TRANSFORMATION STORIES FROM HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD BY RUFUS MATHEW ’ 22 After hearing that I come from Bahrain, a small island in the Arabian Gulf, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, the very next question people ask is: “How did you hear about Cedarville?” I love this question, because I love sharing my heart about how Cedarville has transformed me and how the Lord has used my time at Cedarville to challenge and equip me for His glory as I prepare for life after college. When I was i n the college hunt process, my mom kept getting emails from Cedarville that were full of Scripture. How she signed up for these emails, I do not know. I was pursuing 157 colleges spanning nine countries all over the world, and my mom would bring up Cedarville every now and then because the mission of the University stood out to her: “For the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ.” I began to look into Cedarville and realized it has one of the top undergraduate engineering schools in the United States, and its cybersecurity program is recognized by the National Security Agency. This stood out to me, but as I began to look more into the school, it was ultimately the central focus on Scripture and the Gospel that challenged me to apply. Once I had applied and been accepted, I began to receive wonderful scholarships from Cedarville. These included the Warren G. Elliot Scholarship, the Cedarville Excellence Award, International Chancellor's Excellence Scholarship, International Student Grant, David and Edith Clark Scholarship, Reynolds & Reynolds Scholarship, Cedarville University Endowment, and Give Hope Scholarship. I tell people I chose Cedarville because of its focus on Christ, top engineering school with a solid cybersecurity and computer science program, and scholarships! In my time at Cedarville, there have been many semesters where I did not know if I could return and finish my education. College is expensive, and I was having to pay for it mostly on my own. My family supported me financially whenever they could, but I had to bear a lot of the financial burden. It was in these moments that all I could do was pray and trust in the Lord. I knew that God had called me to Cedarville, and I knew that He was going to provide a way for me to stay. Scholarships and extra financial help from relatives somehow a lway s came through, and I can attribute this to the Lord’s hand at work in my life. I have felt the Lord’s provision so much since being in college. My faith has truly grown as I see the Lord’s faithfulness on display to me. I have been able to dive deeply into service and leadership on campus, as I have worked in many different offices and departments at Cedarville. From working in IT to the dining hall, Residence Life, Admissions, the bookstore, and as Student Government Association President, I have been impacted by so many people. I can say that the people a r o u n d m e h a v e pushed me closer to Christ continually, and motivated me not just academically and professionally, but spiritually, too. The training at Cedarville has equipped me to start life after college strong because I have the academic and spiritual foundation that will be unwavering amid a turbulent culture. With the Lord’s blessing, the future of Cedarville is looking bright, and my hope is to be able to give back to a school that has richly blessed me over the last 1,000 days. Rufus Mathew ’22 graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. I knew that God had called me to Cedarville, and I knew that He was going to provide a way for me to stay. Cedarville Magazine | 5
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