I would say, not to sound too philosophical, that we are but dust who God has formed into people and for purposes. God is great and the reality that gives any meaning to our reality is that God, in the beginning, He created the heavens and the earth. All that we’re experiencing is really part of His dominion and so I see myself as part of that, but definitely not in charge. My worldview is centered squarely upon the existence of a creator, a loving creator who is involved with me and is the one on whom I place any hope for the future. I am not trying to sound really religious or anything. That’s just the fact.

Oneal Tankersley

We grew up always just having the church as a part of our lives. My parents did end up getting divorced, but my older brother, younger brother, and I still always went to church even when our parents didn’t even make us. Again, we lived in the middle of nowhere, so when I came to Harding, I wanted to get into a place with a Christian environment, and that first year was when I really read the bible through. So I read the Bible through those four years at Harding each year and the teachers here made it really come alive.  I saw people put it into practice and I thought, this is faith in action and I loved it. So my time here in college really developed my faith. Then I’d say just growing up as that being the thing you do is what really formed me.

Jon White

Stories of the Church

When I first came to Cloverdale, I was very burned out on a lot, not just spiritually but physically. We had been a part of a lot of ministry where we were before. I was also working on a doctorate. I was pretty exhausted and burned out. I spent a couple of years wandering a little bit in my spiritual life without making a lot of friends and it was Cloverdale that sort of helped me find my place here. I think the first time I really felt a part of everything here was when I went to the women’s retreat at Cloverdale. I met people, wonderful people, who just loved me and poured out God’s love on my life. Ever since then, I've had very good friends at Cloverdale. The ministries I’ve been involved in at Cloverdale have also helped grow me because I didn't feel that much of a leader when I came to Cloverdale. There were some opportunities that came up where I felt like I needed to help with some things that stretched me. They always talk about your comfort zone and stepping out of it, and so the ladies at Cloverdale have really helped me to step out of my comfort zone and to grow in new ways, especially in leadership and teaching and mentoring other women.

Pray even when you don’t feel like it. There are times in life when intellectually you’re going to know something is true but you’re not going to feel that. Maybe just getting up every day is hard going through the motions. You need to continue to serve and to work and continue to seek God even when you’re not feeling that and He’s going to bless that. He’s going to bless that faithfulness. Just Hold on to that faithfulness you find in yourself.

Kristi Bond

I have Graves disease and that was a pretty challenging road for a while. It’s well handled now, but during diagnosis, I got really, really sick. There were just a lot of ups and downs, but looking back during that whole two-year period I can go back and see how this person helped me in this way. Nothing else explains except the providence of God. That’s the thing that helped me get better. If these people had not been in the right place at the right time, what happened would not have happened. The odds, statistically, of that happening are so low that nothing else could explain it but God, which I think is super cool.

It’s definitely hard to see in the moment how that works, especially when engulfed in the issue. It’s very important to stay with your faith. Don’t drop it! You’ll have people who want to help you, see you grow, and help you climb mountains figuratively and literally. Because that’s what a family is for; that’s what a Christian family is for. Whether knowing them for a week or my whole life, those people became the hands and feet of Christ for me when I was so engulfed in my physical health. At some point, you can’t do it for yourself. That was hard for me to expect because I don’t want to be a burden for anyone. That is the most encouragement I can give. Keep your eyes open. It’s gonna be hard, but I will sit here and tell you God is going to provide for His people. Pray for eyes to see because you can’t get that on your own accord. You can’t wake up and be like ‘I got the eyes!’ That’s not how it works. Pray and meditate for it. It’s Christ that’s shining. Stay in the Word. Surround yourself with people that will lift you up when you fall physically, emotionally, literally, spiritually; all the things. When you get through your trial, it’s good and powerful to look back and see what He has done.

Brittany Birmingham

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Brittany Birmingham

I was baptized into Christ later in life, I was 25 when that happened. I grew up in a home where we went to church almost every Sunday. Even when we visited some relatives, I’d go to bible study and we’d go to church service. When I went away to college, I kinda dropped out of the whole thing. Whenever I was at school for the four years, I didn't really attend services. I did when I’d go home. I think I went once – it wasn’t very satisfying so I didn’t go back. But interestingly, after I moved away on my own, I went and gravitated to the same kind of church, the same kind of church building on the same kind of corner made out of brick, and got involved there, but it wasn’t really satisfying. I’d read about people of faith and it didn’t quite click. Is that what God wanted? One day at work, I ran across somebody I had worked with before. I found out he was going to the Sunset school of Preaching. I was curious, why would you do that? What motivated you? So he asked me to lunch, we talked about it a little bit and then he started studying with me; he and his wife taught me what it means to become a Christian. Then there was another family in the church there that I guess today you would call them mentors. They took me under their wings for about a year and taught me about Christ.

So when you talk about God’s providence, that’s a challenging thing, because when you’re in the middle of something, it’s hard to see Him working, but when you look back, you can see how he’s woven your life together, so to speak. I’ve seen God work in terms of blessing me with my wife, how I came to meet her is sort of an interesting situation I guess, where I think God was really working to bring us together. I’ve gone through cancer at one point. My wife has gone through some issues with health and God’s worked to help us through that. That’s been great. Just some of the friends we’ve had. It’s kinda neat to see how they’ve helped us to grow in Christ.