Devin Goebel was born and raised in the Midwest. He came to IWU as an Art Education major with high hopes of following the career path of teaching art after college. However, God had different plans for this artist’s career. After feeling discontent with his major, he switched to Printmaking. After one semester in his new major, Goebel knew he was on the right path. He graduated in the Fall of 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Printmaking.
Devin Goebel
Goebel relates his success to his time at IWU. “I think it all really goes back to the professors. I was very ambitious. They always encouraged my risk-taking,” Goebel says. He believes the freedom allowed in his art classes allowed him to prosper and discover his true style. Currently, he spends time producing art based on his memories of growing up in the Midwest. He says, “Much of my work resembles the Midwest, because that is where I am from.”
Goebel now resides in Nashville, where he works at a Hatch Show Print. He had previously interned at this letterpress shop when he was in college. He now works for them as a designer and printer. The Hatch Show Print shop began in the late 1800’s in Nashville and now produces over 500 posters a year, so Goebel stays pretty busy. Printmaking involves making unique prints with an element of design.
Goebel’s own work focuses on combining wood, wire, and common household items to form three dimensional work. In one gallery showing at Indiana Wesleyan, titled Pool Party, Goebel incorporated artwork with lawn chairs, a lawn mower, an inflatable pool, and a garden hose. You can find more of his work at his website, www.devingoebel.com.
Along with working, he continues to produce his own work. He has rented studio space and plans to have his first gallery showing downtown Nashville this summer.
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Written by Emily Lehner, a writer for the Alumni Center and a sophomore Writing major at IWU. She is active on the cross country and track teams. She is passionate about using her writing skills to share the good news of Christ with others and writes often on her personal blog at www.emilylehner.wordpress.com.
The Proctors striking a pose: (from left) Coby (6), Kirk, Aubrey (8), Bryce (10), and Emily.
Kirk and Emily (Robinson) Proctor are doing great things to expand God’s Kingdom, and it all began at Indiana Wesleyan University.
Kirk grew up in the Wesleyan church. His family was well known in the church, usually attending multiple services a week. Kirk says that the only family who stayed longer in his childhood church besides his own family was the pastor’s family.
From a very young age Kirk put his faith in Christ, “From the ages of three to five, I gave my life to Christ every time I got in trouble, which was a lot.”
When Kirk was in seventh grade, he rededicated his life to Christ, which is when Kirk believes it was the first time it was real for him. The next summer Kirk received his call to ministry while at summer camp, knowing the Lord wanted him to be a pastor.
Kirk preaching at Faith Church in Lansing, MI
Being the youngest child in his family, Kirk’s older brother and sister had attended Indiana Wesleyan, and Kirk knew Indiana Wesleyan was where he wanted to be. During his first few years in college he spent time dodging and rediscovering his call into ministry, including a six month period where he thought he did not want to be a pastor at all.
Emily also grew up in a family active in the Wesleyan church. Although Emily gave her life to Christ at a young age, she became serious about her faith in middle school and high school by learning from her summer counselors at church camp. Through camps, conferences and rallies Emily was introduced to Indiana Wesleyan. When she discovered that IWU had a competitive cheer team that offered scholarships, Emily knew IWU was where she wanted to go.
During their time at IWU, Kirk and Emily were both admissions tour guides, which is where they met. They became friends and eventually began dating. The couple graduated in April of 2002, Kirk with a degree in Christian Ministries and a minor in Intercultural Studies, and Emily with a Communication degree in Public Relations and a minor in Spanish. They married a month after graduating on May 25, 2002. IWU has had a huge impact on both of their lives, “We absolutely loved our time at Indiana Wesleyan,” Emily said.
This number represents how many people have found Salvation through Faith Church
Since leaving IWU, the Proctors have been working in the Wesleyan church for 14 years. After marrying, Kirk and Emily moved to Wisconsin where they had taken jobs as youth ministers at Sand Lake Wesleyan Church. The pair then served for a few years at Sturgis Wesleyan Church in Michigan, and then moved to Illinois where they served at Heritage Church for six years. Now, the couple lives in Lansing, Michigan where Kirk is the senior pastor at Faith Church.
Kirk is passionate about keeping his congregation accountable for bringing new believers to Christ. About two years ago, Kirk told his church congregation that every time a non-believer comes to Christ they will put a number on the wall of the church. The number is located above the door, so that when congregants leave after the Sunday services they are reminded church is not just the pastor, but that they are a part of the Church.
Kirk believes his congregation has changed immensely because of this number above the door, “When they leave they think, ‘How many more people can come to Christ this week?’ And then they celebrate that number. We’ll announce a new number from time to time, and there is always a standing ovation with whooping and hollering.”
Each new Christian holds up their “number” that represents when they found Salvation
After the first year the number above the door was “113”. Kirk planned on taking the number down and starting over. However, people in the church asked him not to. Many people knew what number they were or what number their friends were, and they did not want to lose that symbol.
Today, the number is “227”. Of these 227 people, one-third of them were led to Christ by members of the church outside of services. Kirk has seen dozens of people come into the church and put up their own number, either by themselves or with their friend who brought them to Christ.
Last month, Kirk and Emily had the opportunity to travel to the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Faith church is currently partnered with World Hope International in a three year village partnership commitment. During these three years, Faith church raises monetary funds to allow the village they are partnered with to create commerce within their own community in West Africa.
Kirk is passionate about what World Hope International is doing around the world, “They know how the old saying goes, ‘Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ That is what World Hope International does. They know what crops can grow or certain livestock that each village can have, so we pay for them to have these things.”
The village Kirk and Emily visited on behalf of their church had no well and only muddy water. Through the partnership, the village has been able to plant pineapple fields, and they now have two wells. The people of the village now have clean water, and can sell the pineapple to create commerce to provide for education and basic needs.
While in Sierra Leone, Kirk and Emily also had the opportunity to help missionaries who were in need of prayer, “We got to pour into some of the Wesleyan Missionaries there,” said Emily. Kirk knows that his work is not done with Faith church or with World Hope International, “I hope that when this three year partnership is done we’ll pick another village.”
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Written by Dezaray Barr, Writer for the Alumni Office. Dezaray Barr is a Freshman Strategic Communication and Honors Humanities double major at Indiana Wesleyan University in the John Wesley Honors College. At IWU Dezaray is involved in PRSSA leadership and runs both the JWHC Blog and her own blog. In 2015, Dezaray received the award of Horatio Alger National Scholar.
The Education Division at Indiana Wesleyan University is one of the largest academic divisions on campus. To honor the students and graduates of this department, we will be telling the stories of several alumni and how they are using their God-given gifts to teach others. Special thanks goes to the alumni that participated in interviews, the faculty of the Education Division, and to the Division Chair, Dr. Jim Elsberry.
When Ellen Kujawski (’14, Elementary Education major, TESOL and Music minors) was eight years old, she felt led by God to serve in the mission field–with no idea where that would take her. Now, Kujawski is serving as an elementary teacher in the Dominican Republic (DR) with her missionary partner, Jessica Moulding – living out her call to missions. Kujawski has always been drawn to teaching, especially for elementary students.
Ms. Kujawski and several Kindergarten students dressed up for “Expedition Night”
In high school, Kujawski fostered her love for missions by going on several mission trips –including two trips to the DR. She loved visiting the rural, sugarcane villages and participating in projects that could be sustained. She never thought that the Lord would call her to serve in the DR after graduation. Kujawski commented, “Teaching in the DR wasn’t even on my radar until TeachBeyond approached me!”.
TeachBeyond is a Christian, international organization that provides education to children and adults to benefit their futures and communities. Even though it had been four years since Kujawski’s last Spanish class, she followed God’s leading and went to the DR with TeachBeyond. Once in the DR, she said she was, “placed in a completely immersive Spanish environment,” where she had to learn quickly how to speak and understand Spanish. Dominican “Spanish is one of the most difficult dialects of Spanish to learn because the language is spoken extremely quickly,” she said. But Kujawski has learned much in the past two years that has equipped her to teach English to Dominican Spanish speakers.
Kujawski was placed with her work colleague, Jessica Moulding, in San Francisco, DR. This city is quite large, with a population of 250,000 and recent growth in commerce in the area. While there is still poverty in the city, San Francisco is quite different from the sugarcane villages usually associated with the DR.
Kujawski and Moulding were sent to San Francisco Christian School to help open and run the school as an English-immersion elementary school, beginning with Pre-K and Kindergarten. A local pastor founded SFCS and Kujawski, Moulding and a missionary family were brought in to teach and aid the growth of the school. The school opened for the school year just one-and-a-half weeks after Kujawski and Moulding arrived in the DR. Kujawski realized right away that she was not only doing the Lord’s work, but also work that she was passionate about.
Say Cheese! Ms. Kujawski & Ms. Moulding with the entire SFCS student body.
However, Kujawski and Moulding were not only teachers at SFCS, but they also shouldered the jobs of recruiting and admitting students, qualifying students for scholarships, maintaining the school’s finances, cleaning the building, and more.Because of the unsustainable foundation and departure of the school’s founding pastor, they quickly realized that SFCS’s current structure would not work.Kujawski was faced was a difficult choice, she said, “[Jessica and I] were left with a choice–leave and forget everything that had happened the last year or if God was calling us to something much bigger than ourselves.”
Kujawski went on to say, “We both felt like our work here wasn’t done and for the rest of that summer we fought to keep the school alive as much as we could.” They tried to get donations and fundraise in the U.S., to acquire more teachers, and even to become a sister school to a larger school.
Ms. Kujawski teaches a student to write his name
One of the larger schools they approached was Doulos Discovery Schoolin Jarabacoa, a city near San Francisco. Doulos did not have the resources to accept SFCS as a sister school, but instead Kujawski said, “Doulos offered us a crazy proposition to become experts in running and planting a school in the DR by moving to Jarabacoa. We would live and learn from their school for a year before returning to San Francisco, DR.”
Although at first the move to Dolous and temporarily closing SFCS’s door for a year felt like a failure to Kujawski, she soon learned that this was a blessing. She receives Spanish classes twice a week, grows daily by teaching her own kindergarten class, and has had the opportunity to learn from a school that has been operating for 13 years doing what she wants to do at SFCS. Already Kujawski and Moulding are preparing for the re-opening of SFCS. They are gaining knowledge about their community and laws that must be in place to open the school, as well as connecting with as many local businesses and influential people as they can.
Kujawski spoke passionately about how she and Moulding have been preparing for the reopening of SFCS:
“Before, we were supporters of another man’s dream and the vision he had for the school. Once he was gone, we couldn’t just be supporters anymore –we had to become the school planters. It is a completely different role. As a school supporter, all I needed to know was how to be a great kindergarten teacher and support my ESL students. But as a school planter, everything has changed! Now I need to know my community and have relationships with its leaders. I need to be involved in the existing local schools and know what programs they are offering as well as what they wish they were offering. I need to learn how we can best support the dreams and goals of the people of San Francisco. We are not here to just give them an American education; we are here to help the community. And until we know them intimately, our school’s impact can only scratch the surface.”
Ms. Kujawski and her students attempt jumping jacks 🙂
Kujawski and Moulding plan on reopening SFCS in the Fall of 2017. When they reopen, they plan to offer Pre-K and Kindergarten classes and add an additional grade level each year. Their ultimate goal is to give their students a quality Christian education, and the tool of English, so that they can become leaders in their community.
Books donated by Dr. McCracken for SFCS
During her time at IWU, Kujawski’s professors in the education division consistently poured into her academically and spiritually. She said, “[The education department] prepared me so well, not only academically to be a teacher, but spiritually to be [in the Dominican Republic] doing what I’m doing.” Kujawski remembered several faculty members including Dr. Muchun Yin (TESOL) and Dr. Anita Manwell (Elementary Education) who always encouraged her to pursue her dream of combining Elementary Education and TESOL to teach in a non-traditional setting. Kujawski said, “They believed in me, even when I doubted it was possible. And at that point in my life, that was exactly what I needed.” Additionally, Dr. John McCracken (Education) even fundraised to buy books for SFCS. Overall, Kujawski has felt the impact of her time at IWU in her own teaching and through the lasting relationships and care from faculty members.
SFCS is also in great need of teachers (Pre-K, Kinder, 1st, PE, Art/Music, ESL)! The positions are open for the 2016-17 school year and would give an amazing opportunity to be immersed in a new culture and language. Teachers would also have the opportunity to teach a smaller number of classes before the re-launch of SFCS in Fall of 2017. Contact Ellen at ekujawski@teachbeyond.org for more information!
Written by Mia Anderson, Blog and Social Media Manager, Storyteller for the Alumni Office. Mia is a Senior at IWU studying Strategic Communication with her concentration in Public Relations. She is the Vice President of IWU PRSSA and will be getting married and moving to Indianapolis after she graduates in December 2016! Mia loves hearing others’ stories and sharing them with the world. Visit her personal website at www.MiaLAnderson.weebly.com.
On the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University, “revival” is a buzzword. Throughout Summit (the spiritual emphasis week which our campus held the second week of school) the speaker, Dr. Kevin Queen spoke on this subject. In all of his talks throughout the week, he discussed the need for personal revival as crucial for spiritual focus throughout the community as a whole. At the end of Dr. Queen’s last talk, students were offered chips with the slogan “All In” to remind them of the dedication required to commit to a lifestyle of revival.
Summit is now several weeks passed, and although there is a sensitivity to the topic of spiritual renewal, many people do not know what to do with the stirring they felt during the time of spiritual emphasis.
“Moments of revival, like what happened on IWU’s campus during Summit are the beginning of awakening,” commented Garrett Howell, former student body chaplain and IWU alum (’13, Christian Ministries). Howell has recently started a ministry called Awaken Ministry, with the expressed purpose of helping students and young adults find applications for their desire to follow the Lord with deeper spiritual fervor.
“During my time at IWU I sensed a need to pray for revival,” Howell mentioned. “I was a student body chaplain and I knew this was a need on campus, and something for which I needed to pray.” During his final year at IWU, Howell was deeply involved in the spiritual formation of students as he worked as student body chaplain. Within this position, Howell was able to understand the spiritual climate of the school more fully. During his time at IWU, Howell sensed that the Lord was calling him to start a ministry to help equip and disciple students to exhibit spiritual passion.
“I talked with my mentors my senior year of college,” recalls Howell, “I sensed that the Lord was calling me to full-time service.” As a ministry student, such a vision was not unexpected. Howell talked with several trusted friends and explained his vision to them; much to his pleasure, they were as excited about his idea as he was.
“The idea of waking up from Spiritual complacency was what first inspired me to start Awaken Ministries,” Howell explained. With the help of his mentors, Howell began mobilizing support to start this outreach program. “We had a vision of equipping spiritually-sensitive students so that they could, in turn, initiate awakening in the church.”
Awakening launched as a student event at IWU in the fall of 2012. Howell helped initiate several worship experiences, similar to the Summit weeks. The goal of these Awakening events was to ignite a desire to draw closer to the Lord and pursue Spiritual revival. Since the first meeting in 2012, the ministry has grown exponentially.
“The focus of our ministry is to work to equip students through a two-semester leadership and discipleship program,” Howell explained. This ministry is currently working closely with IWU with monthly meetings and follow-up opportunities for fellowship, discipleship, and service.
“People can choose to engage at whatever level they feel called. For some, they might only choose to attend the monthly meeting. Others opt to join a discipleship group for personal mentoring and growth. Some become part of our outreach program and travel to churches where they are thrown into ministry,” Howell explained. The goal of the ministry is to equip students to be able to minister as well, so Awaken attempts to provide interested students with opportunities to serve.
In addition to the discipleship and ministry opportunities, Howell and the Awaken team travel to churches for seminars and revival meetings. It is Garrett’s vision that these discipleship opportunities will grow and become an important component of the ministry.
In the IWU community, Awaken Ministries offers the opportunity to take the next step toward personal revival. “For students who are seeking to go deeper with the Lord, this is a good place to start,” encouraged Howell. “We encourage everyone to attend a monthly meeting and see what God has for them after that.”
To find out more information about Garrett Howell and the ministry of Awaken, please visit their website at www.awakenministries.net.
Written by Katherine Arch, Story Teller for Alumni Relations. Katherine Arch is a Senior English major at Indiana Wesleyan, and a member of the Track and Cross Country teams. She is passionate about sharing people’s stories and celebrating their unique divine potential in written form. Katherine also operates a website called “Join the Ranch” at jointheranch.weebly.com. It is about pursuing God’s purpose for her life and vocation.
The Education Division at Indiana Wesleyan University is one of the largest academic divisions on campus. To honor the students and graduates of this department, we will be telling the stories of several alumni and how they are using their God-given gifts to teach others. Special thanks goes to the alumni that participated in interviews, the faculty of the Education Division, and to the Division Chair, Dr. Jim Elsberry.
History is the grandest story of all time—telling the tale of nations, people, and events and Matt Barnett believes that, “America has a really great story to tell.” The mark of a truly great history teacher is found in the significance that this knowledge brings to each student’s life. Matt Barnett (’07, Social Studies Education) is one of those history teachers that are not easily forgotten by students.
Matt Barnett and his students gather around the hand-carved canoe he made.
Since graduating from IWU, Barnett has taught United States history, American government, and psychology at Lewis Cass Junior/Senior High School in Walton, Indiana. History is a true passion of his, which is shown through his hands-on approach to teaching U.S. History. Barnett enjoys teaching his students by immersing them in the time period they are studying—whether it be by building a 14-foot long dugout canoe and painting it by hand with his students, bringing in Native American replica tools for the children to see and use, dressing up in full Civil War uniform or as George Washington, or playing baseball the good ol’ way—with Civil War rules and equipment. He loves to see his students have that, as Barnett put it, “Light bulb moment,” where students open their minds up to the subject matter and how it applies to their lives.
Jaclyn and Matt Barnett with their children Lily, Caleb, and Lincoln.
Barnett’s teaching style has not gone unnoticed. Not only does he have the opportunity to see the impact of his teaching during parent-teacher conferences where parents are amazed that their children suddenly love U.S. history, but Barnett has just been granted a prestigious award. In the entire state of Indiana, Matt Barnett has been recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) association as the “Outstanding Teacher of American History”—an award given to a teacher in each state. Barnett has the opportunity to be awarded this similar award, but on a national level. He will be recognized for his excellent teaching at the Indiana State DAR meeting in Indianapolis. This award was given to Barnett because of his patriotism and ability to make U.S. history connect with his students.
Barnett came to IWU pre-declared, unsure of what he wanted to study or where God was leading him. He began to realize he had interests in worship leading, music, and history, but he had trouble figuring out how to integrate his passions into a degree. As Barnett looks back on his time at IWU, he says, “God was prepping me the whole time. When you’re in the moment it’s hard to see what He’s doing, but then when you look back it all lined up perfectly.” He soon chose his major of Social Studies Education after having a transformational class with Dr. David Bartley and an enriching student teaching experience. Barnett recalls realizing how he wanted to teach his students by way of example of Dr. Bartley’s story-telling style, “If you can tell a story that grabs someone’s attention and someone’s heart—you have succeeded,” said Barnett.
Upon hearing about Barnett’s accomplishments, Dr. Bartley had this to say:
At Indiana Wesleyan, we hope to do more than inform our students. We hope to share our passion for life-long learning and to see that passion carried into the next generation. As we are faithful to that task, we can have confidence that the Lord will continue His work in the lives and careers of our graduates. We cannot imagine where their life journeys will take them. On these occasions, though, we get a glimpse of what can happen when our students heed God’s call on their lives. Receiving this teaching award, Matt has reached a level of teaching excellence as recognized by an organization well known for its love of America’s history. Clearly the Lord has multiplied our investment in Matt’s life, and will now increase Matt’s investment in the lives of his students. To that measure, we join in the celebration of Matt’s accomplishment. On behalf of the Social Science Division, congratulations Matt!
Matt Barnett not only teaches, though—he is also a worship pastor at McGrawsville United Methodist Church in Anvoy, IN. Barnett is also the husband of Jaclyn (’07); and father of Caleb (5), Lily (3), and Lincoln (1). Matt Barnett has embraced God’s calling on his life by utilizing all of his passions and knowledge.
Written by Mia Anderson, Blog and Social Media Manager/Storyteller for the Alumni Office. Mia is a Senior at IWU studying Strategic Communication with her concentration in Public Relations. She is the Vice President of IWU PRSSA and hopes to work at a PR agency in Indianapolis after graduation in December 2016. Mia loves hearing others’ stories and sharing them with the world. Visit Mia’s personal website at www.MiaLAnderson.weebly.com.
