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CalUM Incoming Students Greeting 

Hello and greetings to you all from California University of Missions in sunny Southern California. Our

school, shortly known as CalUM warmly welcomes each of you in the beginning of this new academic

year. I am Dr. Osman Pekin.

Our dear CalUM students, we are so excited about the beginning of a new Academic Year for all of us.

As with anyone who is embarking on a new endeavor, we are all filled with new hopes, there is a

renewed excitement, and new visions are stirring inside each one of us.

Things change from year to year in our lives. Each year, we all face new challenges. And with each new

challenge, each year we find new solutions.

That is the case for our world, in each of our respective nations, within our communities, in our own

families, and in our personal lives.

On one hand, things keep changing. But on the other hand, the more things change, the more things

stay the same.

As King Solomon reminded us so wisely, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the

sun.”

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes Chapter 1,

“All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. (Chapter 1: Verse 7)

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done.

and there is nothing new under the Sun. (Chapter 1:Verse 9)

These verses may seem like an echo of the futility of our lives. But far from it, they are filled with so

much hope for us.

They remind us that, no matter what new problems come, the Truth of God, the Power of God, and the

Victory of God never change from age to age to age.

If Covid comes, God provides new ways for His people.

If they can't go to the mission field like before, God brings the mission field to them, in ways that are

better than before.

The more the temporary things change, the more the important things under the sun remain the same.

And it is those important final outcomes, that we all keep our eyes fixed on.

Romans Chapter 8: Verse 28 tells us,

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,

for those who are called according to his purpose.”

No matter how everything else is changing around us, what are those things that we can count on?

For all of us servants of God here, students and teachers alike, what are those things that remain

steadfast and never change?

That Christ is our Lord.

That He is our Great Counselor.

That we are victorious in Him.

That we are children of God.

That we are his bride.

And that He loves us.

So, the more the fleeting things around us change, the more the important things remain the same.

I am honored to serve alongside a very special man of God, Pastor Lee, whom God has been blessing and

using in great ways.

We welcome you to this special place of learning.

We know that from here, you will be soaring to new heights.

Not because of us,

Nor because of you,

but because of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

May God bless you and use you in mighty ways for His Kingdom.

May God give all of us humility and clarity of His purpose inside each of us.

May we eagerly learn the things He will reveal to each one of us.

May He fill us with enthusiasm and joy during this part of our wonderful journey with Him.

May He strengthen our faculty and our students.

May He keep our faculty and our students tender hearted and obedient to Himself.

May each and every one of us learn how to abide in Christ even more.

May Christ bless us so we bear even more fruit in Him and for Him.

May He bless and protect all of those who are serving at CalUM.

May Christ bless and protect each and every student at CalUM.

May He bless and protect each one our families and loved ones.

I pray for all of these In Jesus Christ Mighty Name.

Amen.

All of us at CalUm extend a very warm and loving welcome to each of you.

May God bless this exciting and wonderful academic year that lies ahead of us at CalUM.