GBC ladies took the opportunity Saturday afternoon to enjoy a time of ‘craftiness.’  Ladies had two options of crafts: first, make a silk flower hair piece (pictured below!); second, make a scarf/necklace with an old t-shirt.  For non-crafty people, these craft options are ideal because they are really as simple as can be!  It was a nice afternoon to simply enjoy fellowship with one another and be ‘crafty’ together.

Grace Bible College students are back in full swing for the Spring semester!  Classes started on Monday, January 16th and it is good to have everyone around on campus.  The first week of classes saw small groups back together, an open house in the new Student Commons (where we met multiple new faculty and staff!), the chapel used for a day-long training seminar for Wyoming Police Department on Thursday, and a worshipful Friday chapel.  It is indeed good to have students back on campus and we anticipate a fantastic semester!

GBC students overtook a very busy Rivertown Crossings Mall this weekend in a hunt for their Community Life Staff as well as additional hiding characters.  Our very own Chef John Sprague dressed as a nun and surprisingly not very many teams found him!  Congratulations to the winning team of Sara, Lauren, Courtney and Anna for finding ten of the fourteen hiding people.

The evening continued back on campus as student government hit a home run by catering Qdoba.  The Christmas party lasted well into the night as there were a few hilarious games involving scarves, hats and mittens, an ugly sweater contest, and Christmas with the Kranks.  It was a great evening for students as they prepare to study hard for exams and finish up this semester.  Merry Christmas!

GBC Ladies know how to have a good time.  The latest included a day of pampering (including manicures, pedicures, facials, makeup and hair) while being surrounded by Christmas lights, chocolate and the classic Hello, Dolly movie.  Once the ladies were glammed up and ready to go, the group headed to The Melting Pot on the north side of Grand Rapids.  Here the group enjoyed dessert fine-dining style: chocolate fondue!  GBC Ladies definitely know how to have a good time!

Group Photo...don't they look beautiful!

still beautiful, right?!

The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot

The Flaming Turtle was literally flaming!

Josh Segalla recently led a Life Series week on the topic of Poverty.  Students participated in a 30 Hour Famine, times of prayer, food drive and pop can drive and had a Dining to Donate event in cooperation with Applebee’s…and all of the proceeds from these events will be given directly to the famine that is affecting the horn of Africa.  It was a great week to raise awareness of poverty in the world…and though our part is small, it is one that will not be forgotten by the GBC students who participated.

Saturday, November 12th was a morning of great joy on the campus of GBC as women from local churches came to meet with students they would be mentoring for the year.  Heart2Heart Mentoring is a student-run program that provides female students with the option of being mentored by women from local churches who have a desire to invest in young women’s lives.  Each year the program continues to grow, and this year was no exception.  We have 15 mentors and 20 students participating this year (which has grown from 4 mentors and 6 students when it first began!).  We are thankful for these women who are so willingly giving of their time to invest in GBC students!

Halloween has come and gone…but here at Grace Bible College, we are praising God for yet another great outreach event on Halloween night!  About 30-35 GBC students enjoyed the opportunity to serve our immediate neighborhood by running games, painting faces, making bracelets and simply engaging with those that attended.  This year we estimate there were over 200 people from our surrounding neighborhood who enjoyed the festivities and we thank God for the opportunity we had that night to serve the many kids and their parents who came through our doors.

The small group harvest party went splendidly as groups participated in a pumpkin carving contest as well as a costume contest.  Costumes were better than ever at this year’s event…there was an entire Harry Potter cast!  Pumpkin seeds were toasted, candy corn was eaten and the groups gave great presentations with their pumpkins.  This is an event to go down in the books!