Spotlight: Evans’ actions speak louder than words
Editor’s Note: The following is a testimonial by junior psychology major Heidi Evans, which she shared at Upper Room.
Heidi Evans, a junior psychology major from Achorage, Alaska, has attended Upper Room numerous times ever since she was a freshman. However, she never really felt comfortable with the idea of giving her testimony until recently.
“Since freshman year, I have always kind of went to Upper Room off and on, and I have always wanted to share my testimony,” said Evans. “Finally, it hit me that I should, being a junior, and step up. I had the opportunity, and I took it as soon as I could.”
In essence, she wanted those in attendance to understand that it is impossible to be perfect in any aspect of life.
Also, Christians must know that there is not a specific goal of living to be achieved.
“My main message was just accepting that you’re flawed and broken,” said Evans. “Although you’re always going to be broken, God still loves you no matter what. You don’t need to worry about trying to be enough, which is something that I struggle with, but God still loves you regardless.”
This line of thinking was especially hard for Evans because her father works as a pastor.
As a result, she always felt that she needed to be a near perfect-looking Christian on the outside to live up to her father’s calling.
“I’ve always been raised in church, and I’ve always just been expected of being put together,” she said. “I’ve always put on this front that I’m perfect and I’m put together, but on the inside I’m hollow. This idea of knowing that I’m not good enough, and that I’ll never be good enough.”
However, as she is more mature in her faith, Evans noted that she understands the importance of knowing that she will never be good enough, but that it also does not matter. There is not an image or goal that she is trying to reach or achieve.
At Waynesburg University, you could count the number of students from Alaska on one hand.
Evans knew that she wanted to go to a school somewhere in the mid-east region so that she could at least be nearer her family that lives in the area.
At first, Evans was looking at larger schools such as Ohio State, but a tip from a friend made her second-guess the type of school that she should be looking for.
“I was actually looking at big schools in the area because of my family in Ohio,” said Evans. “But a friend told me that I should look at small Christian colleges. She was like, ‘You’re not going to want to go to a big party school or state school,’ and so I started looking for schools with nursing programs, and I found Waynesburg.”
As a student at Waynesburg, Evans hopes that she can be a walking testimonial every day to the people that she interacts with on campus.
She also noted that studying at a small Christian college has been a blessing because of how different it was from the public high school that she attended.
“Waynesburg has given me a chance to connect with other Christians,” said Evans. “I went to public school my whole life, so I’ve had this chance to experience my daily life being with other Christians. I go to church with my friends, my friends go to Bible studies with me, we hang out and go to Chapel, we go to Upper Room. They’re always there to be accountability partners, and friends of faith is kind of a big deal.”
Evans admitted that being surrounded by a ton of kids of the same faith could be potentially harmful once everyone enters the real world, but she is confident that there are enough people in Waynesburg that aren’t Christians.
She said that noticing the people every day on campus who need witnessing can prepare one for life beyond the University.
At the very least, Evans said that going to Waynesburg should make one’s faith stronger and give the needed background for life.
As a person who is known as being a little shy or quiet, Evans hopes that her actions and attitude can be a witness to others.
“I think that you should show your faith through your everyday actions,” said Evans. “God is love, so if you’re not loving others and being nice by holding doors or going out of your way to help someone if they’re having a bad day, just showing these everyday acts of kindness is my way of spreading God’s love.”