Hi,
I
am 24 years old. At 14 years old I started reading self-help
books, everything from Donald Trump to Oprah’s Book Club
favorites. The long story short is that I tried the self-help
route to spirituality and did not find it helpful. When I was 15 I
started up a lawn maintenance company and over the next
couple of years was invited to speak at local business
clubs. I kept talking about Jesus so some people did not like me
very much. My pastor found out about this and invited me to
preach in the church.
Today,
I live in the African American ghetto of St. Louis and my
best friends are church planters. I don’t fit in very well here,
as it turns out I am white and quite nerdy, but I love it! I
am constantly amazed by how my friends are not afraid of losing
income, reputation, comfort and even their very lives for Jesus’
sake (St. Louis has the highest homicide rate in the country).
What frightens me is that apparently the people who we surround
ourselves with impact us in huge ways.
I
am now doing seminary in St. Louis rather than Grand Rapids
because I wanted outside of the Dutch bubble. I feel that this
way I will be better equipped to serve the CRC when I get out.
While in seminary I have had the opportunity to live with
and become close friends with an astrophysicist and an
evolutionary biologist. When I am asked by friends in Canada what
I like to do for fun in St. Louis I say, “Attend lectures!”
(...there is much truth to this). Seriously though, for fun
I love working with students! I particularly love university
students from other nations who have never heard of Jesus and have
been led by the Living God to study in St. Louis so that they
can receive an education and... hear about Jesus of course!
It
is very exciting for me to have the opportunity to be the
speaker on this SERVE trip. Some of the events that had the
biggest impact on me in my teen years occurred when I was away
from my parents and surrounded by men and women who loved
Jesus (I have nothing against my parents by the way, but
there was something nice about being away from them!). I don’t doubt that Jesus will change your life when you are on this trip. It is what he does.
