Friday, January 4 marks 94 years of Providence. It was on this day, back in 1925, that the institution was founded as Winnipeg Bible Training School, establishing a campus at 580 Spence St. in the Manitoba capital.
It was the vision of the Rev. H.L. Turner, the founding president, to train “Christian workers for service in voluntary or official positions in the church, Sunday school or the mission field at home and abroad.”
Ninety-four years later, and making a home on a 100-acre campus in Otterburne, Providence University College & Theological Seminary offers Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in study areas ranging from business and biology to counselling and theology.
Gary Schellenberg, Director of Institutional Services and the school’s longest-serving employee, has witnessed God’s provision through the years.
“I am in my 45th year at Providence and can attest to God’s faithfulness in both the highs and lows of our existence,” he says. “God is good and has allowed all those who have worked at Providence to be directly involved in shaping students for ministry all over the world.”
Schellenberg points to personal experiences chaperoning students on trips to Jamaica and the Czech Republic. “I have also had the privilege of accompanying a team to Myanmar to witness the work of our Kachin and Chin students as they minister with their people,” he says. “All this is possible because God has faithfully supplied all our needs and brought the right students and the right staff to Providence.”
If he works another six years, Schellenberg points out, he’ll take part in the school’s 100th anniversary and will have served at Providence for 50 per cent of its life.
“We don’t know what the future will bring, but we are confident of one thing: God is faithful and will provide,” he says. “Ninety-four years of Providence. Wow!”
LEARN MORE about Providence history.
