C.N. Hostetter, Jr. Fellowship Program
Emily Wilson

Emily Wilson is a senior Christian Ministries major, concentrating in youth ministries. She has spent much of her college career involved in community service. For two years, she was an intern for the Grantham Church, and she still spends time with their youth. She volunteers at the Hispanic Center, teaching English as a second language to immigrants. She is a member of both the Amnesty AIDS group and Amnesty Refugee group. Emily is also the outreach coordinator for the International Justice Mission.

The spring of Emily’s junior year was spent studying in Tanzania, Africa. Needless to say, the experience was life changing.  Surpassing her comfort zone for five months, Emily was stretched emotionally, mentally and spiritually. She spent most of her time living in a tent nearby the village Iringa, a community that she got to know well.  Emily spent a great deal of time traveling, and many nights with home stays. The hospitality present among the people she stayed with leaves Emily almost speechless. “They were so excited to learn from us, and teach is about their lives,” Emily recalls. “[They] took us in as their families.”

Almost directly after her semester spent in Africa, Emily began her summer internship. She worked alongside Pastor Jen Williams with Christ United Methodist. During this time she had the opportunity to lead a bible study, organize Sunday services, and preached several Sundays. On one particular missions oriented Sunday, Emily was able to incorporate her experiences in Tanzania into the service, which she feels is the most memorable Sunday service with Christ Unite Methodist.

While Emily views her internship as valuable, it wasn’t always easy. She explains how difficult the transition was from living in tents and dirt floors for a semester to spending the summer in upper-middle class suburbia. “It was hard to know that I could go from living with very little, to living in American extravagance.”  Yet through conversations with several people during her internship, including her host family, she came to one certain conclusion, “I learned to live how I should live, and that is a simple life.”   

Emily does not know where she will end up in the far future. She presently has a burden for woman refugees who have escaped to America. She can also see herself living abroad again, involved in either community development or peace making. She does have her next step planned however, which is graduate school. She will be plans to receive a degree in conflict transformation.

As she nears the end of her college career, Emily appreciates being a part of the Hostetter program. “It has shown me my strengths, weaknesses, passions, where my gifts are, and where they aren’t,” she says with a smile. It has been one of many experiences that have enabled her to explore a service oriented career.