Testimonies

“My first two years at CSU, I pursued a lifestyle of drinking and drugs. I became depressed and even got arrested for street racing while under the influence of alcohol. Afterward, I met an evangelist from Grace Christian Church on campus and we became close friends. This changed my life forever because it led me to become a Christian. My desire to party and do drugs was gone and my depression faded. When I graduated from CSU in 2009, I went on staff with the church to help reach college students with the hope I had found in Christ.”

Frances Arends – Class of 2012 – Environmental Health

“While attending the University of Colorado Denver, I was invited to visit Grace Christian Church. I loved the worship, Biblical truth, and fellowship so much that I prayed and felt led to transfer to CSU to become a member. The campus evangelist that I met with in a weekly Bible study really helped me grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord and His Word. Over time, I was able to see how God was my perfect loving Father, which I didn’t have growing up. The way church members loved one another made me want to share the truth of God’s love to college students on the campus.”

Nevin Ashley – Class of 2005 – General Mathematics

“I am Nevin Ashley and CSU graduate of 2005. The more I partied at CSU the emptier I felt. Upon being invited to Grace Christian Church my sophomore year, I surrendered my life to Christ. An internal desire and ability grew to do what was right and a joy that I could not hold inside began. I had to tell everyone about what had happened to me. The death of Samantha Spady saddened me, and that the main solution presented by CSU was awareness of the signs of alcohol poisoning. I knew a better solution, so I became a minister.”

Victoria Ashley – Class of 2005 – Business Marketing

“I am Victoria Ashley, a 2005 CSU graduate. I left my three sisters, and Texas to come to CSU. I worked and attended school full-time. The pressures of school, finances, and my past led me to seriously consider suicide. What I did not know at the time was that people I had met from GCC were specifically praying for me the night I was going to kill myself. That night with an evangelist from GCC, I gave my life to Christ and was forever changed. Upon graduation I had no other desire than to reach out to others like me.”

Doug Collins – Class of 2013 – Health and Exercise Science

“My name is Doug Collins and before I was involved with Grace I lived a life of heavy drinking and looked for fulfillment from the things of the world. I met a campus evangelist in the fall of 2011 and through weekly Bible studies I made the decision to surrender my life to the Lord. Since that day I am a completely different person and my identity lies in the Lord. Because of the grace the Lord has shown me, I want to do nothing else than to tell the students of CSU about what the Lord has done for them. Through prayer, I heard the Lord to become a full-time staff member and to share the Gospel with the students of CSU.”

Whitney Collins – Class of 2012 – Social Work

“When I came to CSU as a freshman I was convinced that I was a Christian. I would preach watered down forms of the Gospel to my friends, but my life mirrored a completely different reality. I was depressed and bitter from circumstances in my life and was more lost than I could have realized. Before long I met an evangelist from Grace and started attending church with her on Sundays. As I spent time with her and the church, I saw how different their lives were and understood that they had something that I didn’t. They genuinely loved the Lord and obeyed Him with everything they had and I wanted a life like theirs. I repented and gave my life to the Lord, and shortly after graduating felt called to minister to the young women on the campus and share the truth of God’s word with them.”

Garret Cowley – Class of 2016 – Civil Engineering

“Throughout my undergraduate studies at the University of Wyoming, I was very influenced by the college scene of drugs, excessive alcohol and worldly relationships. I was becoming more empty and depressed than I had ever been. I then started graduate school at CSU in the fall of 2014. Almost immediately, I met a campus evangelist from Grace Christian Church, and we began to meet in a weekly Bible study. After meeting for a few weeks, I repented and gave my life to Jesus. The Lord then called me to bring the truth of the Gospel to others on the campus of CSU.”

Joey Lanza – Class of 2005 – Health and Exercise Science

“As a CSU student, my life was greatly impacted by the ministry of Grace Christian Church. As a freshman I was full of confusion, and had no real hope in life. I met a minister on campus and he began to reach out to me. In the months that followed I made a decision to give my life to God and begin a relationship with Him. This life change led me to decide to go into full-time ministry with Grace Christian Church when I graduated in May of 2005 to help others come to know God as well.”

Katharine Lanza – Class of 2006 – Human Development and Family Studies

“As a CSU student, the ministry of Grace Christian Church affected my life in the best possible way. I was a Christian upon entering CSU—but was lonely and looking for the true meaning of what my life was created for. I found answers to those needs through this ministry, and ultimately the Lord. Through being a part of this ministry, I found purpose, passion, and a home. As I graduated in May of 2006, I wanted nothing more than to bring other people into this same deeply satisfying relationship with Jesus through entering the full-time ministry.”

Andrew Lord – Agricultural Business – Class of 2015

“Upon coming to CSU, I had no desire to seek the Lord and rather pursued a lifestyle of regularly using alcohol and illegal substances to have a good time. An evangelist from Grace Christian Church stopped me on campus and preached the Gospel to me. In our Bible study, my eyes started to open to how my sin was affecting my life and ultimately, how it was affecting God. I surrendered my life to the Lord and a desire to serve the church grew in my heart. I felt a strong call to pursue full-time ministry on the campus to share with others what God would do in their lives.”

Stefan Lowe – Class of 2015 – Biomedical Science

“For most my life I called myself a Christian. My senior year of high school, I came to a place where my doubt turned into rejecting God. Shortly after starting at CSU, I began meeting in weekly Bible studies with an evangelist from Grace Christian Church. I saw my brokenness and hopelessness and just wanted to know the truth. God revealed Himself to me and a few weeks later I surrendered my life to Jesus. Because of the transformation that occurred in my life I desired to reach college students with the hope and joy I had found in Christ. “

Tiffany Lowe – Class of 2018 – Business Accounting

“All my life I called myself a Christian. However, I never understood what it meant to have a relationship with the Lord and constantly felt empty. My freshman year at CSU, I met a campus evangelist with Grace Christian Church. She began to teach me about the Bible and the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. After a few Bible studies, I quickly realized the hypocritical lifestyle I’d been living and prayed to give my life to Jesus. The Lord then put a desire in my heart to preach the Good News of Christ to others at CSU.”

Vinny Marone – Class of 2009 – Communications

“When I came to CSU, I was immediately pulled in the direction of the ‘college lifestyle’ and detrimental behavior that my peers participated in. On a sidewalk by Corbett, a campus evangelist with Grace Christian Church asked me to take a survey. While talking, he invited me to church and a Bible study. As I learned the Bible, I witnessed the power of God change my life in amazing ways. Because of this ministry’s impact on my life I felt called to help students when I graduated in 2009, just as my friend had helped me years before.”

Stacey Miller – Class of 2006 – Business Accounting

“My friends in class invited me to church my junior year. I came and met a minister who taught me the Bible. Before I studied the Bible I thought I could party, cheat and have bad relationships and still be a Christian because I was a moral college student. Through meeting, I realized my deception and gave my life to Jesus. I was so thankful someone told me the Truth. After, I looked around my sorority and saw many others in the same boat. I graduated one year later and went into full time ministry so I could reach girls like me.”

Kyle Pequette – Class of 2015 – Business Finance and Real Estate

“I came to CSU as a freshman. I believed in Jesus but I did not understand the Gospel message. I lived a lifestyle where I would say I was a Christian but was living a double life and enjoyed my sin. Early on I met an Evangelist with Grace Christian Church outside of Parmelee Hall. I learned what it meant to repent and surrender my life to Jesus and did so that fall. During college and after graduation the Lord showed me I was called into full-time ministry. I now have a strong desire to see students enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Sabrina Pequette – Class of 2020 – Interior Architecture and Design

“I tried living up to the standard of the Bible, but failed. In that failure I felt God rejected me, so I sought acceptance in worldly things that constantly disappointed me. I came to Grace Christian Church my freshman year and the Holy Spirit called me into a relationship with Him during worship. After learning about this decision in Bible studies with an evangelist, I repented and put my trust in Him. The Lord has spoken to my heart to reach others like me who are constantly disappointed in their pursuit to find the everlasting life that can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Zach Reinhart – Class of 2019 – Biological Science

“I grew up going to church but very quickly on wanted nothing to do with the things of God and called myself an atheist. I came to CSU looking to get away from a difficult family life but also to pursue the typical college lifestyle. My junior year of college I came to a place of brokenness and asked God to reveal himself to me and I met many evangelists from Grace Christian Church in the weeks following. I heard the Gospel and after seeing my need for a Savior, I gave my life to Jesus. My life was completely changed when I met Jesus and He spoke to me to be an evangelist at CSU. My desire now is to see the power and love of God transform the hearts of students just as it did in my life.”

Blake Rodenbaugh – Class of 2019 – Economics

“Before coming to college I was confused and broken. I grew up hearing the Gospel, but didn’t know how to live it. A couple months into my freshman year at CSU, I met a campus evangelist with Grace Christian Church. Two days later he showed me a few verses in the Bible and I made the decision to give my life to Jesus and follow Him fully. I saw the incredible impact of this ministry in my life. Shortly after, the Lord called me into full-time ministry to carry the Gospel to students who are where I was, living life separate from God.”

Mike Seely – Class of 2013 – Business Finance

“When I came to CSU I quickly got involved in drinking and partying. With a few close encounters of getting into trouble, I started to see how my life was headed in the wrong direction. As a freshman on campus I met an evangelist from Grace Christian Church. We starting meeting for Bible studies and I realized my life wasn’t right with God. After surrendering my life to the Lord everything changed. I found life in my relationship with God and in the church. The Lord then put a desire on my heart to reach other students on the campus and do full-time ministry.”

Jaimie Seely – Class of 2012 – Nutritional Sciences

“When I came to CSU in 2008, I felt I had everything in life I needed. I called myself a Christian but lived a double-life of partying, drinking, and pursuing worldly relationships. After meeting a group of girls who lived their lives solely to please God, I realized Jesus’ affection for me and surrendered all to Him in March 2009. I struggled to leave my former lifestyle behind until I attended Grace Christian Church and started doing weekly Bible studies with a campus evangelist. I looked forward to the one-on-one Bible studies every week and really looked up to the evangelist that taught them. By the time I graduated, I deeply desired to tell others about the Gospel and went on staff as an evangelist in December 2013.”

Chris E. Tomlinson – Class of 2022 – Communications Studies

“I grew up in Grace Christian Church and gave my life to the Lord at a young age. I was surrounded by family and friends who were all Christians so thankfully I never really touched the world. I started out at a community college and transferred to CSU to continue studying Communications. I didn’t know what I would do after school but I had a job offer in construction where I was working part time through school. The Lord spoke to me to take the full time job in construction. I didn’t know how long I’d be working there so I was content. In the spring of 2023 the Lord spoke to me very clearly calling me into full time ministry and to evangelize to students on the college campus.”

Bailey Tomlinson – Class of 2022 – Communications Studies

“I was in high school in Arvada, Colorado when my cousin transferred to CSU. He repented and then invited myself and his sister to come to church with him at Grace. The second time I came, the Holy Spirit lifted the veil of religious confusion over my life and I, in an instant, knew what it meant to repent. The desire I had as a small child: “to work for the church” as I used to say, was ignited again… but this time with direction. I wanted to share the Good News to the students at CSU, like it’d been shared with my cousin. I knew God called me to be an evangelist.”