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They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

By: Noelle Beans

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Emily Miller

Perform well in nursing school. Work in Residence Life (aka run an entire women’s dorm). Maintain relationships. Figure out where the Lord is calling you. These were challenges that Emily Miller, a 2017 Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) graduate, conquered.

But her initial battle came in deciding where to go to college. Her brother attended IWU, and she didn’t want to just follow in his footsteps.

After a campus visit to IWU, the Christ-centered atmosphere and the great nursing program made it clear to her that IWU was where she was supposed to be.

Throughout college, her schedule was packed. Miller’s job in ResLife ultimately blessed her as she got to meet so many people and spend time with all of them.

She was faced with more challenges from the Lord; therefore, she grew deeper with Him through His teaching and the people who poured into her.

Now, Miller is living and working in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at Spectrum Health at the Meijer Heart Center.

She said, “I work on a Cardiothoracic Progressive Care Unit, and I love it!”

Miller was the ARD of Martin Hall. This is Emily with her RD, Sarah.

She explained that the part she loves most about her job is that she gets to care for people in a difficult and sometimes very vulnerable time of their life.

“God has given me opportunities to pray with patients and encourage them with truth,” she said.

Her prayer every day on her way to work is that her patients would see that this is not just a job for her, but a way that she gets to show them the love of Jesus by the way that she cares for them.

She admits that it is a stressful and demanding job and there are some tough days, but she realizes that she can only continue to have patience and compassion for others with the strength that comes from the Lord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Written by Noelle Beans, a writer for the IWU Alumni Center. Noelle is a sophomore Nursing and Honors Humanities double major at Indiana Wesleyan University in the John Wesley Honors College from Greenville, Illinois.

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PotW: Kyle Ray at Kentwood Community Church

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Petra & Kyle Ray

By: Mia Anderson

 

Reverend Kyle Ray is recognized as the “Pastor of the Week” last week (February 29). “Pastor of the Week” (PotW) is a renewed tradition honored by the Office of Alumni and Church Engagement which appreciates local pastors for their service and faith. Congrats, Pastor Kyle!

Pastor Kyle Ray has been the lead pastor at Kentwood Community Church (Kentwood, Michigan) since 2010. His ministry has served his congregants well by increasing diversity, creating a clear vision, and encouraging them to love their neighbors. KCC is a growing church that seeks to pour into their community through discipling members to share the Gospel, embracing other cultures, inspiring others to grow in their faith and to instill a devotion to serving in the name

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Rick Carder (Director of Alumni & Church Engagement) and Pastor Kyle Ray

of the Lord.

Ray is not your typical pastor. He went to the University of Michigan and pursued a career in engineering, working for General Motors and other companies before his call to ministry. He and his wife, Petra Ray, came to Kentwood Community Church in 1999, not as a pastor and his wife, but as congregants. When the Rays chose KCC as their church, Wayne Schmidt (who now serves as Vice President of Wesley Seminary) was lead pastor. The Rays learned and grew in their faith under Schmidt’s leadership and in 2003 Kyle felt a call to ministry, which led to him attending seminary.

IMG_0874In 2006, Ray returned to KCC as an Outreach Pastor. Through his and Schmidt’s leadership, KCC began to go from a predominantly white church, to a church more reflective of the demographics of the community. Ray said this happened because of an increase in passion and intentionality for reaching those in the Kentwood area.

In 2010, Schmidt moved into his role at the Wesley Seminary and Kyle became the lead pastor of KCC. He said, “After six years of being a pastor, I followed a 30 year, founding pastor [Schmidt].” But, Ray implemented a clear vision to his congregation that has also helped structure staff and budget. The vision is “REAL”: to Reach all people, Engage the community, Awaken spiritual growth, and Launch everyone into service.

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(from left) Malik, Petra, Kyle, and Matthew Ray

Ray embodies this vision by preaching the theory of the multiplication mindset to his congregation. This means making decisions that can help reach more and more people to Christ. One way KCC is doing this is by planting churches and founding satellite campuses in Wyoming, Michigan and Nagpur, India. The campus in India is in the center of a country with an incredibly low percentage of Christians. Others ways KCC shows the multiplication mindset is by showing hospitality toward other cultures by having specialized Bible study groups and services translated in real-time to Spanish. Ray said, “It seems like God has always blessed that desire to multiply and have more people come to faith in Christ.”

KCC continues to grow and impact the world through Pastor Kyle’s leadership. He said, “It’s been a crazy journey…but it’s been a great journey to go from congregant, to pastor, to lead pastor.”

Pastor Kyle’s wife, Petra, serves on the board of trustees at Indiana Wesleyan University. Together, Kyle and Petra have two adopted sons Malik (17) and Matthew (16).

Congratulations, Pastor Kyle Ray!

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.