Testimony Tuesday: Learning to lead

By Megan Deets

“When we’re born into a broken world, we have two options. We can go after God and have him satisfy us or numb ourselves from the pain.”

Anna Thompson, a Primary Education major and recently-elected freshman women’s ministry leader, spoke these words from personal experience. Growing up in Pennsylvania, her parents divorced when she was three. Her early years were filled with instability, as she went back and forth from living with her dad to living with her mom for several years.

During this time, Thompson felt like she didn’t always understand the conflict between her parents. 

“Nobody ever really talked to me about it,” Thompson said.

Eventually, Thompson made a decision to live full-time with her dad. She grew up going to a Christian school, and her dad took her to church on Sundays. 

One day, Thompson’s dad sat her and her brother down for a conversation. He told them that the best decision they could ever make was to give their lives to Jesus. That same night, she prayed for salvation, repenting of her sin and believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection to save her from that sin. 

The next morning Thompson recognized that she had really meant what she said. 

“God put it on my heart again: ‘Do you know what you did yesterday?’” Thompson said.

Even after Thompson was saved, her elementary school days were filled with anger at her family and bitterness about how they had hurt her. These emotions seemed to consume her.

When Thompson was nine, her dad signed her up for horseback riding lessons. During these lessons, a riding instructor would ask her questions while she learned to ride. She thought that this lady was just being nice and asking about her life, but in reality there was something bigger going on.

Her riding instructor began to identify the struggles in Thompson’s heart. 

“I didn’t understand that was biblical therapy,” Thompson said. 

Soon, this woman realized that Thompson was holding on to grudges that were becoming obsessions. She explained that she needed to forgive her family like Jesus forgave her. 

Her riding instructor gave Thompson a rock. On it, Thompson wrote down all the ways that she needed to forgive people. They walked to the cross on the property and stood at its foot. There, Thompson laid down the rock as a representation of how she forgave her family.

Throughout the next few years, Thompson’s faith continued to grow. However, in middle school, she became friends with people who were a negative influence on her life. These friends would eventually be expelled for vaping.

“I would never vape or anything,” Thompson said, “but I would still hang out with them.” 

Thompson realized these friends were drawing her away from the Lord. When she told her friends she was getting baptized, they didn’t understand why it was so important to her. Instead, they brushed it off in confusion.

“It was the first time I’d felt the Holy Spirit’s conviction for a while,” she said. 

Thompson leans on Romans 8:6 which says, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Instead of continuing to let others influence her, Thompson got involved in leadership roles at her school throughout high school and began leading Bible studies for her peers.

Thompson believed that her relationship with God was stronger than it was until two years ago when she realized she had been building her faith on a relationship with someone in her Bible study instead of on her relationship with God.

“I feel like I was always pouring out of an empty bucket,” Thompson said. 

When that relationship ended, Thompson grasped what it looked like to truly surrender her heart to God. She began to use her leadership abilities, service and passions for Christ, not for herself. 

As Thompson considered what college to choose, she heard about Cedarville from a friend who attends the university.

Seeking an atmosphere that would strengthen her faith, Thompson loved the idea of daily chapels and a Bible minor. When she stayed on campus for the Summer Scholars program, she knew that Cedarville was the school she wanted to attend. 

Little did Thompson know what God had in store for her during her first year. When she found out about the freshman women’s ministry leader position, she initially thought it was for a student organization. 

Thompson was excited when she found out it was part of class council, which was something she had been interested in high school. 

After applying to be a candidate, Thompson met with Junior Women’s Ministry Leader Aubre Weller. The two related to each other’s stories, and Thompson thought that maybe God had called her to apply for the role so that she could meet Aubre.

But God continued to work in ways that Thompson didn’t expect. She was elected freshman women’s ministry leader on September 19, and she can’t wait to use her role to lead girls closer to Christ.

“I’m just humbled,” Thompson said.

In the future, Thompson envisions using her education degree on the mission field. This summer, she went on a mission trip to Africa and fell in love with the work she got to do there.

One of Thompson’s favorite verses relates to the calling of Christians to missions. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

As Thompson reflected on how God changed her heart over the years to focus on his grace, she explained what she would tell her younger self if she could:

“If I could just go back and tell little Anna who was living so lonely, ‘I know you believe that Jesus took our sin, but it doesn’t end there,’” Thompson said. “‘He put his righteousness on you.’”

Megan Deets is a freshman Professional Writing and Information Design student. Some of the things that she loves are new notebooks, fresh fruit and musicals.