Madeline Seiberlich / September 18th 2016 / COMission USFSP
Good morning everyone, my name is Madeline Seiberlich and I’m a sophomore student at USFSP. This is my second year living in St.Pete and my second year being a part of COMission. Growing up I lived in a house where my mom and pop taught me and showed me what it looked like to love Jesus and be a follower of Christ in every aspect of life. So I would say that I was a believer throughout my life, but I don’t think that really became true until I was 15 years old. During that time I lost my mom and it broke my heart. But as I began to be healed I recognized that God was the one who healed my heart and that He was the one who truly brought me peace through His gospel. God revealed to me that it wasn’t just a single verse of the Bible that healed me, but rather the whole story of who Jesus is and His gospel message of peace.
Coming into college my prayer was to find a Christian club on campus and get connected with a great local church. Through gulf coast and COMission God answered my prayer. What I didn’t know then was that He actually answered it in a bigger way than I could even imagine. God not only led me to a Christian club on campus, but he lead me to a family that is deeply rooted in Him. A group of His followers who are genuine and care for one another. People who not only know how to show the love of Christ, but who also taught me how to do this. My best friends and family, also known as COMission, have served me, equipped me, and sent me out to be a missionary on campus and even in China- but they didn’t send me out alone, they also taught me that we’re in this together.
Over the past year my faith has been challenged and grown so much because of this. Over the past year I’ve shared the gospel more than I ever have in my whole life. Over the past year God has brought the book of Acts alive to me and showed me what it looks like to break bread together, to follow the teachings of Jesus together, to praise God together, and to be of one heart and soul (Acts 2:42; 4:32).
COMission is not just for us college students. We would love to invite you, the community of Gulf Coast, to come along side us as we reach the campus. You can do this by praying for COMission; praying that God would continue to flood our on campus meetings (901) with students, that we would make disciples who make disciples, and that the gospel would change the lives of students forever.
Many of you may know Rita Hopper; she joined COMission over summer and has been a wonderful addition to our group. Personally, Rita has touched my life by investing in it; spending time with me, getting to know me, and being a person I know I can look to to advise me with wisdom and knowledge of Christ. We would not only love to have any of you join us, but we would be honored- it means so much to know that people are willing to invest in our generation.
I am beyond blessed and so thankful that God brought me here to St.Pete and to Gulf Coast and to COMission. I’m so excited to continue to live out the gospel with some of my favorite people and to continue be a family of missionary servants- just seeking to worship God and read the Bible with others and talk about it. Thank you for being part of this mission and for your prayers as we go into this new semester.