Steadfast If there was a contest for Most Bubbly Personality on Campus, Tristan Gibbs, ’22, would probably win. That said, it’s no surprise she loves being around children, and they love being around her. Tristan has served in Appalachian Ministries (AM) since her sophomore year. As she’s built relationships with the kids who attend AM’s events, she has learned how rough some of their home lives are. “AM requires us to be steadfast,” she said. “We try to provide consistency that they might not be getting at home.” Sometimes it can be hard for AM to tell whether the children are truly understanding what they’re being taught about Jesus. Tristan said, “A verse I really love is Proverbs 22:6, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ Sharing Jesus and modeling His loving, servant heart to these local families is an offering that God will use in the kids’ lives. We are planting seeds in their hearts, and God is faithful in saving the lost. We may not see it immediately, but He’s working.” God has taught Tristan a lot through AM. In addition to better teamwork with fellow students and thinking on her feet, God also helped Tristan see her inner struggle with judging others who aren’t like her. She’s since repented from her partiality. “God desires every heart,” she said. “I’ve conversed with people I don’t have much common ground with, and God has used those conversations to help me love those people like He does.”
I ACT because. . .
My life has been forever changed by God’s faithfulness, and I want to be faithful to God by sharing His Gospel with children! Tristan Gibbs, ’22
On campus and in the community, she is learning to do just that.
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