planted – May 9, 2024 - May 10, 2024 at All Day
Western Regional Conference on Christianity & Literature 2024 – May 9, 2024 - May 11, 2024 at All Day
BC Leadership Prayer Dinner – May 9, 2024 at 5:15 pm - 8:00 pm
'ConVersing/ConServing: Care, Creation, Communion' with Marilyn McEntyre – May 9, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
57th Annual BC Leadership Prayer Breakfast – May 10, 2024 at 7:30 am - 9:15 am
'Keeping Common Ground: Land, Language and Love of our Neighbour' with Marilyn McEntyre, Bob Ekblad, Loren Wilkinson, Patricia Victor Switametelót – May 10, 2024 at 9:00 am - 10:15 am
Deep & Wide: A Conference on Ecclesial Engagement with Disability Across Canada – May 10, 2024 - May 11, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Crochet & Knitting Club – May 11, 2024 at 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Good Noise Gospel Choir 20th Anniversary Gala Concert – May 11, 2024 at 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Lions Gate Sinfonia – May 11, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Pulling Out All the Stops – May 11, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
The Struggle for a Godless Canada – May 14, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
The Welcome Table: Journey Home Spring Gala – May 14, 2024 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
A Case for the Existence of God – May 16, 2024 - June 9, 2024 at All Day
FaithTech Vancouver | Discovering Redemptive Technology – May 16, 2024 at 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
May 'Almost' Silent Retreat – May 16, 2024 - May 18, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Living Laudato Si': The Challenge and the Promise – May 17, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
GO Day 2024 – May 18, 2024 at All Day
International Day for the Unreached – May 19, 2024 at All Day
Women in Leadership Collective Webinar – May 21, 2024 at 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Evangelism: An Evening with Shaila Visser – May 21, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
What’s on Your Mind? Insights on the Next Gen with David Kinnaman – May 22, 2024 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
The Gospel, Discipleship & Cultural Engagement – May 22, 2024 at 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Stephen Fearing – May 24, 2024 at 8:00 am - 10:00 am
Cross Cultural Ministry Training (two gatherings) – May 24, 2024 - October 19, 2024 at 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
Higher Calling – May 24, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Politics in the Pulpit Conference: The Local Church’s Responsibility in Political Engagement – May 25, 2024 at 9:45 am - 3:00 pm
Sweet Sounds on Sussex with Linda Szentes & Friends – May 25, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Jazz Vespers in the Valley 'Caribbean Style' featuring the Steel Drums of Sweet Pan – May 26, 2024 at 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Hymn Fest – May 26, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
20th Anniversary Celebration Ridge-Meadows Celebrate Recovery – May 26, 2024 at 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
17th Annual FIRST UNITED Golf Tournament – May 27, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
CityReach’s 20th Celebration Open House – May 28, 2024 at 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
TWU School of the Arts, Media + Culture presents Equipping Lectures – May 30, 2024 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Prayer & Fasting Gathering: Loving Muslims Together Network – May 31, 2024 at All Day