Amazing NBBI...Continued from page 1

We have been very impressed by the spirit we sense. NBBI is unpretentious in the good sense of the word. As one of their leaders told me, “What you see is what you get.” I noticed immediately that the people listen intently as I am preaching. And they love to sing. It’s very clear that the students and the faculty have a close relationship. The school isn’t large–only 130 students this year–and that allows for a lot of personal interaction and mentoring from the faculty. Each service has been building during the weekend. I know we throw about the term “family spirit” a lot, but at NBBI, they really are a family. We’ve had graduates from thirty and forty and fifty years ago with us this weekend. Last night Mr. Beebe asked where the alumni came from. The largest group came from New Brunswick, then Maine, but there were folks from Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and even someone from Cape Breton Island. Exactly where that is, I couldn’t say. And someone came all the way from the Northwest Territories. When I asked Mr. Beebe later why he didn’t ask if anyone had come from Mississippi, he said it was just an oversight. He volunteered to name us honorary alumni, which would make us, I suppose, the only folks from Mississippi ever to come to NBBI.

Good things are happening here. Tomorrow I will speak during the afternoon graduation ceremonies. Nearly all of the graduates go into Christian service, many of them serving churches in the Maritime provinces, in New England, and some in Quebec and Ontario. Others serve as missionaries around the world.

After the service last night, we had banana splits in the dining hall as part of a fundraising event sponsored by the Student Council. At our table I met a young NBBI grad who pastors a church somewhere in Maine who came back for the weekend. On every hand you meet generations of former students who love this school, including some who were here sixty years ago.

NBBI is an amazing place, an undiscovered jewel among the Bible institutes in North America. From this rural hillside in New Brunswick, they are training the next generation of Christian leaders.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.