"Now the Lord said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)

…and so begins the journey Towards Canaan's Land

It has often been said that the "graduate" whether from a four year college program or graduate student or student graduating(ed) from graduate school has multiple autonomous goals and objectives which must correlate directly to his spiritual needs to ensure him a promising future. The future for an educated young adult holds many choices and shadowing those choices even greater unknowns. The path or journey you select for your future should not be idly and thoughtlessly taken because the one chosen will determine the happiness and successfulness of the remainder of your adult life.

It is inherent that your chosen path moves in the direction of career, family, and children but foremost the direction planned for within the crossroads of life should be the eternally rewarding one-way journey toward the "Promised Land" of Heaven. Thus the origin of the name of the graduate convention, The Journey "Towards Canaan Land," a journey necessary for a life composed of mountaintops and valleys to be filled with as much love, joy, and peace as is possible. Similar to those of the Old Testament, the journey towards the Promised Land of Canaan will fill our lives with profound meaning, priceless blessings, and the love of God in our hearts throughout the challenging times that confront us.

Canaan 's Land has great significance in the Old Testament as being crowned the Promised Land. It is described as the land "flowing with milk and honey" that God promised as a reward to the Hebrew people. "Flowing with milk and honey" signified a land of abundance, a land of richness, and a land that will be sweeter as the years go by.

It was not gifted to the Israelite peoples without their being worthy of it. The Israelites did not suddenly find themselves in the Promised Land nor did they have a map. Rather, the entire Holy Book of Joshua is dedicated to the journey, the conquest and the settlement of the Promised Land called Canaan. Planning for the journey route, spies were sent ahead seeking the road of least resistance; personal struggles encountered with the fainthearted left behind and battles were courageously fought. Non-quavering obedience was essential for those desiring to reach the Phoenician coastal area including the vast Jordan River Valley. The Israelites along their journey learned the very basics of walking with the Lord.

The graduate convention, "Towards Canaan's Land" is a journey where a four year lecture series has been individualized for the graduate convention participant with the goal of making his journey "to that fair land," obtaining the most peace, joy, and love from within the pilgrimage of adult life. The lecture series promises to be inspiring and memorable, educating its attendees on how to live their lives optimally. As graduates you can edify, encourage, and consult with one another as you prepare to start your journey Towards Canaan's Land. Your participation and presence at each of the four year lecture series will broaden your knowledge base of the spiritual journey you must take if your desire is to spend Eternal Life in Heaven. This graduate convention will begin to spiritually prepare you for meeting obstacles along the path of life, and provide an atmosphere of Christian fellowship, placing you among the dearest of friends.

Following the completion of the four year lectures series "Towards Canaan's Land" the graduate will have begun the pathway to the Promised Land spiritually adept and can say at the conclusion of the journey of vales and hills to the Promised Land, "a rose is blooming there for me."