What God has Prepared for those who love Him

I Corinthians 2:9 NIRV    It is written that  “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has known.” (Isaiah 64:4)  God has prepared these things for those who love him.

AnDena Collins could not have seen, heard, or known what God had prepared for her as He called her into ministry.  Throughout the last few years, AnDena has found a place to learn and grow at Journey Mennonite Church but she has also found God calling her.  After prayer, denial, and finally yielding to God, AnDena has been confident that, though she may not yet know the exact location or vocation, God is calling her into ministry and so is preparing while she waits on the Lord.  

AnDena enrolled in Hesston College’s Center for Anabaptist Leadership and Learning (CALL) this fall and applied for a South Central Conference Ministerial Grant which was approved in August, but the Lord was not finished revealing what He had prepared for AnDena.  After learning of the SCC funds, the Hesston College church matching grant program matched the $1,000 grant 1:1.  Additionally, one of the SCC Leaders remembered that there had at one time been an SCC Endowed Scholarship.  Indeed we learned that in 1987 a South Central Conference Bible and Ministries Scholarship Fund had been created following the sale of conference-owned property in Wichita.  No record of scholarships awarded before 2011 were available but from 2011-2016 a total of $10,200 was granted to pastoral ministries students.  Though it seemed like a mere formality at the time, following four years of the fund not being used, in February of 2020 this scholarship was revised to allow it to be used for programs other than pastoral ministries (which had not been offered since 2016).  After prompting by SCC leaders, it was discovered that as a CALL program student from an SCC congregation, AnDena qualified for an additional $1,500 of aid from this recently updated endowed scholarship.  God had been preparing these funding streams for AnDena even before she realized the call!

Please join us in continuing to pray for leaders who are discerning God’s call into ministry and for AnDena and other Hesston participants as they receive training in missional leadership.