Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. Eph 6:19
Monday, February 1: As we already look forward to the next academic year, we ask you to pray for applicants for admission to ICS programs in 2016-2017. February is the month in which faculty evaluate each of the applications and make decisions about who will be accepted. Please pray for the faculty’s wisdom in this process, so their deliberations are worthy of the thought and effort and hope of those who are seeking to join us in our mission. Pray also for a removal of any spirit of fear or doubt, that applicants will feel courage in their application process. We are thankful for these applicants, and pray that those offered a place will be able to become members of our academic community.
Tuesday, February 2: We are thankful that last week, despite the severe weather conditions in Washington on the weekend just prior, presidents from the Association of Reformed Colleges and Universities were able to participate in their annual meeting. Conversations around our shared vision were encouraging, as usual, and we ask our Lord to continue to sustain each of our sibling institutions in Christian higher education as we journey together in Kingdom service.
Wednesday, February 3: Arvilla Sipma, the wife of Jim Olthuis, has a form of lymphoma cancer. Now as they are waiting for the results of a biopsy and CT scan to learn the details, they covet our prayers.
Thursday, February 4: This afternoon ICS representatives will meet with two other institutions to discuss potential collaborations for a new Educational Leadership concentration in our Master of Arts program. Please pray this particular project in our strategic commitment to partnering will bear fruit by the Lord’s grace, and will strengthen our capacity to serve a broadening range of students.
Friday, February 5: We ask God's help and guidance for all those engaged in advancement work for ICS, particularly Pat Webb, Vidya Williams and Doug Blomberg. We thank the Lord with sincere gratitude for the work they do. Pray for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as they look for effective methods of communicating ICS’s vision.
Monday, February 8: Pat and Doug will travel to various locations across southwestern Ontario this month to represent the advancement interests of ICS. We pray godspeed, protection on the road, and blessed interaction.
Tuesday, February 9: We pray that the Scripture Faith and Scholarship Seminar this afternoon with Brian Walsh (ICS grad, former Senior Member in Worldview Studies, and current CRC chaplain at U of T) is fruitful for the academic community. The seminar is an invitation to the ICS on-campus community to think again about the triangulation of faith, Scripture and scholarship in the context of the example and understanding of a senior scholar. Brian has dedicated his career both as scholar and as teacher/mentor at ICS and in chaplaincy to precisely this triangulation.
Wednesday, February 10: This morning, the Friends of ICS Board (Morris Greidanus, Chair; Peter Borgdorff, Secretary) meets in Grand Rapids, MI. We thank the Board members and our Lord for their commitment to the vital advancement work they lead in the US. We ask for encouragement and joy in this work.
The Academic Council also has a meeting this afternoon. We pray for clarity of thought and word, so that God’s will is done in all academic endeavours.
Thursday, February 11: The membership appeal letter goes out this month. Please ask God for continued enthusiastic interest and support from these core people in our ICS community.
Friday, February 12: It’s cold and flu season! Please pray for continued physical and mental strength for ICS staff, faculty and students in this grey and chilly time of the year.
Monday, February 15: Today is Family Day in Ontario. We pray that everyone has a happy and peaceful time of sharing with their loved ones. We include a special prayer for the continued health and growth of the new little children (Joshua and Rowan) who have joined our ICS families!
Celebrating Valentine’s Day yesterday reminds us of all the love which is shared in our families, our relationships, and our academic community, following the example of love shown by our Risen Lord.
Tuesday, February 16: This is Reading Week! Please pray our Senior and Junior Members will be able to use this break from classes to catch up, get ahead, or use the week for whatever they may need to help them in their studies. We pray for a removal of stress and an increase of the peace promised by our God (who is ever faithful!). May God bless each and every student and faculty member with what is needful during this week.
Wednesday, February 17: Pray for wisdom and discernment for our Board of Trustees as they bring vision and direction to the work of ICS, led by Ansley Tucker and John Valk, Chair and Vice-Chair respectively.
Thursday, February 18: As Reading Week continues, please pray that it will be a fruitful week for the academic body at ICS as many Senior and Junior Members have projects they are working on beyond normal class work. Whether these are publications, papers for conferences, or other scholarly activities, pray that this week will afford extra time to make progress in these areas.
Friday, February 19: We offer prayers of gratitude for the generous spirit shown by you, our many supporters. Your gifts of prayer and funds and your expressions of appreciation are greatly valued. We are constantly blessed by your interest and support. The knowledge that you are lifting us up with prayers and financial support is a constant blessing in our work!
Monday, February 22: As classes resume, we pray for the students this semester, that our Lord will grant the wisdom and strength to endure the process of ongoing learning and preparation for ministry and teaching. From this point forward, students will be busy with papers and presentations, so we pray again for stamina and the energy of our Holy Spirit. Pray that the students are reminded in the busy times that their work is in service of our God.
Junior Member Joonyong Um requests your prayers as he continues his study on the theme of “education as emancipation”. May the Lord guide him as he reads the Book of Job, Paulo Freire's writings and other books on liberation and education.
Tuesday, February 23: Please pray for the Finance, Advancement and Partnering Committees of the Board of Trustees, as they engage with many matters in each of these areas. Remember especially the respective Chairs, Ken Van Wyk, Philip Preville and John Valk. We pray a blessing over them for their service to ICS, and a petition for God’s will to be done in all proceedings.
Wednesday, February 24: We give thanks to God for the Reformational scholarship of Lambert Zuidervaart in the volume newly published by McGill-Queen's University Press. Please pray also for the exciting opportunity offered by the many colleagues who have jumped at the chance to participate in the blog review of the work chapter by chapter in February and beyond. Praise God for the blessings of collaboration and dialogue!
Thursday, February 25: The Presidential Search Committee meets today. Please pray that both the committee and our future President, whoever this may be, are seeking the Lord’s will, and that God will provide strong leadership for ICS in the future.
Friday, February 26: The CPRSE rejoices with the upcoming publication of three new works by Senior Members (Tracing the Lines: Spiritual Exercise and the Gesture of Christian Scholarship by Robert Sweetman, Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation: Essays in Reformational Philosophy by Lambert Zuidervaart, and The Laws of the Spirit: A Hegelian Theory of Justice by Shannon Hoff). Please pray that this will be a fruitful time in the scholastic lives of these Senior Members. We also pray over upcoming book launches and the other promotional work which will be undertaken by the CPRSE.
