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CBC students sleep in dream residence

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Redekop Hall at Abbotsford, B.C.’s Columbia Bible College officially opened Jan. 15. The $3.5-million dormitory is fully paid for, thanks to a $1-million lead gift from the extended family of Jakob and Maria Redekop, and contributions from more than 250 other donors. Some contributors, including members of nearby King Road MB Church, gave time and expertise to the construction.

The structure, which accommodates 130 students, is the “completion of a dream,” said college president Ron Penner, restoring “community” to students in residence. The building is designed to maximize interaction, with rooms set in clusters around a social area with kitchen facilities. Penner said CBC’s Anabaptist heritage “underpins our notion of community.”

Requiring too many expensive upgrades, the old residence was torn down some years ago and students housed in rented apartments. The new, air conditioned dormitory can also be used to host summertime conferences as a revenue source for the college.

Abbotsford city councillor Dave Loewen praised the partners and volunteers who made the project possible at the dual denomination school (MBs collaborate with Mennonite Church B.C.). CBC is “an integral part of defining who we are as a city,” he said.

BCMB interim conference minister Merv Boschman prayed that the residence be “a place of prayer, a place of growth, a place where people care for one another, and a place where people are called into ministry in this land and beyond.”

—Barrie McMaster

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