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President’s Message

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not
to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

This Bible verse clearly sets out how God feels about us, and what He wants for us. If
the events of this year have taught us anything, it is that the world we live in is an
unpredictable place, where in a moment the world that we knew could be irrevocably
changed. When we started this school year in September we had no way of knowing it
would see us in isolation from our friends and those we love while spending the last third
of the school year in an online environment instead of in the classroom.

Many are mourning the things we have lost, the activities we were not able to participate
in, the places we should have been able to visit, the new experiences we had been
looking forward to, the celebration and traditions that have long been part of the
fabric of our society that have either been postponed or cancelled altogether. We
wonder “What does the future hold? What will our futures look like?”

It is impossible for us to know that. Just like this year, we can only wait to see how it
unfolds. However, God has said that He knows. He knows the plan. But it is not only
that He knows, but that He has done the planning. God’s plans for our lives are ulti-
mately for our good, giving us the best He can provide. He does not want to see us sad,
disheartened, afraid or alone. He wants us to thrive, to grow, and to look forward to a
future, that although uncertain, gives us hope.

There are disappointments we will experience, just like what has happened this year, but
God’s promise to us in this verse is that we do have a hope and a future which He has
designed for us. We can rest upon that promise.

God Bless, Lee Richards.