Something I didn’t realize during high school is that people are my passion. I always knew I loved helping people, but I just thought that was the nice thing to do. To be honest, I didn’t like people (I’m still wary of crowds); I would purposefully walk a longer way if it meant I could avoid people. As you can see, that made witnessing difficult because I avoided ever having an opportunity. When I and my Christian friends from school and youth group would hear a sermon on sharing the Gospel, we would all be excited to go tell people about the One person who can save them from an eternity of suffering, but excitement was as far as it would ever go, because none of us knew any unbelievers. At the time, I didn’t realize what was wrong with that, until I came to NEBC.

God cracked down on me my senior year of high school; it was the beginning a large series of heart attitude changes (a series that hasn’t ended, by the way). A man from NEBC’s Admissions department came to speak at my high school and started sharing with us how God provided NEBC with students, a heating system, and dorms, and for the first time, I was completely excited about a college because through His provision I could see God doing great things, and I wholeheartedly wanted to be a part of it. I had never been so sure about something than my need to be at NEBC. It was almost an instant change of heart from hating most people to having a strong desire to learn how to effectively share the Gospel to the people in Vermont. It was the evangelistic opportunity I never sought after before.

Katie singing in NEBC Chapel

I had wanted to be a counselor since 8th grade when I realized that I can understand situations fairly quickly and am able to give useful advice. I’m an extremely empathetic person who hates conflict; in high school, I was the peace maker. But when God gave me the desire to share the Gospel, He also showed me just how much being a Christian Counselor entails. Counseling can be an evangelistic opportunity as well as an effective means of discipleship (which is what I always thought of it as before).

After a few days of being in Vermont, I realized just how much faith and trust I would need to have in God to help me through this time of change. I was in a new place, without friends, surrounded by people I didn’t know, right after God showed me that my mission was to share the Gospel. To me (the newbie freshman), my whole life was suddenly drastically different, but to God this was exactly what I was made to do. Instead of feeling scared and sad, I started feeling calm and excited because trusting in God was something I never really experienced before. Over the course of last year, God changed my heart from loving the stability and security of my comfort zone, to craving instability and new adventures because my trust is in a stable God.

Katie (back row) in Cape Cod with NEBC and church friends.

After a few weeks at NEBC, I went the the Schaghticoke Fair and helped share the Gospel with a group of friends. It was a different experience, because I only had a few minutes to explain to them how much they need a Savior, but also because I had to approach people instead of avoiding them. I don’t remember numbers, but we planted a lot of seeds that day, and I was overjoyed to be a part of that. During the spring semester, I started helping at a local church with children’s ministries. We would share the Gospel with the kids every Sunday, but one Sunday, the kids started telling us the Gospel back! That was an amazing day to witness because it meant they were getting it. So I started asking them deeper questions, like, if we’re going to sin anyway, why do we still try not to?. It was great being able to help them understand the next steps in being a Christian.

Being at NEBC has given me multiple opportunities to grow in my understanding of the Word, as well as opportunities to share it. It’s not just a college you go to to learn more about Jesus and how to be a good Christian. My college does teach me those things, but more importantly it challenges me to actively live a life worthy of the Gospel. It’s placed in a world outside of our Christian bubble, and because of that, I needed to learn how to have faith. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a long way to grow. I am still intimidated by street witnessing, and I still miss out on opportunities because of my selfishness and weaknesses. I’m still learning just how much faith a person can have. But being at NEBC, has really helped push me to be the servant God has called me to be.