Last semester, Hillsdale had a Bible study in every dorm, seven studies offcampus, and seven sports team studies. There were five Greekhouse studies. All of these studies were connected with InterVarsity, but more continued independently.
Now, students continue the growth and community.
Junior Hannah Ahern is leading a new study in the art department. It wasn’t her idea, however.
A friend and fellow art major encouraged Ahern to lead a study there during Ahern’s sophomore year. But Ahern wrote it off for many months, thinking that God could not possibly want to use
her to do it.
“I was really excited about it at first,” Ahern said. “But then I just hit this wall, where I was like, ‘No, I’m not. I don’t think that’s where God wants me.’”
Ahern got the push she needed when she visited her high school art teacher during the 201213 winter break. Ahern told her teacher that some friends had challenged her to start a Bible study
in the art department at Hillsdale. Her teacher responded by showing her a painting she had
been working on, of Nehemiah’s wall.
“She dragged me out into this room …” Ahern said, “She looked at me, and she was like, ‘Whenever somebody walks by this mural, I want them to remember that God has given them gifts and talents in their lives, and God expects them to be using their gifts and talents for His kingdom.”
Just a few months before, senior Ben Holscher had used that same analogy when talking to a group of Hillsdale students at the Intervarsity Compelling conference in East Lansing, Mich. Standing in front of the mural, Ahern knew what she needed to do. This semester, Ahern started a study of the parables, which she leads with an interesting twist.
“We sort of encourage drawing while we’re studying just to engage with it,” Ahern said.
Each time she has held Bible study, only one person has come, but it has been a different
person each week.
“Each study goes completely
than I had thought,” Ahern said. “I think every week has been a fruitful time.”
Senior Grace Marie Lambert helps lead an older, more widely attended Bible study on campus at the Waterman Residence. As a freshman, Lambert was one of the 20some women that attended each week. That summer, she thought about what she wanted her sophomore year to look like.
“I knew I wanted to invest in campus ministry while I was in college,” Lambert said. “So I emailed the girls that I knew were leading it that coming semester, and they said the sophomore who
was going to help had dropped out, so they needed someone new.”
That hour she devotes each week to being with other women and studying God’s word has made a huge difference all throughout college, according to Lambert.
“My favorite thing is the joy that I’ve been given in setting aside that time each week and learning to count it as sacred,” Lambert said. “As a freshman, I would be so stressed and sometimes think I didn’t have the time. But you learn that you do, and there’s a peace and goodness that comes over you while you’re there, assuring you that you do have the time, and that it’s good you’re there.”
Sophomore Lucas Hamelink helps lead the college baseball team’s study. Junior Vincent Delicata approached Hamelink and several other sophomores at the beginning of the year about coleading the study.
The focus of the 10week study is what Jesus accomplished on the cross, starting with the purpose of Jesus’ coming and discussing the theological implications of His sacrifice. About 10
to 12 men consistently attend each week.
Hamelink said that doing the study together creates a strong bond among the men that go. “Obviously when you get together and talk about the deeper spiritual things, you grow a lot closer to each other,” Hamelink said. “You’re becoming more than teammates, you’re becoming brothers.”
