I am fairly laid back. Just whatever happens, I try to roll with the punches. I am seeking to become more like Jesus in everything that I do and someday I’m going to move to Thailand and never come back. I love to read, write, sing and act—though not usually onstage. Yep, that’s pretty much it.
I basically go to Walmart. That’s my time off campus. Yipee!
I play ultimate Frisbee. I just like to hang out with people, talk and play games—just whatever people are doing, I’ll join. At the end of the day, I’m a man of few hobbies.
I really enjoy how we are encouraged to go into the Word and get our foundation in that before anything else. Before any kind of logistics or ins and outs we are encouraged to get to know the Lord and pursue Him hard. There’s that realization that even if you get everything else, but you don’t get Him, then you’ve wasted a whole year of your life.
It’s been really cool to be a part of both the Honor Academy and Bethany College of Missions because you really get a taste of each ministry. I’ve noticed that there are certain things that Bethany is really good at and has perfected over the years, and there are other things that Teen Mania is really good at. It’s really a blessing to be a HAGI and have both programs—learning from both. As a core advisor, I love being able to take from my classes to pour into my guys. Sharing with them has been great and I’ve been learning as I’m teaching others. I’ve loved it. It’s been awesome!
It’s really cool, first of all, to hear not only something they’re teaching you out of a book but something that they’ve lived. The professors can be teaching a class on something, and as they teach, tell you a story of how it actually happened to them on the field. Also, just seeing how much they really do care about us as individuals is incredible. You can tell the teachers are real and they are here because they want to be. They care about passing us the torch, and all of them love what they do and it’s obvious. As a student, I don’t feel like it’s just a job to them. I know that they’re passionate about what they teach and they’re passionate about seeing us succeed. It’s really obvious and it’s really encouraging.
I had a vague idea of what was out there before I came to BCOM, so in that sense I don’t think my view of the world itself has really changed. However, I think my idea of missionary life in a cross cultural setting has changed mostly from hearing the stories of the professors. I’ve had missionary life on a pedestal, but since coming here I’ve encountered how incredibly real it is. It’s just as much life as we live in America—a lot different in aspects—but there are still struggles and there are still victories. There are still those everyday highs and lows that you go through—obstacles still come up but God still gives you the strength to overcome them. My view of missionary life has changed to become more realistic. I’m sure I still have a lot to learn but now I have a better idea of what my own missionary life will look like when I’m out there.
My relationship with Christ has grown to become a lot more honest. I’ve come to a place where I don’t feel like I have to be this or that, but where I’m learning to come before the Lord and just be me. Whatever I’m struggling with I can just bring to Him and that makes for some of the most powerful times--when I’m just real with the Lord and I’m not trying to put on a front or solve my own problems but realizing that I’m weak on my own. God has brought me to a place where I realize I need Him, through the things that have happened this year. I guess I knew it in my head before, but I’ve realized it in my heart; now needing Him is something I don’t have to fall flat on my face to realize but rather something I’m learning to know I need every day. I’ve come to have more of a desire to seek God where it’s not just an obligation to fulfill, but a desire of my heart. I have come to a place where I go to chapel and open the Word because I really want to—not just because I know I should.
