Michael Cha remembers becoming interested in Jesus on a junior-high church retreat. During high school, however, he started to ?run with the wrong crowd,? he says, and began a spiritual rebellion. After graduation, Michael reported for basic training at the Military Academy at West Point, from which he received his commission as a U.S. Army S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N 2nd lieutenant in 1999. His military career began in the Republic of Korea, where Michael was an artilleryman. Eventually he was deployed to Iraq in March 2003. ?There, I prayed for the first time in 11 years,? he says. ?I could not let go of the Bible. ... Despite recurring enemy mortar attacks, AK-47 fire, and suicide bombings, I felt at peace with Christ.? He remembers the very day he offered his life to Jesus: August 8, 2003. Michael intended to work as an overseas medical missionary once his service was completed. He enrolled in the postbaccalaureate premedical program at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. After completing one semester, he was accepted to the Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He then began questioning his motives. ?I withdrew from the Bryn Mawr program, withdrew my acceptance to Jefferson Medical School, and returned to my family [home] in Northridge, California.? That started a time of reflection for Michael in 2005: ?I pondered the reality of life after death and the crucial reality of heaven and hell, and my thoughts of vocation turned toward becoming a preacher.? Michael decided to attend The Master?s Seminary for what he expects will be a lifetime of pastoral service. ?I believe this seminary properly educates, trains, and develops servants of Jesus Christ who are relentless in proclaiming and defending his gospel and committed to loving and serving his church,? he says.
Heather Johnson ?called as an editor of a Christian magazine
Her questioning friends played a crucial role in Heather's desire to become skilled at articulating Christian beliefs, something she expects her studies at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, will enable her to do. A year ago, Heather Johnson was living in San Diego and working as managing editor of Outreach magazine, which explores how to reach unchurched people. As a writer and editor, she had a chance to interview church leaders about their toughest issues and success stories. She often talked to them about what was ahead for the Christian church, and, on a trip to Israel, she began learning about what lay in the past: the church?s history. These experiences inspired Heather
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