Parent Interviews

Crystal

California
Mother of Alli and Tim - Former Students

When did you first hear about Eternity Bible College?
My husband and I started attending a home Bible study with our new church and one of the young married women in our group showed phenomenal insight and discernment. She told us of her education at EBC, particularly that of the Bible Study Methods class. Her husband and mine became friends and one night at dinner with our two kids, she blew us away with the price of tuition. We quickly got online and could not believe the affordability. We called our old pastor and he too told us that EBC was solid and very missions minded. We contacted all the people we knew who were aware of EBC and grilled them with questions. One of our elders had roomed with Francis Chan in college and other members of our church had known him for years and introduced us to him. We checked out the church, my husband listened to three sermons a day for 3 months, and we did our background homework. Our daughter enrolled and then our son asked if he could also apply. 

How did you feel when your children came to you and told you of their desire to attend EBC?
When our kids were very young, they were captivated by the stories and testimonies of missionaries. Our daughter expressed her heart’s desire to be a missionary when she was 6 and our 4 year old son thought it best that he become a surgeon so he could support her. Throughout her childhood our little girl showed a tenderness and sensitivity to missions that touched (and pained) our hearts. Our son was convinced that he was wired to be an entrepreneur and wanted to be a great businessman who could help missionaries. When they told us of their desire to attend EBC, it did not surprise us. What money we had set aside for their college education could go far and it was with our blessing that we encouraged them to enroll.   

Since your children have come to EBC, have you seen a change in them and how do you view that change? 
Great changes! As parents, we did NOT want our kids to be little replicas of us.  We truly desired that they would be conformed to the image of Christ. Perhaps the best challenge and change was seeing our kids start to defend their beliefs based on their godly convictions, not just the way they were raised. Regurgitated answers were challenged. Our kids had to learn to defend and define their faith. It rocked their little world, but drove them deep into the Word and the arms of the Father. EBC has been an amazing stepping-stone for our kids to take their heritage and upbringing and test it against the Word of God with godly professors, lively conversations, and other students finding their footing. 

How do you feel that God has used EBC in your children's lives?
Our son discovered that he really does love school and has a great capacity for learning. He is confident and yet humbled. He is taking the year he spent at EBC as a great springboard to continue his education. His love for the Lord is deeper and his appreciation of salvation is much more passionate. He is academically and spiritually awed. 

Our daughter still desires to be a missionary and will continue her studies at Eternity Bible College. Her friendships are dear to her and she is amazed by the work of Christ as she studies the Bible. Her enthusiasm to love the souls of unreached people has a renewed determination and zeal.    

Has your life changed or been impacted by your children attending EBC?
Living in (or near) LA is a lot different than the little town of 5,000 where our kids grew up. Conservative preferences were immediately challenged. As a parent this was a bitter pill, but like all good things, it made us, as parents, really evaluate our priorities and focus. Our comfort zone was fired on and obliterated. Oh, how easy it is to be a Pharisee and not know it! So many unknowing legalistic tendencies have been exposed. But this is good. We too desire to be conformed to Christ.

Sending our only kids away at the same time was not an easy thing to do, but God has been so amazingly kind and gracious to our kids and to us as well.  

I recently had the opportunity to audit some classes at EBC and must admit that I’m impressed. First, the professors are not the type of profs I had 20 years ago. There is a realness and availability without pompous flair. Of the four professors I’ve sat in on, wow, what passion and love for Christ and His Body is displayed. Community involvement, particularly as the Body of Christ, is an emphasis.

What would you tell other parents praying through sending their son or daughter to EBC?
Do your homework! Check out the church and the school. Interview other students. Sit in on the classes. Do the class assignments yourself. Know their friends. Pray! Expect great things from a great God.

Kathy

Nebraska
Mother of Anna - Former Student

When did you first hear about Eternity Bible College?
I was able to attend the “Challenge” conference at Purdue at which Francis Chan spoke the summer of 2006.

How did you feel when your student came to you and told you of her desire to attend EBC?
Excited for her; apprehensive for myself.  Having home-schooled Anna, I knew this was the beginning of a time in her life in which I would have much less a part.

How do you feel that God has used EBC in your student’s life?
After one semester, she has acquired a much wider knowledge of the Bible and how it is to be studied and a much deeper desire to learn as much as she can from her EBC classes and professors.

Being at EBC has given her one thing she has felt lacking in her personal life; that is, friends her own age who desire to converse with each other about deeper issues rather than just superficial things.

Has your life changed or been impacted by your daughter attending EBC?
Having her so far from home, I am learning to be content knowing God loves her and is able to watch over her much better than I am.

What would you tell other parents praying through sending their son or daughter to EBC?
If it is their desire for their child to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord it is an excellent place to be. But come prepared to work hard and be spiritually challenged.

Tom

California
Father of Dannie - EBC Graduate

When did you first hear about Eternity Bible College?
In the spring of 2004, we had just finished registering Dannie for a well-known Christian college. We were wondering how we were going to pay tuition, room/board, books, etc. Then both of our vehicles' transmissions started having problems. Praise God! Then one Sunday, our Youth Pastor told us about a new Christian college with excellent professors and a much reduced tuition. We immediately checked into it, and after some prayer, Dannie decided that EBC is where the Lord wanted her.

How did you feel when your student told you of her desire to attend EBC?
On the one hand I was thankful that the Lord had provided a means of getting a quality Biblical educatiion at an affordable price. On the other hand, I knew Dannie had been looking forward to the dorm experience at the college she had initally planned to attend.

Since your student has come to EBC, have you seen a change in your student and how do you view that change?  
I think that she has matured spiritually and emotionally since coming to EBC. The academics were challenging. But she seemed to gain a depth of experience and knowledge in the Lord from her interaction with the professors and her fellow students. We saw this as a very positive development.

How do you feel that God has used EBC in your student’s life?
I think that God has given Dannie a solid Biblical foundation for her beliefs. From the vantage point of this solid foundation, she has seen God answer her own prayers as well as others' prayers. She has seen God work in foreign countries. She has seen God work in our family. She can clearly see sin issues in our family, our church, our country, and our world. She can now clearly make a choice as to how to respond in a godly manner to these issues.

Has your life changed or been impacted by your daughter attending EBC?
It's been a challenge. My relationship to Dannie has changed from being an overbearing, dominant, discipline-centered dad to more of a counselor who is there to help or guide when needed.

What would you tell other parents praying through sending their son or daughter to EBC?
Follow the Lord's guidance.