Winter Trumpet2026 Trumpet
What
Is God’s Will for My Life?
In the last two editions of the Trumpet, I have been exploring questions that students and parents often bring to PRBI. The first question, “What has changed? ”, looked at the idea of cultural drift. The conclusion was simple yet important: PRBI remains committed to its historical mission and values even as the culture around us shifts. The second question, “ What will I get? ”, focused on what PRBI has to offer students. I highlighted our vision of encountering Christ and concluded that perhaps a better question to ask is, “What does God want to do in me?”
In this article, I want to explore a third question that sits close to the hearts of many: “ What is God’s will for my life?” For some of our students,
this question is pressing. They come to PRBI seeking clarity and direction. For others, the question emerges more gradually as they begin to discover that our community provides the time, space, and support to discern where God may be leading them.
One of the gifts of Bible college is that it creates space away from the daily pressures of work, family expectations, and future career demands. Students have the opportunity to reflect deeply on their life direction. In this setting, they are invited to listen for God’s voice and to explore what His call might look like in practical terms. Some come with a clear sense of calling, while others arrive unsure, simply seeking to grow in faith. Either way, PRBI provides a
Kim Cairns President
nurturing environment for that journey.
This process unfolds in many ways. Classes engage both the mind and the heart. Assignments stretch understanding and character. Discipleship groups foster spiritual growth. Countless conversations with trusted staff members help students process what they are learning. One of the strengths of PRBI is the way our staff walk alongside students, helping them to discern God’s will without pushing them towards a predetermined path. We believe spiritual formation is not about prescribing outcomes but about helping each student hear and respond to God’s voice for themself. A recent example comes to mind. A student who attended PRBI several
years ago for one year returned this summer, seeking advice from the staff about God’s call on his life. The staff wisely asked what he was hearing from his local church. Taking into account the affirmation he was receiving there, we encouraged him to take a year to further discern God’s call. He has already achieved a better understanding of his gifts and path. We are excited to see where God will lead him.
The historical results are inspiring. Over the years, students have discovered and responded to God’s call in many diverse ways. PRBI alumni can be found around the world, serving as international workers in church planting, language translation, and community development. Others have heard
God’s call to pastor churches across Canada and the United States. Many right here in the Grande Prairie region serve in parachurch ministries and community organizations, extending God’s kingdom through acts of service and compassion.
Not every calling leads to vocational ministry, and that is part of the beauty of God’s design. Many PRBI graduates have entered the marketplace as business owners, professionals, and tradespeople, bringing a distinctly Christian perspective into their workplaces. Others serve faithfully in their local churches as lay leaders, teachers, and volunteers, helping to build up the body of Christ. Many alumni will confirm that they discovered one of God’s greatest gifts while here: a life partner with whom they now serve the Lord jointly.
Each of these stories reflects the same core truth. Discerning God’s will is less about finding a specific job title or destination and more about learning to walk daily in relationship with Him. At PRBI, our hope is that students will leave not only with a deeper knowledge of Scripture but with hearts attuned to God’s leading, wherever that may take them.
Are you asking yourself, “What is God’s will for my life?” Perhaps it begins with this: to know Him, to trust Him, and to walk faithfully in obedience to His call, step by step. From that foundation, His specific direction often becomes clear.
At PRBI, we remain committed to walking with students as they discover God’s will and live it out in a changing world, to the glory of God.
College News
As we step into the new year, we are celebrating an incredible season of growth at PRBI. Our students are diligently pursuing academic excellence alongside a commitment to spiritual growth and community life. As they seek to discern God’s will, many are considering returning to prepare for vocational ministry. Financially, undesignated donations are off to a slower start for the year, but we are grateful for your support that helps sustain our students and programs. Your generosity truly makes a difference.
Mission engagement continues to encourage us. Students were challenged and encouraged by our yearly Impact Week, including one young person who responded to the gospel message! This year’s Reach program is sending eight students to Romania and ten or more to Spain under the ministries of Operation Mobilization. These students will require prayerful support and financial assistance for these trips to happen.
Our Christmas production, A Charlie Brown Christmas, was a highlight of the season, drawing roughly 1,200 attendees over the two performances on November 21 and 23. It was a wonderful opportunity
Jeremy Johnston Vice President
to celebrate Christ and bless our community.
Admissions continue to progress. Campus Visit Days remain highly successful, with four students submitting applications on the spot during their October visit. We are adding an extra visit day in January to welcome even more prospective students. Our Youth Christmas Social helps us expand connections with young people and their families.
Looking ahead, our spring arts programs are already being planned. We encourage everyone to come out for what promises to be an exceptional performance. Youth Alert registration is now open, so be sure to send your youth! Learning for Life courses are starting again in the second semester and the Alumni choir will also resume.
Please continue to pray that God will call students to PRBI to study in preparation for service. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Let us pray that the Lord of the harvest will send more labourers into His field.
Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you richly this upcoming year.
LEARNING FOR LIFE COURSE
This course is intended to give you an opportunity to learn, to help you stay fresh in your faith, and to provide tools to energize your church.
Wednesdays 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
GROW UP!
The year was 2005. The location was Sexsmith, Alberta. A boy entered PRBI. He was young. He had never lived on his own. His mom never minded doing laundry, so while he knew how, he was not in the habit of doing it himself. While he had a vague idea of what it meant to be an adult, he realistically had no clue. Aside from being young, he was also overly confident, some might even say arrogant. Over the next four years as a student at PRBI, Jesus would continually confront this young man with a message and a theme: “GROW UP! You are not a child anymore!”
As you may have guessed, this is my story. And while this “Grow Up” message sounds harsh, I can assure you, it was not; rather, it was
empowering. Living out my life remaining as a child or as a boy was not something I had ever desired. I didn’t dream of growing up to be Batboy or Superboy. It was always Batman or Superman. Men who have the character and resolve to face the challenges of life and overcome them. We are designed by our God to mature and to eventually put away childish things and become adults. To become Men and Women who are no longer dependent and taking, but instead, using our Godgiven gifts to bless those around us.
And I can honestly say that over my time at PRBI, Jesus, through the staff, faculty, and teaching I received, encouraged me to “Grow Up!” This message of growing up is integral
to the idea of being “A Bible College for Life.” It is not enough to grow in knowledge, skills, or even theological understanding if we do not grow in maturity in Christ.
Ephesians 4:14–15 reads, “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”
As you read this passage, I hope your hermeneutic flags started waving immediately and you asked the question, “As a result of what?” Well, if you had read earlier in this chapter
of Ephesians, you would have seen that growing up comes about when the Body of Christ exercises its gifts in order to bring each one to maturity in Christ. This is what PRBI strives for when we say we are “A Bible College for Life,” training students in a thorough knowledge of the Word of God and equipping them to be ministers of the Gospel wherever they may find themselves, unmoved by the whims and impulses of the world around them.
The call to “Grow Up” is built right into the DNA of why we exist at PRBI. Our prayer is that every student who comes on campus grows up, and not just in learning to do laundry, writing papers, or becoming an adult. We pray they grow up into maturity in
Josh Rigby Dean of Men
Jesus and they become Men and Women who are impacting the lives of those around them with the good news of the Gospel. And this call is as relevant now as it ever has been. With the world shifting and shaking on what feels like a daily basis, a firm foundation for life is desperately needed.
So where is this foundation found?
First of all, it is found in continuing to learn and encouraging others to learn. We are finite earthly beings serving an infinite heavenly God. Fully understanding or comprehending the wonder of who He is is not something we will ever attain. In light of this, we need to be on guard against becoming complacent with what we know and what we understand about Scripture. Scripture calls us to be studying and learning and spurring others on to learn. Maybe a year at Bible College is something God could use as an instrumental part in helping you or someone you know grow up? Maybe you need to put down the smartphone and pick up a book that will challenge you to grow? Or maybe it is committing to spending more time in Scripture?
Secondly, our foundation is rooted in the aspect of serving like Christ, to use our gifts to further the kingdom of God. It is not enough to grow in knowledge; we must steward well the gifts God has given to us. Service
is never an optional part of following our Saviour. We are all called, gifted, and expected to walk in obedience to the good works God has laid out in front of us! This is something many of you are already engaged in and I want to encourage you to keep fighting the good fight.
As a result of all this, we can stand firm in a deceitful and volatile world. The hope we have been given in Jesus through His death and resurrection is an unchanging truth. It grounds us as believers so that the worries and fears of the day no longer toss us around like children uncertain of what they believe. Why? Because in the Gospel, our foundation is firmly established.
The challenge to grow up still echoes in my ears as I read this passage from Ephesians and now work at PRBI. While I am not the scared young freshman who had never done his own laundry, I have not yet attained to becoming like Christ in all aspects of my life. Will you join me in the call to encourage ourselves and others to “Grow Up”?
Josh is an alumnus of PRBI (20052009) and has served as a member of the PRBI team since 2021. He is married to Meagan and they have 3 daughters and 2 sons.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Student Spotlight
From the moment I came to PRBI, this community felt different. Everyone seemed to share similar deep-rooted values. Quickly, a sense of belonging arose, easing my fears and letting me focus on the future. I believe God was showing me that all the hard work of trusting Him through high school and waiting for the right community had led me to a place where I could truly grow and change.
In high school, I had a friend group that went in a different direction. The guys wanted to do drugs and drink, and I knew I could easily be peer-pressured into it. I distanced myself from them, and in doing so, I lost all my friends for the next four years.
Coming to Bible school feels like a gift and a reward for the hardships I endured to transform my life. Making friends here has been a truly healing experience. I’ve never been so happy to be where I am today, and I believe God is at the root of it all, convincing me to be vulnerable in a community that actually cares about me and where I am in life.
Elijah Gladysz Freshman
Coming to PRBI has been very different for me, as I have never been away from home this long without any family members around. What has made this so much easier is that I am now surrounded by people who share the same beliefs as me. Back home, when I was in high school, it felt like listening to an R-rated movie—the swearing, the gross and malicious jokes that were heard daily.
Being here is a little scary, but I am so grateful to be surrounded by people who actually care about how they act. The relationships I have developed in my short time here are ten times more meaningful than all of my childhood friendships combined. This environment has finally allowed me to slow down in both my life and my thinking.
In high school, I had retreated so far into myself that I had kind of lost my own personality. The fellowship within this community, however, has made me feel safe, and I can finally open up and crawl out of the shell I had been crouching in. I have smiled more in the past semester than I have in the past few years.
Cara Penner Freshman
Financial Update
Statement of Operations and Budget July 2025 - October 2025
Peace River Bible Institute is recognized as a degree-granting Bible College by the Province of Alberta. Building on Christ as our foundation, PRBI values Biblical Training, Authentic Relationships, Kingdom Service, and Strategic Partnerships. Our vision is that every student encounters Christ in ways that transform their life, energize their church, and impact their world. We are a Bible College for Life! For more information on our Mission, Vision, and Values, go to www.prbi.edu.
The TRUMPET is the magazine of Peace River Bible Institute. It is comprised of contributions from faculty, staff, alumni, and students who are passionate about making disciples in their churches and communities.
email us at development@prbi.edu. Printed in Canada.
you can now give via etransfer. Visit www.prbi.edu/etransfer for more info.
