The Pink Team took top spot for LAUNCH raising the cup after being announced the 2014 winners. The pink team was able to grab top spot after staying in the middle of the pack after the first night of games and skits and stepping it up with a solid showing in the Redeemer Challenge but still found themselves trailing the White and Black teams when Saturday's Olympic festivities started up. Once the games started though Team Pink thought Pink all the way and grabbed wins in the Frozen t-shirt, Face wash, and oatmeal pass to pick up some big points. Julianne and Zach did a great job leading the team but with Zach having to miss the Olympics 3rd year student Micheal stepped into Zach's spot and along with Julianne where able to get the teams spirits to the top with powerful team cheers. Check out there main cheer below! Thanks for all participants who made this years LAUNCH such a fun and successful event. The Launch leaders for bringing the energy and Mission Control for making sure things went smoothly.
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CrossCulture is an event hosted by TrueCity Hamilton in partnership with Redeemer University College that takes place twice a year where students gather together to worship, learn, and serve in downtown Hamilton. CrossCulture takes place October 4 and is free for all first-year Redeemer LAUNCH participants. Register today at www.crossculture905.weebly.com. Here are some reflections on CrossCulture from second-year student and CrossCulture leader Helena Schuurman: This fall will be my 8th CrossCulture, if I'm counting correctly. Although it was probably about 5 years ago, I still remember my first CrossCulture quite clearly because it impacted me tremendously. I remember my youth group and I visited L'Arche for the day. They didn't anticipate quite so large a group so a bunch of us were sent out to take a prayer walk around the neighbourhood. That was one of the first times I talked to strangers about Jesus, the first time I thought about prayer as actually powerful enough to yield palpable answers and, looking back, one of the first times I actually went downtown at all. There's such a gap between middle-upper class, educated Hamilton mountain folk and the lower class, impoverished, downtown Hamiltonian folk. I saw a different culture that day that I hadn't come into contact with before that time – a culture more down-to-earth. It was something a little more gritty and loud, for certain, but I fell in love with it that day and I've continued loving it ever since. Maybe this is just my perspective, but I experience God a little louder and more tangibly downtown, too. He's working so uniquely in the heart of Hamilton and in different ways than up the mountain. CrossCulture is beautiful because it gives a chance to see a different side of God's character that may otherwise not be experienced by some. CrossCulture does exactly what it's name implies – it crosses cultures together. A sense of deep unity among people of all different walks of life is experienced on that day. Going to CrossCulture inevitably means meeting people that are very different from you, but that's the beauty of it. We can all share our humanity in common; our broader experiences of joy and pain and need for a Saviour that is constant – those are the things that can (and do) unite us. I love worshipping with brothers and sisters from all over the greater Hamilton area in the morning and then splitting up and serving in the community in the afternoon and then coming back together at the end of the day to continue worshipping. I see it as strangely symbolic of the ideal for our lives: gathering as a community of believers, scattering and sharing Christ's love as we go, and coming back together afterward, still unified. God's Name is glorified so richly on that day, and it's my prayer that He will continue to be glorified in our daily lives as we gather and scatter unceasingly. - Nina Hi! My name is Colin! I have recently started working on the Launch Admin Team, and as I start to help plan your first year experience, it made me think a lot about mine. Everyone’s first year at university is completely unique, wether you are living a million miles away from home, or just up the road. For a lot of students, you are leaving behind everything you’ve ever known, for me, that was definitely the case. Being home-schooled all my life, I never had the opportunity to attend school, I also have always lived with my family, and have never had a “Real” job (other than babysitting/nannying). On September 7, 2012, I said goodbye to my family, moved into my dorm (with seven complete strangers), started a job at Refresh, and the next day, I had my very first classroom experience. It all was quite overwhelming. My first class was Psychology 121, I sat with one of my porchmates, and a dormmate. Neither of whom I knew at all, other than the fact that their names were Heather and Ben, but at least they looked kinda familiar. Launch was a super great way for me to meet new people, I am a pretty outgoing guy, and made it my mission to become close friends with everyone on my launch team, as well as my awesome Launch leaders, (Shout-out to Rachel and Nico). Launch was fantastic, I loved the get-to-know-you games, as well as the Redeemer challenge, and the pizza party was pretty legit too. Everything was pretty uneventful until my second week... You see, I have pretty severe asthma, and I occasionally have to take my inhaler… it’s pretty loud, and definitely not cute, so I decided that I would just go out into the hall and take my inhaler to save myself the embarrassment of taking it during class. Being homeschooled, my only knowledge of school came from what I saw in TV and movies. In “Mean Girls” there is a scene where Lindsay Lohan’s character casually walks out of the classroom to use the bathroom and gets in trouble, it’s super embarrassing, and I definitely did not want to pull a Cady Heron, so I waited until the class broke up into small groups and walked up to the professor and asked her if I could have a “hall-pass” (is that even a real thing?), she looked at me like I was crazy. It was actually the most embarrassing moment of my life. Fortunately for me, I explained the situation to the professor, and she thought it was hilarious. My first few weeks at Redeemer were filled with new beginnings, I am not going to lie and say everything was perfect, there were definitely a ton of ups and downs, but I survived. By November, I didn’t even want to go home on the weekends, and by second semester I considered Redeemer to be my home. Now that I’m in my third year, I look back and laugh at how crazy I was to be intimidated by the people at this school. So it’s a couple weeks into summer now and for some of you, you are crazy busy at working your summer jobs and making the most of the great weather. For those of you who need a break from your crazy schedule, have time by the lake to read, or are already missing school we have a solution for you. We have compiled recommended readings from Redeemer’s very own Faculty and Staff for you. These are suggestions for you who are entering into post-secondary. There are a few general topics and some that are recommended introductory readings for specific disciplines. If you think you are interested in one but are not sure try out the recommended books. Perhaps it will affirm your love for the topic and give you an introductory framework to take with you into your first classes. There are also some readings that can be helpful in all disciplines and university life as well as a few recommended books for Spiritual Formation as you head into a time of transition and a great opportunity to grow in your faith. Some of these books can be found online from the Redeemer Bookstore or Amazon.ca. Or better yet check to see if a local bookstore or library has them for you. If you have a comment on one of these books or a book to recommend for other incoming students please leave a comment (by clicking the above link) and share it with everyone. Recommended Readings for incoming students - Click "Read More" to show The following books are recommended by Redeemer Faculty and Staff and do not necessarily reflect the views of Redeemer University College During LAUNCH we will have an opportunity to do a Food Drive for Neighbour 2 Neighbour in the local community collecting the food donations they leave on their door step. The week prior the LAUNCH leaders, together with other student leaders, go into the community and deliver large paper bags attached with information of the food drive that Redeemer University College will conduct in the first week of September. Among the many fun games and events we have planned for you guys during the LAUNCH week, the food drive is my ultimate favorite event. I’m a LAUNCH leader three years now and being in a wheelchair unfortunately I can’t do much, but nonetheless the conversations I have with some of you along the way and the whole event in knowing that you are feeding a child in need is rewarding in itself. Friday evening we will get in our groups and go into the local community to collect the bags of food people left for us. It is a supper fun time that we get to know each other a bit better, running ahead to get the bags to load up the food car that will follow us, and just enjoy the relaxing evening not worrying about the books! Once we get back to campus and see the big food truck being loaded up with donations and students creating an assembly line handing down bags after bags to fill up the truck it is honestly an overwhelming sight to see. Feeling satisfied that you contributed in this awesome event that will feed and nourish those in need, what a blessing that is!! I encourage you to fully engage in this food drive and look forward to it because it FUN and the energy leave will be awesome; just imagine the end result when you will see that food truck full of bags knowing that you did this, and turning this beautiful sight into praise and thanksgiving to God how AMAZING is that!!! You chose to attend Redeemer for a reason; you could have gone to McMaster or another educational institution, but you are at Redeemer, why? Because you want to glorify God in all that you do and are. The food drive is a perfect start. - Anthony Tony is Entering his 3rd year as a LAUNCH Leader. He can often be found flying around the halls at excessive speeds. Always open for chatting about anything and meeting new people, so make sure you stop him and say hi if you see him. As the weather finally warms up so is our production for LAUNCH 2014. Things are coming together and you can now find most of the LAUNCH Crew and Mission Control Profiles up on the LAUNCH INFO tab. As well a few things are well underway in the planning stages. Keep checking back to see what is being added. Most recently Blue Jays tickets are getting booked, a 6 foot tall soccer ball was ordered, and lots of great free concerts are on the horizon with Supercrawl set to release there band schedule soon as well as possible buses to the free Franklin Graham Festival Of Hope in Toronto. There is lots to be excited for this coming year if its going to be your first at Redeemer. Again check back often as we firm up the schedule and post helpful and hopefully entertaining articles for you.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to meeting you on September 1st at Redeemer! James So there I was - sitting with a group of older students who I had never met before. I hadn't been able to locate my fellow dorm-mates before the beginning of Communal and had joined a group of second years. As I introduced myself and took a seat, one of them asked, "Are you going to CrossCulture?" This was the first time I had heard of this particular event, and little did I know what an exciting opportunity had just been laid out in front of me.
For those of you still wondering, CrossCulture is an event that happens twice a year that focuses on taking students down into the city of Hamilton and showing the love of God to the community in a variety of ways. More than that, CrossCulture is an opportunity to serve God by obeying his command to serve "the least of these." By engaging in CrossCulture, we are clearly able to communicate our love for God and the community in a tangible and visible way. These acts of service may take many forms. At CrossCulture, you may find yourself making lunch for people who can't afford to buy their own. Maybe you'll clean pews, clear out someone's garage or even just pick up trash in a public park. In a city such as Hamilton, there seems to be no shortage of kind deeds that we can do for the local community. CrossCulture also opens your eyes to organizations and people groups that are present in Hamilton that are sometimes overlooked. By lending a helping hand for the day, we are able to show these organizations that we love them and care for them and appreciate everything that they do within the community on a year-round schedule. CrossCulture is also a time of corporate worship with fellow believers. Before embarking on your mission for the day, all of the participants meet at a church for breakfast and enjoy a nice meal and a great time of fellowship. Once our bellies are full, we have a time of worship and prayer where we ask God to work through us and in the hearts of the people that we are there to serve. After a speaker ministers to the crowd, we are broken up into groups to be sent to the locations that we will be serving at for the day. By splitting the group up, we are able to work effectively and efficiently in many different areas all around Hamilton. Lunch is spent at our work sites and is a time where we can discuss what we are learning and how we can use what we learn for the glory of God. After working for another little while after lunch, we return to the church and finish off our day with a time of praise and reflection on what amazing things God has done during the day. CrossCulture is more than just a day-trip into Hamilton. It is hard work that is extremely rewarding both mentally and spiritually. Every time I engage in CrossCulture I feel as though God uses all of the pieces to speak to us each personally - teaching us and encouraging us to become more like Jesus. So... if you have never done CrossCulture, don't miss out on what will be an amazing opportunity to serve and an incredible environment in which to grow. The theme for Fall 2013 is "Falling into Place: How Geography and Mission Collide." Sign up here today. - Scott Hello all new, returning and prospective students. I would just like to say a quick hello and introduce myself to you. My name is James Cuthbert and I have just taken over as your Activities and Orientation Coordinator. Micah has done a great job of putting together a schedule that will LAUNCH us right into the school year. Unfortunately (for us) he is off to pursue more education for the year, so I will be stepping in to run the programs and add some of my own flavour. So here’s a bit about me.
I grew up as a Pastor’s kid and accepted Christ at a very young age. As I grew up in that environment I learned that I had many interests and that all of them related in some way to God’s Redemptive work. I figured if that was true then I had to at least give Christian education a try. Like most of you reading this, I attended Redeemer University College. My 1-year plan quickly turned into a 4-year degree. My area of study went from Kinesiology with a minor in Biology to Kinesiology with a minor in Business, to Kinesiology with a double minor in Business and Religion. I was involved mainly with the Varsity Basketball team. But I didn’t stop there. I also enjoyed participating in the different activities offered – the most memorable being Games Night, playing guitar at Hot Spot, Ski Snowboard trip, and Battle of the Bands. The most rewarding experience I had was the opportunity to be an RA and to pass on my experiences onto new students coming into the Redeemer community for the first time. So there you have it. I had a bunch of great experiences and a degree that everyone was confused about, including me. The world outside was waiting for me. Post-Redeemer. You might be wondering what does someone who has a BA in Kinesiology with minors in Business and Religion do in the real world. It’s a long story so here is a short list of different jobs I have held since then (feel free to stop by and ask if you want more detail about any of these): 1. Supply teacher at a Presbyterian high school in Belize, Central America 2. Labour - Landscape Construction 3. Canoe trip leader – Newport Adventure Camp (Salvation Army) 4. High School Basketball Coach – Laurier Secondary School, London ON 5. Inventory and Security – BEST BUY 6. Machine-cleaner and ice cream-eater - Nestle Ice cream factory 7. World Cup 2010 spectator/South Africa explorer – (an unpaid position) 8. OUTTATOWN Site Leader (2 years) in Guatemala – Canadian Mennonite University 9. Activities Advisor and Basketball Coach – Columbia International College, Hamilton ON 10. Activities and Orientation Coordinator – HERE! So with all that being said if you couldn’t guess it from the list above, I love a lot about the world that God created for us. Highlights for me are exploring the outdoors, being active, creating/enjoying music, competing in sports, thinking through board games, using electronics and everything in between. I am hoping that I am able to take all my interests and previous job experiences to serve Redeemer’s community by offering you fun and rewarding experiences while you are here. James Cuthbert |
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Helena (Nina) Schuurman is a 2nd year student. She has been involved in Hamilton service and is a leader for this years Philadelphia Service Learning Trip. AuthorColin is going into his third year at Redeemer and is part of the LAUNCH2014 Admin team.
September 2014
Author James is the Activities and Orientation Coordinator for the 2013-2014 year. Stop by his office in Student Life and say hello!
September 2014
Copper cup winners of the 2013 LAUNCH Olympics. The Orange team Archives
September 2014
HIghlights of the 2013 LAUNCH Olympics! VIsit our Youtube channel to checkout videos from our previous Launch Olympics.
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Scott is going into his 2nd year at Redeemer and would love to see you at CrossCulture this Fall.
September 2014
Author James is the Activities and Orientation Coordinator for the 2013-2014 year. Stop by his office in Student Life and say hello! Author Emily is an Art and History Double Major and a Psychology Minor going into her fourth year at Redeemer.
September 2014
Author Scott Bandy is going into his 2nd year at Redeemer and will be part of the Welcome Team that greets new students on Move-in Day. Author Micah van Dijk is the Activities and Orientation Coordinator at Redeemer University College. CategoriesAuthor Dan Vandenboogaard is a 4th year student at Redeemer and is going to be a LAUNCH Crew Leader for his 2nd time. He also happened to win the longest last name challenge when he was a new student going through LAUNCH. Archives
September 2014
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