Dr. Ann Gillies (00:13):

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Truth Talks. So last week we had my friend Bruce Friesen on and he was talking and we had just done the first segment when we’re talking about education and some of the background of that in the first and second education revolution, so to speak, and then talking about our third education revolution. But today we are going to focus, well actually Bruce is going to talk about a story, a very, very important story that will segue into an understanding of virtues campuses, and I think we’ll just let it flow. So welcome Bruce. Again, thank you for joining me. I’m excited to hear your Ugandan story. Let’s start with that. And you have been in Brazil, you have so much international experience in the whole discussion on education. So let’s talk about Uganda.

Bruce Friesen (01:14):

Well, Uganda is where I would say my whole understanding started to shift as a result of an epiphany. And I was engaged with a friend in an evangelistic campaign in seven different locations within Uganda. And we put together seven teams. I put together four, he put together three, and we met there. And as I was speaking at one campaign in a place called Kalonga, Uganda, nothing was happening for two days. Nobody was giving their lives to Jesus. We were praying for people seeing next to no results, and it seemed as though the people were disinterested and disconnected. So I had our team fast and pray for the night, and the next day they brought up a five-year-old boy and an eight-year-old boy. And I still have the pictures. And they told us they were born blind, deaf and dumb. And I thought, whoa, we haven’t experienced much, but God, I trust you.

(02:14):

And we began to pray and I could see their eyes that looked like dirty pools of water all of a sudden of just color and pupil shaping and their eyes being opened. And you could see that they could now see and their ears opened as well, and the crowd’s going wild. And these kids, if you haven’t been in this context, are just freaking out. It wasn’t as though joy, it’s terror because they hadn’t seen or heard before. And now they’re in a context of seeing people frantic and just all excited. But in the middle of it, I heard the Lord say to me, Bruce, this is nothing in comparison to what I’m about to do. I’ll say, my mind went to Lord, are you going to raise the dead? Are you going to grow limbs? What are you going to do? And what he said in response really surprised me. He said, Uganda will be a prototype of a transformative nation, a light of hope to the countries of Africa, and it’s going to send ripples of hope, all around the world. And I said, Lord, how are you going to do this? And he said, we are going to disciple nations, disciple the next generation through the sphere of education.

Dr. Ann Gillies (03:36):

That doesn’t even, okay, I’ve got to go back. I’m sure there are some people watching that are going, okay, this is just so way out there, blind eyes see, deaf ears hear. What are you talking about? We can’t even begin to comprehend those kind of things. And for most Western Christians, it’s incomprehensible. I’ve never seen someone’s eyes suddenly become unmilky, the milky look that’s over them and then begin to see. So getting our minds even around that phenomenon that God can do that. But then for the Lord to say to you to take that experience and tell you it’s all about reforming education. So I’m trying to put that all together. I don’t think like God, I wish some days I do, and other days I go, oh my goodness, it’s already so overwhelming to me. So the fact that he said that Uganda was going to be a prototype and what’s happening right now in Uganda, as I think about that just in the whole area of the sexual revolution and what Uganda is doing and how they’re standing firm, you can see the evidence even now. What year was that, Bruce?

Bruce Friesen (05:09):

That was amazing with those children 2008, and I wish I could say my stats of the percentage of people that I prayed for, that there were more that were healed because I’ll say this is a rare thing for me to see this level of the miraculous, but what interested me is the emphasis the Lord was placing upon it, that it was almost a greater miracle to be able to open up their spiritual eyes than just their natural eyes. And that remembering Paul’s mission, this is Acts 26:18, Lord said, I’m sending you on a mission to open up the eyes of those that are in darkness and turn them to light, to turn them from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. And his mission was about opening up spiritual eyes. And I realized, you know what? We can see a natural eye opened up in a moment, but the opening up of the spiritual eyes and the spiritual understanding is a journey and that we can maybe even see many people coming to Christ and maybe entering the kingdom, but how many is the kingdom really entering into them and transforming their thinking?

(06:28):

And I realized that we’re going to have to start educating, and it’s not just an education, but a kingdom orientation, a biblical worldview, kingdom orientation, and that this is going to be a long-term process.

Dr. Ann Gillies (06:48):

What you said there and going back, it’s us. There’s a difference between us coming into the kingdom, the kingdom of God and the kingdom coming into us. And that resonates so deeply with me because I remember when I came to Christ, I came to this reality. I was 18 years old and I came to believe in Christ. I put my faith in him. I believed that what he spoke was true and that I could be washed from my sins. I believed that. But it was 13. Oh, no, no, it was more than that. Oh, I don’t want to say how many years it was many years later before I actually experienced because it was an experiential thing that happened with the kingdom really entering into my spirit. And I’m not talking about receiving the Holy Spirit that had happened years before too. But it was when I really began to experience the love of God internally experiencing it in such a powerful way. And it changed, changed my whole life, not that, accepting Christ changed my life too. But this was such a deeper dynamic, and that was like 1995. So I mean, it’s very interesting. So what you said, us coming into the kingdom, the kingdom coming out into us and sometimes there’s a gap. So what you want to do is educate. What you see really with education coming in is bringing those things together and then allowing the spirit of God really to illuminate into people’s lives. So okay, so carry on.

Bruce Friesen (08:49):

Speaking to that point briefly, that in 1900 we had one out of 28 people on the planet that were Christian. Now depending on which research you look at, we are either one in three or one in four people on the planet are Christian. So the percentage of Christians, of those that identify as Christians globally is gotten extremely high. When we look at, let’s say Matthew 13, we have seven sequential parables on the kingdom that Jesus talks about. But what he talks about is the kingdom is like a mustard seed that grows into the largest of trees. It’s not about it just being personally and in me, but collectively, globally, we can say this tree is growing, that there’s more Christians now than ever before. We have metrics to be able to attest to it. But the next parable is the kingdom is like leaven that a woman who I think represents the church, she works it into three measures of flour.

(09:52):

Three is a number of completion or of unity, but it says until the whole is leavened. I think there’s a difference here between a gospel of salvation and a gospel of the kingdom. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John three, verse three and verse five, unless you’re born again or born from above, you can’t see the kingdom. And then in verse five, unless you’re born of water and the spirit, you can’t enter the kingdom. It doesn’t mean you have, it means you now see it and you’re qualified to be able to enter into it. But the kingdom is we’ve got to realize is the government of God. It’s the lordship of Jesus where we’re not just knowing the word of God, but we’re obeying the word of God. We’re building on rock, not sand because we’re progressively obeying and it’s applied theology. We’re not transformed by how much we know of the word of God.

(10:50):

We’re transformed by how much we obey of the word of God and that we obey it in every area. So the kingdom of entering the kingdom where the kingdom should be increasing, they may manifest in us to the degree that now we’re not just knowing it, but we’re seeking to obey it and apply it in every single possible way. And when we do is that’s where we become salt and light. There are many Christians, I would say they are not salt and light, they’re ineffective in really being able to be salt, light or leaven in the world around them. But the ones that really, the kingdom of God has gotten ahold of them, that it’s the treasure in the field. They are significant agents of transformation. They are people,

(11:41):

And that’s what we want to talk about.

(11:42):

Yes. So to continue on just with that Uganda story, because I think this will cover it. We started building schools.

(11:51):

First of all, we started building one in Yana Uganda school for children at risk that didn’t have parents that were abandoned. We started building homes for those kids. It was called King’s Kids School. And we dug wells, developed agriculture, micro businesses, built medical clinic, and we kept on then repeating that in different parts of Uganda. But as we’re doing this, I felt like, you know what? This is not achieving the end of really discipling the nation by discipling the next generation. We’re educating them, they’re getting saved, but they’re not necessarily really being developed with a kingdom orientation, a kingdom thinking. And so as I was dissatisfied and I just started saying, Lord, what is the answer here? How do we do this? I feel like he led me to different people Landa Cope who has become a friend. And she wrote Old Testament Template and it helped me understand where Jesus said, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and earth, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, of realizing that Moses discipled the nation of Israel in every area of life, in marriage, in family, parenting, in diet, in hygiene, in government, in education.

(13:13):

He covered every single area. And although God promised Abraham, “I’m going to make you a great nation,” and he’s orally communicating what God had given to him. It wasn’t until Moses that they had a standardized curriculum that as they followed it, they became the great nation that God spoke about. What I like to be able to look at in this is that Jesus was called the only begotten son of God, but his name changed to the firstborn among many brothers. But he, God talks about Israel as my firstborn son as a nation. And so it infers that other nations can be my second born and other children, and that nations actually can become the children of God as the God looking at them as a whole nation. So if he calls

Dr. Ann Gillies (14:02):

The Gentile

Bruce Friesen (14:03):

Gentile nations, yes. So if Jesus is now looked at as the firstborn among many brothers in Israel as the firstborn son of God, as a nation, it infers that nations can be discipled, nations can be converted, nations can be discipled. And if we look at the foundations of Canada and the United States, it’s what really was starting to happen when the pilgrims and the Puritans initially came here, there was an incredible foundation that we are leaving and experiencing the consequences, and they’re only going to get greater if we keep on the trajectory. But Ann, with your voice and with others,

Dr. Ann Gillies (14:45):

Can I just interrupt for a moment? We are having some difficulty with your sound. I don’t know if Spencer’s there, but we’re missing some of what you’re saying. I don’t think it’s on our end. Oh dear. So I interrupted that. So okay. I’m very sorry.

Bruce Friesen (15:07):

I’m sure Spencer can edit it and I’ll have you and Spencer look at Riverside FM at some point because it will. Because what it does is even when the wifi is breaking, it takes everything. It compresses it, and it really, the technology works out all the problems in a phenomenal way. When you study it or try it, you’ll understand what I mean. As I continued on my journey and I met Landa Cope.

Dr. Ann Gillies (15:48):

Oh, just wait one second. Are you ready, Spencer? Can we continue? I I’ll just ignore it. Okay. Okay. It must be on me. Okay. I’m very sorry, Bruce. Oh, that’s fine. I’m sure

Bruce Friesen (16:05):

Spencer can edit, but Spencer, is that a baby of yours in the background that I hear? Look, how old is she? Oh, and I see another one there to your right. Yeah. Hi,

Dr. Ann Gillies (16:29):

That’s okay. No, that’s fine. That’s fine. I’m glad this sounds fine. It must be on my end somewhere. Anyways. Okay. Do you know where we start or where we kind of left off?

Bruce Friesen (16:40):

I will say in reading Landa Cope’s Old Testament template and meeting her, she radically started to shift my understanding of God’s purposes. I think God’s redemptive plan is to restore us to our cultural mandate, which is cultivate and guard the garden. And it begins in agriculture, but we can see that we are to cultivate the hearts and the minds of the next generation through education. And I think it’s, we have to realize that we have a cultural responsibility, not just populating heaven by people getting saved, but how much can we see the answer to the prayer, let your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven. And that we have to have metrics to be able to see that and a responsibility. I want to see how far we can go, how much of the kingdom of heaven we can get on earth here and now before Jesus returns. But as I was

Dr. Ann Gillies (17:43):

That’s a big ask. That’s a big ask.

Bruce Friesen (17:48):

Well, I think it’s no different than Israel. They had the faith for God to take them out of Egypt, and they were, I see them delivered out of Egypt, developed in the wilderness and then deployed in the Canaan land. That an entire generation dies in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb in the next generation because they didn’t have the faith that God could actually see his kingdom established within Canaan land through them. And I think for many people have a faith that Jesus will restore it all when he comes, but they have no faith that he can do it through his body, the church here and now, and that we can actually see the kingdom come. And so I will briefly take a rabbit trail here. One of my favorite words is justice. Justice is the word that it means in Hebrew. It means to set things in the right order based upon the truth revealed in covenant.

(18:52):

So what would political justice look like if it was set in the right order based upon the truth revealed in covenant? What would education look like? What would our media look like? What would our medical system look like? And I believe after we pray for the kingdom to come, the only engagement of activity can be summarized in that we’re seeking to bring justice. So Ann, you’re wanting to make justice based upon the truth revealed in covenant that we are male and female. It’s the way that we are created and designed and we can’t alter that or change that without some serious repercussions and consequences to the individuals, to the families, to society as a whole. And so that’s your passion. You’re bringing justice within that area because you see the trajectory if this doesn’t change of where we’re headed. But you also see the trajectory if it does change of the quality of a kind of society and culture we can live in.

(19:56):

So even I’m going to still continue on this track. I’ll say God says, I chose Abraham for this very reason because he would teach his children, his children’s children and those of his household, how to be in a close relationship with me by walking in my ways, by doing justice and doing righteousness. And Abraham knew if he upheld his end of the covenant, I would uphold mine. What’s the covenant? Abraham, I’m going to make your name great. You’re going to be a great father. You’re going to be a father of many nations. So I’ll say those that are not just in one sense Christian, but they’re seeking to bring justice and teach their children justice of setting things in the right order based upon the truth revealed in covenant. They’re the father than the mothers of our nation. And so whether you understand this fully or embrace this, my friend, and you are a mother in Canada, that’s who you are.

(21:00):

And I think you’re doing a phenomenal job of mothering the nation. And I could go more on this, but I’ll say back to Uganda, and as I’m praying about what’s going on in education and my dissatisfaction, I felt prompted to from a friend of mine, Ian Green in the uk, and I said, Ian, do you know anybody that’s doing transformational education that’s really doing a quality job of discipleship that’s really revolutionized the education system? And he said, I met a guy, it’s been years since I’ve seen him, but I actually prophesied over him that he would transform education. I’ll see if I can find his number. And so we found this number and we had a Skype call. And on the Skype call, I’m asking him all about Imaginal Education and profound learning of what he’s doing, and he’s asking me what I’m doing, and I’m sharing with him about Uganda, and he’s all excited because he said, it’s in Uganda that God first started to speak to me about this. So he was excited about that connection and he said, but I’m getting prepared to go on a trip with my wife and we’re going to be gone for a week. Can we connect after I get back? I said, sure, but where are you going for a holiday? He says, we’re going to Victoria, British Columbia. We’re staying at a place called (inaudible). I said, well, that’s interesting. That’s three to four minutes away from my home.

(22:30):

I thought you lived in Uganda. And I said, I’m there for three or four months of the year, but I live in Victoria. And then he got all excited and he said, my wife, when we go on vacation, she wants to sleep in, then go to the spa and then have a late breakfast and she’s ready to do something by noon. He says, I’m up at 6:00 AM Do you want to start meeting? We met every, every morning for a week at 6:00 AM in the morning. And I felt like this was the answer to my prayer. And so I arranged to be able to bring Vishal Mangalwadi of Third Education Revolution to Uganda, to speak to the government, to speak to the educators, to speak to the churches. And I arranged for left, (inaudible) This is Vishal Mangalwadi, yes.

Dr. Ann Gillies (23:17):

That you were talking about? That was in Victoria?

Bruce Friesen (23:21):

The Third Education Revolution book.

Dr. Ann Gillies (23:23):

I trying to put it together. I thought it was Vishal. Okay, wow.

(23:27):

And I brought him and Landa Cope and Tom Rudnick. And when I brought Tom Rudnick, we were able to present the Imaginal Education to the first lady, Janet Museveni, who is the Minister of Education and Sport in Uganda.

(23:45):

And the day before the presentation all night long, I dreamt the dreams that Janet Musevini was dreaming of, and I saw the dreams that she was up at 3:00 AM in the morning praying for the children, praying for the next generation within Uganda, praying for education. And the Lord started to show me her heart. And I thought, Lord, I’m not speaking. Tom Runick is going to be speaking, and we only have a short period of time. And so I thought, well, I guess, Lord, you just want me to know her heart. And we got to the meeting and a man by the name of Benson, a friend of mine was facilitating, which I didn’t know he was going to be facilitating. He’s a member of parliament in Uganda. He says, mama, before I introduced the man that’s going to be presenting this education system, I want to say this is all happening because of Bruce Friesen.

(24:44):

He’s been working here for 10 years. He’s been building schools, medical clinics. And he goes on about what I’ve been doing, and now he’s bringing the best professionals in education from around the world to speak to us here in Uganda. And she just said, I need to meet the man who shook the bushes. She put her hands on her chair and says, I need to meet the man who shook the bushes. And so Benson introduces me and she said, why are you doing this? And I explained to her what happened to me in Kolunga, Uganda of two blind boys being healed, and what the Lord spoke to me. And then I said, and I believe your heart is more concerned for the next generation in Uganda and their education in the future than you’re concerned about your health or even your life. And she said, I think I just met a man that knows me better than anyone.

(25:41):

And I said, well, we’re here to listen to Tom Rudnick. And so I want to introduce my friend. I introduced Tom. Tom made the presentation, and then we were off to Makerere University to make another presentation. But on the way out, she said, you need to know that this Imaginal Education is an answer to my prayers. And then she said, can you stay with me for a while? And I said, yes I can. So I spent the next two and a half hours with her, which was amazing. And now I can’t go to Uganda without visiting her. If I’m going to be in the area, I’ve got to let her know. And as a result, I’ve got to develop a relationship with her husband as well. And I want to say for any of our audience that’s listening to the media of what they say about President Museveni and his position, do not believe it. This man genuinely cares for his nation. This man is not a perfect leader as no leaders are, but he and his wife, Janet Museveni, definitely care for this nation. And her heart is such a mother’s heart for the nation. And so I will defend both of them and go, do not listen to what media is portraying the leaders of Uganda to be like, because nothing could be further from the truth of who they really are. But

(27:04):

Wow, that was just such an awesome story. Awesome. And how God, first of all, okay, we go back to the healing of those two boys, how God moved in that way and gave you really this new purpose in your heart. But then this story where God is speaking to you in a dream, he’s showing you this beautiful woman’s heart and exposing it so that you can influence and that she can influence. Really, it’s about her influence, but that God is at the core of this whole thing. And it all started in Uganda. Wow. Such a story of just, yeah, I thought we were going to talk mostly about Imaginal Education, but I just feel like we’ve talked about this amazing trajectory of how God actually has been putting it all together to open the door then for Imaginal Education to come into a whole country. So we’re back to discipling nations. It’s mind boggling. Mind boggling. Welcome to Canada.

Bruce Friesen (28:26):

Welcome to Canada. And I will say if you want to influence the top, you’ve got to work at the bottom. So we’ve continued to work in the slums in Uganda. We’ve continued to work with the most destitute, impoverished children. But the more that we’ve worked at the bottom, the more the influence at the top has increased. And this is happening in multiple nations. So I’ve developed a close friendship with Maria Fernanda, who is a senator in Columbia, and I believe she will be a future president. She was going to run this time, but she decided not to. But she’s wanting us to be mentoring her on education, but of also what God has to say on government. Just last year worked with Pablo Marcal, who was running for the presidency of Brazil, and he was running on the platform of education. So he asked me to come in and do a conference on education as his platform, and it was broadcast on national tv.

(29:28):

And I was able to speak on education, and I’ll say, this is happening. I could tell you story after story that’s similar to Uganda that’s now taking place in many nations. But I’ll say, although I feel like I’m having favor and influence at the top first getting revelation from God about the individual that accelerates the relational trust, but then getting wisdom and counsel from God of how they need to be able to move forward, whether in government or in education. And I’ll say, I am not qualified in the least in the natural. I do not have the academic accreditation to be doing what I’m doing, but I feel as though I’ve immersed myself and made myself available to God. And he’s opening up doors and opportunities. But I’ll say, although he is, and I could tell you story after story in many nations, I’ve been to over 50 nations, now I’ve become the ambassador for Third Education Revolution.

(30:27):

And other than Vishal, I probably travel and speak on it more than anybody else does, but I feel like it’s time and that we focus on Canada and we start really being intentional here. So we’re now with Third Education Revolution Canada, working with the Canadian Christian Education movement of having town hall meetings across Canada, not giving them all the solutions, but showing multiple iterations that are modified, adapted and can significantly shift things. So one of them that I mentioned earlier is Virtuous Campuses with my friend Dave Leston. And so because what we’re seeing is approximately by the Southern Baptist Research Calvary Chapel, that over 90% of their youth, even those that go to their Christian schools, walk away from their faith when they go to college and university. And I feel like they’re not walking away from their faith, they’re converting to the religion of secularism, which I see as a religion. That’s right. It has its own creeds. It has its own doctrines. And if you don’t adhere to those things, you are not accepted at all. And you have to be able to,

Dr. Ann Gillies (31:45):

It’s not a free religion. It’s more to me, and I’m just interjecting here, but to me, I see it more as a cult than a true religion because yeah. Yes. Yeah. It’s all about forced participation.

Bruce Friesen (32:04):

It is. They’re having the comply and conform. Now we’re also seeing even 80% of young people that are Christian, they may not go to college and university, but they still turn away from their faith. I think we have to realize they’re being more influenced by their peers and by the culture than they are by their Christian parents or educators or the church. So they’re still (inaudible)

Dr. Ann Gillies (32:30):

I have a word for that, I have a word for that. It’s called peer attachment. And you see it from the earliest grades. And I think one of the things I’ve come to realize is what we’ve done, and I’m guilty, I’m very guilty of this. I did this as well in the whole aspect of going into the workforce when my children were young and putting them in early education and JK and well, even before that in daycare, they’re being educated by other children continually, right from the time they’re very young. And now we’re seeing that on steroids. And so this whole sense of peer attachment has become stronger because they spend so much time with their peers. It’s not just the teachers influencing but the peers. So you’re are so on track with all of that. Anyways, okay, my interjection,

Bruce Friesen (33:37):

I love your injections and probably in the development of the brain that a child is not able to, or even an adult till 25, really be able to foresee the consequences of their decisions and their choices. So their ability to discern is greatly limited and not fully developed on an average till age 25. Whether it’s their peers or I think even we need to look at Jesus’s warning. It’s in Luke 6 39 and 40, and it’s in contrast to the destructive teaching of the Pharisees. And he says, if a blind man leads a blind man, they’re both going to fall into the ditch. And a student is not above his teacher, but every student when he is fully trained or fully equipped will be just like his teacher. So it’s, it’s really being wise. Be careful. The most important thing more than the content of the curriculum, more than the environment of the learning is being able to look at the quality of the character and the virtues and the values of the teacher.

(34:47):

And this is Jesus’s, I would say number one criteria. Who is teaching your children? And whether that be peers, whether that be the educators in the classroom, whether that be through the music, through the media, through all of the social devices and social access that we have. Who is actually teaching our children? And we have to realize more than all of that, we may be as parents, as educators, as the church have abdicated our role and responsibility to be able to teach our children. And then we complain about it, about what’s being taught and not take, it’s hard for us to take responsibility. And I’m like you, if I knew now what I knew then of the way I would’ve raised my kids. I sent them to Christian school, but I really delegated the responsibility to the school instead of taking the responsibility. I was too busy running my businesses, too busy. I need to succeed. And I felt like I was sacrificing my children on my need to succeed, whether in business, whether in ministry. And if I could do it all over again, I would. I’ve apologized to all of my children and they say, dad, you’re a good dad. And yet I feel not shame or guilt, but I felt convicted of, boy, I could have done a much better job

Dr. Ann Gillies (36:22):

If we had have known and see, this is why we’re doing what we’re doing now, Bruce. And for me, I’m so passionate, I think because I see where the downfalls are and it’s very easy looking backward of course. But if we can help parents now recognize the pitfalls and rescue them, so to speak, from doing what we did and trusting, I was so absolutely trusting. I had my children in public school system except for part of one year, which I was able to homeschool because the teachers went on strike and I thought, I’m just going to homeschool. And it was so, I loved it. I just so loved it. But due to circumstances, because we were in a blended family, that ended up causing a lot of problems. So they had to go back into the public education, but it becomes a passion then to help others. And I think that’s where we’re at. Now, we’re running short of time again. And you know what? We really didn’t explain imaginal learning, which I really wanted do.

Bruce Friesen (37:34):

We’ve got another time,

Dr. Ann Gillies (37:35):

So we might

Bruce Friesen (37:36):

Have, I’ll tell, I feel like I would like to then close. There’s an organization called Summit Ministries, which they take young people that are going to college and university, and they bring them through short-term courses on apologetics so that they’re equipped to give answers to why creation instead of evolution or other various issues, why male and female instead of LGBTQ of being able to give them answers and help them to be critical thinkers, but have also understanding that going into the context of the culture of university or college is spiritual warfare, that there’s a dynamic of what’s going on in that culture. And when they’re being baptized or immersed into that, they need to be able to be aware of it and need to be able to understand what they need to do. Well, the ones that are going through Summit Ministries before they go to college and university, instead of 90% that walk away from their faith, we’re seeing above 70% keeping their faith, but of also being a beneficial influence in the college and university. One other one would be Virtuous Campuses.

Dr. Ann Gillies (38:48):

That’s amazing

Bruce Friesen (38:49):

That we have gotten down to approximately, I believe it’s about 10% of the cost of sending them to a bricks and mortar university because we’re turning churches into academic education centers where there’s an academic pastor and they’re getting online accreditation, but three days out of the week they’re meeting at the church where they’re actually being discipled. So they’re staying living at home. So they saved there, they’re staying living in their community. So they may have an easier time having a part-time job. They’re staying connected into their church and they’re getting a degree. And the achievement academically of those that are doing it with this hybrid model is much higher as well. So the academic achievement is higher. Their development in really virtues and veritas of just development in the truth, the results are incredible of what’s going on through Virtuous Campuses. And when you think of 1/10 the cost of sending to the bricks and mortar university and they’re going to do better and they’re not going to be influenced by that culture.

Dr. Ann Gillies (40:02):

That’s pretty amazing. And thinking about, and so just for those watching as far as academics and different areas of academia, they’re able to learn what are they actually able specialize?

Bruce Friesen (40:26):

Well, they can specialize in anything because many universities are going online because they’re actually finding more money online. So we’re working with accredited universities and Virtuous Campuses are partnering with them. So they get their accreditation still through the university. And so it doesn’t matter whether, which university, as long as they’re willing to work with Virtuous Campuses because they’re actually finding many of these universities say that their profitability by the online is much greater than it is by the bricks and mortar classroom. They’re. many are shifting to that model. And so to be able to partner with something like Virtuous Campuses, they’re completely appreciating that because they’re still getting their fees and then they’re even maybe getting more students because Virtuous Campuses partnering with them. And this is starting to develop in many different nations, but it’s really growing in the US in a significant way. And so it’s one thing people can look into – Virtuous Campuses, Summit Ministries because I think there’s an ecosystem of solutions that are available and people just need to be aware of what all of those solutions are so they can identify which is going to be the best model for me or for my church or for a group of people that are wanting to collaborate together on education. But there’s many solutions.

Dr. Ann Gillies (41:58):

Absolutely.

(42:01):

And what we want to do is we’re going to provide those links at the end of this program so that people can have those available so they can go online and find out more, because you’re going to want to do that. There’s just been a ton of information downloaded. Thank you Bruce, again for doing that. And I’m sure we will have you back when you have some extra time when you’re finished or not finished globe trotting, but when you’re back home in Victoria and able to settle down once in a while. I just really want to thank you so much. I’ve learned a ton of things just that I kind of had a little bit of knowledge about, but you’ve just expanded that. Anything finally that you kind of want to close with that you think is really pertinent and really important for parents particularly to understand?

Bruce Friesen (42:59):

Well, maybe rather than saying too much, I will just say the Canadian Christian Education Movement and the Third Education Revolution are presenting not only what’s going on in the context of the education system in every area, but of really providing multiple things that we can present to you from around the world. So if you value is, oh, I want my children to learn principles or virtues and values or several languages or have a high standard of excellence, I feel like I have networked with so many different things within education that I know which ones are strong in which area. But you could be able to say, Hey, we want the Canadian Christian Education Movement to come to our city. We’re not charging for this. We’re simply willing to come on our own cost because we have such a value for your children that we’re have such a heart for the children of our nation to be able to not be ideologically indoctrinated within the system, to not have just another religion of secularism, which is another form of a neo-paganism.

(44:15):

It’s another religion and it’s not neutral at all. And if you’re wanting solutions that through Third Education Revolution, Canadian Christian Education movement, we can come to your town, we can come to your city, make a presentation and come up with many different things that you may say, oh, I want the Imaginal Education methodology. I want the Kingdom School’s high values of criteria. I want classical education. I want my kids to learn more languages or whatever it is that we can help you adapt and modify the various components for you, whether you’re going to homeschool, whether you’re going to collaboratively and cooperatively work with a group of people, whether you’re going to turn churches into schools or academic education centers. I just want to invite you to connect with us. And that once again, this isn’t going to cost you anything. We just need an invitation. And we’re willing to come even for a small group of people because we so believe in what God is doing in this Third Education Revolution. And to be able to really give you hope for the future of Canada for a long-term plan. And it’s going to happen through discipling our children through the sphere of education and thank you.

Dr. Ann Gillies (45:38):

Wow. That’s a wonderful offer. That is a tremendous offer. You’re very welcome. Listen, Bruce, one last thing. How can people get ahold of you? How do they connect with you?

Bruce Friesen (45:49):

Well, they can connect with me by just Bruce@childrenarise.org is one. I could give you many emails and then Bruce@renaissancecanada.ca. So those two emails. But I’ll say, I have no problem giving my phone number as well, and people can call me and my number is 250-508-5466.

Dr. Ann Gillies (46:16):

Wonderful. So we’re going to put all those links and that phone number on at the end of this program so that you can actually connect personally with Bruce. And I hope that you get well, I don’t want your phone to be ringing off the wall. You already are. So I think you’re just so stretched. But it’s amazing the capacity to be stretched, and so I just pray God’s blessing and that you’ll have lots of new connections and that we’ll see a transformation in Canadian education. Thank you so much, Bruce.

Bruce Friesen (46:49):

Thank you, Ann. It’s just been a joy being with you, my friend.

Dr. Ann Gillies (46:57):

Thank you for joining me again today and thank you to Bruce Friesen. Wow, what an amazing amount of information. I think if you’re like me, you’re probably a little bit overwhelmed. Don’t worry about that. Just listen to it again. But at the same time, I want to make sure that you have the links, so you’ll see all the links here for Bruce’s material, his involvement, the things he’s involved in, and please continue to watch Truth Talks. We’re going to have Bruce back and we’re going to talk, we didn’t get to talking about the actual kind of breakdown of Imaginal Education. We are going to do that. We’ve talked behind the scenes of how we’re going to do that. So that will be coming up. Thank you again. You can reach me through RestoringTheMosaic, and you can see my books here. So we will see you again next time.

Narrator (47:55):

You’ve been listening to Truth Talks with Dr. Ann. Thank you so much for joining us today. You can find Anne’s books, blog, and sign up for the newsletter by going to RestoringTheMosaic.ca