A new face for alumni relations

Posted: January 18, 2018

Happy New Year to all our Briercrest family and friends. We are so thankful for each of you and wanted to share some exciting news from our Briercrest family here in Caronport. One of our newer staff members, Katelyn Dyck, is our advancement assistant and will be focusing her attention on connecting with alumni as the alumni coordinator.

Katelyn is tremendously gifted and we are thrilled that we have someone who is passionate about engaging our alumni family. Her story is so inspiring and I’ve asked her to share it with you. Please join me in welcoming Katelyn to our Alumni and Advancement Office.
Marilyn Muller (Chief Advancement Officer)


My Briercrest story is perhaps a “classic” one. After finishing my degree in Ontario, I felt called to a year of Bible school. So I packed up and moved to the tiny village of Caronport. I had an amazing transformative year and was so moved by the loving care the professors had for their students, after having spent four years at a secular university. I met my husband Dave at open dorms in September and had a ring by spring. As newlyweds, we moved into student housing while Dave finished his degree and I worked in Moose Jaw. This past April we celebrated Dave’s graduation, confidently thinking we would be packing up and leaving Caronport soon after. But God had other plans… as He often does. I don’t want to say that we are lifers here, at least not yet, but I am learning to trust in His plan, not mine. This position was offered to me at the exact right time that I needed it and what a privilege it has been for me to return and serve as part of the Briercrest family.

I want you to know that I have been praying for you and am so excited to have the opportunity to start reconnecting again. One of the things I enjoy most is engaging with people. But before I get the opportunity to hopefully meet some of you at our connection events, I will need your help. One important part of my position is collecting our alumni’s stories with the purpose of celebrating and sharing your faithful efforts.

I know you are out there doing great things to further the global mission of the Church by taking what you have learned and applying it beyond the classroom. But the hardest part is accessing those stories. I also want to encourage you that God uses His children in many ways and your story is just as important as the next person’s, even if you don’t think so. I want to share with intentionality to ensure our alum stories to get the traction they deserve, meaning at the right time they may be utilised on our website, social media, and at our connections events.

With our new Briercrest web sites, we also have a new area for alumni! We are working on alumni Facebook groups that are geographically based to allow for and create more local fellowship opportunities and connection. Stay tuned for more information.

All this being said, I would love it if you would share your experiences with me. What year did you graduate? What have you been up to? How has the Lord been working in your life? Or what are some of your favourite Briercrest memories? Feel free to give me a shout out on our Facebook page  or at alumni@briercrest.ca. I would love to hear from you, Seriously, it would make my day!

If you have made it to the end of this post, I hope you are as excited as I am about growing this relationship. To show you how much we appreciate you we have decided to give away a free College/Seminary class! All you have to do is update your contact information with us here  and you will be automatically entered into the draw. If you know it’s already up to date, simply send it in again. Happy updating!

Looking forward to hearing all your wonderful stories!

 

**Free College or Seminary Course is valid until Jan 31, 2019. Draw closes Jan 31, 2018, at 5 p.m. (CST). The class can be taken either on campus or through CDE. Briercrest employees and current students not included.