As a student who is passionate about learning and expanding my mind to investigate the truths of our world without compromising the truths of my faith, I believe that Messiah College can offer me this balance. I desire an education which will develop my mind in a community that will also nourish my soul, and I see this potential in Messiah’s approach to enriching the whole individual. I view my education as something alive and active, which extends beyond the classroom, and I am eager for opportunities to serve and to lend myself to a need. I feel inspired that Messiah maintains an essential focus on service and integrates hands-on learning and serving as part of a necessary element in a student’s four year journey with the school. I feel privileged
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Throughout one week, campers would engage in worship and activities in the evening and go out to serve in the local community to places in need during the day. In the week leading up to the beginning of camp, I experienced some personal challenges, and my family and I felt spiritually agitated and unsettled. Unbeknownst to me, the camp had only ever received campers who were within a church youth group. I was not a member of a church nor was I coming with a youth group, but I did not anticipate that this would cause any disturbance or be culturally jarring. When I arrived, however, I was treated with a hollow distrust and experienced a tangible discomfort from the staff members because I did not come from an established church. I felt like an outsider among fellow believers; at one point I was called the “unaffiliated”. As the week went on, the LORD allowed me to discover how estranged we can become as believers to one another and the discomfort we feel outside of conventional Christian practices; He began a healing process in me of a sin that I had struggled with for years; He prompted me to be baptize in the following months; and He instilled in me a deeper heart for service. I was blessed to serve two groups of children during this time and I will never forget how these children touched my heart. While my reception to this camp was not flawless, I am grateful for the opportunity
Throughout one week, campers would engage in worship and activities in the evening and go out to serve in the local community to places in need during the day. In the week leading up to the beginning of camp, I experienced some personal challenges, and my family and I felt spiritually agitated and unsettled. Unbeknownst to me, the camp had only ever received campers who were within a church youth group. I was not a member of a church nor was I coming with a youth group, but I did not anticipate that this would cause any disturbance or be culturally jarring. When I arrived, however, I was treated with a hollow distrust and experienced a tangible discomfort from the staff members because I did not come from an established church. I felt like an outsider among fellow believers; at one point I was called the “unaffiliated”. As the week went on, the LORD allowed me to discover how estranged we can become as believers to one another and the discomfort we feel outside of conventional Christian practices; He began a healing process in me of a sin that I had struggled with for years; He prompted me to be baptize in the following months; and He instilled in me a deeper heart for service. I was blessed to serve two groups of children during this time and I will never forget how these children touched my heart. While my reception to this camp was not flawless, I am grateful for the opportunity