Graduated, but not from living for God

I am proud to announce that one of my disciples, Tanairí, just graduated last month from UASD! She was one of the first Vida Students to do so and finished with honors. She worked hard, developed her skills as a Publicity major, loved her peers, and was a strong leader in our ministry.

With her graduating and leaving UASD, it is easy to feel a little sad at the loss of a great contributor to our ministry. However, I am thrilled that I still personally get to see her often and that she is continuing to be a messenger of God’s love to the people around her.

So how does she make sharing her faith with others a normal part of her life?  Here’s some observations I’ve made about Tanairí that I think we can all learn from:

1. She loves the Lord and makes spending time with Him a daily priority.
2. She loves others by taking time to get to know them, develop relationships with them, participates in activities that will allow her to connect with them.
3. She is not ashamed to share Bible verses and what the Lord is teaching her with non-believers.
4. She does not isolate herself from non-Christians, but pursues meaningful relationships with them while remaining committed to living a Godly lifestyle.
5. She prays to be used by the Lord to bring others closer to him and for the people in her life often.

The point I’ve shared in bold above is something I recently witnessed as I went on a weekend trip with her and seven of her friends from her graduating class. I was deeply encouraged as I watched her model Christ to her friends, none of whom are followers of God. It was evident that in the four years of developing a relationship with these friends, she was not only respected for her beliefs, but adored for her passionate and genuine walk with the Lord.

Perhaps the biggest thing that stuck out to me about her behavior that weekend that I believe all of us desiring to lead others to Christ can learn from was her refusal to hide who she is. Since she normally spends time praying and reading Scripture in the mornings, she continued to do that while on the trip, even inviting our roommate to participate with her. When discussing a song that had some suggestive lyrics, she stated that her reason for choosing to not listen to the song was based on what Paul says in Philippians 4:8, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.” There was a little confusion at first because one of their friends was named Paul and they were a little shocked he would say something so poetic (haha!), but it provided a way for her to share what the Bible says about how to live.

Tanairí recently told some friends of ours that it was because of her time in the university with Vida Estudiantil that prepared her to be an effective witness to others. She learned how to be a student of Jesus, how to love others, and how to share the most important thing with those around her. My prayer is that many more will leave the university prepared to be life-long followers of God, just like her.