NMC Students Past: An Ongoing Blog Series

Denise White
Class of 2001
Currently attending IUSB & working for a Bank

Derry's thoughts: I'll never forget the moment I sat down at my computer and began to type an email (juno account, dial up internet) to Denise. She hadn't been able to come to Wednesday Night or Sundays for nearly a year because of debilitating headaches. She was the first (others would follow) student I was deeply hurting for, to the point I found myself saying, "God, I'll take this pain on for her if that's what needs to happen." The students rallied around Denise, praying for her regularly. I remember Wednesdays where we gathered around one of Denise's friends and lay hands on him/her due to Denise's absence. God did a miracle. IMPACT Peru 2001 was HUGE, as Denise boarded a plane with our other students and served. The story is worth more space than given, and it's a story Denise loves to share. It's one that students (all of us, really) could benefit from hearing.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS YOU SAW GOD'S MIGHTY MOVE WHILE YOU WERE A PART OF NMC STUDENT MINISTRIES

• The Lord became real to me. "Job 42:5-- My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (She didn’t know our Camp theme when she wrote that!)
• I was horribly sick and friendless when I started coming to youth group when I could. Even though I couldn't always make it frequently, I made friends with people who loved God and cared about me when I didn't have anyone else. There are no words to describe the peace of not being alone while walking through the valley of the shadow...
• After three years of being stuck in my bed in agony, God healed me!! Woohoo

WHAT ASPECTS/ PROGRAMS WERE SIGNIFICANT IN YOUR SPIRITUAL FORMATION AT NMC?

• Bible based, balanced teaching. There is life in every word.
• Small group with just girls where we could talk privately about what we were really going through. It took time to form those connections, but it was worth the effort.

IN WHAT WAY WOULD YOU CHALLENGE CURRENT NMC STUDENTS TO SEE "A YOUTH GROUP THAT SAW GOD MOVING IN MIGHTY WAYS"?
N

ever settle. Never believe that life just is the way it is and that things won't change. Having tasted and seen the depths of God's overwhelming goodness, I know first hand that Jesus is alive and well, and his words are true. Seek him, and you *will* find him. Ask him for help, and he *will* help you. Pray in accordance with his will and believe, and it *will* be done. Actively wait on the Lord, and he will never let you down. ...Will there be hardships? Yes. Will there be times when it feels like the heavens are closed, and God does not hear our prayers? Yes. Will there be times when we think we heard God say something, but it wasn't him, or we screw up? Yes. Will there be times when we pray and God does not answer how we wanted him to? Yes. ...But, there is no greater joy than when we realize that every hardship pales in comparison to *knowing* Christ and that he will undoubtedly turn our mourning into gladness and work all of our sufferings out for our good in this age and the age to come.