Those who have lived or worked in Meier Hall, the men’s residence on campus, will remember its layout. A basement and three floors. Suite-style rooms on east and west wings. A receiving lobby with a large fireplace that sits just steps away from administrative offices. And above those offices, in the middle of the building, is the chapel.

The chapel in Meier Hall is not just physically located in the center of the building. It has also served, for decades, as location central for programming in Meier.

Looking for any spiritually-based community gathering in Meier? Check the chapel—for worships, documentaries and the resulting discussions, and weekly RA and student dean team meetings. It is, in a sense, a multi-purpose room, though each of those purposes feeds the spiritual development aspect of the Meier Hall community. And each program is built on relationship.

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Spencer Carter, who began work at Andrews University as assistant dean of Meier Hall in 1993, spent many important moments in the chapel. In his role as dean he was tasked with upholding policies and communicating spiritual values. He always stressed, though, that policies and spiritual engagement mean more through relationship.

Dean Carter was known for keeping it real. Every year at orientation, with the entire Meier community present, he would stand at the front of the chapel and share the goal for the year: to end the year with everyone they began with. He made sobering statements—sharing the reality that someone in the room, through the year, might go to jail or might even die.

But this brought him to his most important point. He would direct the residents’ attention to the cross on the platform and invite them to embrace their identity in the cross—“I hope you’ll be God’s man.”

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In the fall 2019 semester, Carter decided to retire as dean of Meier Hall after 26.5 years at Andrews University. He talked with Andrew Dormus and Donnie Keele, associate deans, and plans began to take shape for how to positively transition to the next phase of Meier life.

As Keele sat in an RA meeting in the chapel and, as he had many times before, watched Dean Carter encourage the team from the front of the room, an idea began to form.

“Dean Carter has a strong ministry of presence,” says Keele. “He exudes relationship. It would just come up in meetings, whether he’s giving the guys ‘nuts and bolts’ for their jobs or giving a leadership thought. Watching him do his thing I realized I could think of a lot of moments in the room where he references the cross behind him.”

Keele also recalled one of “Carter’s rules”—whenever the chapel was shut down, the lights on the cross would always be left on. As Dean Carter often said: “If a resident walks by, the chapel will be dark but the cross is lit up and stands out.”

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On Monday, Dec. 2, 2019, a retirement celebration was held for Carter in the Meier Hall Chapel.

The program was filled with tributes from individuals that Spencer knew on a professional level but also as friends in the Andrews community: Donnie Keele; Elynda Bedney, director of Student Financial Services; Frances Faehner, vice president for Campus & Student Life; José Bourget, pastor at Pioneer Memorial Church who had served as a student dean in years past; Jennifer Burrill, director of Residence Life; and Judith Fisher, director of the Counseling & Testing Center.

Those in attendance were also invited to share comments, and former student residents, church family and friends added their thoughts to those expressed from the front. Spencer’s wife, Nan, and son, Elliott, were present, as were his brother and sister—a surprise from earlier in the day.

At the end of the program, President Andrea Luxton shared some words of gratitude and made a very special announcement: the chapel in Meier Hall would now be named the “Spencer Carter Chapel.” Luxton presented Carter with a framed certificate with the following inscription:

Spencer Carter served the undergraduate men of Andrews University in Meier Hall from 1993–2019. Throughout that time, he spent countless hours mentoring hundreds of student leaders and serving the needs of thousands of Andrews students. Some residents met him for the first time on their way to the hospital for treatment, others came to know him as the dean who kept them from spending the night in jail because he covered their bail, and many will remember him as the dean who regularly challenged them to “handle your business.” Year after year, Dean Carter faithfully fulfilled a wide range of responsibilities, providing steady leadership first as Assistant Dean, then as Associate Dean, and finally as Meier Hall’s Dean of Men. 

The chapel is a special place in Meier Hall. It is a space where building residents experience moments of worship and resident advisors grow as leaders and men at weekly team meetings. In both settings, it was a regular occurrence for Dean Carter to point toward the cross standing at the front of the room and encourage those present to recommit to “be God’s man.” For over 26 years, building residents and student leaders listened and responded. Of the many places in Meier Hall that show Dean Carter’s legacy, the Meier Hall chapel is a space that regularly saw his most impactful and influential work.

Therefore, on December 2, 2019, in honor of Spencer Carter’s service and in commitment to continue his legacy, Andrews University henceforth recognizes the chapel space in Meier Hall as the Spencer Carter Chapel.

Then Carter, with the cross as a familiar backdrop, stood at the front of the room and expressed his appreciation to his community, those who had supported him with their presence, their work and always their prayers.

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Reflecting on the evening, Keele says, “A lot of this community has been here the whole time—they saw Carter go from being a student at Andrews to doing work in the community as a social worker to giving back to Andrews. It’s very cool to see Andrews give back to him.”

Alumni who saw the “Spencer Carter Chapel” on Instagram wrote in and said, “That’s fitting.” “I support it.” “Great to see.”

Dormus, too, felt the honor fitting. “I had the opportunity to work with Dean Carter for close to six years,” he says. “I use the word with intentionally because Carter never made it a point to say I was working for him but with him instead. My partnership with Dean Carter over the years of working together taught me what it meant to be a man of integrity. ‘God has brought me too far for me to embarrass him’ is one of the things he would say. Carter knew what this work was really about; he placed high value in his walk with Christ, and that translated to how he worked and treated those around him. I will forever be grateful for his ability to recognize talent in me and encourage me to use my gifts in service to others. For this, Dean Carter will always be my mentor and friend.”

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As part of the renaming, the chapel and chapel hallway will go through a refresh this summer, something last done in 2006. Four hundred seats will be reduced to 360, opening up the back of the chapel and creating a place for students to leave their backpacks and coats.

“It was my great privilege to work and minister alongside of Dean Carter for all of his 26.5 years at Andrews University,” says Frances Faehner. “Dean Carter's love for his Lord and Savior—and his deep passion to foster the growth of young men to be men of integrity and faith come what may—will be the indelible legacy he leaves on the fabric of this campus and in the lives of thousands of men around the world.”

Carter says, “I have deep feelings of humility in receiving this honor, and I am further inspired to live up to the legacy of being God’s man.”

About three years ago, Nicholas Lozito was giving a sermon when he felt strongly impressed to be a chaplain. “It was an afternoon service,” Nicholas says. “God put this on my heart, and that night I was looking at schools.”

The nearest Seventh-day Adventist college was four hours away from his home in Central California. After praying and researching, Nicholas discovered the distance education program at Andrews University. “I feel like sometimes God says, ‘Start walking. Listen to me. Just start walking, and I will open up the doors for you.’ I just trusted God.”

This was not the first time that God had called Nicholas. Earlier in his life Nicholas spent about 10 years traveling to 60 different countries. During this time, he did a variety of things including teaching English to Burmese refugees and living on a remote tea farm in China. While in China, Nicholas learned how to pick tea. This led him to start a tea business that provides tea to thousands of stores.

“Tea is a beverage to us here in America, but to many people and cultures it is a lifestyle, a literal pastime. Through tea, I learned to sit with people and talk and enjoy one another,” he reflects. “I’ve been able to use tea to share Christ with people.”

Nicholas was still involved with the tea business, Misty Peak Teas, when he chose to pursue an undergraduate religion degree through Andrews University’s distance education program. This option allowed him flexibility to spend an average of five or six hours each night on coursework in addition to running his business and spending time with his wife and two young children.

“It’s a huge blessing that this is even an option now...I literally wouldn’t have the choice if not for online education,” he says. Earning his degree has been a challenge, but he feels supported by Andrews faculty and staff. “I feel like if I came there [to the Andrews campus], I would be welcomed.”

While studying, Nicholas was offered an opportunity to be a chaplain at a children’s hospital for an eight-month program. This gave him the opportunity to visit thousands of sick patients and their families. Seeing a wide range of experiences helped him understand that each person can benefit from someone listening and ministering to them through their pain.

Following his time at the children’s hospital, Nicholas was hired as a youth pastor. He continues to pursue his degree and hopes to graduate in December 2018. Although he doesn’t know exactly where God will lead him next, he is willing to keep walking through the doors God chooses to open.

“Through tea, through travel, through ALL of my life, God has blessed,” comments Nicholas. “He is using me, and I am finally realizing how to let Him use all that is me to preach to those who I may be able to relate or minister to because of who I am and who I was.”

Nicholas Lozito

In May 2017, Nina Vallado graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in documentary film. Her senior project, a short documentary called “Sisterly,” talks about Nina’s relationship with her sister, Lisa, who is on the autism spectrum.

It’s strange to put into words what it was like growing up with Lisa.

She’s my sister, and I loved her, and I interacted with her in the means I knew how, but because there was no verbal communication, I didn’t really know her. She could repeat things she’d been trained to say, such as responses to, “how was your day?” or “what is your favorite color?”, but her interests, her personality, her dreams—they were a mystery to me.

Telling our story through film taught me what sisterhood is. Before this I based my idea of what sisterhood should be off of what my mom and her sisters had, or what my friends and their sisters had. But sisterhood is a unique bond that you create with your own sisters.

My sisters, Karen and Lisa, and I have our own special sisterhood. It was never the worst thing in the world that Lisa couldn’t speak; we just found things we could do together—things Lisa loved, like puzzles and Memory, and everything Disney. Oh man—Disney. That’s the one thing we always knew we would bond over. Disney singalongs, Disney toys, Disney movies, Disneyland. It was our guaranteed sisterhood bonding method. Even today we can name any Disney song and Lisa can recite it by memory, using her stencil board.

Karen and I met Lisa where she was at and we spent hours doing the things she loved to do. As a kid, I was okay with that. Lisa was always more on the periphery, but we were still pretty close. It’s a weird mix of complexity, our relationship. Sisterhood can be complicated, messy or broken, but it’s still sisterhood. And we have always had that.

Lisa and I have always had connection and intimacy, and now it’s really just a matter of exploring those things. Since Lisa began expressing herself in writing at age 16, we’ve had a breakthrough, and my film kind of gives viewers a glimpse of that, but I’m still searching. The breakthrough wasn’t the end; my film just gave me a place to start, and I haven’t stopped.

A Kickstarter fundraiser helped me raise enough money to have an original score composed for the film, and I used that money to hire an Icelandic composer, then fly my sisters and I out to Iceland for a weekend to meet with the composer in the studio. This was a special trip for us, because it was Lisa’s first ever trip without our parents. She expressed to us afterward that it was the first time she really felt like an adult. That was incredibly meaningful to me, and I was so glad we were able to have that experience together. It was a big step for all of us.

Karen has always been very defensive of Lisa. Even though they are further apart than Lisa and I are, they were always closer in school because Lisa was held back. They shared a bedroom, and every other year they shared a classroom, so they shared a lot of friends, as well. Karen’s whole life involved Lisa. She’s Lisa’s protector. This, however, led to several arguments between me and Karen during the making of “Sisterly.” I would love a scene and show it to Karen and two minutes in we would be fighting because she thought it portrayed Lisa poorly or that something was mean. She, as well as my parents, were apprehensive about how I would portray Lisa and how I would portray our family. In the end, Karen, as well as my parents, was overwhelmed with emotion and so much love and pride for the film.

I didn’t really have a dream for “Sisterly.” That may be sad, but I think I just didn’t want to be disappointed. I decided to “aim low,” and I submitted it to some small, local film festivals, but none of them accepted it. I started looking for free festivals, and found the student Oscars. I had nothing to lose. Out of the blue I got an email from them that started with, “Congratulations!” and my first thought was, “What?!” I’d made it into the semi-finals. A month later, I got a notification that I’d made it to the finals. I find out in mid-September whether or not my film was selected as a winner, and from there I could go to the actual Oscars.

There’s a film that came out in 2016 called “Life Animated,” which tells the story of an autistic boy, and how Disney helped the boy communicate and understand the world. That film was important to me on so many levels, and had a huge impact on the story I was telling with “Sisterly.” There’s a short scene in the film where the brother talks about the fears and joys of having a sibling with autism, and I related to that scene so much. It gave me confidence to continue with the theme of sisterhood in my film. If I could show my film to anyone in the world, I’d want to show it to that family, because their story helped validate my own.

Since my film debuted, people have begun to treat Lisa differently. They talk to her like she’s a grown-up. Like she’s her age. Before the film many people would baby her or talk in simple words or talk at her rather than with her, but I think people understand now that she’s listening and internalizing all of their words, and that she’s capable of responding to them.

After a screening in Washington, D.C., a local reporter asked to speak with Lisa, asking her questions directly. Lisa communicated with her stencil board and answered all the reporter’s questions on her own. Not everyone does this, but those who do go quite far in making it seem as though Lisa is more of the adult she is, and more included in society.

I think that’s what I would have always hoped for in this film, and for her life to change. To bring people to be more inclusive of her. Now she’s not just talked about, but talked with. Her life has changed in that small manner, but it means drastic changes for her feelings and how she’s embraced into the community.

Nina Vallado

As a first-generation college student, I sat in the office of my academic advisor feeling unsure and defeated. My parents were supportive and wonderful but were not sure how to help me with academic choices. I had changed my major, knew it was a mistake, and wanted to return to my previous major—costing me both time and money.

While my architecture grades (original major) were good, my pre-med grades were less than stellar, and now, wanting to return to architecture, I was faced with the reality that my cumulative GPA suffered.

As I sat, I waited for Dr. Davidson (my advisor, lovingly referred to as “Doc”) to scold me for having performed so poorly the quarter before. He so easily could have broken me with even the slightest hint of disappointment. I do not remember every word of the conversation but I will never forget the substance. He basically said that he was happy that I had passed everything and he pointed out where those natural science credits would be useful; and—he welcomed me back. I remember breathing in and tears falling down my cheeks, so relieved that he had extended the grace that I needed in that moment.

At the end of the meeting he said, “Can we pray together?” He was the first and only academic advisor that prayed with me in my time at Andrews University.

That advising experience was a pivotal moment for me as a 19-year-old desperately trying to navigate higher education (and also trying to figure out life!), and serves as the basis for how I approach academic advising today.

Professor Davidson believed in me; he did not judge my decisions or my performance, he focused on what could be learned and how to move forward. This is what I hope to do (and hope to have done) for my advisees. An advisor can and should be knowledgeable of the policy and procedures of the institution while also keeping up on available resources, scheduling, financial implications of decisions, curriculum requirements, career outlooks, licensure requirements, etc., etc.; but even if you have all of this at your fingertips you can still damage a student.

Academic advising, at its core, is much more than having a lot of knowledge—it is about having empathy. Being able to meet students where they are at, offering suggestions while instilling ownership, listening more than speaking, showing kindness with candor, celebrating achievement and learning from perceived failures—these things are what I consider to be the “heart” of advising. Recognizing that God has made each student unique—having both gifts and challenges—and never being tempted to exercise a “one size fits all” approach is essential to the art of good academic advising.

I’m not at all convinced that I do these things well all of the time but I know that the Lord is patient with me and provided Doc as a mentor. Earlier this year I was honored with the Outstanding Advising Award from the State of Michigan. This award is every bit Doc’s award and I’m blessed to be a part of it.

Becky St. Clair

“People say I’m a good hugger. Hugs are one of the best ways to connect and show affection in general. You can throw yourself into a hug; embrace someone with your whole self and embrace their whole self.”

In fall 2015, Sarah Stelfox, senior liberal arts major, agreed to participate in an experiment for the purposes of a student-produced documentary called “The Hugs Project.” For 21 days Sarah was forbidden from hugging or touching anyone, including showing affection to her stuffed animals.

“I was heartbroken,” she says quietly. “It was very hard. There was a constant awareness that I wasn’t allowed to be affectionate to anyone and that was hard on my heart.”

Sarah has always enjoyed hugs. She admits that she comes from a family of huggers, growing up showing affection to anyone and everyone through sincere, meaningful hugs. People got used to Sarah and Hugs being synonymous. And when she wasn’t allowed to hug anyone, it wasn’t just hard on her; it was hard on her friends.

“People were really upset with me,” she says. “They were upset with the filmmakers for ‘making’ me do it when I had clearly volunteered, and that made what I was doing that much harder.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge to this experiment was the minor identity crisis it sparked.

“I didn’t know who I was anymore,” she says. “I liked being this person I suddenly couldn’t be, and I didn’t know who to be.”

Sarah envied the two other volunteers in the documentary; due to their disinterest in physical affection their challenges were to hug a certain number of people every day--one of them people he knew, another people he didn't. She recalls that her body physically hurt from the stress of being devoid of physical affection.

“I need to have someone touching me,” she says. “Someone to remind me that I’m real. To acknowledge that what I’m feeling is legitimate.”

At the midnight hour when the 21 days were finally over, Sarah found herself very alone. Her sister and her best friend were both away from campus, and she wasn't sure where to go or what to do. She spent a lot of time crying.

“They asked me how I was feeling and what was going through my head,” she says of the documentary producers. “I said, ‘I don’t know how I feel, but I feel again and this is good.’”

This experiment has changed the way Sarah approaches relationships. She is more aware of how she physically interacts with others and she’s now able to more fully articulate to others what she’s feeling.

“I treasure hugs more,” she says. “They’re special. This whole project helped me gain an understanding of comfort level for myself and others. I approach others with a bit more caution and remind myself that not everyone feels the same way I do about hugs. I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.”

What did this experience teach her about God?

“He and I talked a lot,” Sarah says intently. “I used my imagination often because I had to remember what it was like to be fully embraced. Then I thought, if this is how a human hug feels, imagine being fully embraced by the creator of the universe. He does that. This realization was a beautiful moment. It sustained me.”

Last week, “The Hugs Project” won Best Documentary Short at Sonscreen in Loma Linda, California. The film was directed by Stephen Allcock, produced by Maxine Murray and Stephen Allcock and edited by Jeriah Richardson and Michael Young. Director of photography was Brian Tagalog. Two other Andrews University films were screened during the event; "Foreign Native," a film by Denae Keisz, Madai Villa, Kiana Gurley and Heidi Ramirez which won Audience Choice Award, and "Jackie: The Transformation Project," a documentary by University Health & Wellness, the Department of Visual Art, Communication & Design and Integrated Marketing & Communication.
 

Related Links

• Watch the trailer for "The Hugs Project"
• What is Sonscreen?
• Documentary film at Andrews University

Becky St. Clair

My parents went out to Africa in 1953. I was born there. They were a singing family; I grew up in a family that sang a lot. We lived in an area where the people sang a great deal: Amongst the indigenous tribe of the Lozi, also known as the Silozi. They were supporters of the arts, and their particular art form that they did well in and excelled was singing. So I grew up singing with natives and singing in the home. That was my introduction to music. My first five years was immersed in the vocal music of the people of the culture in which I lived.

Documentary Profile: Stephen Zork from Andrews University Film on Vimeo.

Becky St. Clair

In late 2015, Luz Ruiz Tenorio, administrative assistant in the School of Architecture & Interior Design at Andrews University, went to a medical clinic concerned about difficulty she was experiencing in swallowing. She was told she had sinus troubles and was sent home. The feeling never went away.

In July 2016, Luz went to a different medical center for both the continued swallowing issue and the additional concern of extreme pain in her left hip. She was having difficulty walking. Luz was told she had a pinched sciatic nerve and was treated accordingly. Over the next two months, Luz was denied requests for x-rays and futher tests, and she began to experience serious side effects to the drugs she had been prescribed for her sciatic nerve diagnosis. She was ultimately diagnosed with stage four bone cancer in her left hip and sternum on September 28, 2016.

In need of personal care, Luz moved in with her sister, Willyta (Douglas) Wamack, and her husband in their apartment at Wisconsin Academy (Columbus). There, with dedicated care from her family and Hospice staff, she lived until her death. In the quiet early hours of Christmas morning, Luz passed away in her sleep. A memorial service was held in Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University on Saturday, January 14, 2017. As she requested, her ashes were buried with their mother in Rose Hill Cemetery in Berrien Springs on Sunday morning, January 15.

A Female Daniel

Luz was born on January 30, 1958, in Miraflores, Perú, the daughter of Esteban Clodomiro Ruiz- Rodriguez and Wilfrida Tenorio-Bendezú. In 1979, Luz moved with her sister, Willyta, to serve as student missionaries at Nameless Valley Ranch in Texas. In 1989, Luz moved to Berrien Springs, Michigan.

“My sister’s life has always been an example since she was a toddler,” says Willyta. “She grew up a female Daniel, you could say: She was firm in her beliefs, she never wavered. Peer pressure was never a factor, regardless of how lonely and rejected she felt because she was never with the majority. She knew it was her mission to set the example, be firm and be faithful to God.”

When Luz was four years old she was sitting in church listening to their pastor father preach, and something touched her heart. She turned to her mother and said, “I want to give my life to Jesus. I want to be baptized.”

Willyta recalls that Luz must have thought it was her duty on earth to make sure her family was ready to meet the Lord. Luz and their mother learned English and began to enjoy studying Sabbath School lessons in both Spanish and English. Since Willyta didn’t know English at the time, she was disinterested in that portion of their study, so she would go to bed.

“Luz would wake me up and make me sit and listen,” recalls Willyta. “My poor sister was so concerned that I found no enjoyment in things of God.”

Life with Purpose

God and spiritual topics were always of special interest to Luz. She was well-educated in biblical and religious studies, having earned an associate’s degree in Bible work and Personal Ministry from Loma Linda University, a bachelor’s degree in theology at Andrews and a Master’s of Divinity from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus of Andrews University.

Whenever Luz returned to Perú to visit their family, she always made sure it was a mission trip, visiting family members that belonged to other denominations to bring them the Seventh-day Adventist message.

“Luz never took leisurely vacations,” says Antonieta Corrales, Luz’s cousin. “Her trips had a purpose: to spread the word about God’s salvation message.”

On one such trip Luz visited the homeland of their grandparents, where nearly 100 years ago all Bibles were confiscated by the local Catholic priest and burned. Luz’s mission was to ensure that each family in that village had a Bible again, and she made sure it happened. She was also the driving force behind her mother’s dream to build an elementary school in Palpa, Perú. This dream became a reality in 2013, when 100 students were enrolled in the new school. Only one was Adventist.

“Everything that surrounds us tells us where our interest is,” says Willyta. “For my dear sister, it was Jesus, God, serving others and her focus on the love of God. She had a conviction to follow Jesus from the time she was four years old and no matter what she went through, she remained faithful to the core. She loved Jesus and was never ashamed to tell others of Him.”

"I Have My Own Mission"

This concern for others’ salvation carried over into her work at Andrews University, as well. Despite her years of study and her master’s degree, Luz did not join the ministry as others expected her to. Instead, she took a position where she felt called by God to minister and spent over 12 years serving in the office of the School of Architecture & Interior Design.

When asked why she didn’t apply for jobs in conferences that support women in ministry, Luz responded, “I have my own mission here in the School of Architecture & Interior Design. Many of these students will be working in very secular environments when they graduate and they need to know about God before they leave.”

Her efforts did not go unnoticed. Students will remember Luz for her purposeful and unrelenting love and care for everyone she encountered, and the way she made each of them feel special.

A Reflection of God

One student Cecilia, shares, “I will certainly miss the education I got from Luz while working with her in the office. She had so much knowledge about God and I am so thankful God made Luz part of my college experience.”

Another student, Gala, wrote, “Luz was the most joyful person I’ve ever met. Her welcoming smile was the best medicine for any ailment, and she reflected God’s love through her loving godly character every day.”

Briana, another student, shares, “I was very nervous when I arrived as a new student here at Andrews, but Luz greeted my dad and me warmly, and I held onto that feeling of welcome as a way that I could allow myself to attend a school so far away from my family and friends. Over the following four years, Luz proved over and over that she did indeed care about me and all the other students’ wellbeing. I always felt so special and important because Luz greeted me with a smile every single time.”

Eric Lianda, an architecture alumnus, tells the story about when he first arrived in the United States.

“I had just landed in a country with no friends or family, but Luz immediately became my friend and my family,” says Eric. “She noticed the fear in my eyes and asked if she could take me to buy a calling card to call my family. She introduced me to her family and her family became my family, too. They made sure I excelled at everything I did, especially in my education. Luz was a beautiful person inside and out, and I am blessed to have met her.”

Joy in Her Heart

Faculty, too, have felt deeply the loss of such an endearing, Christ-like person in their department. They enjoyed listening to her communicate with the students using terms of endearment she genuinely felt, especially in Spanish: Querida (dear) and Corazon (sweetheart).

“Luz had a true servant heart and served with such joy and enthusiasm,” says Thomas Lowing, associate professor of architecture. “I see now that we were born in the same decade, but I would have guessed her to be at least one, if not two, decades younger than I by the energy and enthusiasm she had in serving our students.”

Faculty recall with a chuckle that Luz’s laugh was so loud that they often had to close doors so as not to distract the students in their labs. They always did so with a smile, enjoying the fact that Luz’s joyful heart was always present in everything she did.

“Rarely does one work with a colleague whose devotion to Christ is so readily present and whose insistence on service to others is so strong,” remarks Mark Moreno, associate professor of architecture. “Luz had joy in her heart that overflowed always and for all. I cannot help but believe that Luz’s faith carried her to that day when the world each year celebrates the birth of Christ. On that special day, she began her peaceful rest in wait of his second coming. This and Luz’s life were a beautiful reflection of Advent.”

Music as Ministry

Reflecting Christ’s image wasn’t the only way Luz ministered to others. She also had a passion for and was gifted in all things musical.

“Luz inherited the love of music and her keen ear from our father, and her beautiful voice from our mother,” says Willyta.

Their father directed choirs and Luz often participated, thinking nothing of the fact that the rest of the choir members were much older than she was.

“In 1973, Wilfrida brought her daughters with her to her audition for the choir at Peruvian Union University,” recalls Turibio De Burgo, choir director at UPeU. “Luz was 14 years old, and her mother thought she was too young to sing in an adult choir. However, during the audition, I noticed that although she was a young teen, her voice was not, so she became the youngest member of the college choir.”

Her voice wasn’t the only musical gift Luz was given.

“Luz learned from an early age about the healing that piano playing can miraculously do for a weary soul,” recalls Willyta. “She found comfort and solace at the piano.”

She used her God-given musical talents in churches, nursing homes, Sabbath School classes and for funerals. She performed at camp meetings and traveled to Europe, Israel and Perú with choirs. Luz often sang for both English and Spanish camp meetings, and was often asked for recordings to purchase. Her priority was always earning money for the elementary school in Palpa, but in summer of 2016 Willyta and Luz began making plans for a recording opportunity in 2017.

One afternoon in Wisconsin, Willyta was crying because her sister had not had the chance to record. Luz responded, “Bigita, remember: We will have eternity to sing.”

In Memory

Memorial donations in honor of Luz can be made to the Architecture Missions Group for Palpa School. For information on making a donation, contact the Office of Development at Andrews University at development@andrews.edu or 269-471-3124.

A Selection of Luz's Favorite Scriptures

• Galatians 3:27-28
• Psalm 139:13-14
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Psalm 32:7
• Colossians 3:1-4
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Philippians 2:1-5
• John 15:12
• James 1:27
• Galatians 6:2
• Romans 12:11-13

Related Links:

• School of Architecture & Interior Design
• More about Palpa School
• Office of Development

Becky St. Clair

Former student missionaries Bruna Barbosa, senior speech pathology & audiology major, Mikelle Wile, junior social work major and Joffre St. Hillare, first-year seminary student, understand the Andrews University motto, “Seek Knowledge. Affirm Faith. Change the World,” on a personal and practical level.

These three, each with their own unique missionary experience, open up about what being a missionary is really like. Through discussing both their joys and sorrows, Bruna, Mikelle and Joffre communicate their student missionary journey in a way that inspires others to go forth in order to seek knowledge, affirm faith and change the world for themselves.

My Journey

BRUNA

I served as a kindergarten teacher in Palau, an island country in the western Pacific Ocean, from August 2014–June 2015. I heard all these stories about people going to be student missionaries and I thought I would want to do that. It was April, and the deadline was in March. I was late, but I talked to God and told him, “Send me now. I’m ready now, God.”

I laugh thinking about it now, but at the time I asked him to send me a butterfly as a sign. It didn’t have to be big, but I just hadn’t seen one in a long time! I was scrolling through Pinterest and I saw a post about penguins chasing a butterfly. I knew that was my sign.

I wanted to travel, experience a different culture and do something no one in my family had done. I knew it would be an adventure; that’s part of what pulled me to missions. I think that’s how God got my attention.

One of the most memorable experiences I had during my time in Palau was at our regular morning worship in the classroom.

I had worship with the kids every morning and we went through the Bible stories–you know, Adam and Eve, Daniel, David, all the regulars–and finally we got to Jesus and I got to the part where he died. I showed them crucifixion artwork. I was thinking, “Man, this is really gruesome to be showing five-year-olds,” and wondered if I was doing the wrong thing.

Then this little boy started crying like one of his favorite story characters had died and it made me realize that these kids don’t know. They’ve never heard that story before now. It was powerful to know I gave them that first exposure.

I grew up a lot over there. I used to slack off in school and didn’t have a sense of direction. From the moment I arrived on the islands I was an adult. I was a teacher. They called me “Ms.” I had to conduct parent-teacher conferences. I wasn’t trained and I had to pretend like I had it together. I ended up chaperoning field trips with 18-year-olds and I was 19 but still the adult, so I had to mature and rise to the occasion. I learned to adapt.

Within that reality, I realized you may not always be prepared for a situation, but you can do it. I was called but not qualified, and God used me anyway.

MIKELLE 

I served as a house mother for an orphanage in Bolivia, a country in central South America, for 9 months, from September 2015–May 2016.

I went to Bolivia because I wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country, but also because the project was an orphanage and I knew it was a very needy project. That was one of the things I wanted–a place with a lot of need. I didn’t want an adventure, necessarily; rather, I wanted to be used until I was used up.

A typical day in my life there involved a lot of house duties. I woke the kids up and made them breakfast. I had to learn to cook that Bolivian food and it took me a while! I couldn’t cook when I got there, and all of a sudden I’m cooking three meals a day. And if I messed up, I would just say “Well, that’s how we do it in Canada!” I never let on that it was a struggle because I was already struggling to speak the language and they would laugh at me. I also helped the kids with homework and served as emotional support.

This experience as a whole is what led me to switch my major when I returned to Andrews at the end of my service. The kids needed so much emotional support and I didn’t quite know how to give it. That was a part of the reason I switched my major from education to social work.

The orphanage where I served also took in child and teen mothers. It’s really cool because the moms get the chance to go to school, which they wouldn’t get otherwise, because I was there to watch the babies.

This part of my experience taught me something about mothers. I learned that moms are angels. They do so much for us that we never knew about or understood. I didn’t realize it until I had to be a “mom” myself.

I also learned what it was like to really depend on God. Whether you’re lonely, you can’t communicate or because you’re in a job that’s got you in way over your head, you have to learn to lean on him. At home in Canada, I knew God, but not what it was like to really realize my need Him for on a day-to-day basis.

I will always feel connected to Bolivia and those kids. In fact, I plan to go back this summer. Theirs are the faces I see when I’m learning about a new concept in social work. They are what compel me to work harder so I can offer the help I wish I could’ve given them at the time. I am more passionate about my studies, about people and about helping them.

JOFFRE

I served in South Korea as a teacher, then a coordinator for a mission school during 2015.

While I was there I learned a lot of things about myself and other cultures and I had to really trust God full-on. I’ve never had to trust Him in such a capacity and I’ve never experienced Him in such a capacity. I was in a state where I just wanted to do whatever God wanted me to do.

I was lonely a lot while I was there. I needed someone to pour into me emotionally and spiritually, but that wasn’t available. I was taken care of physically–they gave us a stipend and set us up in housing. But the deeper, emotional need was something I struggled with.

A typical work day for me in South Korea lasted 15 hours. Class began at 6 in the morning, and didn’t finish until 9 at night. There were gaps when I could prepare for the other classes, but I had to literally fight for my time with God and fight for my walk with Him.

Around the 6-month mark, I went through a tough time. There were a lot of people around me there who had plastic surgery. The atmosphere was really secular. I got into this depressed state and I started to feel self-conscious. I didn’t like what I looked like and I didn’t want to be there anymore. I was thinking, “Maybe I should get plastic surgery. Maybe I should I go back to the States.”

With God’s help, I was able to become a leader at the school. But I had to spend time with God every day, and that’s really what helped make the change. I found him and I saw how much he cared about me. I still have to fight those feelings of insecurity every day.

Through this experience I found God. I thought I knew him before, but it wasn’t until I was in a place where I didn’t really have people to assist me in my personal growth that I found Him. I couldn’t really call family; there was a 15-hour time difference and I didn’t always have Wi-Fi. I was literally by myself. But God took me to Jeremiah 29:13 and it says, “If you seek me, you’ll find me if you search for me with all your heart.”

When I went back home, I found a journal that was from 2010/11 that I hadn’t looked at or written in since then. I had done a five-year plan, and in the plan, I see ‘Go to Korea!’ I mean, the years were off by a bit, but I hadn’t even remembered that this was in the plan. God did his thing.

The Best and the Worst

BRUNA

The best part? Those kids. I had 17 kids and I will never forget them. They’ve become part of who I am and they formed me, in a way. Leonard Paloma, a student in my class, was the cutest kid ever; I’ve never had someone show me such unconditional love. I could discipline him and he’d still hug me and love me.

The worst was the drama. There were so many expectations on you. Parents want you to be a particular way and it was hard sometimes. They want you to be what the natives expect a missionary to be, which makes sense, because it allows them to be more open to you.

MIKELLE

The best part of my experience was seeing and believing that God answers prayers. I saw Him do it so many times for both small things and big things. My mission partner left after two months, so I was really lonely. I learned God can be a friend just like a human can be a friend.”

I will never forget Liz. She was a young with plenty of love and she left quite the impression on me. She was the youngest little girl in my house. She was the cause of the most annoyances, but also brought up so much love in me. She really loved me, showed me what love looks like, and even when I disciplined her it didn’t take long for her to give me a hug and say sorry. She always wanted to be near me. I loved her because she was someone who needed so much love but gave so much love and I just wonder if anyone is reading her books anymore, or allowing her to be a kid.

The worst part, honestly, was coming back. You come back changed because you build such strong relationships where you serve, and you know what it’s like to make sacrifices for God and to serve him. For me, coming back made it harder to see how I could be continually sacrificing for Him. It was really obvious when I was cooking for a child who wouldn’t otherwise have food that you’re serving God. But when you’re just focused on finishing the semester it can be hard to see how you’re serving him.

JOFFRE

Absolutely the best part of my student missions experience was finding God and finding purpose. My last week was so amazing. Usually missionaries and teachers say their students always love on them but that wasn’t my experience.

However, at my school, they switched groups of students every so often. The group I had those last two months was super loving, and I was kind of bummed that it took until the end of my time there for me to find a group of kids who actually loved me. I had donated all my clothes to the homeless in the days before leaving, but I didn’t tell anyone I did that. Long story short: They gave me coats, jackets, shoes and suits. I just felt super loved in that last week. And in my Bible class people were giving their lives to Christ. It was amazing.

The worst part, though, was the development of insecurities that I have to face even still today.

Who is The Ideal Student Missionary?

BRUNA

Anyone. I’ve seen your typical student missionary. You know, the person who reads their bible every morning and everything about their lives is all about God. I’ve seen in a guy that came with me the person who is running from himself and God uses him anyway. He was completely changed. You don’t have to be anyone specific because God takes us where we are.

MIKELLE

I think that everything will follow if you have a sincere desire to help and fill a need. We all go for some selfish reason–getting away from school or having an adventure–but if part of your reason is a desire to serve God and people then everything will follow. You don’t have to speak many languages or consider yourself particularly adaptable; those things will come.

JOFFRE

Anyone can go. If you want the experience and the stories, you’ll get the experience and the stories. If you want to know God, you’ll know God. If you want to find God, you’ll find God. If you want to know your purpose, you’ll find your purpose.

What to Expect

BRUNA

I suggest you expect nothing at all.

They told us to lower all our expectations, and I think they were right. Don’t expect anything, don’t expect to have this life-changing story just like the other student missionaries whose stories you’ve heard because that won’t be your experience. The first two months can be so hard. You’re in a foreign country, there’s a language barrier, the food is different and you’re expecting this magical transformation. Just let your trip speak for itself.

MIKELLE

You can expect to not be doing the job you were sent to do. Expect to find out things about yourself that you didn’t know before, but then, that’s necessary when you’re growing up. I would say, expect to have a change in perspective, maybe to understand better what is really important. This happens especially when working with people who don’t have as much as you.

JOFFRE

If you want God to speak purpose into your life and show you what you’ve been made for, it will happen. In mission, God has a different kind of access to you than when you’re not in mission, or not in a foreign land. Abroad, you’re by yourself. Expect for God to reveal himself in a way He never has before. Expect to learn about yourself at a rapid pace.

Want to Give it a Try?

BRUNA

You should definitely do it. It needs to be a calling, but really talk to God and ask him and be willing and open to the idea of being a missionary. Let it happen. Let it change you. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable and finding out all these flaws about yourself you didn’t know were there. When you’re a student missionary there’s so much about yourself that you learn. Every problem you’ve pushed down becomes so real. It’s different for everyone.

MIKELLE

Do it. Now is the time. You have a pretty fleeting window where this is really available because you’ll have to start paying off loans, you’ll start a family, and you can totally go then as well, but it’s not the same as going as a student. I would say go because it helps you to discover your passions and how you can best use the talents that God already gave you. You learn how to love people and love yourself too.

JOFFRE

Pray about it right now and start trying to look for a place because God wants you to do it! He wants you to have an experience with him like no other. You’ll come back and be an amazing force for him.

Learn More

• Click through the image gallery at the top of this story for more pictures of Bruna, Mikelle and Joffre on their missions.
• Follow Student Missions on Instagram (@austudentmissions)
• Like them on Facebook
• Student Missions website
• Email: sm@andrews.edu
• Phone: 269-471-3211
• The Office of Campus Minsitries is located in the Campus Center (virtual map/campus tour)

Related Links

• The Office of Campus Ministries
• Upcoming Student Missions fundraisers
• • Buy groceries and support SMs (February)
  • SM car wash (April)
• Results of last year's Apple Valley SM fundraiser
• Where is Palau?
• Where is Bolivia?
• Where is South Korea?

Danni Francis

“One out of five people has a learning disability. I didn’t know that. I thought I was the only one and I felt so isolated.”

Heather Briggs, senior photography major, struggled with words.

“In first grade you were expected to read, and the teacher made me read in front of everybody,” she recalls. “That was terrifying. I would stutter, I couldn’t get the words right and I always felt like people were laughing at me.”

Briggs began home schooling in second grade, but she still struggled linguistically. She regularly flipped letters and within words the letters became jumbled and confusing. She specifically remembers that the letter F was particularly challenging, as she couldn’t remember which direction it should be written. Words like “echo” and “family” were also memorably difficult.

“Through all of this, art was really what gave me confidence and helped me find my identity,” she says. “My identity wasn’t in the lack; it was in my gift.”

At age ten, Briggs was assessed with severe dyslexia. Though her scores were low in linguistics and writing, they were off the charts when it came to visual and spatial comprehension. In response, her parents enrolled her in art classes. Briggs came alive.

“I couldn’t have made it this far without my mom,” Briggs admits. “She walked and struggled beside me every step of the way. My parents were the ones who saw my potential and did everything they could to build on it. There’s no way I can ever thank them enough for all they’ve done.”

It was during her time at Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) that she came to fully realize how she could use her heightened awareness of visual and spatial concepts to overcome her linguistic struggles.

“All my life I felt the system was rigged against me,” she recalls. “I had to make it work for me, and through art I was able to do that.”

While at KIA, Briggs began to explore photography, something that had always appealed to her. She went back to basics and started with film.

“I did a lot of work in the dark room, which kind of inspired a feel of black and white film-esque vibes,” she says.

This experience carried over into her senior thesis project at Andrews, a photography exhibit called “A Stupid Brilliance.” The show featured a collection of black and white images representing her struggle with, journey through and mastery over dyslexia.

“When I started this project I had to determine what the visual language was that I wanted to use to portray all of these concepts that are very abstract,” says Briggs. “You can’t see dyslexia. You can’t see the frustration. You can’t see the anger or the fear or the insecurity. That was the hardest part.”

Initially she wanted her images to have a dream-like, abstract feel. Her original plan was to shoot photos and then heavily manipulate the images in Photoshop, using a clouds and sky background for each. But it didn’t feel right.

“I needed to use my hands to do this project,” she says. “That’s when I hit upon physically creating the scenes and then photographing them. It was much more genuine and real.”

In the end Briggs forced herself to let go of the dreamscape clouds and sky, moving toward a black and white cardboard box theme. To illustrate the abstract concepts with which she was working, Briggs made her negative concept images jagged, off-center or floating. The positive images were more centered and balanced.

Every element in the images was intentional. For example, one image of an apple with pencils stabbing into it represents school. On another wall, an apple with the shape of a house carved into the skin represents homeschool. The first image of the collection contains an upside-down mask with “stupid” written on its forehead and the final image is a right-side-up mask that says “brilliant.”

“I like the juxtaposition of the positive and negative,” she says. “There are a lot of opposing images that show how I started—feeling stupid—and where I’m at now—where God has shown me that I have a gifting that I can be brilliant in.”

Briggs is very happy with the result of her project. Though she knew she had a strong concept from the beginning because it was her story, it was a challenge to work out the details of the visual representation of the story.

“So many people have come to me after viewing my exhibit and told me their own stories of struggles with dyslexia or other learning disabilities,” she says. “This is what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to show them that they could talk about it, and it’s not something to be ashamed of. You don’t have to hide it. For a long time, I tried to hide my struggles because I was afraid of how people would judge me. I’m so thankful I found my identity in art.”

Briggs would like to take her show to various schools and galleries, sharing her story of struggle and triumph with as many people as possible. She wants her work to inspire others to keep working hard to overcome difficulties and realize they are valuable and are not defined by their struggles.

“No one is stupid,” she says emphatically. “Every person has their own set of brilliance, and they can be brilliant in their giftings, they just have to realize and acknowledge it. God’s gift to me was art, and I am so blessed to have received it.”

Related Links:

• Interested in a degree in photography?
• Department of Visual Art, Communication & Design
• What is dyslexia?
• Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Becky St. Clair

Every once in a while, our stories are marred by tragedy. And so, it is with sadness that we pause to mark the Andrews University story—a story touched once again, by tragedy. On Sabbath, Nov.19, 2016, tragedy took the life of two of our finest—Austin Currie, a junior engineering student from the great state of Illinois, and Chandler Koerting, a junior computer science student, also from Illinois. They were inseparable friends—inseparable in life and in death.
                                              
I spent my Sunday evening in the Meier Hall Chapel with a gathering of students, staff, faculty and administrators who assembled to share their fondest memories of Austin and Chandler. I am taking this opportunity to reflect on some of the sentiments that were shared.
                                              
Austin was remembered as a fun-loving and deeply caring friend. He was regarded as one of our best RAs, who often routinely spent Sabbath afternoons cooking for friends. He was also known for sharing meals sent to him by his father with others. A fun fact that brought laughter to last evening's solemn occasion was that Austin wore flip-flops and shorts during all four seasons—even through the snow banks. On one occasion a young lady, whom he did not know, was stranded off-campus on a cold Michigan winter night because her car battery had died. She called one of her friends to assist her in jumpstarting her car, but that friend was unable to help and offered to send his friend instead. That friend was Austin, who showed up in—you guessed it—flip-flops and shorts and jumpstarted her car. That act of kindness to someone whom he did not know left an indelible mark. And that act of kindness was not random—it was a mark of his character.
                                              
The fact that Chandler genuinely cared when no one else did was a sentiment that served as a common theme during last evening's sharing. He was incredibly kind and sincere. There was depth to his caring. He had a winsome smile that could put anyone at ease. Not to be undone, Chandler’s friends also recounted his funny side—he could manage to take a nap in any position. One of his friends described a time when Chandler, who is much taller than her, placed his arm on the crown of her head during a casual greeting. She became curious when the weight of his arm seemed to get heavier. She looked up, and there was Chandler, taking a quick nap.
                                                                                            
These two young men have provided us with a legacy of how to live. They have demonstrated with their own lives that our legacy has less to do with longevity and more to do with a life of fullness and quality. Stephen Covey, in his classic, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” opines that one of those seven habits is to begin with the end in mind.

In that book Covey also asks us to, perhaps morbidly, visualize our funeral and listen to our eulogy. He claims that what we want to hear in our eulogy is the true core of who we are and we should live that way. Last evening, our campus was reminded that Austin and Chandler lived their core values and embodied the Andrews spirit. And so, as we punctuate our Andrews story with this loss, we say with the throng of the faithful, “even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
                                              
Amen!

Austin Currie & Chandler Koerting

Ralph Trecartin entered Atlantic Union College as a theology major with every intention of becoming a pastor. When he added accounting as a minor, he never saw the change in his future coming.

“I would go from studying Greek to studying about debits and credits and contemplating the types of decisions that would be made as a result,” he recalls. “I’ve always found it very rewarding to build and sell things, and when it was time to leave pastoral ministry and attend the Seminary at Andrews, I chose to walk the road less traveled.”

He enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program instead.

“While there, I was asked to teach accounting and so embarked on a life journey that was never expected in my adolescent years,” he says.

Once he achieved his PhD in finance, Trecartin spent a number of years trying to think of ways to solve the world’s problems, while at the same time enjoying the entrepreneurial aspects of building study abroad programs and moving currencies around the world.

“In each case the real rewards came from helping to provide life-changing opportunities for students,” Trecartin admits.

These experiences have culminated in Trecartin accepting the position as dean of the Andrews University School of Business Administration and associate provost for the University. He begins his new role in January 2017.

In addition to his enthusiasm for life in general, Trecartin identifies four areas in his professional life that he finds himself passionate about: Student success, high impact educational practices, adventure education and denominational administrative mission.

“Student success should be our number one goal,” he says. “This includes all of the exciting elements that are included in the creation of an educational experience that leads to professional success.”

In the Adventist context, Trecartin continues, this includes encouraging a much more holistic worldview through meaningful relationships and lives of service.

“Serving God and man with an eternal framework in mind is the path to success in all areas of life,” he says.

Trecartin admits that some would view “administrative passion” as an oxymoron. Yet, he says, there’s never a lack of changes taking place in his field, which keeps things interesting and exciting.

“Administrative decision-making and policy are not static,” he says. “New issues and opportunities need to be addressed with complete dedication and informed thought processes.”

Though Trecartin would rather listen to others than talk, he enjoys teaching immensely. He revels in the opportunities to get to know his students well, engaging in intense dialogues and developing lifelong professional friendships with them.

“Providing a great teaching and learning environment is sort of like parenting,” he says. “There is pride in seeing students succeed.”

Trecartin sees business administration as a mission field and ministry opportunity unlike most others. It is not only continually engaging, he says, but it offers a sense of fulfillment and excitement you might not expect.

“There is a great need for service-minded business professionals in contrast to self-oriented leaders, he says. “In business administration there are untold opportunities to make life better for others and to have an eternal influence while reaching those that few others may come in contact with.”

In his free time, Trecartin enjoys spending time outdoors, canoeing or walking through wilderness areas with binoculars, “searching for some beautiful and elusive bird that no one else has seen that day.”

In addition to watching birds, Trecartin and his wife, Virginia, are “avid spectators” of their own four sons as they grow and develop into important members of God’s kingdom. 

Becky St. Clair

When I was 8 years old a man jumped into the pool and landed on my dad’s neck. My dad sunk to the bottom of the pool and couldn’t move and all he could do was pray. By nothing short of a miracle he somehow managed to make it to the surface and finally convince people he really needed help.

Every girl imagines her dad to be invincible. My dad is 6’ 4” and all my friends marveled over how big and strong he was. In an instant he went from invincible to not being able to walk or sit for long periods of time without pain. It broke my heart, and I wanted to help.

Seek Knowledge

As a senior in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Somehow I heard God say “physical therapy,” so I went to Andrews. My first anatomy and physiology class confirmed I was headed in the right direction. I loved everything about the class, the program and Andrews.

The need for physical therapists is obvious. People complain about back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, and we have the knowledge and skills to help. Physical therapy is so awesome because we don’t need many tools to help people. We just need our hands. It’s so simple.

In the Bible, the first thing Jesus does to many people who come to him—the cripple, the blind man, the leper—is touch them. That touch has already made an impact and only then does he give them the physical—and more, importantly, the spiritual—healing they need.

I want to do what Jesus did. I want to apply his methods to my work. Yes, I’m going to help you with your decreased motion, and you may have other struggles, but I empathize with you and we’re on this journey of healing together.

Now when I go home I can help my dad. I can teach him ways to keep himself as pain-free as possible. God brought me to the place where I could fulfill the dream I had at 8 years old, and it’s been an incredible journey. I’m learning so many amazing things and I want to share and apply them. I want to use what I’ve learned and use my hands to go and worship God wherever he needs me.

Affirm Faith

The ugliest tree on campus is across from the Seminary. It’s the last tree to get all its leaves in the spring and the last to lose them in the fall. You can actually climb inside of it. There a natural teepee and you can just look up and see the branches winding around and reaching toward the sky. I often go and sit inside that tree and pray and welcome the Sabbath on Friday night. Just sitting in the peaceful quiet with the birds.

Andrews is where I learned to enjoy fruit picking, birdsong, wildflowers. I learned to appreciate snow and cold and the burning wind that blows on your face between classes during the winter. It’s amazing to think God created all of this for us, and I’m thankful.

Andrews fosters better people. It fuels relationships with God and brings people together around common interests and goals. Whenever I leave campus I realize just how present Christ and his angels are on the Andrews campus, and I miss it.

Change the World

The first sermon I heard after arriving on campus was one by Dwight Nelson in Pioneer Memorial Church. It wasn’t a warm fuzzy “welcome students” sermon like you’d expect. I remember Pastor Nelson saying, “You’re here because our motto says to change the world, and that’s what you’re going to do. We’ll give you a foundation and show you how to have an even better relationship with God and how to experience him in different forms of spiritual expression. Then you’ll take your unique abilities and go and change the world.”

When I was 10 years old I wanted to be a medical missionary. So as a college student I knew I wanted to be a student missionary. I told God of my desire and admitted to him that I didn’t know when or where, but that I expected him to show me.

One day I was sitting in my dorm room, having my morning worship, and I said, “Okay, holy spirit, I want to be a student missionary. Where should I go?” The holy spirit said, “Go to Turkey.” I frowned and said, “Holy spirit, do you realize that’s a really random place?” And the holy spirit replied, “Maybe to you. But that’s where I want you to go.” So I looked up what kind of volunteers they needed in Turkey and discovered they needed a Spanish/English teacher. In shock, I said, “Lord! I speak English. And I speak Spanish. I can go to Turkey!”

In the culture class we take as part of the prep for serving as an SM, they emphasize embracing culture. It wasn’t anything about stomping over and showing how superior our approach to life is. We were taught to go with an open mind and see what they can teach us. God has already been there, and they’re ready, he just needs people to go and work. We need to be the seed-planters and start something for him because we all want to go home.

Related Links

• Physical Therapy at Andrews
• Learn more about being a student missionary
• Get involved at PMC

Becky St. Clair

So here I am in the MDiv program in the Seminary, a program specifically designed to train pastors, and I have no plans to become a pastor. Let me explain.

I used to watch TV with my brother as a kid. I was really into He-Man. While watching one day I decided I wanted to learn how to draw muscles, so I’d draw a person and then draw dozens of “muscles” on one arm. They were all lumps—a hill of lumps.

My mom was extremely supportive of my interest and even enrolled me in art classes. Although as a kid I was really fascinated with comic book style art, my teacher—whom I came to refer to as my ‘art mom’—encouraged me to focus on the masters like DaVinci, Rembrandt and Monet. These great artists, along with artists like Jackson Burnside from my home country, the Bahamas, really influenced the flavor of my work.

In college my art started to talk more about social issues. As I developed it wasn’t just a thing of beauty but a thing of message. It was a way I could speak and send a message to others. I had a responsibility to say something that was relevant and meaningful—something that would impact the lives and actions of others.

I’ve worked in a variety of media such as painting, sculpture, woodworking, metal fabrication, graphic design and drawing, but my favorite is film. I enjoy the process of drawing an illustration and then painting the images, because the marks made by the pencil and brush are so unique and genuine to me. While doing film in school I lived in the editing room; I felt like I was breathing life into an image and into a story. Film, in my opinion, is one of the highest and most challenging art forms. It demands so much from you and I love the whole process.

Conflict

During this time, I began to wrestle with my faith. I was attending one of the preeminent design schools in the country, and I was learning a lot. Being in such a secular environment gave me a bit of culture shock from my childhood in the Bahamas, but it was an important and beautiful period of growth for me. I took a class in children’s book creation, building characters and creating simple, meaningful stories. The work of Shel Silverstein and Maurice Sendak really inspired me. Their work was so lighthearted but at the same time it dealt with very serious issues. My art began to develop a storytelling vibe.

In 2006 I felt God calling me. He wanted me to quit what I was doing and work for him. I had a dream in which I believe God was speaking to me, telling me to quit what I was doing, but I swore I had to finish what I’d started. I forgot the dream.

Fast-forward four years and I’m feeling like I’m not where I need to be. I had all these ideas in me to create wonderful things, but I was struggling with the question: “Are these things of God?”

There’s always been a wrestle between art and religion and what to say and what not to say. I was a person of two worlds. I was a Seventh-day Adventist but I was also an artist hanging out with secular friends. The two worlds never seemed to connect. Everything was clashing.

When I felt God calling me to work with him, I responded that I would never create another piece of art if that’s what he wanted. “But,” I told God, “If you want me to do something other than this, show up in my art.”

Everything changed that year. My art went to another level. God was working through me and through what I was doing; he gave me a vision to do a show called “Theophany.” It was to be a commentary on the state of the world—telling the story of a world that has forgotten God as we are wrapped up in the everyday things we consign ourselves to do. The name of the show—“Theophany,” meaning “a visible manifestation to humankind of God”—was fitting because I was seeing that manifestation of God in my work, like Moses staring at the burning bush. It was unreal. My work was typically very evident of my personal creative style but this was something else. This was God.

I stayed on the wave where a lot of my work was spiritually influenced. I illustrated Bible stories and philosophies, things I heard in church and was inspired by, themes I researched, studied, or read. I began to realize at this point that God wanted me to use my gift for him, but I didn’t know in what way.

Plot Development

At the start of summer 2012, a friend of mine came home to the Bahamas from where she was attending university. Together we planned and executed a day camp for children called “Conquerors in Christ Bible Camp,” based on the story of David and Goliath. Together, we and the kids designed armor and learned about putting on the armor of God. In an interactive way these kids were digging deeper into a much-loved Bible story. Basically, we turned the children’s camp into an army fort. We even got volunteers to come in on the last day to play the Philistines so the campers (the Israelites) could role-play the battle.

The night before the big battle, I stayed up all night preparing and mending costumes the kids had worked so hard to create. We’d made fake swords, breastplates, helmets, the whole shebang. When morning came there was still work to be done, and as the kids began to arrive for the day, they walked in and instantly knew what needed to be done. They started working and preparing for battle like a real army. I will always see this moment as one of the most defining of my life and career.

This experience helped me understand what it meant for a body of believers to work together creatively; to accomplish something that enriches the lives of the people involved in a spiritual, creative and intellectual way.

Then one day, I heard God’s voice clearly: “I need you to come into theology.” Out of the blue, a friend started talking to me about the Seminary at Andrews. I felt impressed to give it a shot, so I applied and was accepted.

Resolution

So now you know how I got where I am. When God called me to serve him, I don’t believe it was to be a pastor; I believe it was to serve him with the artistic gifts with which he has blessed me. If I was to make the decision to go into pastoral ministry for any other reason than being called by God I feel it would be an insult to him and a total lack of regard for what I know he has called me to do. Right now, God wants me to gain this training to strengthen and fortify the content of my ministry.

Now more than ever before the world—including Christians—are turning to films to help them develop their moral compass. Many of the films developed in and out of Hollywood have very rich and complex narratives that contemplate and address social issues such as equality, poverty, social injustice and ethnicity, to name a few. To paraphrase Kevin Mowrer, the creator of the meta-story concept, in an age where governments, public figures and religious leaders are falling, we the people look to the heroes and heroines of film. After all, you won’t catch Luke Skywalker in a tabloid scandal.

Looking to the future of gospel ministry, film can be our biggest voice to share the gospel with people. This is by no means to say that preaching from a church pulpit is obsolete, but rather that we need to take the platform of film very seriously.

For a long time I’ve felt I walked two roads: One in art, the other in my faith. One was locked in the secular realm and the other in religion. I feel the journey on which God is bringing me is breaking down the barriers that have kept these two worlds apart and now I find they are becoming as one. I want to reach 21st century people—specifically youth—with the message of Jesus Christ.

Sequel

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it surely is worth more than the statement itself. Art and film give people a vision of what could be, whether it’s good or bad. Visual narrative has the power to arrest an audience and impact them in a powerful way. While images have the power to mentally scar, indoctrinate and horrify their audience, they also have the power to heal, give hope and inspire people to a higher ideal. And what higher ideal is there than that which is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

What I do is not a hobby; it is simply who I am and who God made me to be. To turn my calling into a hobby would be acting like the servant in Matthew 20:1 who buried his talent in the ground: It would only be serving my selfish purposes.

Developing the gift God gave me has helped me build such an amazing relationship with him. I don’t see my call as something I’m entitled to do, but rather I see it as a blessing. I know my future is not written in stone, but I count each day as a blessing wherever I have the opportunity to connect with God and connect others to him through my art.

The lesson I’ve learned, I pass on to you: No matter what it is, answer the call God has for your life. There is something God has called you to do and he will put the passion in your heart to do it so that when you face the worst days doing what you were called to do you can always have a smile through the storm. Whatever God has called you to do, do it with all your might. 

Related Links

• Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University
• Meet some influential Bahamian artists
• Explore Jace's art blog

Becky St. Clair