Greg Poe is a Major Gifts Officer and Director of Planned Giving for Gardner-Webb University. In his essay, A Journey Through Faith, Service, and Leadership, he shares these three principles at work in his life, due in part, to the example and generosity of Gardner-Webb University’s Christian Service Organization.
God surprises me again and again as I place my faith in Him, try to live my life in His service, and follow His leadership. These are three principles we have embraced at Gardner-Webb University and I wanted to share with you about how faith, service, and leadership have been a part of my life and intertwined with the mission of this University.
It was faith that brought me to Gardner-Webb as a student, and during that time, I was prepared for service. Now, God has called me back to campus to assist in leading the Christian Service Organization and Gardner-Webb to new and exciting possibilities. Hebrew 11 tells us, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith can be hard to understand and even harder to live out. Faith requires action and this is evidenced in many biblical models like Abraham, Noah, and Moses. It took faith for me and my family to come to Gardner-Webb as a student. It did not make sense for us to sell our house which we had purchased only a few years earlier. It did not make sense for us to leave my job which was providing an excellent source of income. However, we knew this move was God’s plan for our family. It would not only take faith, it would take the act of stepping out in faith to allow God to work in this situation.
My wife, Hannah and I did not know how we were going to afford Divinity School. We knew it would take a miracle...or I should say many miracles. One such miracle came through a dear friend who was a member of an organization at Gardner-Webb called Christian Service Organization. It was during a CSO Banquet we attended shortly thereafter that we knew God wanted our family at Gardner-Webb. With each step in faith, God provided what we needed. During my time as a student we were able to live rent free in a home recently built for my in-laws. God also provided a part-time job at the public library which flexed with my school schedule and allowed me to study while at work. I knew that God would not bring us this far in the journey and leave us. He provided generous donors through CSO that helped offset the expenses of my degrees.
After graduating from Gardner-Webb in 2005 with a Master of Divinity and Master of Business Administration, I wanted to work in church administration or as an associational missionary. God had other plans that included a vocation more challenging than I imagined. Just before graduation, Hannah and I began praying about where we were to serve. We had a desire to return to Africa and serve as missionaries. We had been to Africa a couple of times during our marriage and felt called to work with the people of southern Africa, but originally thought this act of service would be something we would do in retirement.
It was there that I began to serve as Human Needs Coordinator and helped the 27 Baptist churches in Swaziland establish a vision for reaching out to the community, developing projects such as vegetable gardens, clean water, and HIV/AIDS Orphan relief. Many of the churches wanted to help feed these communities which meant supplying clean water and vegetables. We installed wells and plowed ground for gardens and set up feeding stations for the widows and orphans. I also taught seminary extension classes and led worship services for churches that did not have a pastor. My family also took part in ministry efforts: Hannah participated in the woman's ministry and my oldest son Joshua walked 1/2 mile each Thursday to read the bible to blind woman.
It was amazing to see the hope and love that people can have even when so many were suffering. I learned a true perspective of “living for today” while we were there. God promises to give us our daily bread, enough for just one day, nothing more and nothing less if we choose to rely on Him and serve where He has placed us.
And now God had placed us in leadership role assisting Gardner-Webb’s growth towards maturity. I could never have imagined what God had planned for my family, nor can I imagine where God is going to lead us as an institution. Gardner-Webb has such a wonderful vision for its future and the future of its students and with solid leadership that stems from vision, inspiration and motivation, there are great things ahead! Being on campus has helped me to grasp that vision and to be able to share it with others in the community which has motivated me to carry that vision to a higher level. The Christian Service Organization is one such organization that has meant so much to so many and in visiting with Gardner-Webb alumni and friends, I have heard so many wonderful stories.
Faith, service, leadership are the core values that we are trying to instill in the students at Gardner-Webb so that graduates have an increased faith, readiness to serve God wherever He places them, and the motivation to lead others to a better understanding of God. This mission has been made evident through the testimonies with those those I have spoken. George Zulu, a Gardner-Webb graduate living in Zambia shared his testimony in a letter written to a CSO board member. He states, “I would not be where I am today, serving the Lord, without the prayers and support of CSO and its members.” This is our desire for the larger Gardner-Webb family: for each individual to grow in faith, respond to call of service, develop leadership skills that promote success.
