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Table of Contents page
2 Christian Leadership
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3 No Matter Your Age page
4 Finals Week Fire page
5 Muscle Memory page
7 A Reason To Stay
CONTACT US
bcm@ucumberlands.edu
FIND US
Edna Taylor House
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Christian Leadership Have we really thought through the implications of what we believe as Christians? Have we embraced those implications? What is the best outlet for us to live them out on a daily basis? These are the driving questions behind the Christian Leadership Scholarship program at Cumberlands. “We want the Christian life to permeate everything that we do. Christian leadership should come from that,” said Devon Goings, an associate campus minister. “Yes, maturity will grow as we get older, but we’re trying to veer freshmen into the right direction for them to personally model Christian leadership to their peer groups.” The scholarship program is more than a one-and-done, receive your check and go enjoy college kind of deal. It’s a legitimate program with a required class on doctrine and theology, regular church attendance, weekly mentoring with an older Christian, involvement in some kind of community service, and a spiritual assessment interview at the end of the semester. Based off that interview, ministry leadership ascertains whether the student should still be in the program, and if they should, which campus ministry they’re inclined to serve. Then they push students into that ministry for the spring semester, where they do something similar to an internship. Students are free to plug into any ministry that fits the context of their life. For instance, if the student is a resident assistant (RA), then their fellow RAs may be their primary ministry. If the student is an athlete, they’ll likely want to minister to their teammates. Each student works with a campus minister to determine ways to measure their engagement with their chosen people group. It’s all about where the students are naturally gifted, where it seems the Lord has called them, and which people group they have a burden for. “We’re equipping the students to figure out what Christian commitment looks like in everyday life,” said Goings. “We want people to be serious about ministry because we want people to live out their Christian faith every single day, right now and after they graduate.” College can be a bubble where people plug in and feel safe, but after college, the bubble pops, and many graduates feel lost. Hopefully, this program’s training gives them more experience on how to plug into new groups and model Christian leadership, regardless of where life takes them.
because . . . “ God graciously acted for me first.”
Devon Goings, ’17, MJA ’18
No Matter Your Age Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12 The name “Grace Radosevich” is known pretty widely across campus, which is funny given that Grace is an introvert and only a freshman. Evidently, her friendly personality and heart for service have fit right in at Cumberlands.
because . . . “ I want to give back and glorify God.” Grace Radosevich, ’23
Grace grew up in Letcher County at a multifunctional ministry called Calvary Campus. She routinely met new people who visited Calvary while she helped run Vacation Bible Schools, archery camps, and other ministry activities. Mountain Outreach (MO), the construction outreach program at Cumberlands, used to stay at Calvary every Spring Break while they did projects in the area. Grace didn’t really care for the college kids – just not her peer group, not her type – but she saw how hard the students worked and thought it was awesome. When Grace chose to attend Cumberlands, she contacted MO. To her surprise, they accepted her on the summer home-build team. Grace wasn’t even a college student yet, and she was already putting her faith into action. “Meeting people where they’re at and providing for their needs is a way to speak truth and love to them,” Grace
said. “Mountain Outreach is very intentional about getting the Gospel into conversations, but just helping them out and showing them Christ’s love speaks volumes too.” Grace is now a work-study in the MO office, helping the staff keep things organized, setting up the warehouse before events, and doing construction work or community cleanup on designated Saturdays throughout the year. She is setting an example for fellow freshmen and students older than her who haven’t yet plugged into service programs. “My age has never been a factor to me,” Grace said. “As a kid, my dad would tell me to walk up to adults visiting Calvary and give them jobs to do, like, ‘You, go do this, and you, go do that.’ I’m pretty independent, but I’m trying to still fully rely on the Lord. I’m here, and I’m available, so I’m going to serve.” She admits that it can be scary to take initiative sometimes, and she realizes there is a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. But she’s grateful for the chance to work hard and learn to see people the way God sees them.
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Finals Week Fire Finals week looked different this year, as classes were all switched to an online format in the middle of the spring semester. Campus Ministries got creative in finding ways to encourage and motivate their fellow classmates in the final push of the semester, recording sermons they posted on social media.
James Yates, ’20
John Owens, ’21
Micah Linton, ’20
J.D. McVey IV, ’23
“Do we know Christ as the savior? Do we know him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Is he Lord over our lives? Is he everything? Or do we just say that he is? Is he something that we dropped our whole life to follow, or is he a bade to wear when it’s convenient? The reason I ask isn’t to be harsh. The reason I ask is, how can we worship somebody we don’t know?”
“Nehemiah trusted God’s sovereignty. He trusted that God had put him in the perfect place at the perfect time. Are we trusting God’s sovereignty, that he is in control of what happens next? We need to give God control of our situation today. God is sovereign. He was sovereign in Nehemiah’s life, and he is in your life.”
“Imagine yourself at the Grand Canyon. God is on one side, and you are on the other. There is a huge, huge gap between you that you could never leap, and that’s sin. We all have the issue of sin, and we need to come to that realization. The good part is, as Romans 3:24 says, ‘We are justified freely by grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ We are declared ‘not guilty’ because of the grace of God.”
“Nothing that the world throws at us can stop the Lord. It can’t stop who he is. He remains constant, and I’m thankful for that. My love for spending time with friends, watching professional basketball, hunting, fishing, and camping all gets tossed about by the world. But there is a love that never changes, and that’s the love of Christ. We toss around the word ‘love’ a lot, but only God’s love is perfect, true, and complete.”
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More than Muscle Memory
Back in middle school, Devon McMillin heard a speaker say, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” The quote still rings in Devon’s ears. He’s seeing it played out in real time every day at college. In life’s game of influence, everyone is a player. Devon embraces that responsibility, taking an active role as a positive force in his social circles and pointing others to Jesus Christ. Sometimes, that looks like supplying food when his lacrosse team gets together. Other times, it means co-leading a Bible study for the lacrosse guys with teammate Mason Kraps. It often means sitting quietly in his dorm room and praying for his teammates and the Cumberlands community as a whole. As a leader in Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Devon has been challenged to let God “infiltrate” every aspect of his life. “I recognize that I’m a broken person who got saved. That’s a big deal,” said Devon. “The Gospel saved me, and I want to show that not just with my words but with how I’m living. It’s not just behavior modification. As believers, our very nature is truly being changed by the Holy Spirit. That’s how far the Gospel goes.” Devon’s primary ministry is the
men’s lacrosse team. According to Devon, many of the guys on the team came from church backgrounds. They continued attending church in college and went through the typical Christian motions, which wasn’t bad, but their walk with Christ had not penetrated deeper than the muscle memory formed during their childhood. Devon admits that, even for him, breaking out of that rhythm is hard. “Sometimes I’ve got to check myself and be like, ‘Yo, get out of your hole!’” he laughed. “It’s definitely challenging to maintain focus. But at the end of the day, regardless of how I feel, I’m called to love on people and be present in the moment. Every day is a blessing.” Devon is a senior now, and in the last four years, he has noticed a change in himself and in his teammates. Guys who used to sit and stare during Bible studies are in the mid BCC reading Scripture on their own. They’re mulling over concepts and asking tough questions. They’re supporting Devon during his own struggles, being an encouragement to him when he needs it. These men are “bearing good fruit,” in Scriptural terms. For Devon, it’s awesome to watch.
because . . .
“ I want to show reverence and respect to the God who saved me.” Devon McMillin, ’20
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Office of Campus Ministries The Year in Review
65
410+
15 20
STUDENTS ON LEADERSHIP TEAM STUDENTS & COMMUNITY MEMBERS ENGAGED LOCATIONS SERVED BY CAMPUS MINISTRIES
MINISTRY EVENTS HELD PER WEEK
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
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because . . . “ I want to show these kids that there is somebody who loves them and will never pass them by – Jesus.”
Kade Ferguson ’20
A Reason to Stay Kade Ferguson was going to leave Cumberlands. When you’re a college freshman and an introvert, it’s hard to make friends or feel like you belong on campus. He’d made his plan, signed the papers, and was ready to get out of here...but not before God placed Appalachian Ministries (AM) into Kade’s life. “I signed up for AM thinking it was MO,” said Kade. “Mason Neltner, ’19, was an AM leader and texted me, saying, ‘Hey, I’ll see you Tuesday at four o’clock.’ I thought, ‘That’s a weird time to go work on a house.’ I walked up in work boots and jeans, and Mason was wearing Chaco sandals and
loading up craft supplies. I was like, ‘What is this?’” Mason informed him that AM wasn’t a construction ministry; it was a kids’ ministry. Great. Kade didn’t like kids. He stood in the background most of the afternoon, unsure what to do, and watched the other volunteers lead local children in games, worship, snack time, and other activities. That first day was awkward. But something inside Kade made him come back the next week. And the next. And the week after.
“Lo and behold, I fell in love with it,” Kade said. “Three or four little boys just clung to me, and they melted me. A lot of these kids don’t have dads in the picture. I felt like I could be that for them, a male figure who was consistent, not absent.” At the end of the semester, Kade was still planning on transferring to a different university. God stepped in again through Mason, who asked Kade to be the site leader at Brush Arbor. After some thought and prayer, Kade agreed, sure he would transfer at the end of that following year. But then a “Christ-focused, genuine, and compassionate” girl named Cassie Poynter
volunteered with AM that year. Long story short, she and Kade are now married and living at Brush Arbor and ministering there. “I’ve knocked on every door at Brush Arbor. I have talked to all these people, and I want to build a relationship with them now,” said Kade. “I don’t want to just be the guy that comes and picks up their kids. I want to be the guy that is there and is showing them the love of Christ.” Kade Ferguson was going to leave Cumberlands, but now he’s glad he stayed. God has opened doors he never imagined, and Kade is walking through them, eager to see what’s next.
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HOW CAN YOU ACT? PUT YOUR FAITH INTO ACTION.
MOUNTAIN OUTREACH
CAMPUS MINISTRIES
FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES
APPALACHIAN MINISTRIES
CONTACT: Rocky Brown 606.539.4346
CONTACT: Chad Everhart 606.539.3565
CONTACT: Devon Goings 606.539.4605
CONTACT: Caitlyn Howell 606.539.4173
