Welcome back to the Summit Spirit! If you haven't noticed, our blog took a little hiatus, which means we missed out on a few Focus Friday posts! Becca Lillie noticed, which is why this week we're taking a new spin on the Focus Friday post for "Take Notice Tuesday!" There is no one better to take notice of this week than Miss Rebecca Emily Lillie herself (but please call her Becca!) who is a Junior at Summit that has come to us all the way from Gallup, New Mexico. (You may recognize this image as an SCC marketing favorite! It's Becca!) Why Summit Christian College? Becca is currently seeking a Bachelor of Science in Bible with a focus on Youth Ministry. Becca has a calling from God to be a junior high youth minister. --> In fact, in just a few short questions, she named "middle school students" as inspiration and passionate subjects 7 times! Life at Summit Christian College: So far, Becca has enjoyed her Christian Education classes at SCC the most because they have given her new tools for teaching and ways to make lessons fun for her future students. Her biggest inspiration on campus has been Aaron Prohs, a professor, because of the way he has impacted the way she looks at the Bible. Becca lives in the dorms on campus. The dorms give Becca a sense of family here and she loves that she's able to both give and receive encouragement from her peers in the dorms. Although Gering is quite different from Gallup, Becca loves how the community here is a "small-town, loving community" that makes her feel right at home, even 800 miles away. Life after college: Becca plans to move to California after graduation. Her ultimate goal is to work at a Christian Church and get her masters degree in teaching and a teaching license so she can teach middle school. More about Becca: Becca is a very friendly, high-energy, God-loving young woman that wants to share her passion with junior high students. In her free time, she loves to scrapbook and drink Diet Cherry Limeades from Sonic (Rt. 44 is the way to go!) and watch the Green Bay Packers win. Her favorite time of the year is Christmas time, because she loves to decorate, wrap gifts, and drink hot chocolate! Becca would love to travel the world and especially Europe because of the history and her family history there. As such a well-rounded individual, we're lucky to have Becca on our campus, sharing the Word with everyone she meets! If Becca had 3 wishes, they would be: 1. To have enough money to get a master's degree. 2. To go and see the world. 3. To have Blake's Lotaburger come to Nebraska. Becca's favorite Bible Verse: Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Welcome to another Focus Friday! This week we get to learn more about Emilie Jones, a Junior at Summit Christian College from Alliance, NE! Why Summit Christian College? Emilie originally chose to come to SCC when she learned about the college in her church, at summer camps and youth rallies. She grew up in a strong Christian home on a small ranch, and her sister attended SCC as well (she graduated with her Certificate in Christian Foundations). Emilie was further drawn to SCC when she learned it was inexpensive and close to home. Finally, SCC met her life and ministry goals: To strengthen her faith, learn how to share it, and learn how to teach. Life at Summit Christian College Emilie is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Bible. She achieved her Associate of Arts in Bible degree from SCC in May of 2014. Her favorite SCC classes so far have been New Testament (NT) classes such as Acts and NT Survey because they helped her understand the demographics of the NT books and how to apply the principles within them to her life and ministry. Emilie says she has found Andi Grant to be one of her most inspiring professors at SCC because Andi has modeled how learning can be fun while still hitting the key points of each subject. Life at after college After achieving her Bachelor's Degree, Emilie plans to marry Ryan Yates, pursue some sort of equine ministry, children's ministry or Sunday School teaching. Wherever she goes, she plans to be sensitive to Christ's leading. Ryan Yates and Emilie Jones during the 2014 Choir Tour More about Emilie There are tons of interesting facts about Emilie that make her the wonderfully talented, optimistic and beautiful young woman that she is! Outside of school, she loves to ride horses and go for walks or bike rides through the beautiful residential part of town. Emilie helped break two horses growing up and she loves training animals. She considers herself "chronically happy," and believes she is beautiful just the way God made her. Reading Bible commentaries and learning in any way that interests her are some of Emilie's favorite ways to pass time. Emilie loves lasagna, broccoli-rice casserole, cinnamon rolls and cabbage burgers. She loves Twix and Salted Nut Rolls when she wants candy. If Emilie had three wishes, they would be: 1. To be able to travel worldwide without finances. She would love to go to Ireland some day because it is pretty, has castles, and would be a good place to ride horses - she loves the green landscape! 2. To spend weekdays riding her horse and weekends hanging out in the city with her friends. 3. To be able to ride a horse bare-back and bridle-less and to still be in full control. Emilie's Favorite Bible Verses: Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

We Offer Our Heartfelt Thanks Every year we send out an annual Christmas letter in an effort to join together with all of our friends who have a heart for the ministry of Summit Christian College. We do this as a way to tell you what we are asking God to help us with. We have called it our “Christmas Wish List” but in truth, it is an honest, open-hearted assessment of what our faculty and staff would like to see us try to obtain beyond our budget to help support the ministry of the college and uplift our students as they pursue their education. We cannot begin to tell you how much we have been blessed by your prayer filled, generous responses. At the start of the spring semester, our students came back from Christmas break to find six new mini-Mac computers installed and waiting for them in our computer lab and brand new ovens installed in each of the dorm kitchen areas. Every one of the individual books for the library that were itemized on the list have been ordered right along with the bookcase for the reference/study area. A partial set of Word Biblical Commentaries has been donated. Financial gifts made it possible for us to order the rest of the set. Soon, I will be going after a Windstar minivan that was donated and will be talking to a car dealer about purchasing a Sedan with another $11,000 worth of gifts that are set aside for that purpose. The Commons Furniture is also ordered and even the three new ceiling fans for classrooms can now be purchased. If you still have a copy of our Christmas Letter from SCC, please take a good look at it and then consider this. All of the Christmas gifts this year have closely equaled what our Christmas Wish List declared we needed! We sincerely hope that this good news brings you the kind of joy that has delighted us as we begin this New Year. We praise God for all of these blessings and even more, we thank Him for the truly beautiful blessing of having friends like you who care so much for the ministry of Summit Christian College. Sincerely, David K. Parrish President Summit Christian College

It's time for another Focus Friday! This week we get to learn more about Aaron Prohs, a professor at Summit Christian College! Aaron is a former graduate of Platte Valley Bible College (2002) and has been employed as a professor with us since 2005. Learn more about Mr. Prohs, one of the most beloved SCC Professors in this blog post. About Mr. Aaron Prohs Aaron's favorite part of working with SCC students is developing relationships with them. Seeing the transformation in their character as they grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Christ is what he says is the most rewarding part of his career. Several students put Aaron at the top of their list as the most inspiring professor at SCC. Dustin Amack, a sophomore, explains that Mr. Prohs is "truly concerned with teaching accurately, as well as showing us application for our lives." Becca Lillie, a junior, follows that up with her explanation that he has had such an impact on her that it has completely changed how she looks at the Bible. Outside of his work as a professor, Aaron has done youth ministry for about 5-6 years, prison ministry for the last 2 years and he has been an elder in his church for 2 years. He regularly teaches Sunday School for adults, is part of a praise team and he writes lessons for the Standard Lesson Commuinty. He has also taken 3 trips to Haiti to teach and preach. When I asked Aaron what made him "cool or unique", he said he's ordinary. However, it's clear that this Summit Christian College professor goes above and beyond on and off campus to live by glorifying God, and setting a great example for both his students and family. Speaking of family, his wife, Melissa, graduated from SCC and his daughter Jadie is currently a freshman living on our campus! Aaron's favorite Bible verse is: "He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NET) Aaron is just one small part of our talented, knowledgeable and devoted faculty at Summit Christian College, and we are so blessed to have all of them here.

Mark your calendar for May 16! Our 7th Annual Summit to Summit registration is officially underway! Register today for the Run, Walk or Shuttle on our brand new website, www.summittosummit.org. All registrations include a T-Shirt and a Swag Bag full of gifts from our sponsors! We are so excited to see the 7th year of Summit to Summit be the biggest and best year yet! Thank you for continuing to support Summit Christian College.

If your mouth waters at the thought of fresh peaches, you're in luck! We will be getting our annual peach order in late August. The cost will be $29 per 18lb box. Please call (308) 632-6933 by Friday, July 21 to place your order! We need to know ahead of time how many boxes to order. Then we will call you with the date of delivery as soon as we have it. When they’re ready, the peaches will be available for pick-up at our campus, located at 2025 21st Street in Gering, from 8am to 4pm. Thanks! - SCC, The Peach Place

It's time for another Focus Friday! This week we get to learn more about Summit Christian College junior, Danyele Bahn! Danyele is from Firestone, CO and is currently seeking her Bachelor's Degree in Christian Education. She graduated with her Associate's Degree in May. Life at Summit Christian College Danyele chose to come to SCC because she wanted to learn more about the Scripture. Her church in Firestone was a supporter of SCC, and she already knew others that had attended. She says that she knew that if she came to SCC she could follow God for the rest of her life. Danyele's favorite class so far has been Galatians because she loves Bible classes. She says she can't pick a favorite professor because she's inspired by all of them and they way they have followed Christ's call to ministry. Life at after college After graduation, Danyele plans to get her Masters Degree in Psychology so she can work with children. She would love to either go overseas or stay in the U.S. Eventually she wants to open her own Christian Counseling Practice. More about Danyele Danyele is very creative, has a great sense of humor and she loves fashion. She enjoys painting canvases and making all kinds of crafts. She also likes to play softball and basketball. Her favorite professional teams are the Denver Nuggets and the San Diego Chargers. She was adopted when she was 3-years-old and she has two brothers that were also adopted. Danyele's favorite drinks are ice-tea and Dr. Pepper. Her favorite candy is Snickers! If Danyele had three wishes, they would be: 1. To travel all around the world and spread the Word of Christ without being afraid. Her dream is to travel to the Holy Lands and to Italy to see where Paul and Jesus were in action. 2. To be a fashion designer and to make people happy. 3. To be successful in her career. Danyele's Favorite Bible Verse: Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Today was graduation day! We had 4 students graduate with bachelor's degrees, 3 students graduate with associate's degrees, and one student earn his certificate in Christian Foundations. The students chose the the them of "Press On" as their theme for the commencement. The theme comes from Phillipians 3:12-14: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goalto win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." We are so proud of our students that have graduated today! We wish you all the best of luck in your futures and we can't wait to see where God guides you next.

You can now check in here to see what's going on at the college, learn about what's coming up and stay informed about everything surrounding Summit Christian College! We will post pictures, quick updates and great news throughout the year!

Welcome to our first Focus Friday blog post! Check in each week to learn more about a student or a staff member of Summit Christian College! We are excited to focus on Andi Grant for our first week! Andi Grant Andi, her husband Ted, and their sons Connor and Gavin. Andi is a Professor of both Christian Education and HIstory as well as our Registrar! She is a graduate from Platte Valley Bible College and also has a Master of Arts from Cincinatti Christian University. Andi Grant Background Andi graduated from PVBC in 1998, and then married her husband Ted just two weeks later. After Ted and Andi were married they searched for ministry opportunities locally but ended up moving all the way to Japan! They taught ESL classes and worked in tent-making missions while they were in Japan for a year and a half. Andi and Ted then moved to Rapid City, SD, where Andi worked as a children's minister at First Christian Church. Today In 2005, Andi, Ted and their two sons Connor and Gavin, moved to Gering and Andi began working at PVBC as the Director of Admissions. In 2008, she began to work in the continuing education program and began to teach. And then in 2010, she became the Registrar. Her husband Ted is the Minister at Lyman Christian Church, where he's been since 2007. Connor is now 14 and a freshman in high school, and Gavin is 12 and in 7th grade. More About Andi Andi loves to read books (specifically anything historical in the 1500-1700s -- and NOTHING Sci-Fi or Fantasy!), garden, drink Coca-Cola or hot tea, and she likes to relax in the winter while knitting or crotcheting. However, since Connor and Gavin are super active, most of her free time is cheering them on in their sports such as baseball, football, cross country, soccer and wrestling. Andi's favorite bible verse is Philippians 4, 4:9, which reads: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything,q but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,s which transcends all understanding,t will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peacev will be with you. We are so happy to have Andi as part of our faculty and staff. She has a contagious laugh and is always the first one to pull you in under her wing. If you want to get to know Andi more, she's always happy to sit down and chat, but you might want to bring some hot tea, a Coke or some chocolate!!

Ascend the Summit A group of both students and staff traveled to Beaver Meadows Resort Ranch, near Red Lake, CO in the Roosevelt National Forest, north of Fort Collins about 50 miles, for four days. This was part of the scholarship that the Ascend the Summit Winners received. The Group The group included: Melody Korell of Grand Junction, CO, Kyle Kuxhausen of Mitchell, NE, Gavin Marvel of Casper, WY, and Hunter Rezanina who were all Ascend the Summit Scholarship Winners. Their mentors were Tommy & Jenny Clay of Casper, Russell Saito of Alliance, NE, and Kitty Allen, also from Casper. The logistics crew that attended included David Parrish, Summit Christian College president, and his wife, Alice Parrish, and John States, the Director of Recruitment Services. Summit Christian College students Ben Poole (logistics team) and Brooke Eckerberg (photographer) were also part of this event. The Event At Beaver Meadows, the group participated in an Amazing Faith Race, horseback riding and even white water rafting! Every evening at campfire, everyone enjoyed fantastic food including smores, smeeces and smolos! It was four days of fun for everyone. Rafting The group was able to raft for 8 miles down the Poudre River with Whitewater Decents for about 3 hours. Everyone had a blast, as none of the winners had ever ridden horses or been rafting! ABOVE, you'll see Summit Christian College President David Parrish on the left front of the yellow raft (wearing a black T-shirt). Behind him is his wife Alice (also in a black T-shirt), and behind her is student Brooke Eckerberg (blue T-shirt). On the blue raft behind them, Ben Poole, a student, is standing in the front of the raft on the right side (wearing a black T-shirt). To Ben's left, in the middle of the raft, sits John States, recruitment officer for SCC (wearing a blue shirt). John and Ben's raft celebrates after a successful rafting trip! David Parrish helps guide the raft in the front, as Brooke and Alice see what's up ahead.

Summit to Summit was this weekend and we are so proud of the event that it has become! This year we had over 440 participants in our Run/Walk/Shuttle! We even had 40 sponsors from the community step up to support our school and the event and we are completely blown away by the support. We are so very grateful for everyone's participation. We are glad our sponsors see this event as a great way to participate in the community while giving back to Summit Christian College. In the end, we are all supporting our students, as we continue to strive to graduate each student debt-free from SCC. Thank you to everyone that was able to participate in our 6th Annual Summit to Summit Event!! Mark your calendar now for next year's event on Saturday, May 16, 2015!