At Emmanuel College, Students Are Having Encounters With God

As a member of Emmanuel’s faculty I am seeing students become mature disciples.

By Trés Ward

We live in an age when all the information in the world is readily available at our fingertips. If we have a question, we no longer need a dictionary or an encyclopedia, a teacher or a parent; a quick online search will uncover an article or a blog to tell us everything we may want to know.

Of course, if one wants to go a step further, then a YouTube search will turn up hours of videos that you can watch rather than reading an article. This is the way we access information in 2020. So when it comes to getting a traditional college education, there must be something that goes beyond merely acquiring knowledge. There must be something meaningful enough to inspire a teenager to leave the security of home and to spend several more years in school. In my view, Emmanuel College offers such a place! I say it so often that my students often joke about it, but I believe it’s true: “When you come to Emmanuel College, you get more than just an education—you get an experience.” I say this as someone who was an IPHC student and then attended a state university for my undergraduate education.

I can attest to the stark contrast between what a student experiences in a secular institution and what they can experience at Emmanuel College. There is simply no comparison. From academics to athletics, book clubs to Bible studies, concerts to CAP events and our infamous intramural rivalries, Emmanuel is a place that truly embodies the values of faith, living, and learning.

Many of you know that Emmanuel is centrally located (as I like to affectionately say) right “in the middle of nowhere”—in Franklin Springs, Georgia. Snugly nestled among the finest chicken farms of the southeastern United States, the Emmanuel campus is like an oasis.

Our students are being discipled seven days a week as we fulfill the Great Commission right here in Franklin Springs, Georgia.

Photo by: Corey Nolan

During my time here, it has become clear that this is a special place and Emmanuel College is right where it belongs. For the many students, faculty, and staff who come to this place, they too find themselves at home.

My wife, Rachael, and I made the move to Emmanuel College in the fall of 2017. At that time we were singing and holding revivals as evangelists in mostly IPHC churches, but we sensed the Holy Spirit prompting us to focus our ministry on students. So we began to ask the Lord to help us clarify what He would have us to do. When the opportunity to come to Emmanuel presented itself, it was the obvious next step the Lord was leading us to take.

During the past four years we have witnessed firsthand how the college represents the IPHC so well in the world of academia. It is a place where students from all over the world can find a sense of belonging.

During the college’s recent Centennial Celebrations, we reflected on the school’s many years of dynamic ministry. Since January 1919, when G.F. Taylor pioneered that Franklin Springs Institute, Emmanuel has trained hundreds of disciples for the IPHC. A century later, Emmanuel has had a profound global influence.

2020 has been one of the most difficult years in any of our lifetimes. The whole world has had to pivot to accommodate the relentless effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emmanuel made significant investments and upgrades in technology to blend instruction for both on-campus and online learning.

While these changes have come so unexpectedly and have required a steep learning curve, they have also enabled us to continue doing the important work of educating the next generation. In the midst of these many changes and challenges, God has continued to provide “handfuls of purpose” (Ruth 2:16) as reminders to keep moving forward.

One Tuesday morning as I was leaving our chapel service, a first-year student asked if I could talk briefly. It was obvious that she was new to the faith. Yet God was working in her life.

We sat down at a nearby table and her first words were, “I just feel like I need to get closer to God.” She began to tell me about her broken past and, with each word, I was more and more convinced that she was right where she needed to be here at Emmanuel. There was no doubt that God brought her to the school to heal her past hurts and to strengthen her walk with God—all while she earns her college degree.

This simple story illustrates so much of what matters most to us at Emmanuel College. These kinds of conversations are happening all the time on the campus and throughout our community—in dorms and offices, classrooms and coffee shops. Through academics, athletics, the arts and cocurricular activities, our students are being discipled seven days a week as we fulfill the Great Commission right here in Franklin Springs, Georgia. Our Christian environment provides the perfect place to help young people experience God in meaningful ways.

I believe that going to college and earning a degree is an important step for many people, but what is even more important is going to the right place and for the right reasons. In today’s cultural climate, this cannot be emphasized enough. While the world of higher education is swiftly changing, and the stakes are higher than ever before in our lifetimes, Emmanuel has an outstanding faculty and staff who teach and lead from a Christian worldview.

Our students do not simply earn degrees; they become disciples. And I cannot imagine anyone who would not want that for the college students in their lives.

In a world where you can go anywhere to get a college education, you should be prayerful about this decision. Emmanuel College is a place where you can earn an education and have an experience with God that will prepare you to serve Him wherever He places you.

I also pray that you will consider supporting Emmanuel College with your finances. It is through the generosity of people in the IPHC that we are able to fulfill our mission. If you would like to give any amount to the school, or even put the college in your will, go to ec.edu/give-now.