Alumni Reflections – Sharon Stockdale

Continuing in our series of past students reflecting on how the programme has impacted them, this week we are hearing from Sharon Stockdale.

Sharon Stockdale – Spring 2006
Then: Geneva College student
Now: Works for Johnson and Johnson in post market quality for a diabetic insulin pump.

Sharon in 2006.

Sharon in 2017

I am the person I am today because of the way in which the Lord used my time in Scotland. The Lord taught me so much during my time in Scotland. I am still coming to see and understand some of the seeds that were planted there. I consider my time in Scotland to be the pinnacle of my college education. Tens years later after the classes, textbooks, and information has faded, it is the life lessons that make the investment into a college education worth it. The Lord taught me so much about worldviews and service in His kingdom during that time.

Experiencing and beginning to understand another culture, through immersion, teaches you so much about your own worldview—a worldview that continually needs to be conformed to a biblical worldview. Having seen and experienced another way of thinking and relating I find that it has revealed many blind spots and cultural ‘truths’ that are accepted without question, but in reality are not biblical. It is hard to capture in words the extent that it changes the way you think and the transformational work the Lord brought about. One of the elements that makes this experience unique is you are not in a school building surrounded by other students that buffer you from the culture around you. I lived in a house with one other student and was immersed in a local body. I greatly treasure that blessing from the Lord. We did life together with a local body of believers in the kingdom of God.

Many of my current habits including independent study, resting on the Sabbath, and a love for singing the Psalms were developed during my time abroad. The local body in Airdrie modeled well, what living together as a body of believers, under the Lordship of Christ, looks like. Their model, while not perfect because we live in a fallen world, has greatly influenced my service in His kingdom. It enhanced my desire and sensitivity towards proclaiming the gospel, service towards other, biblical love of fellow believers, and doctrinal principles related to church planting. All of those things are valuable transformational pieces but more importantly I came to see the Lord more clearly and love the Lord all the more because of many of those perspectives.

The Lord immensely blessed and transformed me through my time spend in Scotland. I am eternally thankful and grateful for the opportunity. I consider it such a privilege to have known, loved, and been known by that body. I carry many of the lessons learned there with me today. I only pray that I would faithfully be able to further His kingdom here better because of the growth and transformation bestowed upon me there. It is His kingdom, for His glory, and only by His grace!

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Alumni Reflections – John Gardner & Jackie Ellis Gardner

Continuing in our series of past students reflecting on how the programme has impacted them, this week we are hearing from John and Jackie Gardner.

John Gardner and Jackie Ellis Gardner – Autumn 2004
Then – Geneva College students
Now- John is the youth pastor at Chapel Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Beaver, Pennsylvania; Jackie, his wife, is a teacher at Beaver County Christian School. 

John and Jackie in 2004

John and Jackie in January 2018

My wife Jackie and I attended the Semester in Scotland program in the fall of 2004. Though it was over a decade ago, the memories and experiences gained through one semester abroad in the particular context of Airdrie RP had an incredible impact on our love for Christ’s church and our love for the people of Airdrie. The Semester in Scotland program is rigorous in instruction, deep in theological preparation, and absolutely unique in the way that it brings students into the community life of the church.

Even though neither of us are in the RP church, the theological insight into the Covenanter movement and the church which it has helped to create was a fine introduction to a storied past. The depth of contact with the stories and locations was top notch, and presented in such a way that regardless of one’s traditions, God is given the highest glory for the sustaining of his people.

With friends sharing stories from other study abroad programs, no other program seems to have attained the depth of Christian community as the Semester in Scotland. We were part of a small group that we loved, we served students with whom we are still Facebook friends, and we connected with people who expressed a genuine commitment to hospitality for a bunch of weird Americans who would only be around for a few months. Any institution can assemble students for study in a new place, and throw in a few interesting cultural tidbits. We know of no place that was so deeply committed to loving and serving students for a semester as the RP Church in Airdrie. This is no mere program of Andrew Quigley and a few students, but an investment by an entire church who all played a part in our education, and more importantly, our edification.

We remain deeply grateful for each day in Airdrie.

Alumni Reflections – Noah Bailey & Lydia Shafer Bailey

Continuing in our series of past students reflecting on how the programme has impacted them, this week we are hearing from Noah and Lydia Bailey.

Noah Bailey and Lydia Shafer Bailey – Autumn 2004
Then – Geneva College students
Now- Noah is the minister of First RP Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lydia, his wife, is a homemaker and mother of six. 

Noah and Lydia in 2004

 

Noah and Lydia Bailey and their children in September 2017.

Our Semester in Scotland profoundly moulded our lives and ministry. We regularly discover and discuss the myriad of connections our present experiences have with our four months beyond the pond. In small and unexpected ways, we see that season still shaping our decisions. The practice of walking to stores and depending on public transit in and around Airdrie made the shift to urban life in Cambridge, MA comfortable. Tea and biscuits remain a daily routine! But, the big and intended changes, woven into the vision and habits of the program, stand out best.

When in Airdrie, we were in someone’s home each week. We also popped in for movie night, game night, and, of course, METS. Stories of legendary meals still circulate our conversations (Ian teaching John how to pour cream in cake!) and inspire our cooking. Such unstinting hospitality lives on in how we run our home. The door is open and the table is set.

When in Airdrie, the Word of God was always open. Andrew taught us from Nehemiah each morning. He preached powerfully and faithfully from Genesis 1 and Romans 1. I do not try to preach like Andrew, but I remain inspired by the intensity of his delivery, his fidelity to the text, and his unswerving desire to reach the heart. I hope these three can be found in my preaching too. Reading through Ezekiel with our MET inspired us to cultivate the same quiet, Bible centered midweek time. Ian’s teaching through Luke in the Kids’ Club persuaded us to better hone our skills in communicating to little ones. The Word was ever-present in Airdrie.

When in Airdrie, the prayers of the saints stunned us. We still get emotional when remembering our first Lord’s Day morning, sitting in a circle and hearing complete strangers beg God for blessings on us and others. We have begun pre-worship prayer meetings in every church we have been a part of and anticipate doing the same in the one we just joined. Prayer is God’s people reaching for God’s power and we experienced that in Airdrie.

When in Airdrie, the Psalms were sung with understanding and fervency. Michael LeFebvre shared rich insights into Psalm 119. Andrew introduced each Psalm with a sentence or two about its value to the singer (a practice I have shamelessly copied every Lord’s Day of my ministry). Ian sang with a smiling face, a speedy tempo, and an open mouth. After evening worship, the Psalm practices made us marvel at the saints’ commitment. We learned to love Psalm singing cheerfully and seriously.

When in Airdrie, the Covenanters lived on in their proper place. They were not worshipped and they were not forgotten. Seen as the sinful people they were, we nevertheless saw their courageous commitment to God’s glory and His Church’s purity. Andrew’s words still ring in me and in my words, “It’s not about how they died, but how they lived. They lived for Christ and so, when the time came, they were ready to die for Christ.” Profound and poignant.

When in Airdrie, the reality of the Global Church came into view. Like too many Americans, we went to Scotland unbelievably ignorant of Jesus’ work around the world. That autumn we learned to stay aware of the bigger world and the church’s labors all over. We prayed and now still pray for a church that reaches far beyond America’s borders. The privileges and responsibilities of a worldwide fellowship of saints first came to our attention there.

The imprint of our Semester in Scotland remains on us personally. Again, there are little things like Covenanter portraits and artwork all over our house. Then, there are big things like naming our sons Michael Renwick, Andrew Knox, and Allen Argyll. Our Semester in Scotland is even found in the story of our marriage. I got down on one knee and presented a diamond to Lydia and she said yes – Airdrie, Scotland. The impact of our Semester in Scotland is hard to state succinctly. It is too big and too powerful, too alive and too emotional. Indeed, we are still discovering and discussing Airdrie’s impact on us.

Alumni Reflections – Natalie Weir Faris

The Semester in Scotland programme has been around since 2003.  In the autumn of 2017 we contacted past students asking them to send us a reflection on the impact Semester in Scotland made on their lives.  For the next several months, we will be featuring one of these reflections a week. 

Natalie Weir Faris – Autumn 2003
Then – Geneva Student
Now – Reformed Presbyterian missionary in South Sudan

Natalie in 2003

Daniel and Natalie Faris and their 3 sons in Colorado in June 2017.

“I grew up in a healthy church with solid biblical teaching, and yet the Semester in Scotland program helped me see that there is no substitute for the basic elements of Christian discipleship and church life: the Word and prayer. As we mixed hands-on involvement in the local church with tours of martyrs’ graves, I came to realize that the glory of dying for Christ is always preceded by the glory of living for Christ.”