Well, my
first semester at college is half-way done. It’s kinda hard to imagine I’ve
already been here for almost two months. I’ve really been enjoying my time here
– my classes are great, and my professors are amazing, genuinely caring for all
of us and wanting to see us succeed.
My favorite
class by far has definitely been
Evangelism with Dr. Wheeler. It’s not a tough class, but it is probably the one
that has challenged me the most in terms of faith and going out and ministering
to other people. People often assume that since I lived on the mission field
and have missionary parents and a preacher grandfather that I’m well accustomed
to sharing my faith with people. The fact of the matter is that I haven’t had
much experience with just going out and talking to people I come into contact
with throughout the day about my faith. I think a lot of this may have to do
with the fact that in China, we couldn’t just go out and do ministry like we
can here in the USA – not if we wanted to continue living in the country. I’ve
had one-on-one conversations with people about my faith, once we’ve gotten to a
certain level of friendship or they’ve specifically asked me about it, but I
haven’t had the type of experience of evangelizing in the way most people in
the USA think of evangelizing. So, Dr. Wheeler has been challenging me in ways
I did not think I’d be challenged, both in evangelizing and also just in my
personal life and how I treat others.
My second
favorite class is probably either Psychology of Relationships with Dr. Logan or
Biblical Worldviews with Dr. Matthews (who does the main session) and Dr.
McPherson (who does the breakout session… I don’t like that class so much, just
the professor!). All three professors have a great sense of humor and make
their classes very interesting. And hey… Dr. Matthews and Dr. McPherson both
have accents (Australian and Scottish) which makes it all better!!
When it
comes to non-academics, I’ve been enjoying getting to know people (on and off
campus) better! A couple of families had me over to their homes for a nice
home-cooked meal a few times which I absolutely LOVED. I enjoyed connecting
with them, especially as I have a feeling that they will become my families
away from home while mine are absent. I’ve also been getting to know quite a
few students on campus. The people I have connected with the most are in my
dorm and my brother dorm, especially a girl right across the hall from me, Kim.
My roomies are also quite amazing, if I do say so myself.
Some of the
fun things I’ve done since being on campus include participating in Open Mic
Night, going Moonlight Horseback Riding/Bonfire, hammocking (so far I’ve only
used other people’s hammocks, but… I just got my own hammock from my dear
family so I’ll have to try that out soon!) in our hammock tree, going
cliff-jumping at Panther Falls, and tenting at Gillville (ironically without a
tent… which meant a very cold Rachie). Each of these have been SO fun and I
look forward to participating in a LOT more!
When it
comes to church/Bible studies… Each Tuesday, we have prayer groups and/or
prayer group activities. My prayer group is so awesome and I’m getting to know
them all, slowly but steadily.
Each Sunday morning, I catch a ride down to Roanoke to go to church. I
have started attending the college Sunday school class and afterwards leading
the 3rd graders’ small groups in children’s church. It’s a lot of
fun… I’m really enjoying it; I’ve missed being around kiddos since being at
LU. Every Sunday evening, I attend
an off-campus Bible study with several other Liberty students at a couple’s
home. I’m loving it – I think it’s
one of my favorite times of week. We have great discussions about so many
different things.
Anyway, that
basically sums up my first couple of months at LU. It’s not always easy, don’t
get me wrong. I still get really homesick at times, and often feel very lonely,
despite being around so many awesome people. But, I’m working through it and
this place is starting to feel like a home away from home. :)
