Laura Andrade is making the most of every moment of ministry training.
The Rhythms of Life for an NBC Student
The average NBC student already has a family, a career, and a ministry. Then they come to NBC and add the responsibilities of getting a college education! What does that mean? For students like Laura Andrade, that means making the most of every waking moment.
The Morning
Laura’s alarm goes off most mornings at 5 or 5:30 a.m. It used to be earlier, but the body really does need sleep. Her husband is usually off to work by then. She uses this time before her daughters wake up to spend time with God through prayer and scripture reading and to get in a strength training workout.
Her daughters are both teenagers now, with one starting her senior year of high school this month. Once they are off to school, Laura heads to the office.
She has worked as a mortgage lender for 13 years. She says there really are no off hours from a job like that, as she needs to be always available by phone or text, but her official office hours are 9 to 5. The job does allow her some flexibility, though. She often spends her lunch hour making ministry visits or calls. Some of the people she ministers to live as much as an hour away, but she can arrange a coffee meetup during lunch or plan a visit to the home for the evening.
The Ministry
Last September, Laura began to pray about a new ministry opportunity. The Bethel Heights Inglesia del Nazareno in Springdale, Arkansas needed a lead pastor. She was already the associate pastor, working full-time, a wife and mother, and pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Ministry at NBC. Could she take on this new responsibility? Laura prayed about it with her husband for four months before accepting.
Since this would be a new experience for her, Laura wanted to make sure she could adjust to the new rhythms it would require. She decided to take a break from her classes for the length of two courses then return to her ministry education at NBC.
She was warned that when students take a break like this, it can be easy to get comfortable and not want to come back. “It was true! I did get comfortable!” she says. “But now I am back and working on classes again.”
The Afternoon
When Laura leaves her mortgage lending office in the afternoon, she immediately has places to go and people to see.
Remembering her own high school years and how important it was to see her parents in the stands at her athletic events, Laura makes a point to attend as many of their daughters’ activities as possible.
Church responsibilities like board meetings and special activities also have to be led, and sermon preparation takes time. This was part of the rhythm Laura knew she would need to learn in accepting this lead pastor role.
The Schoolwork
Monday is the day to figure out what is due and when for Laura’s classes. This way, she can break down how many pages she needs to read per day and what days papers or smaller assignments are due. She is deep enough into her journey at NBC to know that a quick read of the material with a lot of highlighting will set her up for better studying later. That has been part of the process of returning to school as an adult – she has learned the most effective ways for her own studying, a skill that already carries over to sermon preparation.
As the week progresses, her nights sometimes get very late. Sometimes she has to wait to finish assignments until the rest of the household is in bed, but Laura makes a point to get each day’s assignments in before the midnight deadline. These classes move so quickly she does not want to get behind. Besides, the added responsibility of being a student is only for a season of her life, and she keeps reminding herself, “God is present every day and in every class.”
The Why
Laura is working hard to keep her priorities right where they should be. She is willingly following God’s call by getting proper training and by leading the congregation He has given her, she is dedicated to her husband and daughters, and she is committed to her responsibilities at work. However, she has set a goal to get out of the secular workforce.
Part of her reason for obtaining a college education is to go on to become a theology and ministry professor, like the professors guiding her education at NBC. “My goal is to find another way to be in ministry more, since my career is taking so much time,” she explains. “Being a professor would be more flexible to go out and minister and is also an additional ministry outlet.”
God has called Laura Andrade into ministry, and she is willingly answering, “Yes!”