Meet Grace,

a 5th year Theology student. She completed a year of study through Kaléo, a leadership program of Briercrest and Camp Qwanoes, and continued her degree on campus at Briercrest.

Before this, Grace studied for two years at a secular university. Taking courses surrounded by hundreds of other students, she remembers one predominant feeling: “I felt exiled,” she remembered. “When I look back, I would venture to guess that everyone feels that way. If you don’t know your true home in the tapestry of God’s people, you’re going to feel exiled.

“For me, I was a speck in the universe who was just kind of floating around and if I landed in a good job that paid me well, I would be lucky. Now, I understand that that’s not relevant at all.”

Studying at Briercrest has changed Grace’s outlook. She shared one story where a professor and his wife prayed over her after she had sustained a significant injury. “[They] had the eyes to see that I was in need,” she said. “That was probably the first experience I had where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not a number here. I’m not even just a face, actually. I’m a human.’

“The interpersonal communication here is really, really different. I think I feel that on a subliminal level every day,” she said. “This institution has created structures like community chapels, small groups, the various events we put on—they’re centralized for the community.”

“Character cultivation is a very different purpose,” Grace concluded.