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| Kevin onsite at NCC |
I met with Kevin Schlechter.
Minding his own business, working on his ministerial credentials while volunteering at his church, Faith Tabernacle, he was expecting his life to take him out of Welland when Mark Collins called him up and took him out for coffee. ‘Mark told me that he had done a background check on me and that he wanted me to plant a church in nearby Niagara College. It had never occurred to me. But as we thought and prayed about it, the more it began to make sense. So my wife and I bought a house in the area and have signed on.”
The beauty of this approach is that he has been given time to do research and look for the best way to connect with the campus. He found that the gatekeeper in the college administration was dead set against a ‘Christian’ presence such as a chaplaincy but was open to creative ways of adding value to the institution. As it turns out, she was able to see the value in Red Frogs and is understandably excited about it.
The question is: what to do? So much that could be done.
Niagara college now has nearly 9000 students with a brand new, 90 million dollar, state of the art expansion. And it is well designed .
Kevin quickly discovered that:
There are 500 international students. There were 500 hundred people using the foodbank last year.
Actually, Kevin is already thinking of mobilizing people to cook for the international students who have no place to go for reading week, next week. It is a natural bridge and it meets a genuine need.
He had been in contact with Brandon Malo and Trevor Gingerich of The Embassy who have been coaching him over the phone. Kevin took a team to Waterloo to take in an Embassy service there- telling them “this could be us. This is what it could look like.”
Kevin is looking forward to running Red Frogs on campus.
He wants to help with the Food Bank and responding to student hunger
It makes sense to form a student club that will be run by the students and give them a legitimate presence on campus. Further, the goal of the club will include “adding value” to the campus.
For the church, Kevin found meeting space just off site. I respect the fact that he kept looking for new doors after the ones on campus were closed in his face. He has persistence – which is what you need when you are starting something in this environment.
I mentioned to him that if I were him ( I am not – but if I were) I would plunk myself down right in the middle of the action in the cafeteria and set up my ‘unofficial’ office there where students can easily find and access me. He can do his work onsite just as well as if he were hidden away in an office somewhere. That is something I did at UBC and it paid huge dividends.
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| part of the large,open cafeteria space... |
Kevin also showed me the ‘pub’ which has a stage and which is accessible to the public. It is perfect for special events and it has a high ceiling and it seems to have good acoustics. It could be an ideal place for periodic special events.
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| aforementioned pub with stage... |
This campus has no identifiable Christian presence onsite. It deserves one. If it is done well, it is a win for everybody. We come to serve and to add. Kevin just “gets it” and it is exciting to think of the directions it could go. His wife is fully on board. He has WOD District support. He has an anchor church nearby. He is forming a core of students and is making all the right contacts. From this vantage point the future is exciting.
