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The Pursuit of Learning for God’s Glory

The Pursuit of Learning for God’s Glory

by | May 22, 2024

Calvary University partners with professors who desire to glorify God and equip students to do the same. Dr. Timothy Hange is a direct example of this with a strong passion for life-long learning, rooted in a desire to love and honor the Lord. Critical thinking, thoughtful engagement, and the pursuit of learning have all contributed to Dr Hange’s philosophy of glorifying God and of teaching.

Dr. Hange is currently a professor in the English Department and has taught at Calvary since 2017. He recently earned his Doctorate in English Pedagogy and Technology and English Language from Murray State University. This has further equipped him to serve Calvary’s English Department and provides a direct example to students of honoring the Lord through lifelong learning and intellectual curiosity.

As a professor, Dr. Hange desires to share this perspective with his students by challenging them to think critically and establish their own perspective from the truth of the Bible. By integrating literature, he helps students to develop a biblical worldview that is both informed by the broad scope of humanity and founded on Scripture. Dr. Hange fosters and encourages this in his courses and by modeling constant learning.

“If we are to love the Lord with our mind, we are to be constantly open to learning.” Dr. Timothy Hange

Desiring to learn has significantly contributed to Dr. Hange’s testimony and many of his life experiences. After seeking to understand all major world religions, Dr. Hange was astonished to find Christianity to be the single and best explanation for reality; leading him to place his faith in Christ at twenty years old.

This directly impacted the course of Dr. Hange’s life as he pursued both knowledge and Christ. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and business administration, working for fifteen years in software engineering, after spending time as a Youth Pastor. God drew the hearts of him and his wife, Karen, to the people of Russia, leading them to adopt two children from there in 2002 and spend years travelling and doing orphanage outreaches. Two years after moving to Moscow in 2007, Dr. Hange earned his master’s degree in teaching English. This allowed him to teach in Moscow for eight years, in which he continued to work with orphanages, serve in an evangelistic outreach program, and thoughtfully engage in the Russian culture.

Dr. Hange’s life is a testimony of how God uses the skills and interests He has given us for His glory. As he passionately continues to pursue learning, Dr. Hange instills in his students that diligent learning not only glorifies God, but also equips believers to share truth with others in extraordinary ways.

Laura VanderWoude receives 2024 Elementary Education Award

Laura VanderWoude receives 2024 Elementary Education Award

by | Apr 12, 2024

Laura VanderWoude (CU’ 2018), has recently won the Elementary Educator award for 2024 from the Missouri American String Teachers Association. Laura graduated from Calvary University with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education: Instrumental, with an emphasis in violin. She received her Master of Music Education in 2022 from Kansas State University.  

Laura grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has been involved in orchestra and playing violin since she was seven years old. She chose Calvary as her university so that she could get a biblical education and an accredited degree in music education.  

“Calvary was a great fit for me because I was able to get involved in a community where I grew spiritually and academically.”

From a professional standpoint, Laura’s experiences at Calvary inspired her to connect with more musicians, take up opportunities to get hands-on experience in student teaching, and ultimately become a trained, confident educator.   

Laura’s award was given to her by the Missouri chapter of the American String Teacher’s Association. As a six-year member of this professional organization, she often volunteers and is the head chaperone of the all-state orchestra students at their state conference every year.

The Elementary Education Award is usually given to someone who teaches beginner student-musicians. Laura teaches in Independence, Missouri, where she has two hundred students that she teaches every day. She said it has been a privilege to focus on beginners and first year instrument players. When reflecting on how she felt about receiving her award, she said:  

“I was not quite sure how to feel at first because there are so many other amazing string educators that also deserve this award. I am humbled, but also feel honored that people see the hard work I do in my area of expertise. Truly, all the glory goes to the Lord. He has strengthened me and taught me personally about His compassion and patience, and He has shown me how much my students are made in His image.” 

Laura is ultimately grateful to have a positive impact on her students’ lives. She feels privileged to help them excel in their musicianship and develop skills they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.   

 

Career vs Calling: Matt Brewer

Career vs Calling: Matt Brewer

by | Sep 8, 2022

“Success is found in the stewardship of where God has placed me.” 

Today, there are many beliefs about careers and callings. Should we wait for a calling from God before choosing a career path? Matt Brewer is a faithful servant of God who has held different positions in his professional career. He’s been a educator, a businessman, and a missionary. He states: “I believe God’s plan for my life is for me to walk in obedience each day.  God has given me the opportunity to do a lot of different things, but the joy I’ve found in my careers has abounded when I faithfully steward the responsibilities of whatever position I have served in.” Matt’s focus is not on his 401k, but rather his “401 Kingdom.” 

Matt Brewer graduated from Calvary Bible College with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education in Bible and Mathematics, and received a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Clark Summit University. Although his career path began in education, Matt is currently Director of Talent Development at Equity Bank. When reflecting on if he felt called to his career path, Matt stated: “I’ve never believed that the will of God for my life was some mystic thing I hoped I didn’t miss. God’s plan for my life is to walk in obedience and fellowship with Him each day. For me, success is found in the stewardship of where God has placed me.” 

As stated earlier, Matt has led a diverse career life. He grew up in Christian schooling and was deeply impacted by Christian teachers, so he pursued a career in education. His first professional job was as a mathematics instructor and coach at Blue Ridge Christian School (1986-1991), where he learned the important lessons of setting an example and being intentional in his work, family, and spiritual life. After a few years of working as a supervisor for his father’s construction business, Matt delved deeper into business when he accepted a sales and marketing position at Tomkins Industries (1993-1998) and eventually a position as Operations Manager (1998-2000).

Tomkins was where Matt transformed into a proactive leader through volunteering to do difficult tasks no one else wanted to do, and going out of his way to challenge himself, even when he had to learn new skills. After helping Tomkins expand greatly, Matt returned to the field of education, where he worked at Kansas City Christian School (2000-2005) as the high school principal. There, Matt applied newly acquired skills from his previous job at Tomkins, taking part in financial responsibilities as well as thriving in his position of leadership where he put his relational competency and passion for coaching to great use.

Then in 2005, Matt and his wife, Mary, made a huge career shift. After deciding they wanted to enter a ministry role, they sold everything they owned and began raising support for a ministry career at Ethnos 360’s Faith Academy in the Philippines. Within six months, they raised their supports, “stepped out in faith”, and moved to the Philippines with their three children. After three years on the mission field, where Matt faithfully served as an educator, advisor, and leader, he and his family moved back to the states in 2007. When Trinity Academy offered him a position as principal of the school (2007-2017), he accepted.

During his ten years at Trinity, Matt held many positions of leadership in the school, including administration, development, academics, and student life. While there, he discovered his passion for “building” organizations, as well as people. When he resigned from Christian Education in 2017, he started building a training program at Equity Bank, where he coached employees for five years until he was promoted to his current position as Director of Talent Development. Now, he handles executive coaching and leadership development, where he uses his God-given abilities everyday to build up employees into strong and effective leaders.

So far as the future is concerned, Matt believes the best years of his service to God through his career are not behind him, but ahead of him: “My wife and I are turning sixty next year. When I was young, this sounded old, but I believe my opportunities for the Kingdom are great. In our culture we hear things like ‘slowing down’ and ‘retirement’. Yet, I’ve gotten more involved in service in the last five years than I have my entire life.” No matter what career path Matt continues or what opportunities come his way next, he affirms: “Every day, no matter what I am doing, it’s my purpose to live a life of integrity.” 

 

Teaching Today’s Generation: Abigail Stolberg

Teaching Today’s Generation: Abigail Stolberg

by | Aug 4, 2022

Abigail Stolberg is a recent graduate of Calvary University who is equipped to teach today’s generation.

“I look forward to taking hold of every opportunity God has for me.”

Abigail Stolberg graduated this spring with a degree in Secondary English Education and a minor in Theatre Arts. Originally from Ogallala, Nebraska, she served at Calvary as a Resident Discipleship Director in the dorms, and performed in several Calvary productions, while directing others. Along with these roles, Abigail states that she has always had a desire to be a teacher: “I love working with people to help them learn, especially when it is something I’m passionate about.” 

Abigail says that her time at Calvary supplied her with many tools to help her gain success, both practically and personally: “I am grateful for the education department and the high standard of excellence they hold. I’ve done practical preparation to obtain the skills needed to be a good teacher, and I feel well-equipped to enter the field of education. Now, I’m passionate and excited about representing Christ by doing excellent work for Him.”

Abigail recounts that when she first started at Calvary, she was riddled with anxiety, homesickness, and fear. Throughout those challenges, she shares, “I was so grateful for the community at Calvary; even though I was afraid, I didn’t have to be alone. One of my friends encouraged me to pray, not just when I was anxious or afraid, but regularly, and when I did, my life transformed.”

She also adds that the biblical foundation Calvary instilled throughout her education has been “absolutely invaluable” to her personally, and has helped prepare her for the future: “The emphasis on serving the Lord in everything we do is something I try to carry into the classroom each day. Through my relationships within the Christian community at Calvary, I’ve been encouraged and pushed to know Christ better and to be more like Him.” 

During her years at Calvary, Abigail served in various leadership positions, including the Nikao Leadership Institute and the Residence Life team. These programs helped her gain firsthand experience in leadership roles, building relationships, and gaining new perspectives: “I’ve learned from some incredible mentors who have been and who continue to be very influential in my life. This has made me a stronger leader.”

Today, Abigail is eager to get into a classroom of her own and start implementing everything she has learned from Calvary. Now that she has gained the knowledge and experience needed to enter her career field, she states: “I expect to put into practice the skills I’ve gained, and grow both personally and professionally. I want to serve, love, and teach people, and I look forward to taking hold of every opportunity God has for me.”

 

 

Alumna Alisha Joyce provides holistic education

Alumna Alisha Joyce provides holistic education

by | Jul 17, 2021

“Every day I’m thankful for the biblical education I received at Calvary” 

Alisha Joyce graduated from Calvary University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education before getting her Master’s in Special Education from Bethel University. For the last four years, she has been teaching at Providence School of Art in Kansas City.

Providence incorporates all kinds of different learning styles in all their classes. “The reason that we do that,” Joyce explained, “is because we really believe that it’s important to equip students with a varied experience in education. We really want to reach the whole child and give them not only academics, but also the arts because we believe that all the skills that they learn in their art classes help form the skills that they learn later in life— it equips them for whatever God has for them in the future. The arts provide a lot of experience in problem-solving, learning how to work with other people, and communication skills. All of those things are really important for people to learn in general, so we made a point of including that in our school.”

Another thing which makes Providence unique is the demographic of their students. “Our school is specifically designed to reach students from a variety of different educational backgrounds,” Joyce said. “So that’s why I ended up with a lot of students in my class whose needs might be a little different than what might be considered a typical learner.”

Even in the non-arts classes, the teachers at Providence try to incorporate creativity in their lessons. “I teach the advanced class,” Joyce said, “I have the fourth, fifth, and sixth-grade students. I’m not an arts teacher, I’m just a regular classroom teacher. I do math, science, and all those things. But we do try to incorporate as much as we can of creativity and movement a lot. If you look around, it’s not a very typical classroom. It has a trampoline— that is an actual seat that students sit in. We’ve got all kinds of different seating options just because we believe in meeting children where they’re at and then helping them learn what they need to learn.”

Joyce said that she is thankful for what she learned at CU. “We teach Bible classes here, and I feel like every day I’m thankful for the biblical education I received at Calvary because the kids will ask me the craziest questions, and I feel like if I didn’t go to a college that had those Bible classes I feel like I would be like, ‘Uhh, you should really talk to your parents about that,’ because I would have no idea how to answer it… But I have been able to discuss those things with them because of the truths that I learned while I was at Calvary.”

Joyce then talked about how she sometimes questions whether she’s where she is meant to be. “I think that once you graduate and you start a career there’s this tendency to question, ‘Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path? Is this really what God has for me?’” She then continued, saying, “Because everything can seem so mundane after a while. I’ve been working at this school for four years now— I mean a lot has changed, they do keep me on my toes here— but, when you’re getting up every morning to go to work, it’s like, ‘Is this really what God has for me? I thought it would be more exciting than this.'”

But in the middle of the mundane, she is able to take joy in how she sees God working in the kids’ lives. “I’ve gotten to do so many cool things, gotten to walk with these kids through so many big things in their lives… I’ve been with the same kids all along.” Joyce says that every year there’s at least one moment where she thinks, “This is it. This is why I’m here.” Whether it’s a conversation with one of the kids, providing the students with the support they need, or helping to provide a safe space, like Providence, where they can learn and grow. “Because I’m here, I can provide that for them.”

2020 Grad Teaching Internationally This Fall

2020 Grad Teaching Internationally This Fall

by | Jun 25, 2020

“I’ve learned that education is, at its core, the same everywhere, especially for Christian education.”

Elizabeth Viens graduated this spring with her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. In the fall, she’ll be teaching 3rd grade at an international school in Southeast Asia. Viens said, “Since I was about 10 years old, I noticed that I just had a really big desire to go internationally. I love traveling and people groups. I have a heart for the world and for lost people.”

Calvary was a top choice for Viens, who lived in the Kansas City area. She chose the education program because, “I’ve always loved kids; loved teaching. It was always kind of on my radar. I wanted something that I could do in a ministry context, not just the professional world.”

Viens has traveled to several schools abroad while at Calvary, visiting Russia, China, and Mexico. She said, “I’ve learned that education is, at its core, the same everywhere, especially for Christian education. Even though it may look different to different people groups, the goal is still to inform minds to be more like Christ and impact the world for his kingdom.”

Viens will be teaching through the organization Teach Beyond. She first encountered Teach Beyond when their reps visited Calvary’s campus, and she “felt like that was God saying, ‘here’s your direction.’”

As she puts her degree to work, Viens is excited for this opportunity to teach internationally. “I think as an educator, I’m helping prepare the next generation of people to be logical and sound thinkers, to have a knowledge of God and his word, and … preparing them to serve in the world wherever they go.”