Inspired and equipped

Four recent graduates talk about their passion for ministry and their experience at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary.

as told to Brad Thiessen

Jay Buhler

In 1991, the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles and all the stories around it of black equality, the powerful and the powerless, and social justice impacted me in a significant way. I began reading about slavery, white supremacy and Martin Luther King Jr., and identifying with the disenfranchised, the poor, the powerless.

I came to the seminary, and for the first time these things were part of my theological reflection. The gospel, the story of Christ, got down into the muck of humanity and I began to understand the social implications of the Kingdom of God. Christ has reconciled me to God and now I’m able to see myself and other people more through the eyes of Christ – people who need reconciliation with God, with each other, and with themselves. While at seminary, I have been able to integrate my passion for reconciliation into my work with individuals, families and couples in therapy settings.

Ministry is not a one-person show. It has to be done with, and within, a community. This school has worked very hard to solidify the community aspect of ourselves, and community responsibility. The professors have challenged my theological reflections, helped put words to them, and challenged me to make ideas practical.

Jay graduated in May with an MA in Marriage, Family and Child Counselling from MBBS’s Fresno, Calif. campus. He and his wife Marcia (who received the same degree) are returning to their home in Edmonton to seek employment.

Kristen Corrigan

Ten years ago, I came to the Lord while driving alone on the Columbia Icefields. My marriage of 21 years had just ended, and I had been seeking God for some time. In the middle of a snowstorm, my car filled with light. I asked God if He was present. I didn’t know how to pray but I just committed myself to God. Later, after going through a time of seeking and healing, I met my husband-to-be, Garry.

I had a successful consulting business, and loved my work in organizational design and leadership development. However, a year after my wedding, God revealed to me that it was time to go back to school. My goal was to rethink everything I’d been taught as a “leadership education specialist” through the lens of the Word. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past five years at the seminary.

Three years ago, I began my job as executive director of human resources at Trinity Western University, the campus on which ACTS is located. The HR team views its role as “people stewards” to serve the people of TWU. My passion in this work is to help people be fully engaged in what God has called them to do within the institution. Seminary has helped me to understand Jesus’ example as a servant leader and equipped me to strive to incorporate His example into all facets of people stewardship. After Gathering 2004, I joined the Canadian MB Conference Executive Board. It sounded like an exciting opportunity to contribute to the Canadian Conference.

Kristen graduated in May with an MA in Christian Studies from MB Biblical Seminary’s ACTS campus in Langley, BC. She has two grown children; she became a proud grandmother in February. She and Garry are members of Panorama Community Church, Surrey, B.C.

MBBS–ACTS campus, Langley, B.C.

Sherman Lau

My particular passion is ministry to men, and adult ministry in general. This is because I went through a very difficult time about four years ago, “a dark night of the soul” some might say, and it was a Promise Keepers event that saved me. I rededicated my life and with that rededication came a renewed passion for ministry.

Seminary was a healing and learning time, as God taught me about who I am and how He was shaping me for His purposes. I healed and learned through courses in theology, the Bible and leadership studies. But the main thing I appreciate is the relationships I formed with fellow students and professors, who confirmed and affirmed me in my calling.

Many people don’t see that the church is relevant in our culture. Yet, at the same time, a part of them asks, “Who is God and how do we make sense of our lives?” If the church is able to understand where people are coming from as “culture watchers,” I think we will be able to relate better and break out of the Christian bubble we have been in.

At seminary, I have learned you have to be intentional. Jesus never criticized people who were prostitutes and tax collectors. He went out and He was among them. I’ve had classmates from around the world who are involved in ministries that are in the inner-city, hospitals and prisons, etc. Those ministries don’t speak of complacency – they speak about being intentional.

Sherman graduated in April with an MA in Christian Studies (Church Ministries) from MBBS’s ACTS campus in Langley, B.C. He and his wife Shari are members of North Langley Community Church. He is currently seeking a ministry position which he trusts God has already prepared.

Shahna Duerksen

When I was 18, I went to Guatemala with my church youth group. That’s where I first felt a call to missions, a passion for working in other cultures and countries. The next years were spent in local missions in Georgia. At 25 I went to England with Youth With a Mission. That’s where God began stirring a passion within me to help people see the part they could play in God’s Kingdom and in turn be used to bring others into that Kingdom.

When I was younger I had some painful experiences as a student. I went to Bible school, but didn’t graduate. After 10 years of field experience, I had deeper theological questions. I wanted to achieve the goal of getting a seminary degree as a better foundation for ministry and as completion of a journey of healing, self-discovery and fulfillment.

Mark Baker’s classes on Global Christian Theology and Missionary Anthropology helped me gain an appreciation for being a learner in a different culture, and to learn about contextualizing the gospel for other cultures. I am going to India, where women typically have a submissive role in society and in the church. There will be challenges for me as a North American woman in ministry, but I also will be able to use my gifting in new ways of doing mission, possibly in business consultancy work.

Another challenge will be to discern what kind of church we as a team of North American and Indian missionaries are going to plant. Is it going to reflect my North American worldview, or an Indian worldview, or integrate the two? Hopefully the latter.

Shahna graduated in May with an MA in Intercultural Mission from MB Biblical Seminary’s Fresno, Calif. campus. This fall, she and her husband Darren and their son Ethan are moving to northern India as part of The Delhi Project, a team of Indian and North American Mennonite Brethren church planters.

MBBS–CMU campus, Winnipeg, Man.