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By Andrea Dujardin-Flexhaug
LIKE MANY high school grads at this time of year, 18 year old Joshua Stevens has
thought about and planned his future – which includes medical school at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, in the
fall.
He and his brother have made worthwhile work choices for their lives after their
time in Penticton Christian School (PCS). He plans on becoming a doctor; and
his younger brother Ben wants to be a pastor.
Joshua served as valedictorian at grad ceremonies held at the school last month
for the five students graduating there. He was also recently awarded with a
2009 millennium excellence scholarship, which recognizes students entering
post-secondary education for their outstanding achievements in various areas – including academic performance and community service.
The work Joshua has been doing as a volunteer fire fighter, in his local
community of Okanagan Falls, led to the award from the Canadian Millennium
Scholarship Foundation.
“It’s serving my community. It’s also exciting,” commented the young man. “I do enjoy it.”
Joshua has taken Fire Management and CPR courses, and is permanently on-call
with the local fire department
“Sometimes it’ll be quiet, sometimes it’ll be busy,” he said. Most of the calls are as first responders to medical emergencies – although he did attend a fire at a local vineyard, where a house burned to the
ground.
“I was in on the initial attack, because ours was the first engine – so I got to spray [the house],” Joshua said. Age restrictions prohibit him from entering a burning building;
but he provided valuable assistance to the other fire fighters, by changing
their air tanks and the like.
After immigrating from England two years ago, Joshua and Ben soon began
attending Penticton Christian School.
It is a kind of family affair, with their dad Tom also at the school as a
teacher. Tom said the family made the move to Canada mainly due to the “better quality of life,” and educational opportunities for the sons. They chose the south Okanagan
because of the mild climate, the scenery and the school.
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“If the Christian school hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have come to this area,” said Tom. “I was so impressed when we looked around the Christian school – with the peace, the Christian attitude and what they were offering– that I enrolled my boys.”
Both of the teens had never attended a Christian school before – but they found the individual attention a big plus, with a maximum of 21
students per class. Bible courses are part of the curriculum – and “we talk about the choices that we make with our time, money and our bodies, and
what choices Jesus would have us make,” commented Ben.
When he graduates next year, he plans to pursue a degree at Victory Bible
College, with the aim of becoming a youth pastor. Ben said he wants to be part of a future among other young people “that will help them to avoid the dangers of modern living – such as drugs, wrong sexual relationships, violence and feelings of inadequacy.”
Ben concluded: “People say that the church is not relevant in these days. I say that everyone
needs to belong, and know that they are loved – and that Jesus’ message is about a heavenly Father who cares very much for us.”
September 2009
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