From the Island to Asbury: The Impact of Alumni

Joseph M. Styron, Jr. - Admissions Recruiter, current student

Upon walking into my Asbury Theological Seminary cubical in Wilmore, Kentucky, it may not take one long to figure out that I am not a Kentucky native. It may be the photo of a fish house with shrimp trawlers on my desktop that gives it away, or it may be the accent you pick up on within the first few moments of our conversation. Many mistake this accent for one of Australian origin, but it is known to we ‘high tiders' on the coast of North Carolina as ‘just the way we talk." It was there on salty shores beneath the beam of Cape Lookout lighthouse that my journey to Asbury began.

In the midst of the fishing village of Harkers Island, North Carolina, is nestled a small United Methodist church, a place that would serve as a seed bed and cultivating ground for giftings and experiences that would forever shape my life. It was to this little church on a far-away island that God sent Mark and Kathy Kennedy and their three young children in the early 1980's. Fresh from the halls of Asbury Theological Seminary, the Island Church was Mark's first appointment and his youthfulness, smile, love of people, infectious laughter and genuineness made an impression on the people of that congregation that is remembered fondly to this day.

It was through the influence of this church, and quite possibly Mark Kennedy's legacy, that I knew Asbury existed. Twenty years later as I began to sense God calling me to seminary, Asbury was the only place on my heart. Through prayer, I felt strongly that God was leading me far from my coastal home to sacred ground in Wilmore, Kentucky.

Though approximately 20 years had passed and many miles existed between us, God blessed me by allowing my relationship with the Kennedys to be rekindled, offering me great love and support through this time of transition. When I made my first visit to Wilmore, who drove down from central Ohio to meet and befriend me for the weekend but John-Mark Kennedy, my childhood playmate, Mark and Kathy's oldest son. And when a drunk driver claimed the lives of two loved ones from this little island two years ago, Mark and Kathy came back, driving nearly one hundred miles to offer comfort and show their continued love.

Now, I am in my second year of study in the Master of Arts in Counseling program and serving as an Admissions Recruiter for Asbury Seminary. It is amazing to me how God will ordain relationships and order steps to orchestrate His indescribable gift and will for our lives. A small United Methodist church on Harkers Island may have been the last place that Mark Kennedy wanted to serve upon leaving Asbury Seminary, but it was first on God's agenda, and I thank God that it was. Eternity will reveal for certain the impact this alumnus made upon me and countless others on a small island on the North Carolina Coast.

My encouragement to you, alumni, is to be the very hands and feet of Jesus wherever He may lead you. Through your sanctified, love-drenched lives, represent well your Savior, and in doing this you will give good representation of your alma mater. Some day, many years from now, someone may stand and testify to how God used you as an instrument whereby His will was accomplished in the life of another. Is there any greater legacy?