Dr. Tracy Jessup, Minister to the University and Assistant Dean of Students, reflects on the role of God's voice in his life in his essay Gardner-Webb University: A Place to Hear the Call of God.
The Latin word for voice, vox, is somewhat related to vocatio, the Latin word for “calling.” Both words are especially fitting in describing my experience at Gardner-Webb University as a student, alumnus, and staff member.
I was a first generation college student. God used the voice of a guidance counselor at Mount Airy High School to encourage me to visit Gardner-Webb. My Mom and Dad accompanied me on my first visit. How could I ever forget the voice of Randy Kilby as he gave us a tour of the campus? The peace my family had about this place after just one visit was so great that my Dad paid my deposit that very day. Although previously I had never heard of Boiling Springs, NC or Gardner-Webb, I knew God was calling me here to receive a college education.
On my first day on campus as a freshmen, (August 19, 1985) I heard the voice of a beautiful, junior co-ed named Teresa Cannon. She was walking across campus with a friend to see a movie when they heard music coming from Gardner Hall. They popped their heads in the window, desiring to put faces with the voices they heard singing and,as they say, the rest is history! Teresa and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in June 2009 and God has blessed us with two wonderful children, Christian and Anna, who love growing up in the shadow of their parents’ alma mater. Mere words cannot express the fulfillment that comes from my calling as a husband and father.
During my journey as a student at Gardner-Webb, I also heard the voice of God confirming His calling upon my life to full-time Christian ministry although I had no idea what shape my call to ministry would take. I simply knew that I was to step out in faith like Abraham, who "when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going," Hebrews 11:8. Little did I know that following my graduate theological education in Alabama, God’s call would bring us back to Gardner-Webb.
Since 1996, I have had the honor and privilege of serving as Minister to the University. Not only do I get to live out the call of God on my life at a place that means so much to my family and me, but I have a front row seat to witness numerous students, faculty and staff responding to the voice and call of God. Allow me to share a few examples:
•In 2007-08 more than 120 students participated in mission trips sponsored by the office of campus ministries to New Orleans, Wisconsin, Russia, Guatemala, El Salvador, South Africa and Thailand.
•The student chapter of Prison Fellowship Ministries sponsored a Christmas party and gifts for 75 children who have an incarcerated parent.
•Sisters, a group of young women that seeks to fellowship and serve with all of their sisters in Christ on the campus of Gardner-Webb, recently threw a Global Baby Shower to focus on maternal health needs in Haiti. They assembled birthing kits to be sent to Haiti that would help birth more than 40 babies!
There’s a line in a song written by Steven Curtis Chapman which says, "The God who spoke is speaking still, and the God who came still comes." How true those words are! I’m thankful that Gardner-Webb University was and continues to be a place where people hear and respond to the voice and call of God.
