By Lynnsey McGraw–
Meet Megan Townsend. She is a senior majoring in education and well on her way of becoming a teacher. She is strong in her faith and loves sharing it with her peers and anyone who is willing to listen.
She told me, “My family has always very spiritual in nature, even though we may not have been in church every Sunday. I grew up in a home with my mother, father and my older brother. As a young child, we attended a very small backwoods southern baptist church. After a short period of about four years, my family ceased membership with the church. Even though we were not active participants of a congregation, the presence of god was a strong within my home. We continued on in this fashion until a good friend of mine encouraged me to go to church with him one weekend. And here I am today, a redeemed sinner! For not long after beginning to attend Southeast Christian Church, I became baptized into my father and god.”
Does this affect her academic career? “Yes,” she revealed, “and it is a wonderful and beautiful thing! Being a Christian, I believe that god sent his one and only son to die on a cross to redeem my sins. Because I know he did this, I look at each new day as a gift to be cherished. With each day comes classes, mountains of homework and stresses. But instead of becoming disillusioned with, ‘Why do I have to do this?’ I try to say, ‘How can I use this day to be a better person? What can I learn from this?’ Don’t get me wrong, I am human! I have a fair amount of my sleep-deprived, coffee-crazed days where I am not as thankful as I should be. But I try each and every day, and because of this, it has helped me greatly to improve as a learner.”
“I myself pray for those who might not yet know Jesus to be open to hearing his truth,” she continued. “I am always willing to share the gospel, but because of the personal nature of religion, I would never take someone’s freedom away by pressing my own beliefs upon them.”
I can say that she is very personal, and not judgmental, and I believe that is important to have within my life and here on campus.
