2009/2010 Third Year Master's Commission Students
Meaghan O'Malley
Nickname: O’Malley
Hometown: Long Island, NY
Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:5 "So that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."
Favorite Worship Song: As of now it has been Solid Rock by Interface
Future: Right now I feel that the direction that God is leading me in the future is to be in a place where I am helping people. I love working with people, especially with children and youth. I feel that I am going to be in a place where I am working for and with people, and helping where there is a need.
Above all else I want God to do what He wants to do in my life this year. I want to be completely open and transparent so that I do not allow myself to get in the way of what God wants to do. I feel that He is going to continue to develop what He has started in me. The past two years God has been striping things out of my life, things like fear and insecurity, and He has been growing new things in me. My prayer is that God continues to develop in me what he has begun to grow. I also pray for clear direction for my life. I want God to continue to guide me and lead me down the path He has for me, and to clearly show me the direction He has for me.
This year God has already begun working and revealing Himself to me in great ways. I feel that for this year especially I need to be intentional and focused about putting God first, above all things. It can be easy to lose focus and look at all of the other distractions that surround me, but I feel that God is really showing me the importance of every day remembering Matt 6:33 which says “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. God has shown me, and is continuing to show me how I should not be worrying about everything being just right, but instead put God first in everything, and trust that he will put all of the things into place.
Teddy Tompkins
Nickname: Tedward
Hometown: Newark, Delaware
Favorite Scripture: Philippians 3:8 : “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ”
Favorite Worship Song: Clean Hands
Future: I feel a call on my life into missions work, in particular international missions to unreached people groups. My dream for the future is to go to a place where the Gospel is not known, to introduce them to Jesus Christ, and to plant churches in those places so these new believers can learn the Word and grow in their faith.
This year I want to understand more fully the truth of who God is and what the Gospel means to us, and I want to learn how to live in a proper response to those truths. In so doing I hope to learn how to live in greater humility; I hope to learn to live in greater joy and greater peace; I hope to learn to have a greater measure of faith in God’s provision as well as in His promises such that I truly base my life on His Word. I hope to learn who this Jesus really is, as He personified the character of God Himself, and I hope to learn what it means to truly, authentically, sacrificially and fully follow Him in my attitudes, my thoughts, my words, my interactions, my relationships, my character, my integrity, my discipline, my priorities, my service, my focus, and my love. I hope that God will teach me how to live a life that honors Him in every part, withholding no part of my heart or my life from His sight, His molding, His reshaping, His service, and His Spirit. Ultimately I hope that my life would truly be to the praise of His glory.
2009/2010 Second Year Master's Commission Students
Andromedia Sweeney
Nickname: Andi, “Sarge”
Hometown: Frederick, MD
Favorite Scripture: Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Favorite Worship Song: “How Great Is Our God?”
Future: I feel that God is calling me into the ministry, although I am not sure what that looks like specifically yet. In the institutes that GZMC has started this year, I have chosen the missions track. I feel like at this point missions best fits the vision of what I feel God is calling me to. I know that I want to be used by God in some sort of ministry, and I’m excited to see how He is going to grow my vision and lead me down the path He has for me.
Last year at Master’s I feel like God taught me a lot of the basics about myself. He took be back to a lot of old hurts, and old insecurities so that I could be completely healed of those things. God showed me last year that the person who I had become on the outside did not match the person I wanted to be in my heart. I was guarded and God showed me how to be open to the people around me. This year I feel like God is going to continue to give me clarity and definition in my life. Now that He has remolded a lot of who I was, He wants to build up the person that He is calling me to be. I know that God is going to bring me closer to Him this year by teaching my how to truly love Him with all of my heart, not just the pieces I’m comfortable with. I also want God to continue to show me what it means to fully rely on Him. I know that I am in the perfect environment for God to grow me in these ways and I know that by the end of the year my life will no longer look anything like it does right now.
Arielle Arnette
Hometown: Richland, Pennsylvania
Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
Favorite Worship Song: Solid Rock
Future: My future plans after this year in Master’s Commission are still very up in the air. I feel that God is leading me to do a third year with GZMC, but after that I really don’t have much direction. I know that God is preparing me for full-time ministry, but I have yet to see an avenue (youth ministry, children’s ministry, etc.) that I feel that He has equipped me in the most. This year I am praying that God would continue to give me more direction and a clearer sense of His calling on my life.
During this year in Master’s Commission, I feel that God has already begun to strip away the things in me that have previously held me back from fulfilling His plan for my life. I know that God is asking me to release my dreams, my ideas, my emotions and my insecurities (about myself, and what He may be calling me to) and trust Him to sort those things out. I know that God is going to empty me of who I once was and fill me again with only what He wants to be a part of me. I feel that this year will be a time of great change, where God will continue to set standards in my life that He is calling me to live by now. My prayer for this year is that God would do what He sees necessary in me, so that I may bring Him glory with my life. I truly have no idea what my life or who I am will look like at the end of these nine months, but I pray that I would be faithful to what God has started in me and allow Him to lead me and guide me.
Christina Francis
Nickname: CT and Sunshine
Hometown: Lumberport, West Virginia
Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
Favorite Worship Song: Hosanna, by Hillsong
Future: I know that God has called me to full time ministry, but I'm still seeking God in what I am specifically supposed to do. Right now, I want to focus on Him, and I believe if I do that, He will make it clear what He has for me and my future. It's all in God's hands, and He has asked me to trust in Him, and that’s what I'm planning to do!
I am only about three weeks or so into my second year of Masters Commission, and it's already been a journey. It's so amazing how God can work in your life in a matter of a couple of weeks. This year for me is a year of listening to God and obeying. I am being challenged this year to listen to what God has for me, and to trust that God knows what He is doing. It's also about getting to the place where I know who I am in Christ.
We do a drama called “strip me away”, and this drama talks about some of the things we have struggled with and then reveals what God has done in that area of our life. I have done this drama countless times and have also seen it many times, but just recently I started crying as I was watching it. I had no idea why I was crying, but I asked the Lord to show me why I was touched by this. His reply was, “Christina, I already took your fear away, now I want you to walk in that.” I was blown away, because I knew that what I was dealing with was being stripped away, but I wasn't walking in that. God showed me that day that I need to walk in the understanding that God wants to use me, I need to know that fear has no place in my life anymore, and that I am ready to be secure and used in Christ, and in Him alone. I look at this and get really excited, because this is just the beginning of the year, it's going to be tough but I know that God has me here for a reason and I want to be able to be used, disturbed, and broken for Him this year and I am ready for that challenge!
Gabrielle Price
Nickname: Gabby
Hometown: Topsham, Maine
Favorite Scripture: Philippians 3:7-14 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things i have counted as loss for the sake of Christ... ...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Favorite Worship Song: Blessed Assurance, Desert Song, Solid Rock
Future: I am currently planning on coming back for a third year, but past that I am not sure where God is leading me. I am heading into the Youth Ministry Institute with the hope of eventually working in the New England Area in some form of youth ministry, although as of now, I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet.
This year I want God to continue to strip away the things in my life that shouldn’t be there. There is still pride/selfishness, and anger, and fear in my life that God wants to replace with His humility, His love, and His peace; I need to allow myself to let go of those things. I’ve realized that I have not let them go because I am scared of what my life will look like. I know how I have lived throughout my past, but it is still scary to not know what life will look like after God changes you. This year I really want to be willing to go after all that God has; I want to allow God to completely and radically change me. I want all of me stripped away so all that is left is God.
Megan Haver
Nickname: Captain, Haver, Hav
Hometown: LaVergne, TN
Favorite Scripture: Ephesians 6:7 "With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,"
Favorite Worship Song: Desert Song by Hillsong
Future: My plans for the future is to do whatever the Lord is calling me to. I honestly do not have any more plans for the future. I want to travel, but that is completely up to God and where He wants me.
I want God to deepen our relationship even more. I will never be done growing closer with God and I will never have everything all figured out, therefore there is always room to grow. I want God this year to strip away all of me, not just the material things but my complete self. I want to abandon everything and give myself in every way to God. I want God to do what needs to be done this year to grow us closer together. I really believe in the things that God has already been showing me this year that He is going to change my heart towards Him completely and not just the people and things around me. Through that God, I believe, is going to strip away a lot of selfishness and pride that I am finding that I have. I want to have that solid foundation engraved in my heart of who God really is in my life.
Michelle Cavanaugh
Nickname: Chelle
Hometown: Quarryville, Pa
Favorite Scripture: Philippians 3:7-8 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,"
Favorite Worship Song: Mere Man by Clearwater Masters Commission
Future: I could not tell you the specific job position that God is calling me to. I do know that I want to help people and I want to bring glory to God through whatever I am doing. I have a heart for helping girls and for discipling them. I am passionate about helping Christians grow in their faith and live radical for Christ. I want to show people that the Christian life is anything but boring and mundane. I feel like God is calling me to a job that is not a 9-5 but instead will require my entire life to be centered around it. I do believe that I am called into full time ministry and I do not think it will be anywhere normal that God places me.
Last year God really showed me His love in a new and real way. That impacted me in a huge way, and changed my relationship with God forever. This year I want to take the relationship I have with God and allow it to be the center of all that I do. I don’t want God to just be a part of my life anymore, I want God to be my life. I want Him to be the motivation behind everything that I do. I want my identity to be found in Christ, having my relationship with the Lord completely push out all of who I am so that He can increase Himself in me. That is my desire for this year.
Nancy Kemp
Nickname: Ace
Hometown: Valley City, Ohio
Favorite Scripture: Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Favorite Worship Song: The Solid Rock
Future: My plans for the future are kind of under construction at the moment. If I had to choose one thing that I want to do, I would say that I am going to return to school after Maser’s Commission and get my nursing degree. However, I think that God is really going to define what my future is going to look like in the next couple of years, and I want to be open to what He wants for me.
This year I want God to totally rebuild me. I want for my life to fit into His plan, and I want for Him to begin defining me. When I see myself at the end of this year, I want to see someone who desires what God wants above all else. I suppose that you could say that what I want God to do in me this year is to birth a desire in me for His desires. This year already, God has been showing me that my life is not about me. It is all about Him. That scares me, but at the same time, it excites me. It is so incredible when you realize that you are living for something so much bigger than you. So what I am looking for this year is for God to rid me of my selfishness, and teach me to live for Him, even when it requires me to give up my dreams and my goals.
Rebekah McCrorey
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa
Favorite Scripture: Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
Favorite Worship Song: "Praise the Name of Jesus" by Shane and Shane
Future: I believe that I am called to ministry, but I am completely unsure of what that looks like. I hope to continue working with youth, and I am open to whatever God has.
As I was thinking about what I want God to do in my life this year, I had to recall not only what I wanted Him to do last year but also the things that He did do. Last year I wanted God to give me a heart that is undivided for Him. Though He certainly has molded me in that way, it has become on ongoing process in my life. I want God to build upon the foundation that was laid throughout my first year and to bring clarity and definition to all that He is making me to be. Coming into this year I felt as though it was going to be a year of definition for me. So far, I’ve seen that He wants to bring definition to who I am, the direction that He has for my life, and so many little details along the way. This road is going to be a tough one to travel. I can’t really see it yet, but I know that there is so much more that God wants to do. It is going to be worth it!
Stacy Dunton
Hometown: Keene, NH
Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Favorite Worship Song: Dessert song by Hillsong
Future: I feel that God is calling me to work with children. I believe that he is calling me to go overseas and work in an orphanage.
This year I want God to completely empty me of everything that is me, and I want Him to fill me with all that is Him; to remake me into His image. I want to be the woman of God that He has created me to be. I want to be His masterpiece. I want to give God everything that I have and chase after Him with my whole heart and not hold anything back from him. I can already see God starting to break down the wall of who I thought I was and begin to show me who He wants me to be.
2009/2010 First Year Master's Commission Students
Aaron Potter
Nickname: AJ
Hometown: Medina, Ohio
Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Favorite Worship Song: I can’t say that I have a favorite. I just love worshiping God.
Future:I would like to be a youth pastor or something like that. But whatever God wants me to do is my plan for the future.
I want God to work in my life. I want God to heal me of my pains and help me forget my past. I want to get closer to God so that I can bring Him glory. I want Him to show me how to live according to His standards not mine. I want God to change the way that I feel and react when somebody hurts me. To change my heart so I would seek Him day and night. I want God to make me His servant.
Since coming to Masters, I have already felt God’s presence working in me. I have felt my burden loosen off my back. God has helped me deal with my past and being able to forgive myself for sinning against Him. He has forgiven me and healed me more than I thought possible. He has done all this in just a few short weeks, and I still have 8 more months to go. I can’t wait to see how God is going to work in me with in that time. God has shown me that I can’t redeem myself though good works, but only though Him can I be redeemed. I’ve known that all my life, but thought that I could redeem myself by following Him. I can’t redeem myself by following Him. He redeems me because He chooses to redeem me, not because I choose to follow him.
Annalee Law
Nickname: Anna
Hometown: Smithsburg, Maryland
Favorite Scripture: Isaiah 40:31 “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Favorite Worship Song: “Everything Glorious” by The David Crowder Band
Future:I feel that God is calling me into Outdoor Ministry, or a wilderness therapy program for troubled youth. I plan to use what I learn at Masters through the studies and outreaches and couple that with a degree in the outdoors for a future ministry.
I would like God to become my center of attention, to be completely relying on Him for every step I take, for every breath I take. At my time at Master’s I would like God to ignite a burning passion in me for Him that can not be put out and that all could see. I would like God to make known to me what I am to do after Masters, a more clear direction in life. Above all else I would like for God to reveal a little more of Himself to me so that I may begin to know who I am in Him.
Bethany Vandonkelaar
Hometown: Greenville, Michigan
Favorite Scripture: Psalms 46:10a “ Be still and know that I am God”
Favorite Worship Song: “Arms Open Wide” Hillsong United
Future:I feel like God is calling me to do something that has to do with missions and children’s ministry but beyond that I am not completely sure where or doing what.
During this year at Master’s, I want God to completely and radically change my life. When I came I did not know much of what God wanted to do in me, but I am slowly learning that He wants to remake everything that I ever thought of Him and teach me what He really wants for me. I am ready and excited for what He has planned for me.
Carolyn Van Ess
Nickname: Carol
Hometown: Pocomoke City, Maryland
Favorite Scripture: Psalm 95: 1-2, “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”
Favorite Worship Song: “How Great Is Our God”
Future:I really feel God calling me to be a music producer. God has blessed me with the ability to learn anything I set my heart and mind on. From that I have learned, the trumpet, the guitar, and how to operate a sound board. After “putting all the pieces together” I realized that a producer is the perfect way to combine all of the gifts God has given me.
In my life I have put others before myself. I tend to worry about everyone else’s problems, except my own. Sometimes I would even put other people before God. Doing this, I lost a much needed confidence in myself and, most importantly, in God. During this year at Masters Commission, my prayer is that God would bring me to a place where I have a firm foundation and a permanent confidence in Him before I go and do anything else in my life.
Danielle Hostetler
Nickname: Danny
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Favorite Scripture: Psalms 46:10a “Be still, and know that I am God…”
Favorite Worship Song: “How Great is our God” Chris Tomlin
Future:I’m not too sure what God has called me to yet, but I am excited to find out. He has shown me a little piece of what He has for me. He has told me that I’m going to minister to girls and women, but He hasn’t shown me the big picture just yet.
This year at Master’s, I want to start transforming into the woman that God wants me to be. I want Him to strip away all the insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. I want Him to move in me like He never has before. I want to become the strong confident Child of God that I know He intended me to be. By the end of this year, I want to become a warrior for Him.
Joshua Marseglia
Nickname: Josh
Hometown: Bristol, Connecticut
Favorite Scripture: Psalms 23
Favorite Worship Song: There is a River
Future:I know God has called me to full time ministry. I can feel it in my heart, and He has confirmed it in my life many times. I also feel God is calling me to start an evangelistic ministry where I can lead people into worship and preach the word of God to them along with having a time for prayer.
I am excited to see what God is going to do in me this year here at Ground Zero Masters Commission. My prayer is that God will show me things in my life that are not of Him and that need to change. I want to grow closer to God and I know that this is the year for that! I pray that God will strengthen me and give me more of a firm foundation in my faith and what I believe. I desire to learn more of God’s word. And lastly, I want to learn how to reach out to people better than I have in the past.
Maria Rickards
Hometown: Dagsboro, DE
Favorite Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:22 “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Favorite Worship Song: “Alpha and Omega” by Israel and New Breed
Future: This past May I graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in elementary education. I love teaching and hope to have my own classroom someday, but I also know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called me into youth ministry. I am not exactly sure yet in what capacity it will be, whether as a youth pastor, youth evangelist, ministry outreach, etc. So, as of now I have set my dreams aside to chase after what God has for me. Not my will God, but yours.
I came to Masters Commission because I was tired of just going through the motions of being a Christian and not growing spiritually. This year at masters I want God to totally reshape me, and change me from the inside out. I want God to take the “Christian” I thought I was and change me into who He wants me to be. Like the song “Holiness” says I want the Lord to form my heart, transform my mind, and conform my will to His. I want to continue to develop a close, personal relationship with the Lord and be in tune with Him. I’m tired of all of the distractions of life and want to give 110% of myself to God these next 9 months for his purposes and glory. I also want to become more assured of my identity in Christ.
So far this year, God has revealed to me a lot of “junk” in my life that I didn’t even realize I had. He showed me things such as pride, hate, bitterness, and hurt that I had pent up in my heart and not dealt with, but these things were affecting my attitude and my relationships with those around me. It’s like my eyes were opened and I was finally getting real with myself, getting to the root of those issues, and giving them to Jesus. Masters Commission has really provided me with the opportunity to get closer than I ever have with God. I can let my guard down here without judgment or condemnation from the other team members because a lot of them are dealing with the same issues.
Miranda Davis
Nickname: Wombat
Hometown: Medina, Ohio
Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11-13 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’”
Favorite Worship Song: How He Loves Us
Future:How He Loves Us
I haven’t been at Masters long, but God is already growing and stretching me. I want to keep growing into the person that He made me to be. I really want to find out what God’s plans are for me, or at least what the next step I should take is. I want to have such a passion and fire for Him that I’ll never go back to the lukewarm lifestyle I used to live. I believe that this year God is also going to grow my faith and trust in Him. I hope that He will stretch me and grow me in ways that are far beyond what I could even imagine.
