What Takes My Heart Captive

As you can probably tell if you've been following my blog... I love children. I grew up around kids, I helped raise my youngest sibling, I grew up babysitting, and have been involved in a children's ministry for the past 15 years. Needless to say... these children hold my heart. Especially during the summer. They fill my thoughts, my prayers, my heart and my life. I know that not everyone is able to support the ministry financially, but I'd like to take a moment to ask you... will you pray for me as I undertake this ministry again for the 5th summer? It is prayer warriors like yourself that keep me going throughout the long summer days. 

Dear Family and Friends,

I am finally able to say, that I am a senior in Liberty University’s nursing program. I have just returned from my 3^rd year at Liberty, and CEF has once again asked me to be the summer missionary for Lebanon County. While talking to one of my friends the other day, I realized that this will be my 15^th year involved in CEF. How time does fly! I am very excited to start my fifth summer working with CEF as a summer missionary. The clubs are very dear to my heart and the excitement on the children’s faces when they hear the Bible lessons, and missionary story is incredible.

Throughout the years I’ve worked with CEF, I have come into contact with countless children. Sadly, it is impossible for me to remember each one by name, but I know I was able to make an impact. I will never forget one specific little boy that touched my heart. While sharing the wordless book, I realized that one of the two boys I was talking to was Muslim. When I had gotten to the gold page and was talking about Heaven, he stopped me and said “This is so weird. I was just thinking about this last night, wondering if I will go to Heaven someday.” I told him maybe God was answering my prayer, and that’s why I was talking to him right then. Ahmed was so close to accepting Christ as his Savior. I was just about to ask him if he’d like to pray, when he got a scared look on his face and said I have to go. I gave him a Jesus Loves you tract, but I still remember him looking back over his shoulder as he ran through the gate to his house. Leaving Ahmed there that day was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. I am praying that someone, somewhere, felt the same burden I do for these children and was able to reach little Ahmed for Christ.

Last year during one specific club, I had the awesome privilege of leading two brothers to Christ. The older brother Aiden broke down into tears as he was talking to me and said his parents were getting divorced and he didn’t know what would happen. He quietly told me it felt like his Dad didn’t love him anymore. I was able to explain to him about the Father who would always love him, and never leave him. He accepted Christ as his personal Savior that day, and was able to smile through his tears when he realized that even though his earthly father might not always be there for him, God the Father would never leave him.

            I am very excited to begin my ministry this summer. On June 10, I will begin my two week training to become a summer missionary again. Throughout those two weeks my schedule will be filled with learning the various materials for the summer. In previous years, I have been a Prayer Captain, which is the prayer leader of the dorm of four other girls. This year I again have been given the privilege of being student staff as well. Although our phone usage and other technology use is limited we are permitted to receive mail during the two weeks of training school. If you would like to write to me the address is:        

Meagan Gerberich

c/o Mt. View Bible Camp

2671 Snydertown Rd

Danville, PA 17821

            Just as I have the past four years, I am taking on this ministry by faith concerning my financial needs. I will need both financial and prayer support.  While I will receive 90% of what comes into my account, the remaining 10% will go towards my training, teaching materials, and travel expenses. Will you please consider showing God’s faithfulness by supporting me financially? The CEF County Office is located at 637 Chestnut Street, Lebanon, PA, 17042. If sending in donations by check please remit to “Child Evangelism Fellowship.” The “MG” on the envelope or memo line will indicate that it is for my account, please do not address the check to me  because of IRS standards.  The CEF organization is asking that all donations be in their office by August 12, which is my last day of ministry due to leaving for college the following week.

            By prayerfully and financially supporting my ministry you will play a very important role in reaching children with God’s Word. Your partnership can bring about eternal investments in the Kingdom of God. Thank you for any help you can give to me in this very important ministry.

                                                            In Christ,

        Meagan Gerberich

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I guess you could say this is going to be a random blog post with my ramblings while I'm sitting at work. A reflection over the past year I suppose...

This was the hardest most difficult year I've ever been through to say the least. It challenged me physically, emotionally, mentally, academically, and spiritually. I've grown so much this past year though, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I've met some amazing people, lost some people, and made some pretty legit new friends.

In August of 2011 I arrived back at school after vacation.... ready to dive right in to Junior year of nursing school. I was taking a peds class and doing clinicals in Richmond, VA at St. Mary's Hospital. I fell in love with the hospital and the people that work there. Potential job possibility? Maybe. I survived first semester by the skin of my teeth. That was academically. Emotionally and mentally I went through a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Like I said... one of the hardest years I've ever been though. During that semester, I asked myself the question... Do you really fall in and out of love? Or does that love simply change? I'm still not sure if I know the answer to that question... if you've got any insight I'd love to hear it.

Because of some new friends that I made, I was able to try new things, see more of Lynchburg than I ever knew existed, and actually begin to feel like a college kid that got to have fun. So thank you, if you took part in any of those things. You know who you are, there are too many people to name.



Over Christmas break, I worked a crazy ton of hours. I think my last tally was 110 hours in 3 weeks. I did night shift, early morning shift, and anything in between. Now that I look back, I was nuts. But I loved it. I got to spend time with my family, and my little man, Ross. It never gets easier saying goodbye, but coming home is just that much sweeter because of him.

I got to spend a day in D.C. with a good friend, cooking, freezing our tails off walking around the city, and walking along the water in some sketch location. For about the course of a few days after I got home, I swear my life became a sit-com. The movie title 50 First Dates comes to mind... I'm not sure why though because I definitely didn't go on 50 dates!!! So many awkward stories and things happened, I can't even begin to tell. Some funny stories about old people and them trying to match-make come to mind.

96 year old lady: "Do you have any kids?"
Me: "Ummm no, I think I should probably have a boyfriend before that thought process happens."
96 year old lady: "Hmmph. You should get on that. My wheelchair van driver is single..."
He arrives and is like 30 something with a beer belly and balding... NO THANKS.

Coming back for second semester... I got to spend an entire week with my best friend taking a New Testament intensive. What a BLAST. We hung out with some pretty cool people, and had a ton of fun packed into the week before actual classes started. I also began my 2nd job that week, working with an elderly lady who has Alzheimer's disease. A challenge, but so rewarding. The semester started off with a bang, jumping right into clinicals in the Emergency Department where I fell in love with it!!! Had some crazy cool experiences with patients, level one traumas, and meeting some really awesome people, and also finding out some bad news during one of those clinicals. One of the lady's I did my CSER with for over a year had passed away... becasue of this news I got to feel the love and encouragement from my clinical group. Bonding with my clinical group was one of the best things ever. 

During this semester... somewhere right after Christmas... I got the brilliant idea to kill myself and graduate early. I was working two jobs, taking 17 credits, and was going insane. Everything was falling into place for me to graduate in December of 2012, 6 months early. I would have completed the nursing program in 3.5 years without transferring any credits in. Right before Spring Break some people walked into my life and some people walked out. Those people have become very dear to me, and have forever changed my life, the other people, are missing out. Spring Bring was an awesome experience with a road trip down to Florida with 4 amazing girls. We had such a blast, met some really neat people, and were completely sun-burnt and exhausted when we returned.

After Spring break, school returned to a semblance of normalcy, if you can call Nursing school "normal." I started long-boarding again, wrecked up a few times, but had a ton of fun. I've figured out I need to learn to carve... which basically means turn. I've got the scars to prove that I'm working on it. I pulled the first all-nighter of my college career. NEVER AGAIN. I say that now.... but it'll probably happen again. We sat and talked in a church breezeway, had a glow stick war, made and drank 3 pots of coffee, had homemade pancakes at 5am, then stayed up to be at work by 8am the next morning. It was exhausting, but I got to know a very special person a lot better that night, which made it all worth it, and I got coffee and a muffin out of the deal the next morning.

Next on the list was the SGA election for Student Body President and VP. I had such a fun time campaigning... even though it was early mornings... late nights... and no naps! Everyone's hard work paid off, and Chad & Josh won the election.



Since then, end of year tests are done, finals have come and gone, but God has gotten me through. I have moved 3 times this semester, and I'll be moving again in the next two weeks hopefully. I'm venturing out and trying something new, I'll be living on my own, in MY apartment. Scary, intimidating, terrifying, exhilarating, and exciting. I'm having so much fun planning out room arrangements and decorations. I sign the lease hopefully this coming week. On another note, over the past week or two I've been having second thoughts about graduating early. Was it really worth it? Would I miss out on my last year of college? All sorts of questions were running through my mind. I started taking it to God in prayer. I told him he'd have to make it really obvious if I wasn't supposed to graduate in December, because all the plans had been made. My schedule was chosen, classes were paid for, and everything was lined up. BUT God had other plans. As of right now I will be finishing nursing school in May of 2013 like I originally planned. And I'm ok with that, because its what God clearly showed me I'm supposed to be doing. He's going to use me right here in Lynchburg, and then I'll start off my career and the rest of my life on May 11, of 2013.

I'm excited to see who God is going to bring into my life in this next year. Which people will walk in, and which people will walk out of my life. The relationships I have right now with people, will they grow? Will they remain as they are? Will they turn into something more? I don't know, but He does. More importantly I'm excited to see how my relationship with Christ will grow and change.

I don't know what the future holds... but I know Who holds MY future.