Serving Bread

I’m not the biggest fan of commencement ceremonies. There is a whole lot of waiting around to hear one name uttered. And graduations are sort of bitter sweet rites for me. Every year, I see a crop of students from my ministry transition to new endeavors. It’s sad to see them go, yet it’s satisfying to reflect of the years I have known them and what God has done in them and through them.

This morning, I get to celebrate with one of my students from the past four years–Deon. I met her as a freshman as we relaunched our ministry on campus. Any student who got involved and “stuck” it out with us during the first year is a hero in my book because of how fragile our ministry was at the time. Deon stuck it out for four years. As a somewhat shy and timid student, Deon tells me that it took her three attempts before she attended any of our events (which was a fellowship gathering in our home).

She grew up in a town not too far from Los Angeles, and her life experiences were fairly limited in scope and diversity. Would she engage with the diversity of our community and campus? I wasn’t sure. Deon became one of our leaders but struggled to make space for her faith, for God and for community. About a year ago, neither she nor I were sure whether she should continue as a leader. But God reinvited Deon into community and leadership, and Deon chose to be faithful.

This past year, she fell in love with community and became convinced of the necessity of having a Christian community around us. She also fell in love with leadership. Deon and her co-leader developed and shepherded a fantastic small group this year. Every person but one will be a leader in the fall. Deon’s passions have grown for the purposes of God. She has grown in character and deepened in faith. In a couple of weeks, Deon will serve as a camp director for a Christian camp. Today, I celebrate what God has done in Deon. I love that I’ve had front-row seats into God’s work in Deon’s life.