February 2025

Are you hungry?

While Grace grew up in what she called a chef like home with parents who loved to cook, cooking was not something that Grace learned to enjoy and appreciate until later in her life. Her love of cooking started when she was preparing and serving dinner for a college ministry that she was a part of in her hometown, Des Moines, Iowa. Sourdough bread, donut holes, and pizza are some of her specialties.

Grace would also say that while she grew up in a Christian home with a family who attended church regularly, she did not understand Scripture or how to read it until she was in college.

When Grace first attended New Hope as a freshman at Northwestern, she was not sure about committing herself to a specific church in the area.  During this time in her life, Grace had a mentor back home in Des Moines who challenged her about her knowledge of scripture. She also attended a class for college students during her summer breaks. “Through that class,” Grace shares, “a desire to be connected to local church was planted in me.”  These connections and experiences helped Grace see there were ways she wanted to grow and strengthen her faith walk. Over the next year, God worked in Grace’s life to deepen and strengthen her understanding of the church and reading the Bible.

When she returned to Northwestern for her sophomore year of college, a friend invited her to go to the college Sunday school at New Hope. Reflecting on this time, Grace notes, “You could see we were going to be taught the Word and that the teachers have a high view of Scripture.”  She adds, “I did not begin to understand how to read the Word until I started attending New Hope.”

While in college, Grace actively attended New Hope and participated in the college Sunday school during the school year and participated in a college ministry back home during summer breaks. God used these experiences to plant in Grace’s heart a desire to help others make disciples. This led her to reach out to an elder at New Hope, and a discipleship class for college students was launched. It is evident that God is moving in the hearts of young adults and that He has given them a desire to study and understand Scripture. Not only has the college Sunday school class grown from 15 students to nearly 200 students, but there is also a discipleship class of 40-50 students/young adults that meets on Sundays after church.  “The leaders are joyfully pouring into college students,” Grace shares, “including me.”

“I am thankful for the commitment our New Hope leaders have to sound Biblical teaching,” shares Grace. She adds, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and one vital way we do that is by reading and meditating on His Word in solitude and with others.”

Grace has a desire to keep learning and growing and to see others keep learning and growing. “From the moment I have really understood the gospel,” shares Grace, “I have wanted to keep learning more and never want my soul to be numb to it.” Grace has watched friends of hers come to life in their faith as they learn how to read and understand scripture, and she has seen so many other young adults she knows leading groups on their own.

God is using ministries like the college Sunday school and discipleship classes at New Hope to ignite a hunger and thirst in the hearts of young adults to know His Word and share it with others. Are you hungry for God’s Word? If so, consider plugging into a Sunday school class, a Bible Study, or reach out to a leader at New Hope to learn about specific opportunities.