Student Blog Written By: Leah Stine, Fellows
When I arrived on campus 9 months ago, I had no clue what to expect. At that time in my life, I was in a season of life with little to no community, and I had a deep desire to be known and be chosen. The thing I was looking forward to the most was having a built-in community. I had expectations for a perfect friendship on day one and i was searching to find someone to know me and chose me. Although I found really great friends in the first couple of months, the Lord ultimately wanted me to find him first. While I already had a really deep relationship with the Lord and I knew what he had done for me, I still struggled with trying to find my identity in other people.
This subconscious battle followed me all the way to Brazil, which is where I went for International Immersion. There, I began to encounter the Lord in a new way. I saw him answer so many prayers and not just meet all my needs but also care about my desires. In seeing the Lord bless me with things I did not need but that I desired, opened my eyes in a new way to see that the Lord ultimately knows me, cares about me and has already chosen me to be his daughter and friend. Those things that I had been longing for before, I came to realize were already fulfilled in Jesus As that began to sink in, my friendships with others began to deepen and I was able to see the true value in the friends God had given me and the ones he had allowed me to grow closer together with while in Brazil.
Becuase of this new realization of the Lord’s faithfulness to me, I was able to return to campus with more boldness and confidence in my faith because I had experienced the Lord in a new way. Moving forward from that moment, I’ve been challenged to share with others the beauty to be found in finding friendship with the Lord. This has impacted the way I evangelize and do discipleship because sharing something that you not only believe but have also experienced to be true has so much more of an impact.
So thank you to everyone who made this experience happen. Your prayers and support allowed me to go to Brazil and get to have a transformational experience with the Lord. I never would have expected at the end of 9 months here at Impact that I would have developed such a deep friendship with God and find the most fruitful community. I’m deeply grateful for all your support and how that deeply impacted not just me, but everyone in this community.
We believe that when a student is rooted in truth, they become a catalyst for the Kingdom wherever they go. Help us continue to forge disciples who possess the resolve to stay faithful and the tools to make disciples. Your investment in the Multiply Fund makes this transformation possible.