FESTIVAL OF PRAISE 2008
Continuing A Vennard Tradition -- Open to Alumni And Friends
  Mrs. Sue Harris
    Psalms 30:5b "Weeping may endure for a night  but joy comes in the morning."


  Dale Barrett
   

I have a life verse that I have submitted before, John 3:30.  However, some verses that have been meaningful to me this year, are Philippians 3:20,21.  “But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”  The highlighted part becomes the foundation for Paul saying in 4:1, “that is how you should stand firm in the Lord”.


  Joy Wease Boutakov
   

"I am at rest in God alone…He is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)



  Jay Bruner
   
My Year Verse: Matt. 25:40  "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'.
Leaving the mall the other day I watched a young woman throw away some pennies she had in her hand.  They obviously had no value to her.  They don't have much value do they?  There's talk that the government is considering doing away with the penny altogether.  It costs more to produce them than they are worth.  I asked myself, who do we treat like "human pennies" in our world?  How about the unborn, the elderly, the mentally challenged, the poor, the waiters and waitresses, the housekeepers, the sanitation workers, those different from me, those who disagree with me, even those who I may not like very much?  Just who are those that I may see as having very little worth?  I wondered if Jesus considers them of little value.  Don't you think they might be "pennies from heaven" to him?  He has already proved that he is absolutely crazy about every single person, hasn't He?  If I love Christ, how can I do less?
I have decided that in 2008, every single "penny" is going to have great value to me. Jay Bruner


  Betty Chow
    Psalm 92:1, 2 speaks to me for each new day.  God is so good !   
"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:   To show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. "
Thank you for continuing this wonderful event.   I love reading everybody's praises!
Take care, and God bless you!           betty


  Mitchell Cotrone
    My verse this year is:  Psalm 119:105  "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."
Warm greetings in Jesus precious name.  God is so good!  I am now completing 51 years of full-time ministry and still going, praise the Lord!!  I continue to pastor Hope Wesleyan Church in Naples, Florida.  This is our 6th year, now.   Since coming here, we have started an outreach ministry to Hispanics that is growing and doing well.  And last year we began a new outreach ministry to Haitians, and that is going well.    While serving as a missionary in Colombia, I planted and built a new work in the capitol city of Bogota.  That work has grown to a congregation of over 5,000, with 25 daughter churches.  The church I built got too small, and a new sanctuary has just been built to seat 2,200.  We have been invited to the dedication services March 5-9, 2008, and are looking forward to going.  To God be the glory!  The first 2 weeks of April, we will be hosting 2 work teams to Haiti, where my wife served for 20 years and I for 4.  Did someone say 'retirement?'  I wouldn't know how!  Praise the Lord for His faithfulness over every mile of this journey.  God bless you all.
Mitchell Cotrone,  Class of 1957


  Sharon Cox
   

Hebrews 10:23  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.


  Dale Dorothy
   

In recent weeks I’ve had a growing awareness of the tremendous spiritual battles those of us who are Christians face with seeming regularity.  The Lord has impressed the following verse on my heart for this year of 2008:
R20;Therefore, put on every piece of GodR17;s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” Ephesians 6:13 (New Living Translation)



  Vicki (Harper) Drude and Ted Drude
    Year Verse from Vicki (Harper) Drude - Vennard '72:  "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:10
Year Verse from Ted Drude - Vennard '83: "I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God..."
- Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)


  Doris Eldred
   

Since I will be 86 this year, My verse for this year is Isa.46:4. "The Lord said "Even to your old age I am He.even when you turn gray I will carry you.I have made and I will bear, I will carry and I will save."
Isn't that wonderful to know.


  Rev. Jan Fischer
   
My verse for this year is:  Philippians 4:8  "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."



Mrs. Jenny Gentry
    At the end of December, Troy and I were accepted as missionaries to Mexico with OMS, International. What a great answer to prayer! At the same time, we know that we have quite a challenge ahead of us in liquidating some educational debt and raising the needed shares for our family of six before we can fulfill God's call on our lives to minister to the Mexicans. During my devotional times the past several weeks, I have been studying Sarah and God's promise to her that she would bear a son--be the mother of nations--even long after her child-bearing age! The message of His promise? Nothing is too hard for the Lord!
When the things we are asked to do seem impossible, we can remember this verse is Genesis 18:14a - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (NIV)


  Rev. Jeremy R. Geerdes, Pastor Deborah Heights Wesleyan (Dr. & Mrs. Harris's home church)
    You know, it's really difficult to narrow it down to one or two verses for the year, especially for a preacher!  So here is my year passage: Exodus 24:9-18
Context:  After the Israelites refused to approach God as a whole nation, Moses managed to rally the 70 elders to accompany him up onto the mountain, where they saw God.  Moses then proceeded on from there and had a literal mountain-top experience with the Lord that lasted 40 days and 40 nights.
Comments:  Only 70 people managed to see God, even though everyone was initially invited.  Oh, how I don't want to be one of the countless others that are too afraid of what it would mean to get close to God, what would happen to them if they approached the Lord, or what would be expected of them if they met with the King!
It also strikes me that, from that company of 70, Moses was invited to come even closer and have this extraordinary mountain-top experience.  But in order for that to happen, he had to first climb the mountain, a task which was almost certainly not easy.  Oh, how I don't want to miss my opportunity to experience the Lord's Person and Power first-hand simply because I was too busy or too lazy to do the work necessary to enter His presence!
And the third thing that jumps out at me is that, even after God invited Moses to meet with Him in person, even after Moses climbed the mountain, before Moses experienced this forty days, he had to wait for six whole days.  Oh, how I don't want to miss what God has in store for me simply because I wasn't patient enough to wait for Him to move!


  Lloyd Hanton, Major
    My two verses for this year are:
Psalm 3:3-4 (NIV)   3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.    4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.
It is so comforting to realize the fact that God so care for me, and for each of us, that He is my shield. And his care is so personal that he lifts up my head when I need comforting.


  Sandra Harris
    Luke 18:1 Always pray, and don't give up.


  Colleen Lewton Hawk
    Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  I Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
Colleen Lewton Hawk, Serving with World Gospel Mission in Honduras, C. America


  Stacey Higgins
   
For Thou art the Lord Most High over all the earth; Thou art exalted far above all gods. Psalm 97:9
We serve a mighty God, and He is accessible and compassionate as well as holy.
When we lived in Oregon and it was rainy season, I would tell the kids that God was watering the land for the trees and flowers and grass to grow.  I wanted to put a positive spin on the rain so they wouldn't gripe about it.  Four year old Marie commented one rainy day while staring out the window, "That God sure is nice to water Daddy's grass like that."  All the while being the Lord Most High!


  Dale Holloway
   

This year I’ve chosen 1 Samuel 26:23 as my year verse. “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.” I like it because it contains not only a wonderful promise, but a personal challenge to holy living as well. And this year it seems especially appropriate with Dr. Harris’ promotion to heaven. He has received his reward for living a holy life of righteousness and faithfulness.


  Bonnie McCullough Hudson
    My year verse for 2008 is:  Joshua 1:9  "Yes, be bold and strong!  Banish fear and doubt!  For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Living Bible)
I remember this being part of the scripture that Dr. Harris received for his "call" as President of Vennard College and then music was written for the choir to sing at his Inauguration using the Scripture: Joshua 1:5,6,9.  I wonder if he felt as I do, what things are ahead that I need such a "strong" verse?  Praise the Lord, He is faithful.


  Jim & Linda Hulett
   
Here is Jim's verse:  Psalms 91:2  I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."      Mine (Linda) is Hebrews 13:15  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name.         One of the reason I choose this verse is because  I had to have open heart surgery Jan 2 .    4 by-passes and a new aortic valve.  This was completely unexpected as I didn't even know I had a heart problem, then five weeks later I had surgery on my right leg as it did not heal where they took the vein to do the by-passes. I am now in the process of healing from that surgery.   God has been with Jim and me through all of this and I can't thank and praise Him enough.


  Joy (Zimmer) Kadwell
    "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8:36
I have chosen this as my year verse because God has been doing a work in me. I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago and a lady prayed for the healing of my arthritis. It hasn't bothered me as much since then. God is good. I'm believing God for total healing.
Love and Prayers, Joy (Zimmer) Kadwell


  Minda Kleman
    My verse(s) for this year are Psalm 134:1-2  Blessings, Minda Kleman


  Dorothy Lanz




  From Dorothy Lanz, widow of James Lanz.  I am also an alumnus of Wesley Bible College which has it's records stored at Vennard.
My year verse is:  The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 (2007-8 Year Verse). As you notice, this was my year verse last year, too.  It blesses me so, that I kept it as my verse for this year.  I have found this verse true now that Jim had his "promotion to glory" on November 28, 2007.
May the Lord continue to bless all of you!


  Marion Lewton
    Proverbs 3:6......such a familiar verse, but I NEED it this year....." IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE UYOUR PARTHS STRAIGHT."   YES, WE NEED HIS GRACE, STRENGTH AND DIRECTION....DAILY!!!


  Sue Martin
   
My verse (one of them) is: Deuteronomy 5:29 (Amp.) "Oh, that they had such a [mind and] heart in them always [reverently] to fear Me and keep all My commandments, that it might go well with them and with their children forever!
Sue Martin, WGM/ Haitian American Ministries


  Ruth Moyer
   
Psm 27:14  "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
I'm a person who likes to know details ahead of time. God has proven time and time again that He is in control. I'm trying to learn to wait for His answer with peace even when I don't know what it will be.


  Rev. Betsy Schott
   
My verse is I Samuel 12:24  "Only fear the Lord and serve Him in  truth with all your heart, for consider what great things He has done for you."
God bless for keeping this going. 


  Forrest & Jean  Shuck
    My year verse for 2008 is Job 19:25," I  know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day uipon the earth." In His love and ours, Forrest & Jean  Shuck


  Verne & Dawn Summers
    My 2008 verse: I am sorry for my delay in replying to the request for my selected verses for this year.
 I just couldn't find clarity on the subject until this week-end due to the fact that both Dawn and I have been facing some uncertain days since December, Only on February 28 did we begin to get some answers and even the answers are not sharply defined. For that reason I am returning to my life verse selected in my Freshman year at C.E.I.
Proverbs 3:5&6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not upon thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."
I have the old Bible that my godly mother gave me that year open before me as I reaffirm that holy commitment. I am encouraged by now 59 years of living that God remains our Jehovah-Jireh!
Verne Summers, Class of 1953


  Charlotte Williams
   
My year verse for 2008:
    "Every word of God proves true"--Living Bible
    "Every word of God is flawless"--NIV
We all need to have a certainty, an inner knowledge, that there is a constant in our lives.  It is wonderful to know that "every word of God proves true" no matter what life throws at us.  He is who He says He is and does what He says He would do.