Student preachers take the pulpit at Nyack College
-
- April
- 11
NYACK  Her sermon had those listening on their knees and weeping for God’s healing in their lives.
They asked to be restored from sexual, physical and emotional abuses. They asked to no longer feel hopeless and abandoned. They asked because she asked them to ask.
But the young woman preaching to the crowd of Nyack College students during their regular  and oftentimes tedious  chapel services was no renowned reverend, but a peer.
She was simply 21-year-old Holly Thoelen from Enfield, Conn., a senior at Nyack College, working towards a degree in youth ministry.
(Natalia Gaviria, an 18-year-old freshman at Nyack College, left, prays for her friend Belinda Lin, a 19-year-old freshman, after Holly Thoelen, a 21-year-old senior, preaches) …
“He wants to help,� she said this morning, “but He doesn’t just want to help you deal with it, He wants to heal you.
“Don’t let this year go by without receiving what God wants for you  plans to prosper you, not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future,� she said referring to a quote from the book of Jeremiah in the Bible.
Thoelen was one of a handful of student preachers chosen by her peers to speak during the college’s required, three times a week, chapel services this week.
Before she took to the podium, the second-degree Kempo black belt bounced on her heels, looking more like she was preparing for a sparring match than a sermon.
“Slightly nervous, but mostly okay,� she said with a smile.
This was her first time preaching to such a large crowd, she said. There were about 150 students at Nyack’s gymnasium today, where it holds its services.
Thoelen’s friend 18-year-old Joelle Wolters, who is scheduled to preach during Friday’s service, introduced Thoelen. She had complete confidence in her friend’s abilities.
“She is one of my favorite speakers bar none and God has used her over and over again with the words she has spoken,� she said to the students.
And on a lighter note, she added, “This morning she’s going to preach to you and if you don’t like what she has to say, you can talk to her second-degree black belt.�
In her message, Thoelen told the story of Tamar from the second book of Samuel. Tamar, she said, was raped by her brother Amnon who claimed to love her and then told to remain silent about the crime. It was two years before another brother avenged the crime by killing Amnon, she said.
There were some listening who could relate to Tamar’s pain, Thoelen said.
For others, she continued, “the abuse wasn’t sexual, it was physical and emotional and you carry those scars on your body and on your hearts.�
Thoelens words seemed to resonate with her peers, who wept with her.
Later, after they prayed and sang, students lined up to hug and thank Thoelen.
“A lot of what she said just hit home,� Suzanne Jones, a 20-year-old junior at Nyack, said. “I had a friend in high school who pretty much told me I wasn’t good enough.�
Natalia Gaviria, an 18-year-old freshman and her friend Belinda Lin, a 19-year-old freshman, both had tear-stained faces, but were smiling.
“It’s just amazing how people have so many problems and they’re just keeping them inside and hiding them,� Gaviria said. “The truth is that God is our only solution and He’s the only one who can help us surpass that.�
On Thoelen’s message, Lin said simply, “It was real.�
Kelvin Walker, the campus pastor at Nyack College, praised Thoelen like a proud father would.
“She was phenomenal,� he said, “We find students always respond to their peers, but this was beyond just responding to a peer.
“She really tapped into what God’s message was for the community today,� he said. “And you just see that in the response.�
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 3:49 pm by Christina Jeng. 
Print
| 
Email
