Seminary Student Forum Hosts Week of Spiritual Emphasis, Jan. 31-Feb. 2
By: Samantha Angeles
When the officers of the Seminary Student Network gathered to prayerfully seek God about the theme for the 2016-2017 school year, they heard one value loud and clear: community.
To that end, the Seminary Student Network planned their annual, three-day Week of Spiritual Emphasis around the theme of togetherness: Praying Together, Suffering Together, Serving Together. In addition, they decided to reallocate the week’s budget, which would typically be used to fly in and host a speaker, to fund a practical service project to bless Syrian refugee families in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In lieu of a guest speaker, the officers invited Seminary professors and area speakers to deliver the Week of Spiritual Emphasis messages. They also invited students and faculty to share testimonies of how God had worked miracles in some of the most painful experiences of their lives. One after another, believers testified of God’s miraculous power despite debilitating illnesses, devastating losses and horrific abuse. “It was deeply moving to see so much authenticity,” shared one student. “It can be tempting to put up a front of having life put together, and it was refreshing to see that all of us are still on a journey with God.”
Dr. Hyveth Williams, the Seminary’s chair of homiletics, delivered the first message of the week, entitled, “The Power of Praying Together.” In it, she contrasted believers’ tendency toward discouragement with Paul and Silas’s resolute commitment to prayer and praise in Acts 16.
Her message challenged the Seminary community to bring all obstacles, both personal and corporate, to God: “There’s power in praying together!” she declared, “Our nation and our denomination are facing some tremendous challenges. And these kinds of spirits do not go out by themselves or with one person praying. We’ve got to pray together so that chains can be broken and people set free.”
Williams, who also serves as the Seminary’s interim chaplain, also gave the students her personal cell phone number, inviting them to call her whenever they needed prayer.
Since that sermon, she has prayed over the phone with numerous students. “I want the seminarians to know that I’m really serious about their spiritual well-being,” she said. “We’re always saying, ‘I’m here for you, my door is open,’ but I wanted them to know I really mean it.”
“The message was so powerful,” said third-year MDiv student Dyas Fanivania. “It’s what the church really needs: an example that God really exists and that the power of prayer is real.”
On Wednesday, Dr. Eduard Schmidt, assistant professor of personal evangelism and NADEI associate director, addressed the topic of suffering together and why even pastors shy away from authenticity. “We fear that if we leave the doors of our heart open, we will share in someone else’s pain,” he said. “And we fear we may find out that we have nothing to offer them.”
Schmidt presented Christ’s earthly ministry as a response to that fear: “He took on our form, and He had compassion; He suffered with us,” Schmidt said. “You can open your heart with safety, because sometimes it’s when we recognize that we have nothing to offer that we actually have the most.”
The third and final message was presented by Dr. Conrad Vine, president of Adventist Frontier Missions and twin brother to Dr. Cedric Vine, the seminary’s associate professor of New Testament. Vine presented the grave reality that both historically and in the present, “There are no depths of depravity to which men and women will not sink when they abandon God.”
In light of this truth, he reminded students, “Though we live in America, our citizenship is in heaven. We represent a different kingdom and a different worldview.” Thus, he charged seminarians not to adopt the world’s value system, but live countercultural lives of love and reconciliation in view of their identity as sons and daughters of God.
Students shared that Vine’s presentation awakened their personal responsibility to advocate for justice. “He talked about how leaders can sometimes go down a path that is not good for all of humanity,” shared one seminarian. “He reminded us that we can see signs of where that path leads through history, and it is our job to make sure that the tragedies of the past don’t happen in our day.”
On Friday, the Seminary concluded the Week of Spiritual Emphasis with a service trip to Kalamazoo. “This is the first time we’ve had a chance to put the messages into action,” one student shared. “I’m really glad we we able to do this this week.”
