I have known for a long time, in fact
since I was fifteen, that God has called me onto the mission field to work with
kids. It has always been my dream to go out and change this world by making an
impact on the next generation. I had been convinced that God wanted me to do a
mission or ministry degree but recently He had been showing me that there are
so many other ways to learn to serve Him through jobs and internships, as well
as people and relationships.
But Johnson! School? College? That is a big
step! How could I know what school or degree to choose if God had only told me
missions to children?
In the last few years, my father began
sharing with me stories of other missionaries we knew God had called them, but
had no idea what direction God was sending them. These people trusted the calling
and choose to pursue higher education to equip them to do whatever God asked of
them. Through those experiences God directed them to the places He wanted them
to go and the people He wanted them to meet.
After hearing several of these stories, I
decided to ask a few ministers and missionaries myself. I found very quickly,
their recommendations were all the same: go to college and get a job for more
ministry experience. Many of these godly people recommended not only finding a
school I would enjoy, but a degree that would equip me to serve children.
So for the last two years I have been
doing just that: taking college credit through Verity Institute and working in
the ministry. Through three semesters at Verity Institute I have completed over
fifty-five credit hours while working in the ministry at the same time. For the
entire year of 2010, I served at Valley View Christian Church (my home church,
where I was born and raised for twenty years) as the Children’s Minister
intern.
After seven years of traveling with Bible
Bowl, there was only one college that I loved. From the beautiful scenery, to
the great dorms, to the modern buildings, to the campus as a whole, I knew JBC
was it. But what sold me to wanting to attend this school was not the campus,
but the people. Whenever the rowdy Bible Bowlers came on campus, all I saw was
smiling faces, all I heard was encouraging words, and all experienced was
people serving the Lord. I knew this was where I wanted to go to college.
I pray that God that may use my
experiences at Johnson to equip this servant to change lives and influence children
toward Him. I want God to use this time in my life to renew and strengthen my
relationship with Him. I hope that through this degree and school, my passion and
zeal to serve the Lord will be refreshed and continue to be energized.
This scholarship is sponsored by CenturyLinkQuote.com.
