by Timothy Baldi, Triangle staff writer
During the school year at Bryan College, several Practical Christian Involvement (PCI) groups minister to the Dayton community. This semester, one such group known as Testify has gained a surprising growth in its group membership since last year.
In previous years, Testify was two separate PCI groups known as Testify and Act 2 Show Christ. The groups shared members and ministry opportunities often enough to better function as one coordinated group.
There are still two divisions to Testify: Testify Movement which performs artistic pieces and Testify Drama which does skits. However, members take part in the activities of both halves and perform at the same outreach events.
Until this year, Testify and Act 2 Show Christ had an average of 20 students. Since their collaboration 26 new members have joined nine returning members.
When asked about the significant rise in membership, returning member senior Joy Koan said that it has been “all God.”
Sophomore Carlin Nasiatka, another returnee, further explained that the majority of the sign-ups have come from the new Freshman Class when they simply heard about the opportunity to minister through Testify.
Seventeen of the new members signed up after Assistant Director of Spiritual Formation Ben Norquist gave the freshmen an introduction to the various PCI groups on campus. Sign-ups from the upper classmen primarily came after Testify held a showcase on Sept. 6.
Nasiatka and the other leaders of Testify said that the freshmen’s hearts to serve their community are evident from the growth of Testify and other PCI ministries this year. The leaders of Testify are encouraged by the Freshman Class’s willingness to serve through the opportunities PCI provides.
With their new growth, the leaders of Testify said they look forward to experimenting with a bigger pool of talent when practicing for their showcases.
Also, because of their enlarged membership, double-casting will now be available for some of their skits in case participants become ill or swamped with homework. Testify hopes to have a great year enlarging and enriching the kingdom of God.