By: Dezaray Barr
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Maggie (Moul) Bowman graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) and the John Wesley Honors College in December of 2017 with a degree in Intercultural Studies.
Bowman first heard about IWU from a card in the mail. She said, “I don’t know who designs those things, but they do a superb job. I decided to check out their website and after a visit, I was sold.”
Two words that come to Bowman’s mind when she thinks about her time at IWU are healing and challenging. “When I arrived at IWU, I was struggling with a lot of emotional trauma and often felt like a failure,” she explained. “I believe that God knew IWU was exactly the place I needed to be. Through the friends I made, classes I took and one-on-one mentoring, my life grew into something beautiful I never could have imagined for myself when I started. Nevertheless, IWU challenged me in ways I did not expect. My leadership roles on campus often lead me to see some of the ‘ugly parts’ of the world of higher education, but this only pushed me to pursue God more and to call others to do the same.”
After graduation, Bowman moved back to her hometown in Michigan, got married and spent three months as a substitute teacher. She just got hired as a Clearinghouse Coordinator for a local Christian Nonprofit, Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ). “I’m excited to start a job that actually relates to my degree and will utilize all my training,” she said.
She’d known from a young age that she wanted to do ministerial work, but Bowman always figured it would be somewhere overseas. “It wasn’t until I came to IWU and I realized how much need there was in my own community that God began to turn my heart back towards my little hometown of Hart, Michigan,” she said. “When I met my husband, who is also from Hart, he sort of sealed the deal, and back I came to begin a life of ministry in rural Michigan!”
Some fun facts about Bowman include that she is the youngest of nine children, and her family has grown to include nineteen people of six different nationalities! “We literally have every hair color imaginable in my family, and it’s not hard to see why I chose my field of study!” she said. “My hometown is the Asparagus Capital of the nation, and we are also known for our cherries and apples. It’s truly one of the gems of Michigan’s west coast – rolling farmlands, beautiful beaches and little traffic.”
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Written by Dezaray Barr, PR Specialist for the Alumni Office. Dezaray is a senior Strategic Communication, Journalism and Honors Humanities triple major at Indiana Wesleyan University in the John Wesley Honors College. Visit Dez’s website at www.dezaraybarr.weebly.com.