LINNEA SWENSON | guest writer

APU women find a creative way to use their guest meals for class participation and fellowship.

What started out as one student’s idea for a class assignment turned into a full-fledged event. 30 women from Walter Hoving Home in Pasadena were greeted by 30 APU women Wednesday Nov. 14 for an evening of thanksgiving and fellowship in APU's cafeteria.

“Ministry is about changing people’s lives,” Theology Professor Paul Shrier said.

Earlier this fall, Shrier proposed to his students the idea of serving an organization or part of the community in a practical way. The assignment was to write a paper detailing how the students would go about this and what the planning process would involve.

“They [the students] don’t have to do it. It’s totally voluntary. But if they do it, they initiate it. It’s totally student driven,” Shrier said.

If the students took their idea to the next level and actually staged an event they received extra credit. Meredith Anderson put her idea into action and, with the help of seven women from her class, invited the entire Walter Hoving Home over to APU for a thanksgiving dinner in the cafeteria hosted by Communiversity.

Wednesday evening, the women from Walter Hoving Home, a non-profit, faith-based rehabilitation center serving women 18 years and older, came and shared with freshman APU women over a thanksgiving dinner.

Each APU student paired up with a woman and used her guest meal to pay for each lady who came.

“I wanted to find a practical way for students to give something away that was easy for them. We’ve already paid for all our meals. This was an easy way to give something away that wouldn’t be too much of a sacrifice,” freshman journalism major Meredith Anderson said.

The dinner lasted only an hour and a half, but the freshman women said they had fun talking with and learning from the women of the Walter Hoving Home.

“It was amazing. I was expecting to pour into their lives, and it totally flip-flopped. They totally blessed me. They have no shame because they are redeemed though Christ. They were so fun and full of love for each other,” freshman global studies major Christy Parrish said.

Anderson spoke highly of the event and the women that served with her.

“I was so impressed with the classiness and the earnest love they [APU girls] shared with complete strangers,” Anderson said. “Also I was touched by the response the Walter Hoving Home women had when they saw the potential of our generation to reach out to them. I think it made a lasting impression.”

Many of the women from the center were impressed with how well the event went and how comfortable they felt among so many strangers.

“The evening was truly a blessing. It was better than I could have imagined,” Walter Hoving Home resident Michelle Cisneros said. “I wasn’t feeling very comfortable at first—like maybe I might not be able to relate. But everyone was so friendly. I didn’t feel self-conscious about my testimony at all.”

Cisneros especially felt blessed to be a part of something bigger than herself and for the opportunity to be able to help someone else at the event.

“The best part of the evening was the fact that I was able to minister to a young APU woman. In return, it blessed me and helped to alleviate some of my own bitterness,” Cisneros said. “I was blown away by the love. Most of us, especially in the home, have gone through major rejection. We’re used to being rejected. So we were blown away by the love and acceptance.”