Spire Spring 2017

vision mission

Alumna Hannah Morris Fulfills Her Calling in Alaska

B luefield College prides itself on helping students understand and fulfill their calling. Take, for example, 2002 graduate Hannah Morris who participated in a series of mission trips to Alaska while a student at BC that changed her life and ultimately led to her calling to minister as a teacher at Grace Christian School in Anchorage, Alaska. Morris came to Bluefield College as a transfer student in the fall of 2000. She studied elementary education, played basketball, served on the Baptist Student Union, led a Bible study, was selected for Homecoming Court, participated in mission trips to Poland and Brazil, and graduated cum laude as the senior student- athlete with the highest grade point average. But, it was her summer trips to Alaska that left the greatest impression on Morris when considering her calling in life. She had served as a summer missionary in Alaska the year before she transferred to Bluefield, and the subsequent trips she took while a student at BC confirmed what God was calling her to be. “It was during that summer God called me to ministry in Alaska,” said Morris. “I returned to work with teens and kids in camps, VBS, missions, and refereeing

basketball each summer until I graduated. Two weeks after graduation in 2002, I moved to Alaska.” Sure of her calling and the preparation she received at BC, Morris began teaching at Grace Christian School in Anchorage. Still there today, she teaches third grade and coaches track and field, cross-country, volleyball, and basketball. She also mentors high school seniors who want to become teachers. And knowing the impact missions had on her life, she chaperones high school mission trips. “The fact that it is a Christian school gives me freedom to share and discuss Christ and the Bible with my students on a daily basis,” said Morris. “Our school is small and in a rather remote part of the nation, so there is a unique family-like feel to the environment and culture at Grace. I am blessed that God loved me enough to give me a job and a ministry in a place where my heart is full and I see Him working on a daily basis.” Outside of school, Morris participates in a church group study for educators, coaches basketball at the local YMCA, and plays on two local women’s hockey teams where she mentors young women. She said she’s thankful for the ways in which she’s been able to develop and use her gifts throughout a range of ministries that reflect Christ and challenge her personally and spiritually. She added that she wouldn’t be able to do that without the efforts Bluefield College made in helping her understand and fulfill her calling. “Bluefield College was instrumental in developing my self-confidence in the gifts and talents God has given me, particularly in the areas of education and athletics,” said Morris. “At Bluefield, I was able to be actively involved in missions, Bible study, and mentoring relationships. Those activities prepared me to pour into my school’s junior high and high school sports and missions events with confidence and ability.”

Helping students fulfill their call ing

Story by BC student marketing associate Whitney Browning.

Alumna Hannah Morris: from Lady Rams basketball and BC student-teaching to using her gifts to mentor and minister to students at Grace Christian School in Alaska.

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