MEANS & MEANING
Pressed Down & Shaken Together MANS 2020 Appeal for Student Aid Yields Surprises
T
here’s no question that these are unprecedented times for all of us. A year ago when COVID sent many of us home to work remotely, I thought I’d be back at my desk by September. Instead, news casts feature reports of a bad economy and new COVID variants. Perhaps I can be forgiven, then, for my surprise at the response of Alberta Adventists to the call to help MANS keep all its students and continue accepting new ones as they flock in
BY LYNN McDOWELL unprecedented numbers to MANS after September 30. Almost $45,000 was raised by the November-December appeal, which was matched by two generous donors — two angels, in my opinion —f or a total of nearly $90,000. But that’s not the end of the story. The Third Angel A third donor who received the appeal letter was troubled by the lack of education funding for several students (for various government policy reasons). After the MANS
“
Eileen Firingstoney Grade 11
appeal accounting was done, the concerned donor came forward with more questions.
We may feel pressed down and collectively shaken by our times, but God has turned the “pressing” and “shaking” we feel into something amazing: People who didn’t know Adventists before the Bridge Campaign to build a high school came forward in response to the 2020 Appeal. They helped in significant ways because of the caring spirit they see modeled by the Church at MANS. MARCH 2021
Alberta Adventist News
53